September 27, 2012 Shelton Mason County Journal | ![]() |
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Journal photo by Gordon Weeks
Steve Goins, the city of Shelton's director of community and economic
development, talks to U.S. Rep. Norm Dicks (D-6th District) about the
increases in shellfish harvesting in Oakland Bay, made possible by the
$39-million upgrade to the Shelton wastewater treatment plant.
Wastewater
Continued from page A-1
director of community
and economic develop-
ment.
Almost all of the fund-
ing came from U.S. De-
partment of Agriculture
Rural Development grant
loans, Goins said.
The 30-year-old plant
was subject to overflows
and was near capacity.
Meetings to create the re-
habilitation project began
in 1999, and construction
took two years.
Shelton. "The only thing
that's remaining is the
concrete."
The system sports a
new headworks/influ-
ent structure that pro-
vides fine screening and
improved grit removal;
a third clarifier that re-
moves additional solids;
an ultraviolet disinfec-
tion system that replaces
the chlorination process;
and an updated pump sta-
tion with energy efficient
pumps and control sys-
tem.
One of the results is
less nitrogen discharged
"This place was gut- into Oakland Bay, where
ted," said John Ozga, who an additional 750 acres
oversees seven employeeshave been approved for
as treatment plant lead the harvesting of shell-
operator for the city offish.
"What these upgrades
do is make my future more
secure, and the commu-
nity's," said'Brett Bishop,
owner of Little Skookum
Growers.
Both Bishop and Shel-
ton City Commissioner
Dawn Pannell lauded the
patience and efforts by
the Squaxin Island tribe
in completing the project.
"Today, we're celebrat-
ing a clean and safe envi-
ronment," U.S. Rep. Norm
Dicks (D-6th District) told
the audience.
Dicks praised the eco-
nomic stimulus grant
money that made the
project possible, and
pointed out the project
produced 26 construction
jobs.
Burn ban
Continued from page A-1
The watershed property
also houses two deepwater
wells, which provide the
city's drinking water.
"There's more risk the
more people they have up
there," Ziegler said. "If
something got started, a
small fire, it would be very
hard to control."
The Washington State.
Department of Natural
Resources (DNR) also an-
nounced this week that ef-
fective Sept. 19, it would
raise the Industrial Fire
Precaution Level (IFPL) to
4 in parts of King, Pierce
and Mason counties.
A Level 4 IFPL prohibits
all industrial activities and
operations, such as logging,
that "may cause a fire on or
adjacent to lands protected
from fire by DNR," accord-
ing to a release from the
DNR.
In Mason County, the
shutdown affects the south-
east slopes of the Olympic
Mountains.
Level 4 is the highest
IFPL level. Level 1 requires
fire equipment and encour-
Journal DOOtO D~ Natal e Johnson
The city of Shelton has closed its watershed property, which includes
the Huff n' Puff trail, shown here, due to fire danger. State and local
ages watching for fires, agencies are taking steps to prevent fires after months with no rain.
Level 2 limits industi, ial ::~:;~!~:~:;;~?~" :-~.: '. .... ,:'~ ~':
achvztms to between 8 a.m. Forest ~ervice, the Bureau tline's auto, ted ]s~C~ The DNR burn ban is
and 1 p.m., Level 3 prohib- of Land Management. and will give the ~recai2tionary also still in effect in West-
level (IFPL) for individual
work zones. The number is:
1-800-527-3305.
Daily updates on burn
restrictions are available
at 1-800-323-BURN or on
DNR's website at www.dnr.
wa.gov.
ern Washington.
The ban officially expired
Monday. Campgrounds
may have additional burn
restrictions in place.
Campers should check
with their campground host
before starting a campfire.
its activities and limits oth-
ers while requiring onsite
fire equipment and a fire
watch and Level 4 prohibits
all industrial activities that
could result in fire.
The IFPL system is also
used by the DNR, the U.S.
Bureau of Indian Affairs.
providing consistency for
workers operating on lands
regulated by the different
agencies.
The IFPL hotline is
also updated each after-
noon about 5 p.m. The he-
IA Family
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• Seafood. Bark
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, Olympic Mountain Ice Cream
1921 E. Hwy 106, Union WA 98592
(360) 898-2222 • (360) 426-2222
Open 9am-5:3Opm • 7 days a week
www.hunter-farrns.corn
2505 Olympic Highway North, Suite 140
Behind Shelton McDonalds in Olympic Gateway Center,
CLEANERS & TAILORS
cWa O r Mon-Fr,215 South&3° a.m.-6:OOsecond~).m..Sat 9:00•426-3371a'm"2:00p.m.
.~% ."(~ :.
Member Serving Shelton and Mason County for 86 years
Deputy
Fdll:Se ice!:Schedu dMaintenanc
Tune.Ups. Brakes. Diagnost cs
Continued from page A-1
"You don't ever really
get past that," he said. "If
you do, you get compla-
cent."
