Miscellaneous Items - 6/30/09

Aquifer Meeting Tonight (6/30). This is a reminder of the Aquifer meeting tonight (6/30) a 6:30 pm at the Norm Dicks Center.

Questions Already. We have some residents who have to work evenings or have other meetings and cannot attend the aquifer meeting. We took some their questions early which include these:

1. We have a development that wants to put in high density homes with sewers along the Illahee Creek corridor. The adjoining residents would like to see lower density homes with septics. Should we be concerned about nitrates from the septics getting into the aquifers?
2. Over the years there have been conflicting reports of where our ground water is coming from. Some of us remember hearing it was coming from the Olympic Mountains. Now it is said to come locally as our rain water infiltrates down through the soil and into the aquifers. Does anyone really know where our water comes from? And, how can we be sure the latest information is correct?
3. If groundwater and aquifers are so important, how come we haven’t heard much about them from our government officials? Who is in charge of managing the groundwater and aquifers?
4. I’m concerned about the low flows in Illahee Creek. Who is supposed to be watching out for our streams? The state, the county, the federal government? Does anyone really care? The only group we ever hear about caring is the tribes because of salmon. Should we be talking with them?
5. Do things like rain gardens and infiltration pits actually work? And what happens when we get a major downpour like what happened on December 3rd of 2007 and the rain gardens and infiltration pits can’t absorb all the water?
6. If the stormwater contaminates that are polluting Puget Sound are infiltrated into the ground, won’t they eventually pollute our groundwater?
7. I live some distance away from Illahee Creek, about a mile, and want to know if my infiltrating of my roof rain water will help?
8. What about people who have zinc strips on their roofs, or copper impregnated shingles, to keep the moss off? Won’t those metals harm the groundwater? And, what about pesticides and other lawn chemicals?

Canada Geese Eating Up the Blueberries. While we like our wildlife we have reports the Canada geese have developed a taste for green and ripening blueberries. They have already devoured the berries on some of the small bushes and are working on the big bushes. Time to put the nets up.

Another Deer Solution. Thank you to all who provided your remedies to keep deer out of garden areas. Here is the latest:

Just thought I'd throw my two cents in on the subject of critters in the garden .... so here's a couple more suggestions ....not only does human hair work, but dog hair works great too, put it in old nylons and hang it around your garden area, chicken house,etc..... and it will keep those critters at bay, I have a friend who lives on a farm in Hungary and this is how she keeps the foxes out of her hen house....and deer out of her garden.

Fly solutions, For those of you who have trouble with those little flies that come in when you leave your door open and just circle around in the air this is an "old wives tale" that works....put water in a plastic baggie and hang it above your doorway or let it hang on little rope and you will never have one of those pesky little flies in you house....

Community Garden Tour Response. Just a few responders to the idea of having an Illahee gardens tour. We will see what that group wants to do and report back. Let us know if you would like to be part of the group.

New Format. We were asked to eliminate the underlining in our Updates as it makes it more difficult to transfer them to the illaheecommunity.com web page.

Eagle Attacking Ornamental Chicken Article. When we posted the "eagle attacking ornamental chicken" item in a previous update, we didn't have a picture of the chicken. The next day the Kitsap Sun did a front page report, complete with a picture. The chicken looked very real so we now understand how this happened. Click on the following for the picture and article. http://kitsapsun.com/news/2009/jun/23/eagle-eyed-misguided-bird-leaves-illahee-empty/

Illahee Mentioned in Mediation Article. The Kitsap County Commissioner's have added a mediation step to their land use process and said it was because of the Illahee Community's outfall fight (which was to keep the 42" diameter stormwater pipe from being installed under the Illahee Community Dock). While the community came to an agreement with the developer, the primary problem was with Kitsap County for allowing the outfall in the first place. We hope the mediation process also includes the Kitsap County employees, who in spite of being paid by the citizens, do not always act in their best interests of local communities. The link to the article is: http://kitsapsun.com/news/2009/jun/24/kitsap-commissioners-ok-new-land-use-mediation/

Illahee Referenced in Rob Woutat Article. There was a recent article by Rob Woutat in the Kitsap Sun where he mentioned what it was like living in the Illahee community. Unfortunately, the Kitsap Sun has not made that article available on its website. When it shows up, we will provide a link to it.

Jim Aho

Why Attend Tuesday's Meeting? - 6/28/09

Interest in Tuesday's Meeting. There have been questions about, and interest shown, concerning Tuesday's meeting at the Norm Dick's Center (a presentation by hydrologist Dr. Joel Massmann beginning at 6:30 pm on 6/30/09). Some very busy people wanted more information and have asked us some blunt questions about attending.

