Scott Lancaster
Orcas Island School District Board President

I’d like to clear up a few things that have appeared in the Sounder. Keith Whitaker has responded very effectively online, and in the paper to Janet Knowles opinion piece and corrected her misunderstanding of the data. I’d like to add a couple of things to his response.

The figures that the ESD and the school district work from are a snapshot at any given moment in the school year, of our enrollment. The final figures that create our funding source from the state are audited and verified by the state Office of the Superintendent of Public Education (OSPI).

I can see how someone coming to a single board meeting and taking away what can sometimes be a huge packet of data, could easily misunderstand the numbers. It is complex, and we are fortunate to have a staff and administration that keeps impeccable track and care of this data so that our district is fully accountable. I, or any other board member would be happy to go over these packets with anyone who has a question about them.

By Keith Whitaker,
Business Manager (part-time) Orcas Island School District

There are significant inaccuracies and wrong assumptions in Janet Knowles guest column in last week’s Islands Sounder [reprinted below] regarding transparency in the school bond process. Her conclusions are not based in fact, and betray a lack of understanding of the issues in question.

The data she attributes to me were actually taken from the financial report provided to the Board at the May 12 meeting, prepared by Ben Thomas of Educational Service District 189. The statistic ‘395 students,’ though it is in that Board report, does not refer to the entire enrollment of the District – not even all of the ‘real’ students, as she calls them. In her calculations, she simply eliminates the entire enrollment of OASIS, despite the fact that nearly half of the OASIS students are Orcas residents, as ‘real’ as the students in the District’s other four schools.

Our actual total ‘on-island’ enrollment was 473 at that meeting time, only about a half dozen lower than it was five years ago. It is higher now.

Ms.

By Janet Knowles

(Please see editorial note below, following this opinion)

Bond Transparency

This Bond proposal is huge in good times, but inconceivable in hard economic ones.  In my experience as a school Business Manager and Board member at all school levels, I had to ask why a District with declining enrollment would propose such a Bond measure.

Historical Numbers

Apparently the Middle School, which is less than 30 years old, is in such disrepair that it needs replacing due to lack of maintenance for many years. But based on enrollment, it doesn’t need replacement.  The enrollment of Orcas students is in decline. School peak in 1998-99 was 585 full time students.  In 2005/06, there were 500 students, the next year 465, then 430 then 417 (State of Washington website – Office of Superintendant of Public Instruction).  Currently, there are 395 students (stats from Keith Whitaker). If 585 students used to occupy this space and we now only have 395 students (388 for 2010/11), there is no need for a replacement building. The Middle school students could be merged with the Elementary and High School buildings.

Kids going into 3^rd grade and above are invited to sign up for a special tour of the Journey Stories exhibit at the Orcas Island Historical Museum on Wednesday, July 28^th, beginning at 10:00 a.m.  Museum staff and volunteers will explain the exhibits and answer children’s questions.  Advance sign up at the Library is required, and there is no charge for the tour.  Meet at the Library at 9:45 a.m., and we will walk down to the Museum for the tour.

Journey Stories is an exhibit focusing on why people decided to move and how they made those moves.   Connections are made between modes of transportation and  Americans’ sense of wanting the freedom to move.  Journey Stories is a special traveling exhibit from the Smithsonian Institution.

For more information about the tour, please contact Nita Couchman, Children’s Librarian, at 376-4985.

It seems it’s only when friends or family show up that I think to do the “touristy” things.

One adventure I’d missed since moving here was to go on a whale watch trip. I booked with Eclipse Charters when I had out-of-state friends visiting a couple of weeks ago, and we had a wonderful time! The whales, eagles and harbor seal sightings were plentiful and magnificent. Our guides answered our questions, pointed out what we might not have noticed and gave us ecological lessons in the process, which I appreciated.

My sincerest thanks to Capt. Dan and Denise Wilk for this terrific service they provide- and to our guides Deb and Mary. Everyone went out of their way to make sure we were comfortable and would leave the boat with memories to last a lifetime. Here’s to “staycations” on the island!

