Bear Report in Gilberton? We are very late on getting the following email report out. It came in on Nov 25th.
We didn't see him but are sure a bear attacked our bird feeders last nite. Stole the suet --broke a bolt tearing a rebar down to get it. We are on Sandy rd. in Gilberton.
Missing Great Dane? We had a call about the possibility of the missing Great Dane being in Illahee. We called and relayed the message and didn't heard anything back.
White Trash Bags Along Illahee Road. We noticed lots of white trash bags along Illahee Road and are wondering what group did the trash pick up all the way to Brownsville. It appears they did a great job as there are lots a bags along the road. If anyone knows please let us know so we can thank them.
Christmas Ships Coming on December 18th. We heard the Christmas ships from Brownsville will be coming along the Illahee shoreline on December 18th. More on that later as we get more information.
Timbers Edge. We were out of town when the Kitsap Sun reported about the Illahee Community Club (ICC) appealing the Commissioner's Timbers Edge decision. The link to the article is attached below.
Appeals Dependent on Community Funding. As we understand it the ICC filed the appeal when it appeared the pledges to fund the appeal began to come in. The appeals are costly and we have been asked to remind residents that funds can be sent in to the Illahee Community Club, P.O. Box 2563, Bremerton, WA 98310.
Court Date. We spoke briefly with the ICC lawyer before the Thanksgiving holiday and remember the first appearance before the Superior Court as being on January 10, 2010.
Shorelines Hearings Board Appeal. We also understand the ICC has also filed an appeal of the Timbers Edge project with the Shorelines Hearings Board (SHB). We will see if we can pass on these appeals in a future Update.
Illahee Dock Outfall Appeal. It was approximately a year ago that the ICC filed the Illahee Outfall appeal with the SHB, which was eventually resolved to most every ones satisfaction, and possibly with less construction cost to the Canadian developer. We think this was as close to a win - win situation for most parties as we could get, and a great win for Puget Sound waters. The finishing touch to that project, which is not the developers responsibility, would be to install a rain garden on Fern Street and an infiltration pit at the second cell of the Illahee North detention pond, and that would nearly fully protect the Sound for that drainage area.
Community & Developer Agreement? We were provided a copy of a letter addressed to Mr. James, the developer, and Mr. Kuhlman, his engineer, stating that the Community would like to see if an agreement could be reached, similar to the Outfall settlement, rather than going forward with appeals and litigation. Since the letter was also sent to the press we felt we should pass it on to the community, so it is attached at the end of the Update.
Rain Garden Response. We had a number of people volunteer to help with the Native Plant Demonstration Rain Garden project being proposed at the new Illahee Preserve parking lot at Almira. We will keep you apprised of how this project is progressing.
Jim Aho
Illahee Community Club
P.O. Box 2563
Bremerton, WA 98310
November 18, 2009
Mr. James, Beach Drive Development
3538 Beach Road East
Port Orchard, WA 98366
Mr. Kuhlman, Team 4 Engineering
5819 NE Minder Rd
Poulsbo, WA 98370
Mr. James and Mr. Kuhlman:
The Illahee Community Club appreciates the response of September 16, 2009 to the Community’s proposal request of August 5 and August 31, 2009. We hoped to respond to Mr. Kuhlman’s email earlier, but wanted to wait until the appeal to BOCC was decided and disseminated, which happened on or about October 29, 2009.
The Illahee Community Club had met earlier this year with community members to determine what the community wanted with Timbers Edge. It was a long process to get everyone to agree with what was eventually decided upon, and was forwarded to you on August 5, 2009. As stated in the proposal, the majority of the community is not against development, but is desirous of a development that conforms to its existing neighborhoods and without negative impacts to existing roadways, streams and aquifers.
The Illahee Community Club Board left the decision of whether to appeal the BOCC ruling or not with the community. We are informing you that the community, with the ICC Board’s concurrence, has decided to appeal the BOCC decision to Superior Court and to the Shorelines Hearings Board and expect those appeals to be filed soon.
While those appeals go forward, we would like to continue to seek a settlement and would like to begin by responding to Mr. Kuhlman’s email of September 16, 2009. We also want to thank Mr. James for looking at diminishing the impact on Illahee Creek through infiltration attempts, and fault the Commissioner’s for allowing the use of ambiguous language in the new conditions.
However, in addition to infiltration, a major issue for the greater community and specifically those around the development is that of sewers. Mr. Kuhlman implies in his email response that sewers are required by the Health District while the opposite is the case as county code and the Health District allows for septic systems in this area, albeit with the current zoning designation.
The community feels that the change to septics will result in such a reduction in the infrastructure costs that the profit margin will be similar. Our estimates are based on the new sewer line installation going under Illahee Creek, rather than in the roadway above the creek, along with the elimination for roadway requirements and modifications, and possibly the elimination of a shoreline outfall. Also eliminated are the costs of further studies and much of the infrastructure engineering charges.
The community has asked that we convey to you that they hope we can come to an agreement.
Barney Bernhard, President
Illahee Community Club
Copies: Ryan Vancil, Ron Templeton, DCD, Kitsap Sun
