Town of Friday Harbor Council: Changes to Memorial Park will be needed, Grange owes Town money, Improvement in communication with County sought
LWVSJ Observer Corps*: Summary of Friday Harbor Town Council, May 18, 2023. The trees at Memorial Park were made safe, but no further action was taken to improve the park. The trees have limited life and the park will need to be redone. The original cost of the existing traffic circle/park was $500,000.
Last year, crews removed the unhealthy and potentially dangerous limbs of one of the Elm trees in Memorial Park in Friday Harbor.
A traffic study will be done next year and can include potential changes to the traffic circle. Outreach for public input will be needed to determine a new plan. In the meantime, the town will have an arborist maintain the trees.
A longstanding effort to get the SJI Grange to pay a fee for the disposal of contaminated soil from several years ago drags on, as the Grange’s attorney stonewalls. The latest claim is that the soil was not contaminated, though the test results were provided long ago. The Council plans to send a letter to the Grange Board members demanding payment.
The men’s public restrooms in Sunshine Alley is closed. Someone damaged the door and an employee got locked inside. Though they managed to get the door to re-open, fears that a member of the public could get locked in forced closure until the door can be replaced.
A meeting with the county to discuss water use at the fairgrounds was postponed.
The Council expressed concern about limited communication with the county on several issues, and hope to address water use at the fairgrounds, to get a quarterly update from the Sheriff’s Office, and to have regular contact with the Council member representing San Juan Island.
The council received a letter requesting the town put up a sign at the multi-use court at Cahail Park. A draft sign was approved by the council that will limit each group’s use of the court to an hour at a time, along with other rules.
The Community Development Department expects to have the new permit tracking system fully implemented in 4-6 months.
The Council asked staff to prepare a draft ordinance to apply the COLA that goes to union staff to elected officials in the future. The new amounts will apply to current members only upon re-election. The new ordinance will be presented for discussion/action at a future meeting.
The Town Administrator is looking into options for financing the wastewater treatment.
The Council is invited to think of issues to be raised with State Department of Transportation about on island transport at the upcoming meeting in the County on June 21.
*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.