Louise Carnachan

On June 26^th the first community Homeschool Book Exchange was held at the public library.  Participants were encouraged to bring items that were gently used and recycle them for materials they were seeking for next year. We bartered, traded and bought some great books from one and another. It was a pleasure to meet new faces and discuss the challenges and benefits of homeschooling.

The Homeschool Book Exchange will be held again next year, second Friday of June. Mark your calendars, bring your wisdom and recycle your books. Hope to see more of you next year!

Michel Vekved

By Norm Stamper

Having spent three and a half decades in law enforcement, I have some thoughts about what makes for a safe, prosperous and healthy community.  It starts, not surprisingly, with family:  Every child needs a secure, nurturing start in life.  Just as every child needs and deserves a sound, life-shaping formal education.

Which brings me to the school bond issue.

As a supporter of the original $36 million bond measure, I sat on my tail, figuring the case had been made.  All I needed to do was to mail in my ballot, await the inevitable wisdom of Orcas voters, then join my neighbors in celebrating its passage.  I don’t know which disappoints more:  The 45 percent who voted no?  Or the silent supporters who, like me, didn’t bother to share publicly the rationale behind their position?

Throughout my career I was involved in the construction of major capital improvement projects:  new jails and courthouses, new police headquarters in San Diego and Seattle, new precinct houses in both cities.

Pub Night at the Orcas Hotel with Gene Nery and Martin Lund 6 p.m.

Betty Reynolds, author of An Artist’s Journey to Bali will be at Darvill’s at 7 p.m. The book is a cultural exploration into the mysterious and colorful Indonesian island of Bali. In her beautifully illustrated artist’s watercolor sketchbook, the author shares her good fortune of meeting many Balinese who allowed her to witness important aspects of their lives and culture, and to participate in the religious rituals that mark their passage through the major stages of life.

Saturday, July 10

Orcas Island Farmer’s Market 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Village Green in Eastsound.

Indian Island Marine Health Observatory Field Research Days
Join local scientists and community volunteers at Eastsound Waterfront Park in conducting surveys of fish and intertidal animals on low tide days during the spring and summer.  Wear appropriate footwear for walking to the island (wet sand, gravel, shallow water), and come on down to the beach!11:30 a.m. until the tide comes in.

At the next OPALCO board meeting on Thursday, July 15^th (Eastsound OPALCO office, 183 Mt. Baker Road, beginning at 8:45 a.m.) the Board will vote on the second of four planned commercial rate increases and the first of a planned four-year adjustment of pump rates. Both rate increases, if approved by the Board, would take effect with the August 2010 billing. Members are welcome to attend the public meeting and comment on the proposed rate increases.

The proposed commercial rate increase would raise the base charge to $34.10 per month (up from $32.50). Energy charges for the first 5,000 kWh would be $0.0740 per kWh (up from $0.0710); over 5,000 kWh would be $0.0655 per kWh (up from $0.0620). The demand charge for the first 20 kW remains at $0.00 per kW; over 20 kW would be $2.30 per kW (up from $1.90).

The proposed pump rate increase would raise the base charge to $16.50 per month (up from $13.50). Energy charges for the first 370 kWh would be $0.1260 per kWh (down from $0.1456); next 4,630 kWh would be $0.0650 per kWh (up from $0.0643); over 5,000 kWh would be $0.0630 (up from $0.0539).

By Stan Matthews
County Communications Program Manager

During the month of July, San Juan County residents will have the opportunity to participate in a survey that will help guide the development of the County’s updated solid waste management plan. That plan will define the type and quality of services the County’s solid waste program develops and offers in the future.

The survey process will follow two tracks:  First, a paper form will be mailed to 4000 household addresses selected randomly and in proportion to the population of each island. People selected to participate in the mailed survey will be able to fill out and return the paper survey or use an electronic form on-line.  The mailed survey will produce responses from a broad, statistically valid sample of county residents.

Responses to an online survey, available to all who wish to participate, will be tallied and analyzed separately. Both surveys will be managed by an independent pollster to insure the questions are formulated without bias and individual responses are fairly and confidentially analyzed.

The survey will address garbage collection and transfer, waste reduction strategies, techniques of recycling, levels of local control and funding.

