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Shelton Mason County Journal
Shelton, Washington
January 20, 2011     Shelton Mason County Journal
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January 20, 2011
 
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County opts not to partner with BWD By ARLA SHEPHARD In an unusual move last week, the Mason County Board of Commissioners chose not to get into business with the Bel- fair Water District over a grant proposal -- a move that could end up costing hundreds for North Mason residents. At a public hearing last Tues- day, the county commission- ers heard presentations from Mason County Public Utilities and the Belfair Water District, which were both pursuing sepa- rate $750,000 community block grants from the federal govern- ment. While the commission- ers gave the go ahead for the county to apply for a grant that would help Belfair residents pay for side sewer connections, the commissioners decided that helping the water district pay for its waterline replacement project would be risky. "I just have some grave con- cerns that the project would run into federal hurdles," said Commissioner Tim Sheldon, af- ter the hearing. "There are al- legations of how [Belfair Water] meetings have been run." Sheldon cited controversies like the water district's failure to annex in the Clifton Ridge neighborhood that receives wa- ter service, but is unable to vote in elections, and the discord between the utility districtand lVrason County Fire District 2, "Ws not that I'm not willing to work with the water district in the future, even for this project, but it would have to be with a different sense of which intensified last summer when the water district locked 50 of its water hydrants in Bel- fair. The commissioners also brought up concerns over how the district handled a pipe fail- ure last month, when a storm flooded a ditch near the inter- tie behind McDonald's, expos- ing 400 feet of pipe. Some citizens at the public hearing, and the county com- missioners themselves, felt that the water district did not alert the fire district promptly that they were turning off the water to fix the problem. "I want to work well with the water district, but working well is a two-way street," said Commissioner Lynda Ring Er- ickson. "It's about establishing a consistent and professional relationship ... I have some concerns that if the fire district were unable to fight a fire be- cause of a lack of water [and] we had flow through of money between the county and water district, that we could, at some point, be liable." The unanimous vote not to pursue the grant application, which is due January 20, with Belfair Water was atypical, said engineer Pat McCullough, Who works as a consultant for both the county and the water district and had prepared the water district's presentation to the commissioners. McCullough has been work- ing with the water district to find funding to move the dis- trict's waterline under State Route 3, which is necessary because the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) plans to widen the highway in the coming years. "I was surprised," said Mc- Cullough, of the commission- ers' decision. "I think that's the first time in my career I've ever seen that happen, which is 47 years." McCullough feels that the commissioners' points were valid, but "whether they were relevant is a matter of opinion," he said. Community block grants have a 33 percent chance of be- ing funded, and to deny that chance will mean the water dis- trict has to scramble harder to See BWD on page A-7 Water district served lawsuits, commissioner receives 'vote of no confidence' By ARLA SHEPHARD Even before Tuesday afternoon's regular meeting of the Belfair Water District had begun, the ground had already been laid for more turmoil within the district and between the district and its ratepayers. Last Friday, all five employees of the Belfair Water District voted in support of a symbolic "vote of no con- fidence" in Commissioner Mike Pope, according to water district Manager Dave Tipton. Tipton, who has threatened Pope with lawsuits in the past, placed the ballots in a sealed envelope and "in a safe place," he said. At Tuesday's meeting, Pope asked to face the employees and hear their reasoning behind the vote. "On what grounds and on what issues did they take a no confidence vote?" he asked. "It should hasten my decision to resign or continue as com- missioner ... I would like to face my accusers." Commission Chair John Phillips said that the employees did not want to be intimidated or bullied by Pope, but Pope said he believed that the vote originated from Tipton and no one else. Pope brought up an e-mail that he had received from Tipton on Decem- ber 15 that had been sent from the manager's e-mail address to Phillips and Pope during business hours. In reference to Pope and Pope's wife Bonnie, Tipton wrote: "I am truly sorry about the baboonish behavior by the loud mouthed moron and his equally stupid wife, but at least it is only once a month." Pope called the comment "totally inappropriate." "So, I take that vote of no confi- dence with a grain of salt," he said. Also at the start of the meeting, ratepayer Ken VanBuskirk served the water district with a lawsuit alleging violations of the