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Shelton Mason County Journal
Shelton, Washington
February 4, 1999     Shelton Mason County Journal
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February 4, 1999
 
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ty's emergency services t gets a new name fuaWhat's in a name? Less con- ion, Joe Murray, emergency director, told the Mason Board of Commissioners ay's meeting when he reCOmmended changing the de- title to the Mason Department of Emergen- 'ement. ds word change, Murray d commissioners John Bo- and Cindy Olsen, "would us better in directing the public and in identifying us to state and federal agencies." His office receives calls about food banks, help with rent and mortgage payments and reloca- tion of the homeless persons, he noted. Murray also reported that' when the state changed its de- partment title from "emergency services" to "emergency man- agement" the county did not fol- low suit. Besides the name change, the board approved revisions to an ordinance establishing a joint county and city of Shelton dis- aster assistance council and lo- cal emergency planning com- mittee. The ordinance also es- tablishes the membership of the council and committee. This group would replace "an outdated and dysfunctional 'Emergency Services Council,' " Murray said. No longer will Murray serve as chairperson of this group. The county commission chairperson will act as chair of the disaster assistance council and the mayor of Shelton will act as the vice chair. The director of emer- gency management with his or her counterpart from the city will serve as council staff coordina- tors. The Mason County Disaster Assistance Council will meet on a quarterly basis. County property-tax levy 6 percent above 1998 level lason County commissioners set the 1999 property-tax for local landowners at 6 above 1998's levy at their 26 evening meeting. order to exceed Referendum for the current-expense road funds, the board also resolutions establishing need for increases the rate of inflation as de- the implicit price defla- The 1998 IPD was less 1 percent, Mason County Budget Director Ione Siegler told commissioners John Bolender and Cindy Olsen. The Washington State Depart- ment of Revenue requires that a property-tax levy be set by resolu- tion, she added, and substantial need must be established to in- crease the levy amount. In both cases the levy amount is 6 per- cent greater than the highest amount of regular property taxes that could have been lawfully levied in the county in any year "es held in iwaup break-ins of the Mason County Office have arrested Juveniles in connection with of burglaries in the Colo- subdivision. Gary Crane said quantity" of property recovered from their home. are trying to track down the owners of what they believe is stolen property. The investigation continues. At last count four homes in the Colo- ny Surf area had been hit by bur- glars, some more than once. Deputies are looking into the pos- sibilities that more burglaries may have occurred. since 1985. IN SETTING the 6 percent in- crease for the current-expense fund, Siegler reported, "Washington State has declared Mason County an 'economically distressed county,' and the Board of Mason County Commission- ers have determined that, due to the increased costs and needs of mandated criminal-justice ser- vices, the reduced state forest revenue and the protection of fu- ture property-tax revenues, there is a substantial need to increase the regular property-tax levy above the rate of inflation as de- fined by the implicit price defla- tor." The 1999 levy amount is $292,186, Siegler said. Bolender explained that the board could not ignore the needs of the courts, the prosecutor's of- fice and the sheriffs office to carry out their duties. Those needs, coupled with the decline in timber revenue, are the rea- sons for a higher level than the IPD, he added. The board also authorized a 6 percent increase in the levy for the road fund. The amount for next year will be $314,448, Sie- gler said. SUBSTANTIAL NEED exists "due to extensive weather dam- age to county roads and to protect future road property-tax levy ca- pacity," the budget director re- ported. The board also authorized a 6 percent levy hike for the Skoko- mish Flood Control District budget. Siegler said the levy amount is $2,656, which is 6 per- cent greater than the previous year. Only one resolution is needed for the flood district be- cause the population is under 10,000, she explained. Last week Siegler told The Journal that just because the county revenue will go up by 6 percent, that does not mean prop- erty taxes will increase 6 per- cent. The property-tax rate is de- termined by the assessor's office once all levy requests are re- ceived from the junior taxing districts like schools, ports, fire protection, hospital and library. 