Work Party Info & Miscellaneous 7/29/10

8/4 Illahee Preserve Work Party.  The East Bremerton Rotary has scheduled an Illahee Preserve work party for Wednesday (8/4/10) starting at 5:30 pm.  Also at this work party will be personnel from the aircraft carrier the USS John C Stennis.  The Illahee community volunteers are needed and will be finishing up on work on th Rain Gardens and they hope to use some of the Stennis personnel to help line the rain garden walkways with logs and create simulated rock streams in the rain garden.  It should prove to be one exciting and productive evening.  

Big Wood Chip Piles.  If you have stopped by the Illahee Preserve's Almira parking lot recently you will notice more chips have been delivered and they are spilling over into the parking lot.  Extra wheel borrows (and helpers) are being requested to help with the effort on Wednesday.

Lost Dog in Preserve?  When we were working in the Preserve on Wednesday there was a person looking for a lost dog.  The information is attached and the picture is below: 

Harriet lives just south of preserve on Olympus Dr.--

She has not been taken to any shelter or vet--she is micro chipped.

Please Help find her!

Response re Dumping.  We got the following responses to the question about the dumping of trash in Illahee:

The illegal dumping if the same...was going up the hill just beyond George Schafers on the right hand side going up... mattress, bedframe plus more,  and just a ways back toward Illahee another pile of junk....

The dumping of garbage and furniture was in the Rue Villa area on Illahee
Road. It was picked up the next day by a couple of young men in a county
pickup truck.

... we had dumping along 1st Avenue and Rest Place.  Sorry we did not get any pics.  I can tell you along our street was a fireplace insert, wood and other building materials.  In front of my neighbors house was a garbage can filled with project clean up materials.  All were dumped along the side of the road.  I was nervous because some of these items were quite large and with no shoulder vehicles could have easily run into them.

Response re Sailboat Sinking.  We revived the following note and picture of the sailboat that sunk off of the Illahee community dock:  

Not a very good picture, it was taken with my cell phone.

More Responses re Beach Walking.  And we received another response regarding beach walking.

 Years ago a man who worked for one of the major Title companies (names forgotten) and was very knowledgeable about property matters, told us that the beaches were considered "ancient highways" so that walking across them was not considered trespassing. Other activities, clamming, taking  of oysters, camping etc.are different stories and in our case on two different ocassions we had to call the Sheriff. Rue Villa became a hang out for the "hippy culture" and a drug scource back in the late 60s early 70s.He also stated that we owned to the "extreme" low tide but that the State retained the mineral rights between "mean" low and "extreme" low tide.

Regarding Shoreline Walking...
I have always felt that the public has the right to access the tidelands below the high tide line. Washington is the only state on the west coast where people will try to exclude people from walking on the beach in front of their property, but I honestly doubt they have the legal authority to do so. Caminiti v. Boyle seems to affirm that.
There is an interesting ongoing discussion in response to an article by C Dunagan titled  "Beach-walkers are still waiting for a legal answer" July 8th, 2010 by cdunagan

Read more: http://pugetsoundblogs.com/waterways/2010/07/08/beach-walkers-are-still-waiting-for-a-legal-answer/#comments#ixzz0uk2xQhrJ

in the Sun.
You'll find an Interesting poll regarding this issue there also...

Response re Deer.  Many have commented on how tame the deer have become and how they don't seem to be concerned about being around humans.  We received the following video and link about how deer can be dangerous.

Thought you might find this interesting.

Cranbrook Deer Incident - deer attacks dog in city environment Wow - watch this to the end -( looks like maybe a border collie). Dog gets hurt by a doe deer  - cat almost gets it too - gees ' could have been a small child too  Good to know to keep your dogs away from the deer- good to do anyway but this dog was not that close. Go to the link below to watch a doe deer in Cranbrook last Friday pummel a dog which survived with bruises and a few cuts. http://www.youtube.com/user/fsubra

Torched Car on Fir Drive.  We received the following two reports on a car fire on Fir Drive very early last Sunday morning:

I slept thru the excitement and only heard about the event Sunday afternoon. Apparently around 3 AM the blaring of a car horn and glare of flames woke my neighbors and they saw a car parked near the big granite rock at the curve of FIR DR. on fire. The FD responded but the burning tires and ignited gasoline took awhile to control. The gas tank and tires apparently blew up  and burning gas was reported to be flowing down the road toward us. After the fire was controlled the Sheriff Deputy determined that the car had been reported as stolen. This is 2nd hand info.... many others witnessed the event and relayed some of it as having me missing  the bonfire and hot dog and marsh-mellow roast. The remains were towed away  and by morning there was no signs of the happening.