Why should I attend Tuesday’s meeting? We were asked the following question “Can you give me a good reason why I should take the time to attend Tuesday’s aquifer meeting?” When we started to respond with a detailed explanation we were asked for the short version. Our responses are therefore a short version and a longer more detailed version.

THE SHORT VERSION. The aquifers that supply our drinking water and the water to Illahee Creek may be over allocated. According to the numbers, If everyone used their water right allocations our aquifer levels and the low flow in Illahee Creek would steadily decrease. We need to understand what is happening and what we can do to help make sure critical water resources are sustained into the future.

THE LONG VERSION. Rainfall A Problem? Water is a key ingredient to life and in Illahee all our water comes from aquifers that are recharged by local rains. At one time experts thought our water came from the Olympic Mountain area and only relatively recently discovered that it is the infiltration of our own rainfall into our aquifers that supplies our drinking water. When we thought there was an over abundance of water, we and the county treated our rainwater (stormwater) as a problem rather than a resource. The state and county developed regulations to dump our rainwater (stormwater) from our roofs, driveways and roads through drains and pipes into nearby creeks and into Puget Sound, with little thought of infiltrating it back into the ground.

Aquifer Issues Not Getting Attention. While things are beginning to change with a new emphasis on controlling stormwater and Low Impact Development (LID) applications (primarily because the stormwater is polluting Puget Sound), the importance of infiltration to replenish our aquifers hasn’t gotten the commensurate attention by the public or the press.

Illahee Studies Conducted. What got the attention of many Illahee folks on this subject, was a concern of the low flows (or baseflows) in Illahee Creek, along with high flows (storm surges), both of which are damaging to fish in the stream. Years ago the Port of Illahee was concerned enough to begin discussions with Kitsap County on how to control the surges that sent brown silt laden sediment flows for miles into Puget Sound, which led to the Port applying for grants to study the problem. When a new development planned to install large concrete detention vaults on the steep and unstable slopes of Illahee Creek, the Port and the Community hired experts to study the impacts to the creek (which eventually resulted in a change to some of their plans).

Aquifer Importance Identified. Those studies documented that Illahee Creek was entirely fed by shallow aquifers during non-precipitation periods and concluded that high density development in the area will decrease the baseflows in Illahee Creek. We learned the area is designated as a critical aquifer recharge area by Kitsap County. The studies were also instrumental in the area being down-zoned in 2006.

Why Attend - Replenishment Rate Unsustainable? So why attend? According to the Illahee Creek Aquifer Protection Plan (part of the recent Parametrix “Illahee Creek Watershed Surface Water Management Plan") as we read it, the water rights exceed the replenishment rate for the Manette Peninsula and within the Illahee Creek watershed. In other words, if each holder of water rights fully utilized those rights, the aquifers and creek levels could not be sustained.

Why Attend - Illahee Creek Aquifer Not Being Replenished? Secondly, those residents watching and monitoring Illahee Creek are alarmed at the current low flows and wonder if there are areas around the creek where the aquifer is not being replenished. They are concerned that this lack of replenishment could spell the end of Illahee Creek as a fish bearing stream. In this day and age we should not be destroying a stream’s ability to support fish.

Why Attend - To Understand and Act? Finally, we need to understand what is happening with our drinking water and stream flows, and what we can do to help make sure our critical water resources are sustainable.

Answers on Tuesday. Dr. Massmann should be able to explain our situation and give us some answers.

Other Responses Later. We have received other responses regarding this meeting and will publish them later.

Jim Aho

Important Aquifer Meeting & Rain Garden Report - 6/24/09

Important Illahee/Aquifer Meeting on Tuesday, June 30th. Hydrologist and ground water consultant, Dr. Joel Massmann, will be presenting a briefing on GROUNDWATER, AQUIFERS & INFILTRATION REQUIREMENTS - A Briefing of the Manette Peninsula Aquifer and the Illahee Watershed aquifer Protection Plan from 6:30 - 8 pm at the Norm Dicks Center on Tuesday, June 30, 2009.

Who is Dr. Massmann? When the Illahee Community was concerned about the low flow in Illahee Creek a number of years ago they went looking for the best independent hydrologist they could find and hired Dr. Massmann to conduct that study. He is a groundwater consultant with over 25 years experience. He is the founder of Keta Waters and was previously a faculty member in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Washington.

Also Part of the DOE Grant Team Studying the Illahee Watershed. Dr. Massmann was also a member of team Parametrix assembled to develop the Illahee Creek Watershed Surface Water Management Plan for the Port of Illahee and as part of a Department of Ecology grant. Dr. Massmann wrote the Aquifer Protection Plan for the final report which he will likely be including as part of his presentation.