00ounty acts on road plans y's meeting, the County Commission took to clarify the annual and road plans and to move several county road proj- Engineer Jerry Hauth commissioners John and Cindy Olsen with to clarify the coun- responsibility for ongoing and maintenance on in the 1999 annual con- n program and the six- )ortation improve- Program. the annual plan, the adds the words "and mitigation" to county- and large culvert re- and, for the six-year that to the proj- AMENDMENTS will the public works depart- track mitigation work as item in the road budget, explained. For example, about $320,000 is allocated Year's road budget in an- of salmon enhance- Work related to scheduled this summer. affords us a better oppor- keep salmon enhance- ects in one basket so it's to go back and track Bolender observed. board then established a for wetland related mit- With in the 1999 budget. at $150,000 from the $320,000 salmon enhancement work, the work will be performed by contract. "This gives us a mechanism to track the wetlands mitigation," Hauth said. Next, Hauth was given the au- thority to hire a project engineer for the public works department. He said his staff is getting far- ther behind on road projects be- cause they are pulled out to do field work for other departments like community services and the building. BY APPROVING this posi- tion, Hauth said the commission would eliminate the the need for contract services with en- gineers. The project engineer would act as a field engineer for the public works department, do field reconnaissance work for other departments and act as the county's representative on miti- gation projects. The engineer would essen- tially be a "troubleshooter," Hauth noted, adding that this would free up three of his en- gineers to do road project work. The position is in the 1999 budget under consultant contracts. "It doesn't increase cost and should improve services," Hauth said. Paperwork was completed for improvement of 1.5 miles of Old Olympic Highway including the Skookum Creek Bridge. Hauth said for the past three or four years the county has been work- ing with the Squaxin Island In- dian Tribe which is trying to ac- cess Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) funds for the bridge re- placement. The tribe also has a sincere desire to get the road upgraded from the reservation residential area to the casino, Hauth report- ed. He observed this was "a win- win situation" for both the tribe and the county because the stretch of road from Highway 108 to Bloomfield Road is "one of the very old roads in the county." Costs for engineering are esti- mated at $40,000 and for right-of- way work at $42,000. THE PROJECT is on the county's six-year roster and is now at the point where a design engineer is needed for the road project, Hauth added. "This won't be a simple design process. It will take some time," he add- ed. The board authorized Hauth to request proposals from the con- sultant roster and contract with a firm for design services. If the BIA funds become available for the bridge replacement project, the county engineer said that could be added to the contract at a later date. Hauth was also given the okay to hire a consultant for archeo- logical services on a Crestview Drive project. Admitting he was not even sure there was an ar- cheologist on the roster, he noted that the road project is unique. There is an ancient cemetery in the area of the proposed road work and the records are not clear on where the plots are, Hauth reported. The consultant would search for records and do site reconnaissance survey work. "SOUNDS IAKE a question we need to have answered before we start moving too much dirt," Bolender commented. The county's 101 Connector Corridor Study agreement with Skillings-Connolly, Incorporat- ed was amended by the board to include additional digital base mapping information. Hauth said the first two weeks in Febru- ary are the optimum timeframe for aerial photos of the area from Pickering Passage to the Hood Canal south shoreline from the mouth of the Skokomish River to the area where North Mason High School is located. The net benefit for the county will be a more complete digital picture of the terrain, Hauth said. The work will provide a base map for the Geographic In- formation System which the county hopes to develop in the near future, he added. In terms of cost, Hauth stated $1.1 million had been allocated for Phase I work on the corridor study and about $290,000 is left. The anticipated cost for this work is $240,000 but the use of stafftime could cut down that figure, he re- marked. / / \\; \\; (360) 426-4431 12 Convenient Locations in Mason, Thurston and Pierce £ounties SHEmTA6EBANK $5-million addition to North Shelton SUNRISE CARE and Rehabilitation has opened its doors to its first resi- dents and expects its inspections for Medicaid and Medicare certification soon. In the meantime, say staffers at the new 76-bed care center, local resi- dents are invited to an open house from 1 to 4 p.m. Sunday, February 14. More information on SunRise can be found on page 1. SOCK lease armory (Continued from page 1.) cy, it's a great place to pass along replaced computers and software. She'd like to see more interfac- ing with other agencies. Right now, she said, there's no connec- tion between SOCK and Boys and Girls Club of Mason County. "But there are times when we'd like to join forces and maybe do a dance," she instanced. "That hasn't happened yet." SHE HOPES that eventually