Just a little info you may want to add to one of your updates.  Sunday morning about 0300, my wife, myself and most our neighborhood were awoken by a steady car horn blaring.  Walking out the door there was a car on fire near the Wagon Wheel rock at the bend of the road on Fir Drive.  It was completely engulfed in flames shooting about 20 feet into the air. Calling 911 the fire department responded within about 5 minutes.  It was safely extinguished in minutes and investigated.  The car was traced to an owner in Vancouver, WA but was not necessarily reported as stolen.  Interesting, but no harm was done less some singed tree tops and roadside vegetation.

Petitions?  We have been asked a number of times about when the Illahee Community Club petitions will be sent out or distributed.  There was an initial limited petition distribution, and because of the responses to the Kitsap Sun article, a list of "frequently asked questions" (FAQ) sheet was developed to answer some of the questions being raised.  We heard the FAQ sheet  is being finalized and will likely be available or distributed with the petitions.  The last report from the early distribution was 53 yes responses and 3 no responses.  Once the FAQ sheet is made available to us, we will pass it on.

Jim Aho

Miscellaneous Items - 7/25/10

We were out of town for awhile and missed a number of events.

Bill Green Memorial Event at the Elks.  We heard the memorial at the Elks was nice tribute to Bill Green, and that Bill Enger did a nice job of moderating the event .  We were glad to see the coverage in the Kitsap Sun which is at the following link:  http://www.kitsapsun.com/news/2010/jul/16/bill-green-remembered-as-a-reliable-coworker/ target="_blank"

Sunken Sail Boat at the Illahee Dock.  We also heard a sailboat sunk at the Illahee community dock last weekend and hope that someone may have taken photos and/or have more information, so we can pass them on.

Illegal Dumping.  We receive several emails about some illegal dumping, but without the photos or location.  We need more information so we can pass that information on also.

Gun Shots Fired.  We noticed the following story in the Kitsap Sun and hope someone has some more information on this incident.  Two Arrested in Illahee After Multiple Gun Shots  http://www.kitsapsun.com/news/2010/jul/17/two-arrested-illahee-after-multiple-gun-shots/ target="_blank"

Some Responses Regarding Shoreline Walking.  A couple of weeks ago we asked if anyone had thoughts regarding the Public Trust Doctrine and being able to walk on the beaches in Illahee.  We only received two email comments which are:

Re: Beach walking: I suggest you look into the public trust doctrine in Washington. Here is a good overview to start with:

In Caminiti v. Boyle, the Court upheld the dock leasing statute.  But, in a lengthy analysis, it acknowledged that the public trust doctrine has always existed in Washington.  While the state may convey title to tidelands and shorelands, the private owner does not receive the full “bundle of sticks” that all first-year law students learn about in property law.  Instead, the state retains a “jus publicum” or public easement on the lands.  The state may no more dispose of these public rights than it may abdicate its police powers to run the government or preserve the peace.

http://www.celp.org/water/celpaward/Benella_Caminiti.html

Why shouldn't you be able to walk on the beach. If your just walking and looking at critters and rocks... why not. Unless things are out of hand, people are abusing the area or being disrespectful, you should be able to cruz by without being scorned and bullied.  It's on loan from God anyway. 

Homeless Reports in the Kitsap Sun.  We received a number of inquires about the recent articles in the Kitsap Sun about problems with the homeless in an encampment along state highway 303, with people wondering if the homeless were in the Illahee Preserve.  The answer is that the encampment is behind Safeway, though some of people had previously been in the Illahee Preserve.  The major concern with homeless in the Preserve is the fire danger with the Preserve and surrounding forested areas being roughly about 600 acres surrounded by houses.  There are no fires of any kind allowed in the Preserve, but that rule was routinely violated by those who were camping in the Preserve and a number of months ago a transient with a fire was burned so bad he had to be flown to Harbor View for treatment.  The Parks Department and Illahee Preserve groups are carefully watching the homeless situation across the road at Safeway since if it is not resolved the people may be looking at returning to the Preserve.

Reports and Comments.  If it is easier for you to report on any if the events we noted earlier rather than sending an email, please feel free to call at 479-1049.

Jim Aho

Miscellaneous Items - 7/11/10

More Deer Responses.  We received some more responses to the question of whether there were so many deer in the area that they should be thinned.  Thank you for all your responses!

The geese are just fine and so are the deer.  Leave alone those creatures that make this area so precious to live in. 

