February 9, 2012 Shelton Mason County Journal | ![]() |
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February 9, 2012 |
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County calls storm 'declared emergency'
By NATALIE JOHNSON Jan. 23, a "declared emer- agencies in Mason CountyBest said.
natalie@nta,~oncoun~y~com gency." that were affected by the In March, agencies af-
................................................................ "Effects of the January storm eligible to receive fected by the storm, such
16 - 23, 2012 severe winter state and federal reimburse- as Mason County PUDs 1
January's massive win- storm have caused exten-ments, said Marty Best, and 3, will find out if they
ter storm inundated Mason sive damage in most parts Mason County director ofare eligible to receive up to
County and much of West- of Mason County, especially emergency management. 75 percent reimbursement
ern Washington with tons of to the power distribution "We are right now in thefrom FEMA for damage in-
ice and snow, leaving many network," a briefing to the middle of the process," he curred from the storm.
residents snowed in and county commission reads,said. "PUD 3 was the one im-
without power. The commission esti- Representatives from thepacted the most," Best said.
On Tuesday, the Mason mates the extent of dam-Federal Emergency Man- Washington state may
County Board of Commis- age through the county agement Agency (FEMA) also be able to reimburse
sioners officially voted to could amount to more than visited Mason County on agencies like the PUDs for
call the winter storm of $500,000 in damage. Monday to survey damage up to 12.5 percent of dam-
Monday, Jan. 16 - Monday, This declaration makes done by the winter storm, age from the storm.
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The Mason County Board of Commissioners agreed to appoint Tom Moore
utilities and waste management on Tuesday.
Journal photo by Natalie Johnson
as interim director of
County appoints interim utilities and waste director
By NATALIE JOHNSON months while the county commission ty-owned solid waste and transfer sta-
natalie@masoncounty.com considers whether or not to take steps tions, water systems and the comple-
toward privatization of the utilities tion of the coordinated water s:ystem
and solid waste department, plan.
The Mason County Board of Cam- The briefing listed responsibilities In addition to hiring Moore as in-
missioners named Tom Moore as in- of the director and of the utilitie~ and terim director, the briefing also out-
terim utilities andwaste management waste management departme~over lined several other upcoming staffing
director cluring its regular commission the next 6-8 months as includi~ the changes to the utilities and waste de-
meeting on Tuesday. completion of the Belfair sewer proj- partment by the end of June 2012.
Moore previously served as the dep- ect, and the administration and close- The county plans to continue to con-
uty director of the utilities and waste out of accompanying grants and loans tract with John Cunningham of J.A.
management department, and finding additional funding for the Cunningham Consulting, LLC, who
"Tom Moore has faithfully served project, currently serves as the county's solid
us for 27 years," said Mason County According to the briefing, the de- waste manager, through June 2012,
T-Bone Steak
Porterhouse T-Bone
....
Commissioner Tim Sheldon. partment will also provide staffing for and maybe as far as October 2012. ~ oz. Lobster Tail Fillel lllig0n .......
The county plans to advertise for an upcoming Belfair Urban Growth The proposed changes also include ~~, ~:, i :*~ ......... "
applicants to hire a permanent diree- Area (UGA) committee, a "Utility Ad- appointing Program Support Techni- i
r f ............. ~
too utlhtles and wastemanagement, v]sory Commxttee and to the Ut]h- cmn Kerry Chuffenhauer to Interim '9 i 9
A briefing to the commissioners ties Divestiture/Privatization Analy- Accounting/Clerical Lead, appointing t
outlined responsibilities of the depart- sis." current Clerical III/Board of Equal- a. ~' . ~~
ment and possible staff changes to get In addition, the department willization (BOE) Clerk Vicki Cluver to
the department through the next six manage the daily operations of coun- interim accounting technician. 7:!9 OLYMPIC HWY. N. S
/w tc.michaelsmeats.net Every day 9 a.m. - 6 I
I Is your Valentine jewel protected? ]
Skokomish restoration could move forward soon Call us for homeowner s quotes! /
% How about your Valentine.I
By NATALIE JOHNSON ing about projects to improve In 1997 the Comprehem being cut off by roads, and. I Call us for Life Insurance quotes! ]