the Boys and Girls Club organiza- tion will provide a similar kind of activity for younger kids. "The youngest we allow," she said, "are as well, she said with a smile. Plan to Plan The following governmen- tal meetings, all open to the public, can affect property rights, the environment and planning for the future of Mason County. Monday, February 8 7 p.m., Mason County Planning Commission, com- missioners' chambers at 411 North Fifth. Monday, February 22 7 p:m,, Mason County Shorelines Advisory Board, commissioners' chambers at 411 North Fifth, Mason County Solid Waste Advisory Board will not meet in February and March, Now meeting on a q arterly schedule, the b rd will hold its next meeting at 7p.m. Thursday, April 22, in the commission- ers' chambers at 411 North Fii Street, i i,, h, i il:ll i i i 8 years old unless, they're with a parent who stays with them." And she'd like to see more ac- tivities for teen moms. "It's a good place," she said, "for teen moms to come where their babies are fussed over and the morns get a chance to be with some friends." Other mothers are encouraged "We encourage people to come see what's going on," she said. "We had one room come in to see what we were doing, but she told us up front, 'I don't want any part of this.' But as she watched and lis- tened, she changed her mind. "Now," Cruickshank said, "she's a volunteer." At Friends of College meeting: Olympic's dean will visit on February 11 Michael Connolly, Olympic College's dean of business ser- vices, will meet with the Friends of Olympic College Shelton at the group's meeting at 5:30 p.m. Thursday, February 11, at the OCS campus, 937 West Alpine Way, Shelton. The public is wel- come to attend. "We have the largest number of full-time equivalent students on the Shelton campus since win- ter quarter of 1997," said Nora Ellen Richard, OCS director. "And we are projecting that en- rollment growth to hit at least 255 by the end of winter quarter this year. So it's timely Dr. Con- nolly can be here. OCS has en- tered into a new phase of working together as a team to provide the best educational experiences pos- sible in Mason County." Connolly has been with Olym- pic College since 1976. He holds a doctor of jurisprudence degree from Fordham University, and served as interim president of Olympic College during the 1987- 1988 academic year. PRICES PUGET SOUND PROPANE (360) 753-5877 C A S I NO Dinner & Show .... 00only S25 per couple Open Daily • Interchange Swy 1011108 • Shelttm • (360) 427-7711 • www.little.a'eek.€om . Check out our new hour: Sunday thru Wednesday 10am to 4am, Thursday thru Saturday loam to tram dkAk& AkAkAkAk 'ITI Illll IIIIII III Thursday, February 4, 1999- Shelton-Mason County JotJrnat - Page 3 ty's emergency services t gets a new name fuaWhat's in a name? Less con- ion, Joe Murray, emergency director, told the Mason Board of Commissioners ay's meeting when he reCOmmended changing the de- title to the Mason Department of Emergen- 'ement. ds word change, Murray d commissioners John Bo- and Cindy Olsen, "would us better in directing the public and in identifying us to state and federal agencies." His office receives calls about food banks, help with rent and mortgage payments and reloca- tion of the homeless persons, he noted. Murray also reported that' when the state changed its de- partment title from "emergency services" to "emergency man- agement" the county did not fol- low suit. Besides the name change, the board approved revisions to an ordinance establishing a joint county and city of Shelton dis- aster assistance council and lo- cal emergency planning com- mittee. The ordinance also es- tablishes the membership of the council and committee. This group would replace "an outdated and dysfunctional 'Emergency Services Council,' " Murray said. No longer will Murray serve as chairperson of this group. The county commission chairperson will act as chair of the disaster assistance council and the mayor of Shelton will act as the vice chair. The director of emer- gency management with his or her counterpart from the city will serve as council staff coordina- tors. The Mason County Disaster Assistance Council will meet on a quarterly basis. County property-tax levy 6 percent above 1998 level lason County commissioners set the 1999 property-tax for local landowners at 6 above 1998's levy at their 26 evening meeting. order to exceed Referendum for the current-expense road funds, the board also resolutions establishing need for increases the rate of inflation as de- the implicit price defla- The 1998 IPD was less 1 percent, Mason County Budget Director Ione Siegler told commissioners John Bolender and Cindy Olsen. The Washington State Depart- ment of Revenue requires that a property-tax levy be set by resolu- tion, she added, and substantial need must be established to in- crease the levy amount. In both cases the levy amount is 6 per- cent greater than the highest amount of regular property taxes that could have been lawfully levied in the county in any year "es held in iwaup break-ins of the Mason County Office have arrested Juveniles in connection with of burglaries in the Colo- subdivision. Gary Crane said quantity" of