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Newspaper Archive of
Shelton Mason County Journal
Shelton, Washington
February 9, 2012     Shelton Mason County Journal
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February 9, 2012
 
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JOURNALEDITORIAL Mason County senior association relocation makes perfect sense We hope that the Mason -- and the rest of the downtown things stand. ~hrough the City of Shelton. to this project -- PUD 3 wins, County Seniors Activi- Shelton business community. The group has launched a Most of the rest of the funding is Mason County seniors win and ties Association is able Local seniors began talking fundraising campaign to raiselikely to come from private dona- the City of Shelton wins. MCSAA to pull off its plans to purchase about that possibility almost as the estimated $2 million needed tions, has been growing ever since its the Mason County PUD 3 head- soon as PUD 3 decided to build a to purchase and renovate the PUD 3 is set to begin its relo- inception in 1981 and shows no quarters in downtown Shelton. new Johns Prairie headquarters, buildings. About $700.000 of that cation process as early as next signs of letup. Shaw describes We think they would be great Those initial whispers have only total would go toward renova-month and MCSAA has an op- the current senior population neighbors for us -- the building grown and last week MCSAA Ex-tions and MCSAA has already tion on the downtown propertyas a "Silver Tsunami." Here's to sits across the street from the ecutive Director Terri Shaw gave applied for a $1 million corn- that is good until July. hoping that the tidal wave lands Shelton-Mason County Journal an in-depth briefing on wheremunity development block grant There really is no downside at the corner of Third and Cota. LETTERSTOTHEEDITOR to the road department op- 2 pensions crating engineers. Effective January 1, aren't better 2010 through December 31, 2010, Mason County's con- than I tributioninto the Western Conference of Teamsters Pension Trust Fund is an Editor, the Journal amount equal to sixty-five The county's 2010 fi- cents ($0.65) per hour for uancial statements are each hour for which com- interesting reading. Most pensation is paid to ap- citizens would understand praisers in the Assessor's that all full-time county Office. employees are covered Effective January 1, by a state-run pension 2010 through December 31, plan. I believe this plan 2010, Mason County's con- to be a very good plan, tribution into the Western the same as is provided Conference of Teamsters to state government em- Pension Trust Fund is an ployees. Why, then, haveamount equal to fifty cents county taxpayers paid an($0.50) per hour for each additional $500,000-plushour for which compensa- during the past nine years tion is paid to members of for the same employees to the General Services and receive a second pensionDetention offices." managed by the Team- Expenditures obtained sters? How many private through public disclosure, employers offer two paidexcept for the Assessor's pensions? unit, which must be esti- According to the annual mated due to their unique report, the Mason Countyprocessing in payroll (8 fiscal year ended Dec. 31, staffx $0.65 x 2,040 hours 2010. The information isper year): available online at http:// wei.secstate.wa.gov/mason/ Actual all other units: FinancialServices/Pages/2003 .................... $44,847.60 FinancialServices.aspx, 2004 .................... $45,819.53 Here are pages 39 and 2005 .................... $52,500.89 40: 2006 .................... $57,150.21 "Effective January 1, 2007 .................... $74,893.48 2010 through December 31 ....... 2008~,...:.:.,,.,.~,,. $99,919.30 2010, Mason County's con- 12009 ............... ,:... $79,279.35 tribution"into the Western 20i0~, ....... :i:":iL..: $72,484.94 Conference of Teamsters 2011 ........... ~.:.: .... $67,508.21 Pension Trust Fund is anTotal ................. $594,403.51 amount equal to $2.50 per hour for each hour for Estimated Assessors: which compensation is paid 2003 .................... $10,608.00 to the road department per- 2004 .................... $10,608.00 sonnel. 2005 .................... $10,608.00 Effective January 1, 2006 .................... $10,608.00 2010 through December 31, 2007 .................... $10,608.00 2010, Mason County's con- 2008 .................... $10,608.00 tribution into the Western 2009 ........ . ........... $10,608.00 Conference of Teamsters2010 ...... .............. $10,608.00 Pension Trust Fund is an 2011 .................... $10,608.00 amount equal to $1.90 Total ................... $95,472.00 per hour for each hour for which compensation is paid Teamsters Union Pension Fund County expenditure; total annual cost: 2003 .................... $55,455.60 2004 .................... $56,427.53 2005 .................... $63,108.89 to 2006 .................... $67,758.21 2007 .................... $85,501.48 of local 2008 .................. $110,527.30 2009 .................... $89,88735 2010 .................... $83,092.94 should provide 2011 .................... $78,116.21 Total ................. $689,875.51 for the Journa]: M. J. Hrbacek Shelton wait-and-see-what-happens Wait-and- solution has not worked well for the county in the past? I am quite concerned see that he would advocate us- ing this approach yet again. annroach i certainly hope that the taxpayers of Mason County ....; would not be ultimately U n $e VVI responsible for footing the costs of any lawsuits stem- Editor, the Journal ming from these hasty er- At the Jan. 31 Belfair rots. county commission meet- ing, several questions were Jennifer Hines asked, including who would Belfair be financially responsible for the judgmel~ts, attor- ney~" [bes and court costs A different when Belfair residents bring suit for the unlawful entry on their property by k i nd of the county to install sewer hardware, biomass Apparently in the plan- ning and execution of the sewer installation, there threat were several instances where hardware was in- Editor, the Journal stalled on private property This short session of the without first obtaining an Legislature has just begun easement, condemnation and many bills attempt to or even written permission circumvent hard-won envi- from the owners, ronmental protections. In-' After the meeting, Corn- dustry is taking advantage missioner Tim Sheldon of a sluggish economy to commented that, "Just say they need less regula- because someone files suit tion, I believe we can have does not necessarily mean pollution-lYee prosperity, that they will win." as evidenced by the many Perhaps a small heads- new companies investing in up should be given to Com- wind, solar, wave and other missioner Sheldon that this new energy technologies. ESB 5575, to which our development and imple- own Sen. Tim Sheldon has mentation. Such invest- signed offon, adds catego- ments are likely to stop if ries of materials that can the utilities can purchase be considered eligible en- cheaper power from old ergy sources, but includes plants burning toxic mate- some very iffy stuff." animal rials. waste (does that include On Jan. 12, The Olym- dead animals?) and con- pian ran two stories side by struction waste, excluding side. In the first, "Homicide treated lumber (who sorts no longer a top cause of out the treated from the death," cancer is reported untreated at a construction to be the second-most fre- or demolition site?), black quent cause and respira- liquor from pulp produc- tory disease is third. (The tion (full of heavy metals role air and water pollution and other bad stuff) and play in these two diagnoses others, is incontrovertible). In the It also rolls back the second story, "Power plants 1-937 voter mandate for worst warmers, says EPA," power plants built from the article reported that 1999 on as eligible for en- power plants released 72 ergy credits to include ear- percent of the greenhouse lier plants. These are old gases reported to the En- plants with poor pollution vironmental Protection controls. There are no new Agency. And, the power filters, controls or require- plants do the counting ar/d ments for these old, pollut- reporting, let's hope they ing power plants and they ~re accurate and honest don't answer in the same though I, for one, am skep- way to the Washington tical about this "fox guard- Utilities and Transporta- ing the henhouse" approach tion Committee (WUTC) as to measuring pollution. is currently required. So, I urge voters to reject there will be less oversight ESB 5575 by contacting for the pre-1999 plants, their legislators and Sen. According to the North Brian Hatfield, who is the West Environmental Coali- Chair of the Agriculture tion, $7 billion has come Committee, which is hear- into Washington state since ing this bill. the voters endorsed 1-937 in 2006 by way of clean, Constance Simpson, RN renewable energy research, Shelton GUESTCOLUMN Watershed restoration hould continue to b My family started oyster and shellfish farming here more than 100 years ago. Today I am proud to carry on this /amily business with my brother. 