natalie@masoru:ountv.com the situation out there, Gel- sive Flood Management Plan can lower the water table and
gersaid, identified 5,000 total acres in mitigate flooding. I ]
~fL!iY~eai~a~n~ofio~! ~a~a~r~n~; ~i! ~eosau.~r~o~!:i~ ~iiioeneeb~;~[~' ~ii~i,~iiii~,. ~::,~:~!~i~ ~"(~ AY/OR I~i~i~.~:~.~:.~.~, ~i" 'NSURANCE~i~ ~ ~ TI~V~LI~RS.'~m"~i~°~"' [T~I
n ana.sto. a ita the focuses oo ronmen a woro .owever, anao ners SE WCES
Skokomish Valley. resteration, primarily for the losing so many crops they would have to decide on one ] ~ ~ ~ ....... ~,50NSOy
This month, the Seattle benefit of endangered species started planting low-main- strategy for the whole area,I ~ For Taylor Made Insurance ~' NORWAY [
branch of the corps plans to in the valley, tenance crops like hay and Geiger said. i
present its Integrated Fen- "Flood control has to be ad- Christmas trees. "The dike system now is i marlene@marlenetayl0rinsurance,c0m
/
sibility Report and Environ- dressed," Geiger said. '~/-hen "It's continued to decline not effective," he said. i Marlene:~y~o~ CLU,~S~ 104 E. "D" St. #1 Shelton, WA 98584 ~/
D~ck Taylor MBA •
mental Impact Statement to the corps does a flood control since then," he said. '~ou can After the corps approves [ • , 360-427-1989 360-426-5595 ~]
the eorps's headquarters in project, the goal is to solve see wetland plants all across the restoration plan, the pub-
1729 OLYMPIC HWY. N. SHELTON • (360) 426-165
www.michaelsmeats.net Every day 9 a.m. - 6 p.m.
Washington D.C., said Ma-the flooding." the valley and it was never
son Conservation District If the corps classified the that way before."
Engineer Rich Geiger. project as primarily for flood This loss of farmland hap-
"Right now it looks pretty control, Geiger said the Se- pened very quickly, Geiger
good,"he said. attle office would have to said.
Geiger and the conserva- compete with areas around "Between the 1960s and
tion district have worked the Mississippi River and the 1990 the (Skokomish) tribe
closely with the corps City of New Orleans for ha]d- lost all their farmland," he
throughout the study of pos- ing. The Skokomish Valley said. "Now the farms in the
sible restoration efforts in doesn't have enough infra- upper valley are degrading.
the Skokomish Valley, along structure or economic activ- It's scary to think about what
with other organizations in ity to support such an effort, will happen in another 30
the Hood Canal Coordinating he said. years. We're not going to wait
Council's Skokomish Water- However, an effort to ad- anymore."
shed Action Team (SWAT). dress water quality and Of the 40 identified proj-
The feasibility report out- flooding problems that nega- ects, the army corps will
lines the current state of the tively affect the valley's five likely take on three to five.
river and possible outcomes, endangered fish species -- Smaller organizations such
including either doing noth- summer chum salmon, Puget as the Mason Conservation
ing or completing all or some Sound Chinook salmon, win- District, private landowners
of the recommended projects, ter steelhead, bull trout and and the Skokomish Tribe,
Geiger said. Puget Sound Coho salmon among other groups, hope to
Once the corps approves -- is a sure bet for funding, complete the rest.
the projects, Geiger said, all Geiger said. Just a few of these projects
of the organizations involved "There's a tremendous involve adding small chan-
can start the process of re- chance," he said. '%Ve have nels to divert water through
storing the Skokomish Val- seen decline in stocks. It's the valley. These will mimic
ley. pretty critical - we don't have natural channels that used to
"Now we're actually talk- a lot of time to get this done." run through the valley before
lic will have an opportunity
to comment, starting as early
as February, Geiger said, on
the overall plan and 40 pro-
posed projects.
The restoration of the
Skokomish Valley has an
enormous influence over the
environmental health of the
entire Hood Canal area, Gei-
ger said.
"As far as the endangered
species are concerned, the
Skokomish Valley really
has to be restored before the
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as restored," he said. [ do for you!
Organizations in the
SWAT group hope to begin
projects as soon as possible.
"The corps projects will
take a few more years to de-
velop but these will be mas-
sive projects," Geiger said.
"The first projects will get
done just as early as we can
develop them. I expect that
we're going to hit it really
hard in 2013."
WHAT WOULD YOU LIKE TO BE SELLING
MORE OF THIS WEEK?
We can help you when you call
(360) 426-4412 to advertise
-Thursday, February 9, 2012 - Page A-3
Shelton-Mason County Journal