Dear Editors,

Stan Matthews sent you an email with an attachment of a News Release from San Juan County called “Return the Grants for Odlin Park Improvements?”  What they failed to tell you is why so many people on Lopez are upset about the renovation plan for Odlin Park.

Two main points:

First, the Odlin Park Master Plan 2006 put out by the San Juan County Parks Department shows the elimination of the only baseball field in a park on Lopez.  Even teams from San Juan and Orcas have came over and played on this field.  Locals use this field as I have placed a couple of youtube links below.  Parks now has some new drawings that have the baseball field included.

Second, the San Juan County Parks Department wants to remove from Odlin Park an old cannon that was placed 63 years ago by the Lopez Island American Legion as a memorial for the war dead.   The origional Legion members used this cannon as a hands on display, they played on it,  they brought there children to play on it, and the children brought there children to play on it.

By Stan Matthews
County Communications Program Manager

As San Juan County begins an intensive effort to revise its Solid Waste Management Plan, the County’s system of handling and disposing of garbage, recycling and solid waste finds itself surrounded by controversy.

The solid waste utility is running in the red, the County Council has [recently] approved a 14% increase in tipping fees, the Town of Friday Harbor has backed out of its offer to sell the County land for a planned new transfer station, there is currently no revenue source to pay for the more than $2.5 million dollars in planned and needed capital improvements county-wide, there are calls for more local control of waste disposal systems on Lopez and Orcas Islands; and major contracts for hauling, recycling, and disposal of waste will be up for renewal within the next two years.

The County solid waste utility will spend more than $18 million on operations and capital projects over the next six years and, despite two failed attempts in recent years, the County has not completed and adopted a long overdue update to its Solid and Hazardous Waste Management Plan (SWMP).

By Stan Matthews
County Communications Program Manager

Many of the Lopezians attending a public meeting at Odlin Park on June 30 suggested that the County Parks and Recreation Department consider returning grants for $400,000 worth of renovations to the park and leave the property as it is.

More than 60 Lopezians turned out to offer feedback on design options for the renovation of Odlin Park. Four years earlier similar meetings, asking input on the park’s master plan, drew a half-dozen or fewer people; however more than 280 Lopezians signed a petition supporting the master plan when it was completed.

For more than 40 years Odlin Park has served a dual role on Lopez Island as a local use park and a tourist destination. Some campers have been bringing their families to Odlin Park for three generations.

The County won a $150,000 the state grant to make capital improvements in the park through a highly competitive process involving cities and counties across the state, after a planning and public involvement process that has lasted several years. The balance of the funding is to come through grants from the Public Facilities Financing Assistance Program.

Farm to Cafeteria Garden Keeper Chelsea Cates hangs flags for Farm to Classroom kids while they harvest some radishes from the Garden.

By Madie Murray
Farm to Cafeteria Committee Chair

Vicki Bartram’s grandson, Jordan, made a flag for soccer camp last year.  That keepsake gleefully wafted and waved in her garden all summer long and ultimately planted another seed in the school garden.

Vicki brought her idea to Jordan’s mom, Mandy Randolph, as a project for Mandy’s Farm to Classroom kids.  It was a great idea for several reasons:  it provided an independent project for the kids to do while in the garden, the flags might act as a deterrent against birds that always try to invade the strawberry patch, and they just look fun and playful.   Needless to say, the kids took this project on with great enthusiasm.

Old sheets torn into squares, a quick lesson about the attributes of flags, and some brainstorming of garden objects (veggies, fruits, sun, water, soil, worms, even rabbits, to name a few) formed the elements of the project.  Over the course of a few weeks, the kids were sent into the garden to create their own special flags.  As they did so, they made a positive wish for the school and its garden.

By Joe Cohen

While attending the 4^th of July parade on Saturday I stopped at the school bond booth – and had a lively discussion with a host of friends and other people.  I listened to a number of great questions about the bond issue – and was pleased with the substance of the answers provided. And yet one important question has not been fully vetted:  What is the cost of waiting – in effect doing nothing now if bond issues fails but is then passed at a later date?