Presentation Items. Dr. Massmann will discuss the underlying aquifers and groundwater recharge on the Manette Peninsula and within the Illahee Creek watershed. The presentation will address questions regarding how much fresh water is in these aquifers, where does this fresh water come from, and where does it go. These questions will be described in the context of relationships between groundwater for municipal supply and groundwater to support stream flow and wetlands.

Questions & Answer Session. There will be an opportunity to ask questions of Dr. Massmann. Additionally, Dave Tucker, from the Kitsap County Publlic Works Department is planning on attending and will also be available to answer questions.

Why Attend? The Manette Peninsula aquifer is the primary source of the stream flows in Illahee Creek. Illahee Creek is fed entirely by the aquifer when there is no rain and already has low baseflows during these non-rainy periods. It is those low baseflows that jeopardize the ability of the stream to support salmon, not to mention that the creek is also affected by the stormwater surges that produce the storm surges that tend to flush out the salmon. Some feel the stream is already approaching marginal baseflows and it will be unable to withstand the added pressures of developments like Timbers Edge. That is why the Illahee Community Club has appealed the Hearing Examiner's decision to approve the Timbers Edge development. This is an opportunity to get some answers from a recognized expert who is familiar with the aquifers and the Illahee Watershed area.

Infiltration Needed. One of the messages we think we will hear from Dr. Massmann is the need to infiltrate the rains we receive, rather than trying to pipe the water to Illahee Creek or Puget Sound. We have heard that infiltration should be as close as possible to surfaces like roofs, driveways, and roadways, and thus the emphasis on bioretention features like raingardens, bioswales, infiltration pits, pervious surfaces, and the like.

Rain Garden Class. We had an Illahee resident who attended a Sea Grant and Kitsap County rain garden class this past Saturday and thought this might be a good class of the Illahee community, since our soils are generally very permeable (note that there were a number a gravel pits in the area in the recent past) and we need to replenish the aquifer that supplies Illahee Creek. We will provide more information on this in a following update.

Questions? The meeting is on Tuesday at the Norm Dicks Center on 6th Street in downtown Bremerton. Evening parking is readily available. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me at 479-1049,

Jim Aho

Reminder of Timbers Edge Meeting - 4/6/09

Meeting Tonight (Monday 4/6/09). We have been asked to remind everyone of the Illahee Community meeting tonight to discuss whether to appeal the Hearing Examiner's approval of the Timbers Edge project to the County Commissioners. The deadline for filing an appeal is 4/9/09.

Place - Library. The meeting will be held at the Kitsap Regional Library located on Sylvan Way.

Time - 6:30 pm. The meeting will start at 6:30, but members will be there at 6 pm to answer questions.

Lawyer Present. The lawyer who represented the Illahee Community Club, Ryan Vancil, will be attending the meeting to answer questions.

Funding Questions. As we understand the financial situation it is roughly as follows:

In 2008 approximately $20,000 was expended to cover filing fees, expert witnesses, and lawyer fees for the Illahee Outfall hearing and appeals and the Timbers Edge hearings. The costs exceeded contributions but was covered by a very large contribution at the end of the year.

In 2009 the ICC is essentially starting out with a zero balance, which means an appeal will need to be covered by contributions before it can go forward. The ICC Board of Directors has essentially said they will carry out the wishes of the community as long as it conforms to the purposes for which it was organized and it is supported financially.

Other Questions? There will be members available to answer other questions at tonight's meeting.

Comments Received. We received a comment from a resident this weekend who is worried the residents don't understand the adverse impact that this development will have on the Illahee community if this project goes ahead as planned.

Another Comment. (Paraphrased) We need to remind people that we are not against development. This project as currently configured will likely permanently damage the ability of Illahee Creek to support salmon. A development of lesser density and more infiltration will result in most neighbors supporting the project. The developer had the choice and decided to ignore the community's input and the impact on Illahee Creek.

Jim Aho

Kitsap Sun Article re Outfall Settlement - 3/13/09

The Sun Article. The following linked article will be in Saturday's Kitsap Sun:

http://kitsapsun.com/news/2009/mar/13/illahee-developer-reach-deal-on-stormwater-pipes/

ICC Letter Sent to Newspapers. The February 25th letter from the Illahee Community Club, that is referenced in the article, was linked in the Illahee Community Update of March 5, 2009. It was also sent to all the local newspapers and the Seattle Times, so it is nice that the Sun did the article.

