Island County’s 2016 Comprehensive Plan, the object of intense effort for at least three years, will be late, the board of commissioners acknowledged for the first time on Thursday.
The Board of Island County Commissioners agreed informally Tuesday that the Whidbey Island Fair will be held for the next two years, despite the unsettled and contentious issue of who will own and run the fairgrounds.
State, county, municipal and other entities on Wednesday officially formed the Island Transportation Planning Organization, a group intended to ensure that Island County allocates federal transportation funds most effectively county-wide.
The group chose Island County Commissioner Helen Price Johnson as its chair and Langley Mayor Tim Callison as its vice-chair.
The Port of South Whidbey, which since April 1, 2015 has managed the historic Island County Fairgrounds under a one-year, no-cost lease from the county, on Feb. 24 threatened to refuse to sign a new lease on April 1 if the county doesn’t agree to accept the results of a proposed August referendum by the Port.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency, or FEMA, agreed this past week to reconsider its preliminary mapping of some Island County areas as subject to flooding. The concession, made by FEMA Engineer Ted Perkins during a work session with the county commissioners, apparently eliminates the county’s need to undertake expensive studies of every remapped parcel that it disagrees now faces a flood hazard.
Regular users of Joseph Whidbey State Park are upset that their cherished spot is one of 10 state parks under consideration for private business development.
The Washington State Auditor’s Office last week chided the Island County Council of Governments for failures to comply with state law.
How is Oak Harbor going to keep up with the expected expansion at Naval Air Station Whidbey Island? Schools and housing will be two obvious areas of impact.
That little red building off the highway in Greenbank has a new tenant and, unlike some recent renters who seemed to last there only a matter of days, this one says he’s here to stay.
An appreciation for Whidbey Island’s history — and his own — led Island County Superior Court Judge Alan Hancock to cover the bare walls of his courtroom with a dozen historic black-and-white photos.
Seeking to strengthen a planning department that has endured much turnover, Island County is seeking a consultant, assistant director of planning and a long-range planner.
Island County has given the Federal Emergency Management Agency, or FEMA, the first evidence that the agency erred when it revised flood-risk maps this summer, Hiller West, director of current-use planning and community development, told the county commissioners during a work session Wednesday.
A part-time Greenbank couple sued by Island County for blocking a Coupeville public beach access has sweetened its settlement offer.