property recovered from their home. are trying to track down the owners of what they believe is stolen property. The investigation continues. At last count four homes in the Colo- ny Surf area had been hit by bur- glars, some more than once. Deputies are looking into the pos- sibilities that more burglaries may have occurred. since 1985. IN SETTING the 6 percent in- crease for the current-expense fund, Siegler reported, "Washington State has declared Mason County an 'economically distressed county,' and the Board of Mason County Commission- ers have determined that, due to the increased costs and needs of mandated criminal-justice ser- vices, the reduced state forest revenue and the protection of fu- ture property-tax revenues, there is a substantial need to increase the regular property-tax levy above the rate of inflation as de- fined by the implicit price defla- tor." The 1999 levy amount is $292,186, Siegler said. Bolender explained that the board could not ignore the needs of the courts, the prosecutor's of- fice and the sheriffs office to carry out their duties. Those needs, coupled with the decline in timber revenue, are the rea- sons for a higher level than the IPD, he added. The board also authorized a 6 percent increase in the levy for the road fund. The amount for next year will be $314,448, Sie- gler said. SUBSTANTIAL NEED exists "due to extensive weather dam- age to county roads and to protect future road property-tax levy ca- pacity," the budget director re- ported. The board also authorized a 6 percent levy hike for the Skoko- mish Flood Control District budget. Siegler said the levy amount is $2,656, which is 6 per- cent greater than the previous year. Only one resolution is needed for the flood district be- cause the population is under 10,000, she explained. Last week Siegler told The Journal that just because the county revenue will go up by 6 percent, that does not mean prop- erty taxes will increase 6 per- cent. The property-tax rate is de- termined by the assessor's office once all levy requests are re- ceived from the junior taxing districts like schools, ports, fire protection, hospital and library. 00ounty acts on road plans y's meeting, the County Commission took to clarify the annual and road plans and to move several county road proj- Engineer Jerry Hauth commissioners John and Cindy Olsen with to clarify the coun- responsibility for ongoing and maintenance on in the 1999 annual con- n program and the six- )ortation improve- Program. the annual plan, the adds the words "and mitigation" to county- and large culvert re- and, for the six-year that to the proj- AMENDMENTS will the public works depart- track mitigation work as item in the road budget, explained. For example, about $320,000 is allocated Year's road budget in an- of salmon enhance- Work related to scheduled this summer. affords us a better oppor- keep salmon enhance- ects in one basket so it's to go back and track Bolender observed. board then established a for wetland related mit- With in the 1999 budget. at $150,000 from the $320,000 salmon enhancement work, the work will be performed by contract. "This gives us a mechanism to track the wetlands mitigation," Hauth said. Next, Hauth was given the au- thority to hire a project engineer for the public works department. He said his staff is getting far- ther behind on road projects be- cause they are pulled out to do field work for other departments like community services and the building. BY APPROVING this posi- tion, Hauth said the commission would eliminate the the need for contract services with en- gineers. The project engineer would act as a field engineer for the public works department, do field reconnaissance work for other departments and act as the county's representative on miti- gation projects. The engineer would essen- tially be a "troubleshooter," Hauth noted, adding that this would free up three of his en- gineers to do road project work. The position is in the 1999 budget under consultant contracts. "It doesn't increase cost and should improve services," Hauth said. Paperwork was completed for improvement of 1.5 miles of Old Olympic Highway including the Skookum Creek Bridge. Hauth said for the past three or four years the county has been work- ing with the Squaxin Island In- dian Tribe which is trying to ac- cess Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) funds for the bridge re- placement. The tribe also has a sincere desire to get the road upgraded from the reservation residential area to the casino, Hauth report- ed. He observed this was "a win- win situation" for both the tribe and the county because the stretch of road from Highway 108 to Bloomfield Road is "one of the very old roads in the county." Costs for engineering are esti- mated at $40,000 and for right-of- way work at $42,000. THE PROJECT is on the county's six-year roster and is now at the point where a design engineer is needed for the road project, Hauth added. "This won't be a simple design process. It will take some time," he add- ed. The board authorized Hauth to request proposals from the con- sultant roster and contract with a firm for design services. If the BIA funds become available