Traffic stops and domes-
tic violence calls account
for more officer deaths than
any other call, he said.
A few years ago, Cotte
said he and another deputy
were shot at during what
they thought was a routine
call.
"After that. you pretty
much think everyone's out
to get you," he said.
4:23 p.m.
Almost immediately af-
ter pulling away from the
last traffic stop, a call goes
out for a report of a sui-
cidal female in the Lake
Limmerick area. This is
the first of at least three
suicide-related calls, add-
ing to the night's strange
and tense atmosphere.
Sheriffs deputies Cotte
and Chris Mondry respond-
ed, along with three Mason
County Fire District 5 ve-
hicles.
By the end of the drive,
during which the sheriffs
cars exceeded 80 miles per
hour, the car's brakes and
tires were hot to the touch,
despite the day's cool tem-
peratures.
The call ended up be-
ing fairly routine, and the
woman, who cut herself on
the wrist, was transported
to the hospital by family
members.
While the call was rou-
tine, it demonstrated a
common problem for law
enforcement in the area.
Even with flashing lights
and sirens riding their
bumper, Mason 3oun~y
drivers are reluctant to
pull over and allow law en-
forcement and fire person-
nel to pass them.
5:10 p.m.
Cotte turned the car
around and headed for
Lake Isabella for a report
of a workplace dispute.
A man met him at an in-
tersection and expressed
a desire to press charges
against an employer for a
low-level assault.
This call set the pace for
the entire evening - time
consuming, but minor, in-
cidents.
Not long after the last
call, Cotte drove across
the county again to back
up Mondry at a possible
domestic violence call.
When the officers arrive.
the caller denied that her
boyfriend, who wan't at the
house, had gotten violent
after all.
In recent months, the
sheriffs office has recieved
complaints about the re-
sponse time of deputies.
Calls that turn out to be
false alarms do little to
help response time to se-
rious offenses. Cotte said.
Some people exaggerate
the seriousness of an inci-
dent to ensure a quick re-
sponse, he said.
"They think we don't
care. that we're not here
for them - we clearly do
(care)," he said. "When
they fib. it ties up two or
more of us."
1729 OLYMPIC HWY. N. SHELTON ..(360) 426-1659
www.michaelsmeats.net Mon-Sat 9-7, Sun 9-~
7:40 p.m.
Another call reporting a
potential suicide came in.
Deputies spent the rest of
the night trying to locate
the man by using his cell
phone carrier to triangu-
late his location, but were
not successful.
8 p,m.
The sun was almost
down. and the calls began
coming in a little faster.
Dispatch asked the
deputies to respond to a
household after a call from
a woman who did not speak
English asking for police.
When the deputies ar-
rived, no one admitted to
calling the police, and the
deputies could not locate
the cell phone the call came
from.
8:30 p.m.
After several calls from
a woman making cryptic
statements and mumbling,
dispatch put out a request
for a wellfair check for a
woman living in the Emer-
ald Lake area.
When Co(to arrived at
the scene and the woman
opened the door. she was
pale. listless and bleed-
ing heavily from what ap-
peared to be a knife wound
in her arm.
Mondry and medics ar-
rived shortly, but the wom-
an. who appeared ~o be
heavily under the influence
of drugs an8 alcohol, would
no~ consent to be taken to
the hospital and attempted
to assault the medics.
The deputies were forced
to involuntarily commi~
the woman to the hospital
for her own safety.
9:30 p.m.
The deputies on patrol
spent some time trying
~o track down a suspect
named Jeffrey Moran,
driving a stolen red Hon-
da. learning from dispatch
that he was armed and had
several felonies under his
belt and had threatened a
local man,
They kept hearing he
was one place, then anoth-
er, one county, then anoth-
er. and couldn't quite track
him down.
Then the man who re-
ported he had been threat-
ened them said he hadn't
even called 911 to report
it.
Moran was apprehended
by Mason County Sher-
iffs deputies on Friday
afternoon after ditching
the Honda in south Kitsap
County.
A little after 9:30 p.m.,
a dispatcher came over the
radio for the Shelton Po-
lice Department. capping
off the strange night.
"We have a subject out-
side the Civic Center stat-
ing he is a hostage at the
Pentagon," the dispatcher
said. "He says he's part eta
terrorist organization and
wants to talk to someone in
Washington, D.C."
A Shelton Police Offi-
cer responded. "Well we'll
see what we can do about
that..."
It was a weird night,
Co(to said, for no particu-
lar reason, just because
nothing seemed to work
out like he expected.
"It seems like everything
we've done just doesn't add
up," Cotte said, summing
up the day perfectly.
That's what you can expect when you bring
your car lo Ayers Automotive ................ i .........
Mark Todd
Michaels Farm Fresh Meats
Rump Roast
Stew Meat
Shelton-Mason County Journal-Thursday, Sept. 27, 2012 - Page A-7