The answer to financial questions always starts with the caveat – it depends.  The cost of waiting to fund the school bond (an approval vote in the future) depends on many factors including construction costs (presumably higher than today).  However the most significant cost in any bond is the interest rate that attaches to the bond.  The interest rate (much as in a mortgage on your home) remains the same over the life of the bond.  So what is the interest rate today for bond issues like the one we are considering?

San Juan County Public Works Department is holding an Informational Open House Wednesday, July 14, 2010, 4:00pm at the Olga Community Center, to present the Point Lawrence Road Culvert Replacement.

The purpose of the meeting is to present the new replacement bridge plans and answer questions about the project. It is anticipated that construction of the new bridge will take place in the summer of 2011.

The public is encouraged to attend and/or write to San Juan County Public Works, PO Box 729, Friday Harbor WA 98250, or email pubwks@sjcpublicworks.org. For further information, contact Dan Vekved, Project Manager, at (360) 370-0504 or John Van Lund, County Engineer, at 370-0510.

By Stan Matthews
County Communications Program Manager

Beginning on Friday July 16, the new operating hours for self haul customers at County Solid Waste Facilities on San Juan and Orcas Island will be 10 a.m. until 4 p.m. on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays.

“This is a result of our need to change the type of our operation on San Juan Island and send commercial loads and packer trucks to Orcas,” said San Juan Public Works Director Jon Shannon. “But a side-effect is that it should prove more convenient for self-haulers.”

On July 5 the San Juan Island operation will become a “drop box” similar to the solid waste operation on Lopez Island.  Only customers who can toss their trash over a low barrier directly into a container will be able to use the facility.

Trucks from the Town of Friday Harbor, franchise hauler San Juan Sanitation and other large commercial trucks will ferry to the County transfer station on Orcas Island. The solid waste utility is making the schedule change so utility staff can be shifted to Orcas to handle the additional weekday traffic.

The Orcas Island Community Foundation in Action with their parade entry "Float All Boats"

The Orcas Island Community Foundation chose to demonstrate the theme “Community in Action” with a display of their fine footwork.

Photo courtesy of Kathi Ciskowski

By Justin Paulsen
BPI Certified Building Performance Analyst
& Envelope Professional

Over the past several months there has been a healthy discussion in our community related to the issue of maintenance of our schools and how that issue pertains to the current proposed bond issue on the August ballot.  For months, I have also peppered the school board with similar questions.  After doing much research, here is some pertinent information:

When the Middle School Complex was built, what was the objective life cycle estimated for the buildings being constructed?

Based upon accounts of past board members, the decisions made concerning building materials and methods were focused on providing a 15-20 year life for the buildings.  Based on this projection, the buildings have out-performed their intended lifespan by a decade, regardless of maintenance related issues.

Is there any level of maintenance that would allow for the current buildings to meet ADA and/or current seismic codes?

The buildings don’t meet current, and in some cases, the code requirements at the time of construction.  Lack of shear paneling and lack of insulation in the building structure could not have been changed by better maintenance.  Based upon a 2005 engineering study by Coughlin, Porter, Lundeen Engineers, the buildings “…do not meet the requirements for a complete lateral force resisting system” causing them to fall short of the “Life-Safety Performance Goal”.

Sleepwalking Towards Silent Seas

Islanders who use well water know that a small plumbing fault, such as a running toilet, left unattended for long enough can run a well dry. Wells near the shoreline can be ruined by  saltwater intrusion when they are over pumped. Thus, given enough time, a seemingly small plumbing fault can cause major expense to the well owner and damage the aquifer. Ignoring small problems can have large consequences.

Following World War II the development of synthetic petroleum-based chemicals for home use accelerated, and the accumulation of tiny insults to our environment began. We mostly viewed these chemicals as positive additions to our lives until Rachel Carson published Silent Spring about the devastation caused by DDT on bird populations.

Today, we are slowly moving towards Silent Seas that are devoid of fish, orca whales, seals, and sea birds. Seemingly insignificant doses of synthetic chemicals are transported by storm water into our wetlands, streams, lakes, and marine waters. If we continue to deny our impact as homeowners on our environment, our seas will eventually become dominated by the slow pulse of jellyfishes and the ebb and flow of toxic red tides.