for the bridge replacement project, the county engineer said that could be added to the contract at a later date. Hauth was also given the okay to hire a consultant for archeo- logical services on a Crestview Drive project. Admitting he was not even sure there was an ar- cheologist on the roster, he noted that the road project is unique. There is an ancient cemetery in the area of the proposed road work and the records are not clear on where the plots are, Hauth reported. The consultant would search for records and do site reconnaissance survey work. "SOUNDS IAKE a question we need to have answered before we start moving too much dirt," Bolender commented. The county's 101 Connector Corridor Study agreement with Skillings-Connolly, Incorporat- ed was amended by the board to include additional digital base mapping information. Hauth said the first two weeks in Febru- ary are the optimum timeframe for aerial photos of the area from Pickering Passage to the Hood Canal south shoreline from the mouth of the Skokomish River to the area where North Mason High School is located. The net benefit for the county will be a more complete digital picture of the terrain, Hauth said. The work will provide a base map for the Geographic In- formation System which the county hopes to develop in the near future, he added. In terms of cost, Hauth stated $1.1 million had been allocated for Phase I work on the corridor study and about $290,000 is left. The anticipated cost for this work is $240,000 but the use of stafftime could cut down that figure, he re- marked. / / \\; \\; (360) 426-4431 12 Convenient Locations in Mason, Thurston and Pierce £ounties SHEmTA6EBANK $5-million addition to North Shelton SUNRISE CARE and Rehabilitation has opened its doors to its first resi- dents and expects its inspections for Medicaid and Medicare certification soon. In the meantime, say staffers at the new 76-bed care center, local resi- dents are invited to an open house from 1 to 4 p.m. Sunday, February 14. More information on SunRise can be found on page 1. SOCK lease armory (Continued from page 1.) cy, it's a great place to pass along replaced computers and software. She'd like to see more interfac- ing with other agencies. Right now, she said, there's no connec- tion between SOCK and Boys and Girls Club of Mason County. "But there are times when we'd like to join forces and maybe do a dance," she instanced. "That hasn't happened yet." SHE HOPES that eventually the Boys and Girls Club organiza- tion will provide a similar kind of activity for younger kids. "The youngest we allow," she said, "are as well, she said with a smile. Plan to Plan The following governmen- tal meetings, all open to the public, can affect property rights, the environment and planning for the future of Mason County. Monday, February 8 7 p.m., Mason County Planning Commission, com- missioners' chambers at 411 North Fifth. Monday, February 22 7 p:m,, Mason County Shorelines Advisory Board, commissioners' chambers at 411 North Fifth, Mason County Solid Waste Advisory Board will not meet in February and March, Now meeting on a q arterly schedule, the b rd will hold its next meeting at 7p.m. Thursday, April 22, in the commission- ers' chambers at 411 North Fii Street, i i,, h, i il:ll i i i 8 years old unless, they're with a parent who stays with them." And she'd like to see more ac- tivities for teen moms. "It's a good place," she said, "for teen moms to come where their babies are fussed over and the morns get a chance to be with some friends." Other mothers are encouraged "We encourage people to come see what's going on," she said. "We had one room come in to see what we were doing, but she told us up front, 'I don't want any part of this.' But as she watched and lis- tened, she changed her mind. "Now," Cruickshank said, "she's a volunteer." At Friends of College meeting: Olympic's dean will visit on February 11 Michael Connolly, Olympic College's dean of business ser- vices, will meet with the Friends of Olympic College Shelton at the group's meeting at 5:30 p.m. Thursday, February 11, at the OCS campus, 937 West Alpine Way, Shelton. The public is wel- come to attend. "We have the largest number of full-time equivalent students on the Shelton campus since win- ter quarter of 1997," said Nora Ellen Richard, OCS director. "And we are projecting that en- rollment growth to hit at least 255 by the end of winter quarter this year. So it's timely Dr. Con- nolly can be here. OCS has en- tered into a new phase of working together as a team to provide the best educational experiences pos- sible in Mason County." Connolly has been with Olym- pic College since 1976. He holds a doctor of jurisprudence degree from Fordham University, and served as interim president of Olympic College during the 1987- 1988 academic year. PRICES PUGET SOUND PROPANE (360) 753-5877 C A S I NO Dinner & Show .... 00only S25 per couple Open Daily • Interchange Swy 1011108 • Shelttm • (360) 427-7711 • www.little.a'eek.€om . Check out our new hour: Sunday thru Wednesday 10am to 4am, Thursday thru Saturday loam to tram dkAk& AkAkAkAk 'ITI Illll IIIIII III Thursday, February 4, 1999- Shelton-Mason County JotJrnat - Page 3