At the June 16 commencement ceremony, Academic Dean and English teacher Heather June described each graduate with a single word.
A draft contract for County Council approval is expected later this month, with a target date of September 1 for Mount Vernon-based Lautenbach to take over operations at the Sutton Road transfer station. The picture for the Orcas Island transfer station operations is not so clear, Public Works Director Frank Mulcahy acknowledged.
Hard work and unique products are the foundations of success for four island manufacturing companies, but owners of each credit their employees and think San Juan Island is a great place to be headquartered.
“Unexpected modifications that need to be made to supporting structures set us back a week,” said state DOT’s Jay Drye, adding that crews are working around the clock” and that additional steelworkers and laborers were being “added daily.”
Sheriff Rob Nou may have helped his cause even more by telling the council that Emergency Management Coordinator Brendan Cowan had obtained a waiver from Homeland Security of a “local match” requirement originally part of the grant terms. The $200,000 or so in local matching funds might have made the deal impossible for a county budget still stretched tight by the recession.
Hotels and restaurants noted few or no cancellations, and local retailers and realtors expressed satisfaction with sales and traffic as the summer season began in earnest on San Juan Island.
Crews from Atkinson Construction and several Atkinson subcontractors are already working around the clock to assemble the two bridges. Both Acrow and Atkinson confirmed that the target for completion of the temporary project is mid-June – a timetable several weeks sooner than first estimated by state officials.
Vistiors bound for the San Juan Islands can take various alternate routes to reach the Anacortes ferry terminal, the jump-off point to the islands, but state officials say the I-5 bridge in Mount Vernon could take, “months, not weeks” to repair.
The letter of intent outlines opportunities the organizations could pursue together, including performance improvement initiatives to reduce costs and clinical programming to increase access to specialized services such as cardiovascular care, high-risk obstetrics and neonatology, cancer care, behavioral health and neurosciences.
Thomas has been city administrator of the city of Enumclaw, population 10,669, Wash., since 2010. Before that, he was director of the city’s Department of Community and Economic Development for five years.
Although no final decision has been made, the board previously backed the broadband initiative as a means to enhance its electricity delivery through “Smart Grid” technology, better conserve energy use, and boost communication capability of emergency service.
Incumbent Felix Menjivar will face a pair of opponents in the race for Position 3 on the town council. Meanwhile, Friday Harbor Mayor Carrie Lacher and 21 other candidates are unopposed for election.
The county manager, who is expected to be paid about $150,000 a year, will assist the new 3-person county council in overseeing the functions of local government and those departments not managed by another elected county official, such as the sheriff, auditor or prosecuting attorney.
