LWVSJ Observer Corps*: Friday Harbor Town Council, February 15, 2024

During public comment former Council member Noel Monin announced he had a five-year contract as the new SJI fire chief and looked forward to working with the county and the town and the outer islands. He plans to do regular updates on the fire district to the town council.

Farhad Ghatan and Ryan Page gave an update on the SJC Housing Advisory Committee which Ghatan chairs and Page coordinates. Christine Minney will be the County Council liaison for 2024. The county recently completely the point-in-time count of homeless. The REIT-funded Home Fund has $500k set aside for the Argylle project site development phase and another $500+k unallocated, with an expected $2 million to come in 2024. They will launch a new round of requests for proposals this year.

The Public Works department is adding a new water filter at the treatment plant. In March they will ask the Council to review the 20-year Transportation Improvement Plan and priority array. A new smaller garbage truck will arrive by March that will allow more flexible pick-up in crowded areas and narrow roads. They have new garage doors at a facility that will save labor and heat. They will be sending out code enforcement letters to property owners with vegetation obstructing sidewalks or streetlighting.

The Marguerite Place improvement project design deals with varying rights-of-way of 40, 45, and 50 feet. It will include curbs and gutters on both sides, street parking on one side, and sidewalks down the east side. Lanes will be eleven feet vs. the normal ten to allow for the high truck traffic n on the street. Public works will n be meeting with all the property owners along the street to go over the plan.

There were two docket requests in response to the December call for the updated comprehensive plan. Both requests are for map changes and rezoning from non-residential to residential multifamily zoning one on Guard Street and one adjacent to the Argylle lots. The council approved both requests going on the docket and they will go through the planning commission reviews and public hearing process with final council decisions scheduled for June 6th.

The Council reviewed the Home Trust design variance application for Holliwalk and the planning commission response. The Home Trust made a presentation and said they were agreed on four items of the town response but asked that the measures be applied only to the north leg and not the east-side leg of Holli Place, which they viewed as an additional request since the suspended appeal hearing. The Council did not approve the variance request and asked for additional lighting beyond CDP’s recommendation but agreed to extend the time from two years to four years for the Home Trust to complete the work. The council and the Home Trust exchanged some preliminary views on public input on the Argylle project.

The Administrator reported that the water department had a new employee and that one employee had a higher certification. The town sent a letter to the County about a decision on water use at the Fairgrounds. The County may appeal the decisions. They are working on a Department of Ecology funding for a wastewater treatment plant design. They held a short executive session on a complaint about a public officer.

The League of Women Voters, a nonpartisan organization encourages informed participation in government. The Observer Corps attends and takes notes at government meetings to expand public understanding of public policy and decisions. The notes do not necessarily reflect the views of the League or its members.