'Fne two of us hope it will thrive for another 100 years and beyond. A healthy Puget Sound is the linchpin to that dream, and we cannot have a healthy Puget Sound without protecting and ..... ~ .i'ii restoring the watersheds that drain into it. Hood Canal is home to the two largest hatcher- By BILL TAYLOR ies that supply seed to the West Coast shellfish industry, including mine. These hatcheries directly support more than 150 local jobs and many more if you include those in related industries such as processing, sales and shipping. Pro- tecting and restoring the Olympic Peninsula's watersheds ensures cold, clean, silt-free water will continue to flow into Puget Sound. Without such protections, our in- dustry would not be able to grow, expand or continue to benefit the economy and ecology of Washing- ton State. Healthy Peninsula wa- tersheds play a critical role toward a prosperous shellfish industry and rural economy. Recently, there had been great success in watershed restoration through partnerships such as the Skokomish Watershed Action Team decommission or convert to trails old, failing logging roads on Olympic National Forest that were washing hundreds of tons of silt and gravel downstream into the Skokomish River Valley, threatening fal'm- lands, salmon habitat and oyster beds in Hood Canal. Thankfully, SWAT and the money invested in their efforts have made enormous progress in fixing tbds problem. Now we need to safeguard these investments through permanent protection of the intact, healthy parts of the watershed upstream. That's why I have actively partici- pated in the Wild Olympics Cam- paign's process to develop a plan to protect upper watersheds on Olym- pic National Forest and why I sup- port the proposed wilderness and (SWAT). This public, private and Wild and Scenic designations. tribal collaboration has worked to The announcement last month by U.S. Sen. Patty Murray and U.S. Rep. Norm Dicks of"a path for- ward" to protect these special places represents the culmination of hun- dreds of meetings and discussions, including a series of public work- shops that were held last month. Throughout this open and transpar- ent community process Murray and Dicks have paid careful attention to details. Their plan will not close any public access roads used for enjoy- ing our public lands and they have carefully drawn the lines to make sure the proposal does not impact future timber harvests. Count me among those who strongly support their vision for protection of our re- maining ancient forests and rivers as critical to restoring and main- taining the health of Puget Sound. I was lucky to grow up explor- ing and enjoying the wildlands of a priority the Olympic Peninsula. I believe the wilderness and wild and scenic river designations that are part of the drafL congressional proposal are crucial toward ensuring both the health of our watersheds and the protection of our quality recre- ational opportunities. Whether for our livelihoods or our passions such as hiking, hunting or fishing, the peninsula's natural treasures are an enduring resource. Working to ensure future generations are guar- anteed the same experiences that I had in my youth is a no-brainer. I applaud Dicks and Murray for their leadership and action on this issue. Hundreds of jobs and the future of our shellfish industry depend on it. Bill Taylor is president of Taylor Shellfish Company. SheltoniMason CounW : ...... : ..................... ....... , .................. i ,i ..................... She~ton-Mason County Journal is a member of Kari Sleight, publisher LISPS 492-800 Washington Newspaper Publishers' Association. Jesse Mullen, general mgr. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Shelton-Mason SUBSCRIPTION RATES: County Journal, p.o. Box 430, Shelton, WA 98584. $37 per year for Mason County addresses, Published weekly by Shelton-Mason County Journal, Inc. $51 per year in state of Washington but outside at 227 West Cota Street, Shelton, Washington Mason County, $61 per year out of state. Mailing address: RO. Box 430, Shelton, WA 98584 Telephone (360) 426-4412 • www.masoncounty.corn Owned and published by Periodicals postage paid at Shelton, Washington Shelton-Mason County Joumal, Inc Advertising: Dave Pierik, Sr. Acct. Executive Harvey Morris, ad representative Newsroom: Kevan Moore, managing editor Front office: Aria Shephard, North Mason, Donna Kinnaird, bookkeeper environment, reporter Margot Brand, circulation Natalie Johnson, reporter Cricket Carter, maitroom Emily Hanson, sports rep.orter supervisor Adam Rudnick, copy editor Composing room: William Adams, graphics Koleen Wood, classifieds/legals Becky Corr, typing Pressroom: Kelly Riordan, production manager Travis Miller press operator Page A-4 - Shelton-Mason County Journal - Thursday, February 9, 2012