Speed Sign Up and Working. It was interesting to watch cars hit their brakes on Friday afternoon just after a new speed sign went up along Illahee Road. We will try to get a picture of the sign when the rains stop. It is common to have cars exceed the speed limit as they come down Illahee Road from the north. Residents who live in the area say that over the years pets and deer have been killed along that stretch of road, along with several vehicle accidents and at least two pedestrians who were injured in separate incidents by speeding vehicles. We assume that was one of the primary reasons for the sign, including safety issues for the nearby school bus stop.
Speed Sign Information. The speed sign was paid for by the Port of Illahee and was installed by Kitsap County Public Works. We watched them pour the foundation two weeks ago and took a picture which is attached. Below is the text of an email we received telling of the signs completion.
The Illahee speed sign is up and working great! I want to thank the County, especially Jeff and Del for their excellent work, collaborative effort and courteous conversations and patience with the Port of Illahee. We look forward to a continued working relationship with the County to make our community a safer place to live.
On behalf on the Port of Illahee and the Illahee Community, thank you and congratulations on a job well done.
Dennis Sheeran
Commissioner
Port of Illahee
Squid Fishing Great on Thursday. A visit to the Illahee community dock on Thursday evening found the squid fishermen pulling in multiple squid for those with multiple jigs, along with instances of two squid being caught on one jig, and an instance of three being caught on one jig. We have never seen such numbers being caught or so many squid attacking the jigs as we did that evening.
Native Plant Sources. When we put out the email about the demonstration native plant rain garden we mentioned that plants were being purchased from the Kitsap Conservation District and we were asked for more details. The KCD sale is a once a year sale and the plants are bare root. Orders are put in in January and the plants are brought to the Fairgrounds for pickup in March. Native plants are also available at some nurseries and locally through Jim Trainer, who has Treez, Inc.
Illahee Forest Preserve (IFP) Meeting 2/16/10. The new Port meeting place at 5560 Ocean View Boulevard (upper level) is being made available to the Illahee Forest Preserve and the Illahee Preserve Stewardship Committee for their monthly meetings on the third Tuesdays of each month. The Illahee Forest Preserve is a non-profit support group that supports the Illahee Preserve and meets this Tuesday (2/16/10) at 6:30 pm.
Great Things Have Been Done by the IFP. This group has done some phenomenal things from supporting hydrology studies of the Illahee Creek watershed (paid for by donations from Illahee residents), to grants from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation and the Coastal Protection Fund (which helped purchase additional properties for the Preserve), to securing wetland experts when the Preserve boundaries were threatened, not to mention supporting Preserve projects.
The IFP Needs More Members. This group notes that they are getting older and members have succumbed or moved on and they are looking for younger members to help carry on their vision. They hope that with meetings now being held more locally that others will join them. They note that anyone interested in the Preserve can join them, not just Illahee residents. Again, they meet on Tuesday at 6:30 pm at 5560 Ocean View Blvd. Let us know if you need more information on this group.
Jim Aho