Two Projects Left. Some in the community are concerned that residents not forget to continue to follow through with a rain garden on Fern Street and an infiltration pit in the Illahee North detention pond which should even further diminish the amount of stormwater going to the new outfall and into the Sound.

Letter Reprinted. The two above mentioned items are described in the Illahee Community Club letter, which we are going to reprint at the end of this Update.

A Major Accomplishment. This is a significant and momentous success for the Illahee Community, and the community needs to be proud of its efforts.

But Costly. It was costly in terms of emotional energy and thousands of dollars and we would like to express our appreciation for all who helped, whether moral encouragement, letters, or financal support.

Jim Aho

Illahee Community Club

P.0. Box 2563

Bremerton, WA 98310

February 25, 2009


To: Distribution List

Subject: Illahee Outfall Settlement Support Statement

The Illahee Community Club (ICC) entered into an agreement or “settlement” with the MT Illahee Corporation, Kitsap County, and the Port of Illahee with regards to the relocation of a storm water outfall from the Illahee community dock to an undeveloped right-of-way on Berg Street, and associated area storm water improvements. Integral to the settlement the ICC agreed to issue a public statement of support for the settlement plans and has further agreed not to make public statements regarding the Sunrise Terrace or Rest/Olive/Hardt Development lot sizes.

The Illahee Community Club is very supportive of the resultant outfall agreement and feels that the settlement is beneficial and advantageous for each of the involved parties. The ICC is appreciative of the efforts by all parties to reach this agreement and the MT Illahee Corporation for working with the Illahee community. The following excerpt from a community member illustrates community sentiment:

The Illahee community strives to be a leading example in the area of responsible environmental preservation. Leading by example, both the Illahee community and the MT Illahee Corporation have shown what rewards can be produced by reaching a solution settlement that benefits all parties involved. Furthermore, the agreement is a step forward for one of the goals of the Puget Sound Partnership which is to control storm water in our waterways. For these reasons, there is strong community support for the settlement agreement.

The benefits of the agreement are many for the community, the environment, for the waters of Puget Sound, the Port of Illahee, Kitsap County, and the MT Illahee Corporation. Approximately 90 percent of the storm water that comes from our normally slow rainfall will be cleaned naturally through bio-infiltration swales and infiltrated back into the aquifers from the MT Illahee project. Only the remaining roughly 10% that comes from heavy rains will not be infiltrated because of high flow volumes and will need to be diverted to overflow outfall pipes that flow into Puget Sound.

There are a number of different aspects to the MT Illahee project that were part of the agreement. The first is the improved roadway being planned along Sunrise Terrace and the need to manage the storm water coming from the road surfaces. Bio-infiltration swales will be used at several locations along Sunrise Terrace to help clean the storm water with any overflow connecting to the existing Ocean View storm water system that discharges at the existing outfall. This is a major improvement as previously the storm water was going to be tight-lined (piped directly) to Puget Sound following the removal of suspended solids. This would have required the installation of a new storm water conveyance piping system and another outfall at the Illahee community dock.

The Illahee community at large and the Port of Illahee benefit as a new storm water outfall will not be going through the base of the Port of Illahee’s dock structure nor will the effluent be discharged at the Port’s public beach and swimming area. The Port and the community were already concerned with an existing 24 inch diameter outfall just a few feet south of where the new outfall was being proposed. Many in the community feel the discharges from the existing outfall have resulted in decreases in the fish and shellfish population. They also remembered the dock area being posted for fecal coliform pollution emanating from the existing outfall. With that history there were major concerns with another outfall that was again tight-lining storm water at the dock. The settlement agreement not only eliminates the need for new outfall at the base of the dock; it also results in a decrease in the storm water that will be discharging to the existing outfall.

The Illahee community benefits from a second outfall along the shoreline in that storm water overflows are more equally distributed into Puget Sound, rather than concentrating all the stormwater for the entire hillside to the Illahee dock area. In retrospect, it appears the existing Berg Street right-of-way should have been used years earlier for the storm water overflows from the Illahee North project. At that time there was less of a concern by the county with running large volumes of stormwater into Puget Sound and a readily accessible right-of-way existed at the community dock. Any future developments in the uphill drainage sub-basins north of Berg Street would have likely required the use of this right-of-way for a new storm water outfall to handle the overflows. The settlement agreement just initiates the use of an outfall at this location earlier rather than later.