Public Records Act. The suit, filed by Bonnie Pope and Gregory Waggett, details the water district's failure to respond to a num- ber of public records requests over the last two years, including requests made in 2009 regarding the district's insurance policies and requests made in 2010 asking for copies of the dis- trict manager's current contract. "[Belfair Water District] has denied Waggett access to records in their en- tirety and has violated the [Public Re- cords Act] as a result," the plaintiffs' attorneys state in the 15-page com- plaint filed in Mason County Superior Court on January 18. The water district did not claim an exemption or otherwise justify why it withheld those records, the claim al- leges. The commissioners and Tipton did not address the lawsuit during the See Vote on page A-7 Port of Allyn looks to balan00 :e, commissioner districts Discussion over communication turns heated By ARLA SHEPHARD At a special meeting of the Port of Allyn last Friday, the commis- sioners convened to discuss bound- ary lines between the three districts and also turned their attention to- ward communication between the commissioners and the Port Execu- tive Director, Bonnie Knight. In the first discussion, the com- missioners sought to balance the number of registered voters in each of the commissioner's districts, which right now varies between 2,761 in Commissioner Jean Farm- er's Port District 2, and 1,903 in Commissioner Randy Neatherlin's District 3. %Ve want to endeavor to make them equal, so it can be more bal- anced for voting," Neatherlin said. District 2 includes election dis- tricts Allyn, Lakeland, Victor and Belfair 5, which is a chunk of Bel- fair south of the intersection of State Route 3 and 303, and District 3 includes Belfair 1 and 2, consist- ing of parts of the north and south shores of Hood Canal. In the proposed district changes, which will not be finalized until the most current census figures come out this spring, Neatherlin would gain election districts Belfair 5 and 6, from Farmer and Commissioner Judy Scott, respectively, and lose Belfair 2 to Scott. The change would give each com- missioner approximately 2,300 vot- ers. Since Farmer is up for election this November, and one of her elec- tion districts may go to Neatherlin, the Port wants to avoid the appear- ance of gerrymandering (changing her district so that someone could not run against her), by announcing the boundaries sooner than later. In the latter discussion, the com- missioners aired grievances with one another that had come about after the Port authorized digging along its waterline off Wade Street last Tuesday, to install water qual- ity testing devices. Farmer expressed frustration that she had not been aware that the digging would occur on that day, stressing the importance of keeping informed of issues in that area, which had been a center of controversy after the Port suspected its waterline had been accidentally connected to property owner Jeff Carey's water system. Though engineers and further testing cleared the Port and Carey of any wrongdoing last year, the area is a sensitive subject in the community, Farmer said. "If it's something within Our district that's been a hot point, I would want to know and speak in- telligently about what's going on," she said. Neatherlin and Scott pointed out that the  had be brought up at the ,Pz£'alast meethng, the Monday prior to the digging, and Knight said that she herself wasn't aware when exactly the digging would occur, because it was subject to weather conditions. After Farmer found out about the digging, she sent an e-mail to Knight, which was then forwarded to Scott and Neatherlin, wanting to know more about the issue. Neatherlin and Scott took issue with how the e-mail was written, and Neatherlin felt Farmer super- ceded her authority. "I don't think a commissioner by themselves has the authority to tell an employee what to do," Neather- lin said. "We act as a commission... You didn't ask for information, so much as demand." Neatherhn made a case for the Port to adopt a policy wherein no commissioner could give a Port em- ployee a directive, but Farmer ar- gued that Scott and Neatherlin had misinterpreted her tone. "If anything, what you read in that e-mail wasn't so much demand as it was a frustration," she said. "People don't understand a lot of emotion in an e-mail ... I think it goes without saying that we act as one." Scott and Neatherlin agreed that Farmer had the right to be in- formed, but that she had to make some of the effort to stay informed and be specific about her requests, since they would not have thought that the date of the digging would be so important. Scott said she would look into communication policies and bring them up at the next regular meet- ing in February. iii00 ORAL m SEDATION DENTISTRY MAY BE YOUR ANS ER.,.. Get all your work done in one or two,visits. The Smii  Express ,::ii , FREE Nitrous Always ,  Price First Sedation Visit for New Patients Busch Light $ 99  Camel . Madbom ........ I p...! I ............ ......... m I I ?p.iece  I I CompLe00te I Chncken I I ...... I &JoJos00l I m Coffee m m _ _, m : 99C 24 oz. m  I I/'1 89¢ 20 o,, I  79¢ ,ooz. n n'- - , STORE & DELl SPECIALS  JAN 20- 26 Shelton-Mason County Journal-Thursday, Jan. 20, 2011 - Page A-3 ( • i a