Submitted by the League of Women Voters Observer Corps.

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.

Friday Harbor Port Commission, regular meeting of Feb. 28

Becky Day from the Friday Harbor Chamber of Commerce thanked the Port for their support for Fourth of July celebrations and said the Town of Friday Harbor was helping with the costs for parade insurance. She shared what the Chamber gets from the County and the Town Lodging Tax to run the Visitors Center and community events. An alternate tree for the town Christmas Tree is being sought, and it was noted that the Port has a beautiful tree on their property near the marina, which would work well. The executive director will work with the Chamber to finalize Port support for community events organized by the Chamber.

The Commission approved the assignment of sublease for Hangar S-10 to Kevin and Ann Peterson. It is a sublease under the executive hangar lease held by the Hangar Association. The Commission reviewed and approved the 2024 accounts receivable write-offs. These cover the Port losses, including items going to collection.

The Commission discussed their proposed art policy in cooperation with the Town of Friday Harbor. They entertained questions from staff members and referred to the Town of Friday Harbor Arts Commission processes. In the outline proposed, Port staff would identify appropriate sites for any potential artwork, and the Commission would provide guidance on the type of art they would be interested in hosting. The Town can then handle making requests for proposals. If the Town gets a request for proposal for art and would like to place that on Port property, the Port Commission would be part of their planning and decision-making process. They would assign an art budget amount within discretionary expenditures for community events. The Port would maintain a flexible stance and might seek advice from outside sources as needed. The Town’s policies would be used as guidelines, with all final decisions on art on Port property made by the Port Commission. The executive director will work on the draft policy for the Commission to review.

Friday Harbor Town Council, regular meeting of March 6

The mayor announced he has a great-grandchild. In opening public comment, citizens stated their concerns that the Town was holding the Home Trust, which was building affordable housing to higher standards than for-profit developers, citing the actions toward Holly Walk versus Finnegan Ridge. A second citizen said that Town standards for brighter streetlights and more sidewalks would give the town a big-city ambience that many residents did not want. The mayor ceded his chair to respond as a member of the public, but Council raised a point of order, and the mayor did not respond. The Public Works director updated the Council on the wastewater treatment plant project, the street classification update, the water treatment plant and traffic safety. With a recent meeting with state and federal funders, the Town is preparing to put the wastewater treatment plant project out for bid on April 1 and to award the contract by July 1 to meet the deadlines for the outside funds. The Council approved an amendment to the project to cover added construction funds from the Department of Ecology. At about $20 million, this will be the largest project the town has done in some time. He reviewed the proposed street classifications for streets that are not classified on the current map and proposed reclassifying Harrison from C Street to Turn Point, which is access for Pear Point; Lampard Street which is access for Hillcrest, Ross and Browne streets; and Carter which serves as access to businesses and neighborhood streets as local access streets verus residential. This will reflect their actual use and let the town apply for grant funds for improvements to these streets. Residential street improvements must be paid for by local funds. At the request of the Planning Department in connection with the Comp Plan update, he raised reclassifying Larson as local access to eventually connect with Beaverton Valley Road to relieve traffic pressure on the Guard and Tucker intersection. This was set aside for later consideration. As part of the update, he proposed code amendments to classify streets according to use rather than right-of-way width and clarifying street lighting standards and code enforcement for private roads. He briefly updated the council on further progress on the water treatment plant expansion, noting the switch from pumps to gravity flow will increase practical capacity as filters can operate independently, rather than all shut down together for maintenance. Finally, he shared with the Council the new traffic and pedestrian safety materials they are designing to educate residents and visitors. They are removing vegetation where trees have obscured streetlighting

Joint County and Friday Harbor Town Council, regular meeting of March 12

In opening remarks, Town and County Council members welcomed regular consultation and improved coordination and stressed the need for a united front in the face of federal uncertainty and state budget challenges. The meeting then kicked off with a review of Home Fund achievements after seven years, in which revenue had reached about $15 million, of which $13 million had been committed to projects and $2 million to be awarded in the 2025 grant round. This money leveraged an additional 480 million in grants and has funded 196 affordable housing units, of which 104 are complete and 96 are under construction, many of which will be complete in 2025. Lopez Island accounts for 32 units, Orcas 90 and San Juan 74. The Argylle project expects to break ground in 2027 as design, permits and financing will take 18-24 months.

The County gave a brief update on the governor’s emergency funds for pilot projects offering barge and interisland passenger service when ferries are down and scheduled passenger service to Anacortes. The requests are out with bids due Friday, March 14, with service expected to start in April and run through June 30 and some interim services to cover March through April. County residents are urged to use the services as usage data will inform decisions on extending the services. A Victoria-Clipper-type service may restart in June or July for passenger service to Seattle. A bill on a mosquito fleet is in the state Legislature.

The Town and County managers reviewed bills in the state Legislature that could have local impact. The situation changes daily as bills fail, move forward or are amended. Bills they are watching closely include a possible lift of the 1% cap on property tax increases, a road usage tax to phase in replacing the gas tax, a bill offering REIT flexibility, and a bill on mobile dwellings.

The Town and County planners gave a joint presentation on their coordination of the Comprehensive Plan updates and efforts to ensure their codes and policies conform with the Growth Management Act and are consistent with each other. They are working closely on Urban Growth Area elements. UGA expansion proposes to include two residential neighborhoods and some Port property — Jensen’s Shipyard and the rest of the airport. The UGA (town) is expected to accommodate 60% of future population growth but needs to ensure it can provide water, sewer and other services.