The ultimate goal of the Illahee community is to clean and infiltrate storm water to the maximum extent possible, such that the only the overflows from major storm events enter into Puget Sound. The storm water flows going into the settlement outfall from the MT Illahee project will also go through a bio-infiltration swale where the 90 percent of our normal rainfall is expected to be captured and infiltrated. This will help reduce the settlement outfall overflows. The community notes that there is more work to be done by the community and possibly the county, which is outside the responsibility of MT Illahee, to further clean and infiltrate the storm water going into the settlement outfall. There is a small runoff from the north Fern Street area that would benefit from a rain garden upstream of its storm water overflow pipe, and the northern most cell of the Illahee North detention pond would benefit from a possible infiltration pit. Both of these items would satisfy the goal of cleaning and infiltrating storm water to the maximum extent possible and would ensure that only overflows from major storms would enter Puget Sound waters.

The Illahee Community Club would like to again express its appreciation to MT Illahee, and specifically to its representative, Bernie Johnston, who worked with community representatives to come up with a mutually acceptable solution for all parties.

Please refer any questions regarding this agreement to the Illahee community members, Jim Brady (360-377-8345) and Jim Aho (360-479-1049), who represented the Illahee Community Club in this matter.

Barney Bernhard 

Illahee Community Club

Copies to:

Port of Illahee

Vancil Law Offices

MT Illahee (via GordonDerr LLP)

Kitsap County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office, Civil Division

Shorelines Hearings Board

Department of Ecology

Department of Fish & Wildlife, Kitsap County

Puget Sound Partnership

Kitsap Health District

Kitsap County Public Works

Kitsap County Department of Community Development

Team 4 Engineering

Kitsap Sun

Central Kitsap Reporter/Bremerton Patriot

Seattle Times

Port of Illahee Distribution Letter - 3/6/09

Port of Illahee Letter. We received the attached Port of Illahee letter ( page 1 - page 2 ) a few days ago and forwarded the accompanying "Executive Summary" in an earlier Update. The Port's letter distributes a major report on the Illahee Creek Watershed to a number of recipients and to our website person, Laurie Jones, who is trying to figure out how to put the 500 plus page report on the community website.

Excellent Summary. We found the Port letter to be an excellent, but very brief, summary of the deteriorating conditions of the creek, the culvert, and the bay that prompted the Port to apply for the Department of Ecology grant.

Next Steps. Now that the Port and the community have scientific data that backs up their claims that Illahee Creek has some major issues that need to be dealt with they will need to determine what the next steps will be. We quote one of their closing statements:

"The Port of Illahee requests report recipients utilize the information contained herein to assist the Port, the Illahee Community, and Kitsap County to correct past mistakes and to promote the protection of Puget Sound, Illahee Creek, the Illahee Creek watershed, and the underlying aquifers for the present and future generations."

Report Information. We will begin to share information in the report periodically in future updates. We understand Kitsap County is already looking at areas where efforts can begin.

Please Read the Port Letter. The Port of Illahee needs to be commended for their interests and concerns for Illahee Creek that resulted in their efforts to secure the Department of Ecology grant that funded a major scientific study of the watershed. The next steps will be up to everyone to help with the necessary fixes. We ask each Illahee resident to read the letter and to become aware of what is needed to "correct past mistakes."

Jim Aho

Outfall Settlement Statement - 3/5/09

Illahee Outfall Settlement Statement. We have received a copy of the "Illahee Outfall Settlement Support Statement" that has just been mailed out by the Illahee Community Club (ICC) to a rather lengthy distribution list.

Background. We have not gone back to get all the dates, but we remember being aware of the MT Illahee development plans in 2007. According the "Settlement Agreement" copy we have Kitsap County issued a "Mitigated Determination of Non Significance" or MDNS ruling for the project on October 23, 2007. This was approval for a new 42" storm water outfall located at the base of the Illahee Community Dock and the storm water system and development of a roadway and 10 lots on Sunrise Terrace, along with planning for a future development along Rest, Olive, and Hardt Streets.

Port & Community Appeals. The Port of Illahee and the Illahee Community Club each appealed the project, only to have the Hearing Examiner deny the appeals.

Appeal to the County Commissioners. The Port and the Community appealed the Hearing Examiner decision to the County Commissioners, only to have Commissioners' Angel and Bauer deny the appeal on June 9, 2008 (Commissioner Brown supported the appeal).

Appeal to the Shorelines Hearings Board (SHB). The ICC filed an appeal with the SHB on July 7, 2008, feeling the County, the Hearing Examiner, and the two Commissioners did not consider all the facts.

Port Action. In addition the ICC actions, the Port of Illahee had filed a no trespass lawsuit with Kitsap County Superior Court on March 4, 2008 to prevent the developer from cutting into the dock's foundation to install the new outfall.

Settlement Option. With the pending legal hearings and costs to both sides, ICC members met with one of the developer's engineers to see if they could come up with a mutually acceptable solution.

