Rhetoric about recreational marijuana flew fast and loose on May 5, 2014, a lively day in the basement of 1 NE 6th Street in Coupeville.
Much of the Fakkema Farm, 377 acres of forest and high-grade farmland on north Whidbey Island, could be preserved through up to $1 million in Conservation Futures Fund easements under an enthusiastic, unanimous vote Monday by the Board of Island County Commissioners.
Fireworks, regional transportation and vacation rentals led the list of topics addressed Thursday at the Island County Council of Governments’ monthly meeting.
Island County wants to address some contentious environmental-protection issues when it releases its new comprehensive plan by June 1, 2016, and not before, according to a Monday filing with the state’s Growth Management Hearings Board.
On Jan. 1, the Island County Beach Watchers will part ways with long-time administrator Washington State University and become an independent, non-profit organization with a new name: Sound Water Stewards of Island County.
A state judicial body last week gave Island County until Nov. 10 to say how and when it will comply with a decision the body issued this summer. But two Island County Commissioners insisted the county will not be pushed.
After five years of work, Island County has a new plan governing development and permitted activities along its 207 linear miles of seashore and lakefront.
The public will get a chance next month to weigh in on Island County’s decision whether to spend as much as $818,000 this year conserving land and improving a natural area.
Noisy events held on rural land emerged Wednesday night as a major concern for about 30 residents attending one of three meetings island-wide on how best to use rural land.
The Board of Island County Commissioners may have violated the state’s Open Public Meetings Act in ousting planning director Dave Wechner and splitting the Planning Department’s leadership, experts said this week.
Island County Planning and Community Development will likely be split in two, with a separate leader for each half, following the surprise resignation Monday of department director Dave Wechner.
County planning director Dave Wechner, who held that job for nearly two and half years, suddenly resigned his position at around noon Monday.
In response to a reporter’s phone call minutes earlier asking whether rumors of his imminent departure were true, he emailed, “Yes, the county and I are parting ways. I hope to be walking out the door for the last time in the next few minutes.”
Forty county positions will get substantial salary boosts next year, with one increasing by 19 pay grades.