Please do not consider thinning out the deer. We love our deer and giving them safe sanctuary and would never want "thinning" of them or any of our wildlife. Ever! Thank you.

On the deer, if anything we should check with the County health deparment, deer are a vector for Lyme's disease, and the ticks which spread it don't differentiate between deer, humans or dogs. Spraying plants with really thin egg solution is alleged to keep the deer away from plants. (I like deer too, and I don't like raccoons either). 

I agree about the 'Scarecrow'.  I have tried sound alarms and they are ineffective.  My son has a scarecrow and it works great for him. 

As for whether there are too many deer:  When I begin to feel this way, I hear an evening 'bang' from somewhere down the hill from me and the problem disappears.  I must presume that firecrackers keep deer away for good ;-)  Otherwise, I do enjoy seeing them -- out of my garden.

Thanks Jim, this was a good read and you get an idea how your neighbors are feeling. We are lucky to live here. 

We used to live on Vashon, which has a high deer population.  Vashon is more rural than the Ilahee area, and it is still legal for hunters to take deer.  Even so, the deer population on Vashon became so large that the poor things started dieing of starvation and disease.    Deer were also killed or subjected to a variety of euthanasia options after being hit by cars.  I agree that deer are cute, but without natural predators there are more now than at any time in history.  Thinning is much more humane than starvation or death by automobile.  We need to be careful that we do not 'love them to death'.

Mulching Work Party on Monday Evening.  On Monday (7/12/10) we will spread the last of the mulch on rain garden plot #4 at the Almira parking lot to the Illahee Preserve.  It shouldn't take long so we are starting at 5:30 pm and should finish up at 7 pm.

Bill Green Memorial Gathering.  There will be a memorial gathering for Bill Green at the Elks on Friday, July 16, 2010, from 3-5 pm.  Many of us remember Bill when he was a lineman with Puget Power some years ago and took care of Illahee whenever the power went out.  

For those of us who were neighbors we knew Bill as one of the nicest, gentlest  and most helpful persons around.  The neighborhood got together for birthdays and other occasions and we often shared tools and helped each other on projects and functioned like a neighborhood family and we will especially miss Bill as a friend and neighbor. 

Illahee Road Accident.  Those who live along Illahee Road know that the curve at the bottom of Illahee hill is a place where there are frequently accidents.  On Saturday evening another accident occurred and people were lucky to not be seriously injured.  We received the following report on an accident that occured when a driver coming down the hill ran head-on into another car and the support they got from one of their neighbors:  

Irwin and Judith Krigsman would like to thank Mike Manske, our neighbor, for being a johnny-on-the spot and a good Samaritan on Saturday July 10, 2010.

 

As we were returning home early Saturday evening around 6 p.m. we were involved in what could have been a deadly accident 20 feet from our driveway into our home.  From out of nowhere coming down Illahee Road on the curve, an unisured, unlicensed, driver crossed over the center line hitting us so hard that our airbage deployed and shocked  us beyond belief.  After hitting us, the car crashed into the vehicle behind us before doing a 180 and coming to a stop. 

 

Mike Manske appeared from out of the blue and stayed with us through the entire ordeal.  Without his calm deameanor, his directing of traffic and accident conditions on Illahee Road, we would have been far worse for wear.  Mike stayed with us until the whole incident was over, carried our belongings into a safe place, and departed when the situation was finally under control.  We are fortunate to have him as our neighbor.

 

Illahee Road has become so dangerous, particularly at the bottom of the hill. This was the second major accident  at that location in the past three weeks.  We believe the time has come for action and involvment by Kitsap County to improve road conditions.   We were lucky, the next person may not be.

 

Mike Manske, hero of the day, we honor you!

Thank goodness for air bags as they saved the Krigsmans from injury.

Only One Comment on the Beach Access Issue.  On our last Update we provided two links to articles in the Kitsap Sun regarding beach access and have only received the following comment so far.  

While waiting for a friend to arrive home in Indianola, I took a few minutes to walk down the dock then onto the shoreline just to see since I had never been there before.....and won't again!  One local made it perfectly clear that I was not to be on this property and pointed me to the extremely unfriendly signs that had been posted not only on the property itself, but also on the dock..."Residents only".  As I'm certain you can tell by the "tone" of this message, I cannot believe someone would be so rude to a visitor.  I can only hope Illahee folks are not nor will become like those people.  We all take pride in our neighborhood and projects that benefit us all, and I hope we can all share in the beauty of where we live without being concerned we are creating an enemy.

Let Us Know Your Thoughts.  Continue to let us know your thoughts regarding deer and beach walking.

Jim Aho