Settlement Agreement. The meetings eventually resulted in a "Settlement Agreement" signed by the MT Illahee Corporation, Kitsap County, the Port of Illahee, and the Illahee Community Club.

Agreement Timetable. The timetable of the agreement required revisions to the Shoreline Permit and the storm water system which were recently completed and approved by Kitsap County.

ICC Required Actions. There were several stipulations or requirements for the Illahee Community Club, including completing a "Settlement Statement" and sending it to the ICC email list, posting it on the Illahee Community Website, submitting it to the County, and forwarding it to local papers.

Jim Aho

ps Attached is John Lind photo of a tugboat going through Illahee.

Grant Report Executive Summary - 2/27/09

Department of Ecology Grant Report - We are starting to distribute information we received this week. The attached link is for an Executive Summary that was an attachment to a Port of Illahee letter that we will send out with the next Update.

Jim Aho

Information On Upcoming Updates - 2/26/09

Update Frequency. It has been awhile since the last update and the inquiries as to why are continuing. We have been busy with other things and also there has not been any email inputs received that could be passed on, except for some photos and a verbal report on some owl activity. That situation is changing as you will note below.

Grant Report Distributed. The Port of Illahee has distributed the "Illahee Creek Watershed Surface Water Management Plan" that was prepared by Parametrix and funded primarily by the Department of Ecology. We have received a copy of Port distribution letter, and the report itself, and will try to get them to you and on the website soon.

Illahee Outfall Settlement. We also found out the Illahee Community Club has completed a "Settlement Support Statement" letter that describes the benefits of the outfall settlement to the community and to the developer. Once it is signed we will obtain a copy and send it out to all our our email list, which was one of the stipulations of the settlement.

Puget Sound Partnership Reps in Illahee. We have received information that several representatives from the Puget Sound Partnership will be looking at various sites in Kitsap County on Sunday (3/1/09) and one of those sites will be Illahee. They will be meeting at the Illahee Preserve for a quick tour of Illahee and are evidently interested in what is happening with Illahee Creek and the impact of the creek on the Sound.

Missed Meeting Reports. We have been asked to keep up with reporting on recent Illahee meetings as many have advised us they have other obligations and can't make all the meetings. We understand and will try to get reports out on the January and February meetings.

Short Update. Look for more information on each of these items soon. We will likely send a separate Update out on each one with a link to the actual document so you can comment on them if you want.

Illahee Information. Please send us any information you think the community should be aware of and we will pass it on.

Jim Aho

ps The photos are of the new Preserve parking lot being installed and are from John Lind.

Break-in Update, Stolen Boat, Community Meeting - 2/13/09

Illahee Road Break-in Solved. Awhile ago we reported about a house break-in along Illahee Road. Last week there was an article in the Kitsap Sun about a person admitting to breaking into 80 homes which is available by clicking on the following link:

http://kitsapsun.com/news/2009/feb/06/kitsap-detectives-solve-80-cases-8212-with-help/

We just got notice that this was the person responsible for the break-in on Illahee Road. The person had about 75 jewelry items stolen and was able to recover 13 of them.

Boat Stolen. We also got notice of a boat being stolen this weekend. Below is the email we received. If you know of this stolen boat, please call the sheriff, or if you want we will pass any information on to the boat owner.

I have once again had a theft at my house. This time a boat taken off the beach sometime over the weekend. (I noticed it was gone on Sunday morning.)

It is an aluminum rowboat - a 14 foot Klamoth WN8479LD. Since there were no oars or motor with it, I don't think it got far, but who knows. I think it would have taken a couple of people to turn it over and carry it to the water. I am passing this on for two reasons. First, it may show up on someone's beach, and I can get it back, and also, because a lot of our neighbors have boats on their beach and they may want to check that nothing of theirs is missing. I have reported this to the police. At this rate, I am going to be on a first-name bases with all the deputies!

Community Meeting on Saturday. The Illahee Community Club will hold its first quarterly meeting of 2009 on Valentines Day, February 14, 2009 from 1:30 - 3 pm, at the Sylvan Way library. This is an important meeting as they discuss an Illahee Community Advisory Council that would report to the Kitsap County Commissioners, the status of the Replacement Illahee Outfall, whether to appeal the anticipated appeal rejection by the Hearing Examiner of the Timbers Edge project, and the status of the Illahee Creek culvert that continues to fill with sediment, and possibly other issues.

Jim Aho

Miscellaneous Items - 2/9/09

Illahee Website. The Illahee website was established for the Illahee community to have ready access to local issues and events, and to be able to communicate with each other.

