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.