Submitted by Lynn Bahrych and the Shaw Compliance Alliance

Public Works Department moving forward with plan to convert million-dollar residence to industrial storage yard and burn lot after cursory meeting on Shaw

At a Dec. 5 community meeting on Shaw Island, San Juan County Public Works was asked to explain why it is spending well over $1 million or about $88,000 per mile on Shaw’s 12 miles of county road for road maintenance every seven years.

Shaw’s residents have not asked for a new, million-dollar facility for infrequent ditch clearing and chip-sealing. The current Shaw work site, shown in these photos, stands empty most of the time, with an occasional truck or pile of gravel. The large cement-block building is also mostly empty. In a previous community meeting, Public Works admitted that it could serve Shaw’s 12 miles of road and its approximately 200 full-time residents with what it has now, for “20-ish years.”

However, Public Works indicated during the very brief meeting that they bought a $1.05 million property for a new staging and waste disposal site in a residential neighborhood at the west end of Shaw, and they intend to use it that way. Although the public thought they would have the chance to ask all the questions that a recent project application left unanswered, Public Works cut off public questions one hour into the meeting. Members of the Shaw Compliance Alliance will continue to seek answers, such as those to questions about a newly unveiled proposal, the total cost of the project, the impacts of disposing ditch spoils and creating a debris-burning facility in a forest, and Public Works’ ultimate plans for the property.

Public Works could not answer questions about the overall expense or budget for this project. The million-dollar purchase price is just the beginning of the cost to the county taxpayers. Estimated costs to change the use from residential to industrial include $30,000-50,000 to upgrade the existing well, with “no guarantee of approval,” according to their well expert. Additional unevaluated costs likely will include an engineering analysis; an evaluation of the soil or other contamination from garbage burn piles that came with the new property; a State Environmental Policy Act review; tree removal, road expansion, and building renovation; and obtaining County approval to use the property for industrial purposes.

Prior to purchasing the new property, Public Works declared that they could resell the property if they could not get a change of use to industrial. This would return taxpayer dollars to the many pressing needs in the county for immediate road work. According to an appraisal of the properties, residential use is the highest and best use for the. Conversion to a different use will reduce their value for future resale and further squander public tax dollars.