Blog Site Established. The communication vehical is via a blog site, which is something the younger generation is more familar. We have had the blog site up for some time but the useage has been limited.

Website Advisory Committee Decision. There is an Illahee Community Website Advisory Committee that met last fall and suggested the Community Updates be linked to the blog site.

Why Do This? That was the question and the answer is that it allows others to quickly respond to any of the Updates and everyone can see the responses.

How Does It Work? The other day we put out an Update mentioning owls, and we ended up getting two great responses back. We haven't gotten them back out in an Update, but if they had sent them in as comments to the Update, they would have been available to anyone who wanted to look at them right away.

Illahee Community Club Meeting on Valentines Day. The Illahee Community Club will hold its first quarterly meeting of 2009 on Valentines Day, February 14, 2009 from 1:30 - 3 pm, at the Sylvan Way library. This is an important meeting as they discuss an Illahee Community Advisory Council that would report to the Kitsap County Commissioners, the status of the Replacement Illahee Outfall, whether to appeal the anticipated appeal rejection by the Hearing Examiner of the Timbers Edge project, and the status of the Illahee Creek culvert that continues to fill with sediment, and possibly other issues.

Illahee Owls. We received the following report of Illahee owls a few weeks ago:

Last night around 6:15, during our weekly pickle ball match, we heard this continuous very loud high pitched hooting to the Southwest near Sunset Ave or Hicks Street. Then we all noticed the back and forth series of hooting coming closer and to our amazement two Barred Owls flew right over the house and pickle ball court, 20-25 feet off the ground, hooting at each other as they flew. One was trailing the other by about 12 feet. At first, I thought there may have been more than just the two, but this is all we clearly viewed. The two owls flew toward the east and perched in some trees near East Blvd. They continued their hooting for another 45 minutes. Last year a barred owl perched in an alder tree watching our pickle ball match for nearly three hours in the bright court light. The owls seemed to be curious of the fast moving pickle ball.

March 12th Owl Presentation. Kitsap Audubon speaker for March 12th was covered in the following Seattle Time's article on Jan 29, 2009:

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/outdoors/2008682771_nwwowls290.html

Thursday Meeting Questions - 1/28/09

Thursday Evening Meeting Questions. We have received a few questions about Thursday evening's meeting at the Norm Dicks Center to present the approved Illahee Community Plan and hear a presentation by Parametrix of their study of the Illahee Creek watershed.

Why the Norm Dicks Center Instead of the Library? First of all the library was not available and it is harder to schedule because of the cutback in the library hours. Secondly, the Norm Dick's Center is a state of the art facility for presentations. And, by having the meeting in the evening, parking is readily available.

Why Brief the Approved Community Plan? We have found that there are a number of Illahee residents who are not familiar with all of the aspects of the Community Plan, including some of the boundary changes made at the last minute by the County Commissioners. We felt this would be a good opportunity to combine two meetings to make it more efficient for community members. There is also a question of whether there is a need for the Citizen Advisory Group to continue.

Is the Watershed Report the Grant Report? The quick response is Yes. The long response is the Port of Illahee received a Department of Ecology grant of $181,000 to complete a basin assessment and to develop a Surface Water Management Plan. The report was issued in late 2008 and is just getting ready for distribution. This will be the first public presentation of the findings of the report.

Why Was the Grant Needed? There are a number of issues with Illahee Creek and the watershed. They have to do with problems with:

• Surface Water Runoff
  
• Landslides
  
• Reduced Aquifer Recharge
  
• Water Quality
  
• Filling of the Illahee Creek Culvert
  
• Degraded Salmon Habitat

Are There Solutions? That is what the Parametrix report is supposed to do, tell us what the solutions are to the above problems.

Do You Need Help? We have not asked for help yet, but we would like to ask for some via this email update. We would like to have some reference tables at the back of the room for those wanting information regarding the Illahee Forest Preserve and the Illahee Community Club. Our resident photographer has another engagement and we would like to have someone take photos of the meeting and another person to operate a video camera. We have the camera, but not a tripod. We have the conference room from 5 pm to 9 pm and will start setting up at 5:30 pm for those who may be able to help.

Thank You for Your Questions.

Jim Aho

PS - Ten signs were placed throughout the Illahee Community. The one in the attached photo was on Sunset. We often have the signs at the end of McWilliams taken down by someone so there may be only nine out there.

Wildlife Update & Meeting Info - 1/26/09

River Otters. We asked for pictures of river otters and just received one. There have been three otters seen in the area for quite some time now, and it is good to get a photo of them.

