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Newspaper Archive of
Shelton Mason County Journal
Shelton, Washington
February 2, 2012     Shelton Mason County Journal
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February 2, 2012
 
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Polar Bear Plunge aims to raise funds for Fire District 13 By ARLA SHEPHARD arla@masoncounty.com Event organizers for the third annual Mason County Emer- gency Services Worker Polar Bear Plunge feel confident that the community will embrace the plunge with the same level of eagerness it has shown in years past. "I think there's a high level of enthusiasm from the community and some of the businesses," said Mason County Sheriffs Office Deputy William Reed, who start- ed the event three years ago. "I think there's a growing interest in it, but it is a lot of work. The economy is tough, so getting peo- ple to sponsor or donate is even tougher." This year's fundraiser will raise money for Mason County Fire District 13, headquartered in Elma, and Mason County Search and Rescue, both of which have a minimum need of $1,800 Journal file photo One of nearly 70 jumpers took the plunge into Hood Canal at last year's polar plunge to benefit Mason County emergency personnel, as Mason County Sheriff Casey Salisbury and Animal Control Officer Cindy Brewer look on. each to replace equipment, Reed said. If the event raises more than $3,600 to be split between the two groups, then the remain- ing funds will be split with Ma- son County Fire District 18, in Hoodsport, and Mason County's SWAT team. In 2010 and 2011, the event raised about $5,000 each. Reed started the fundraiser to do something for the Lake Cush- man and Hoodsport community in the slow winter mOnths. "I have been the Lake Cush- man community deputy for five years now," he said. "The win- ter months of the Hoodsport area are pretty slow, so I want- ed to do something to bring people in to the community so they could see what Hoodsport and Lake Cushman was about, and something to benefit the emergency service workers in the county." Hood Canal Kiwanis is once again providing hot dogs for $3 at the event, while the Tides Res- taurant in Lilliwaup will be sell- ing clam chowder. The Hoodsport IGA grocery store will be offering parking for a $2 fee this year, which will go back to support the fundraiser. This year is the first time that the store has charged for park- ing. "Parking is kind of limited in Hoodsport and last year was kind of uncoordinated," Reed said. "This way we hope to keep better track of it." To plunge at the Port of Hood- sport marina, all that is needed is a $25 minimum donation, and a parent or guardian signature for minors. As of last Friday, Jan. 27, nearly 40 people had signed up to take the plunge, including Sher- iff Casey Salisbury, who plunged last year. "Everything is coming togeth- er nicely," said event organizer Jean Boone. "It will be fun, fun, fun." The Hood Canal Community Church is sponsoring a pancake breakfast preceding the event, at 7 a.m. The plunge starts at 10 a.m. on Saturday, Feb. 4, at the Port of Hoodsport Marina. City moves forwan] on Canyon Creek By NATALIE JOHNSON natalie@zasoncounty.com The City of Shelton has wrestled with periodic flood- ing from Canyon Creek for several years. During periods of heavy rain or snowfall, the creek overflows and floods an area near Northcliffe Road and First Street. "In recent years it's been apparently worse than his- torically we've seen," said City Engineer Mike Michael. After years of talking about the problem with resi- dents who are affected by the problem, the city plans to take action in 2012 to correct it. In the next couple of weeks, the city plans to hire an engineering consultant to help develop a plan to deal with the flooding. 'With commission approv- al late last fall we elected to move forward with a full fledged RFQ (Request for Qualifications) process," Mi- chael said. Nine engineering firms submitted applications for the job. Four of those appli- cations stood out to the city, Michael said. "As we went through the process we had ideas; ideas from the community, ideas from the commission," Mi- chael said. "Not all of those Journal pnom oy Natahe Johnson City Engineer Mike Michael, left, and Community and Economic Development Director Steve Goins briefed the Shelton City Commission Monday on the progress of hiring a consultant for the design phase of a project to address flooding from Canyon Creek. were picked up. Everybody was missing a piece here and a piece there." Last Friday the city in- vited those four applicants to visit the city and provide more detailed assessments of the Canyon Creek flooding problem, and several alterna- tives to address the problem. On Wednesday, they came back in for interviews, Mi- chael said. 'We're hoping for good re- sults," Michael said. "Our key goal here is to get to a set of solutions that we know the community can get behind and we know the permitting agencies can get behind." Project Engineer Jerry Hauth said the flooding prob- lems originating at Canyon Creek have several complex causes. "You've got a lot of dynam- ics here - there is not a single silver bullet that can fix it," he said. "It's really dynamic and complicated." In the 1800s, downtown Shelton was a salt marsh up to present day 7th St, and Canyon Creek was an independent creek, flowing straight to Oakland Bay. However, at some point, early developers of the city artificially joined Canyon Creek with Shelton Creek and Goldsborough Creek, and now all three flow together before entering Oakland Bay. Because the three creeks flow together after 2nd St. in Shelton, any changes to Can- yon Creek above Northcliffe Road could impact flooding downtown. 'qATe don't have the time or the expertise to do this on our own," Michael said. Michael hopes to recom- mend a candidate to the city commission in the next two to three weeks. Once hired, the city will expect the engi- neering consultant to provide a pro-design analysis of the flooding problem, and a 30 percent design of several al- ternatives to fix it. The city asked for a 30 per- cent design, Michael said, so it could have several options tO  choose from before asking for a cdniolete design. In October, the city com- misson approved a proposal to request a Department of Ecology grant for $350,000, along with a city match of $100,000 from the Stormwa- ter Fund to pay for the con- sulting process. After the city commission approves a particular project, Michael and his staff will be- gin the search for funding, he Journal photo 13) Natalie Johnson Shelton City Commissioner of Finance Mike Olsen presented City Finance Manager Cathy Beierle and her staff with a Milestone Achievement Award and a letter from State Auditor Brian Sountag commending the department for 15 years of good audit reports. St finance team c lets 'milestone' award By NATALIE JOHNSON " natalimasoncounty.com The Slelton City Commission  presented the city's finance department with a Milestone Achievement Award Monday, Jan. 30, recognizing 15 years of state audit reports showing no negative findings. The commission also presented the city finance de- partment with a letter from Washington State Audi- tor Brian Sonntag recognizing the achievement. 'We heard that this was coming last December and Mike Byrne acknowledged Cathy (Beierle) and she wasn't here," City Administrator Dave O'Leary said. Beierle, the city's finance manager, along with the entire financial staff, accepted the award during Mon- day's regular city commission meeting. Inside/Outside Heart Pendants Hoops 15% OFF :ii? " ...... ':: 14K Diamond .! .::':::!.,;. ii ':  Inside/Outside .oops :: e,'z.%:;:;:: In-store Drawing Diamond Heart  Pendants 2999 The card is nice... but he really wants a GROWLER 1730 Olympic Hwy. 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