Bald Eagles. We also just received some bald eagle photos. The latest were from this past Sunday when at least 5 bald eagles were seen taking turns eating something on the beach, with one of them being an immature eagle who had to wait until after the others had finished. We were trying to figure out what the eagles were feeding on, and it appeared to be possum based on the tail, shape and color.

Plant Salvage Question. We had questions of whether there was any plant salvaging done at the construction sites along Almira. There was some salvaging done a year ago at the Illahee Preserve parking lot site where plants were moved elsewhere in the Preserve. They looked at moving some of the huckleberry bushes a few weeks ago, but there were no good candidates as only small huckleberry bushes are normally successfully moved. We don't know if there was anything done at the Keller House site.

Native Plants Available. We contacted Jim Trainer, our local Illahee forester, who noted the following:

1. Every year I giveaway between 10,000-50,000 surplus native trees compliments of Mike Driscoll of Hood Canal Nursery, Port Gamble,WA.

2. In Illahee I have a small native tree and plant nursery for sale. See Treez, Inc. website www.treezinc.com for tree and plant lists

3. 20,000 douglas fir seeds were distributed in the Illahee Preserve. Compliments of Treez, Inc. and Hood Canal Nursery.

Illahee Meeting Location. Some people have asked about the location of the Illahee meetings on Thursday evening (1/29/09). The Norm Dick's Center is located on 6th Street in Bremerton and is the 6 story government building that is only a few years old. It has a main floor conference room that is state of the art and is the location for many meetings including the Bremerton City Council meetings. The big screen projector makes this an ideal place for presentations like we are expecting on Thursday.

Parking Available. The benefit of having this meeting in the evening is that there is usually ample parking available in the area.

Questions? If you have questions, please let us know what they are as others are probably asking the same ones.

Jim Aho

Press Release - 1/23/09

Important Meeting on 1/29/09. The following Press Release was sent to local papers today regarding briefings that should be of interest to all Illahee residents and others in Kitsap County.

ILLAHEE CREEK WATERSHED FINAL REPORT BRIEFING
      &
ILLAHEE COMMUNITY PLAN BRIEFING

The Illahee Creek Watershed Surface Water Management Plan final report briefing by Parametrix, and a briefing of the adopted Illahee Community Plan by Kitsap County, will be held at the Norm Dicks Government Center on the evening of January 29, 2009 from 6:30 – 8:30 pm.

Speakers will be: Erin Nelson, the Parametrix Project Manager for the Port of Illahee / Department of Ecology Centennial Clean Water grant; and Katrina Knutson, Senior Planner with the Kitsap County Department of Community Development.

The Parametrix report is funded by a grant obtained by the Port of Illahee from the Washington State Department of Ecology and includes basin assessments, an aquifer protection plan, and specific recommendations to correct identified problem areas. The briefing will provide an overview of the assessment findings and then concentrate on the identified recommendations and projects needed to fix the problems. The Parametrix report is related to ongoing water quality testing and stormwater planning supported by Kitsap County Health District and Kitsap County Public Works.

The Illahee Community Plan was recently adopted by the Kitsap County Board of County Commissioners and represents a collaborative effort between Kitsap County and the Illahee Community to develop a plan that meets the needs of both Kitsap County and the Illahee Community. The briefing will cover the revised community boundaries, the new Green Belt Zone, the View Protection Overlay, and a brief discussion of whether the Citizens Advisory Group should continue.

The presentation schedule is as follow:

6:30 pm Illahee Community Plan Briefing

7:00 pm Parametrix Briefing

A question and answer session will follow each presentation.

Questions? If you have any questions, the point of contact is Jim Aho @ 479-1049.

Almira Construction Projects - 1/22/09

Almira. The north end of Almira between Riddell Road and Fuson Road is only a half mile long road that is usually quiet and short cut for some going north to connect with Wheaton Way or State Highway 303. However, there are two new construction sites along that section of Almira that make the trip a little more exciting these days.

Keller House. The first is utility work and clearing on the west side of Almira for the Keller House project next to and part of the Kitsap Mental Health facility. The land was donated by Kitsap County in 2007. Some of the work was on the east side of the road next to the Illahee Preserve where a curtain drain was installed that takes water coming from the Preserve and directs it to a culvert under Almira where it becomes a small seasonal stream that flows between the new Keller House and the existing mental health facilities. The first two attached photos are of the Keller House project.

Preserve Parking Lot. The second set of photos are of the other construction site that is on the east side of Almira across from the Kitsap Recovery Center. The site is being cleared is for the Preserve parking lot which is scheduled to complete in about 6 weeks (early March 2009).

Jim Aho