Orca Video & After Storm Issues - 12/15/10

Orca Sightings in Illahee.  About 9 am today (12/15/10) we received a call that some orcas were going north through Illahee.  By the time we looked out they had disappeared.  Then later in the day we were notified there were several out front.  We grabbed a camera and got some video as they passed by.  It wasn't until we looked at the video tonight that we realized there were two adults and a young one.

Kitsap Sun Report.  In Thursday's Kitsap Sun will be an article about others who saw them and where they have been.   Click on the following link to read the article:   http://www.kitsapsun.com/news/2010/dec/15/transient-killer-whales-seen-in-kitsap-waters/

Seal Seen Hugging the Beach.  We also had a report that as they went by a seal was seen close in by the beach, evidently trying to stay away from danger.

Video on YouTube.  With some help from one of our children, we were able to upload the video of the orcas on YouTube.  The link is: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rduYVcEyS1w

After Storm Pictures.  With a borrowed camera we were able to take some pictures of the effect of the storm on the Illahee Creek culvert and the tons of sediment deposited near the mouth of the creek.  

Notification of Emergency Illahee Creek Dredging.  It also appears the county will be dredging material from the downstream end of the culvert.  See the attached email from WDFW.  We have also attached the signed HPA (Hydraulic Project Approval) form.

I just wanted to give you a heads up that an emergency request was made by Kitsap County to remove sediment at the downstream end of the culvert. They will likely be mobilizing in the next few days. The HPA is attached for your information.

Thanks,

Gina Piazza

Area Habitat Biologist

Washington Dept. Fish and Wildlife

450 Port Orchard Blvd, Suite 290

Port Orchard, WA  98366

Phone: 360 895 3965

Fax: 360 876 1894

Response to the Dredging.  We received the following response to the dredging from Judith Krigsman, who gave us permission to print her concerns.

I find the current plan to clean out the culvert located at 5140 Illahee Road most concerning.  As the property owner at the inlet side of this culvert I can’t imagine how this is going to help the current situation.  It appears that the problem existing on my side of the culvert at 5171 Illahee Road is the side that needs fixing.  As I watch the floodplain rise on my property and see the amount of sediment that is all but totally filling this newer culvert, the ticking time bomb will still exist for road washout even if an emergency cleanout is activated.  The actions by others including the work done by the current owner of this property is creating havoc on the flow of this amount of velocity of water and sediment during these storm events.  The kink which has been taken out of the stream which served a purpose of slowing down the water during these events is now being allowed to wash out the entire point.  Just look where all the sediment is now resting on the property adjacent to the site of the proposed cleanout.  I do believe a meeting should be held immediately to talk through some of these issues before another cleanout takes place.  Illahee Creek is a dynamic water system; this practice of emergency clean-outs is not the fix which needs to take place, let’s talk!

Our Thoughts.  After seeing the amount of sediment that has been deposited at the mouth of the creek by this last storm, literally tons, there is no way that removing a few dump truck loads of sediment will do much of anything.  It is a nice gesture, but it isn't getting to the sources of the problem, which are the storm surges coming primarily from the area north of the golf course.  

Not a New Problem.  The culvert issue has been known by the county for some time, but they needed a watershed study before they could do anything.  The Port of Illahee put in for a grant with DOE and together they paid for a comprehensive watershed study that was completed by Parametrix.  The fixes come with a multi-million dollar price tag, which emphasized the need for the county to obtain the golf course, as it is the logical place to try and restrain the problematic storm water surges.  The community is crossing their fingers that the golf course gifting paperwork will complete soon so that stormwater restraining projects can begin.

Raised Flood Plain.  What is interesting about the Illahee culvert situation is we are essentially dealing with a flood plain that steadily increasing in elevation with each storm.  A Timbers Edge report stated the elevation downstream of the culvert increased 18 inches from the December 2007 storm.  Upstream of the culvert, the reservoir that Dr. Schutt put in years ago, has filled with sediment.  With the flood plain rising on both sides of Illahee Road, and short of digging out the whole flood plain, the only solution many see is raising the height of the culvert. 

Your Thoughts On This Issue?  Please let us know your thoughts on the stormwater/culvert issues as a possible failure of the culvert would affect everyone who travels this portion of Illahee Road.

Jim Aho

Some During Storm Pictures - 12/14/10

Storm Pictures.  We have been asked where the storm pictures are since our last Update had some 'Before Storm' pictures.

Non-Water Proof Camera.  We got up early last Sunday morning and took a few stills and some video of the effects of the storm.  We found out that the use of cameras during heavy rain events does not work well for non-water proof camers.  Our camera was sent to the manufacture on Monday in hopes it can be repaired.  Our film maker, Shelly Solomon, did some good photos in the afternoon.  When we walked to the mouth of the creek and were amazed at the number of golf balls that had been washed down the creek and out on the beach.

Some Pictures Were Retrieved.  We got some help retrieving some of the photos from the camera and will look at how to get some of the videos on an Update, or at least linked.  This is a learning process for us.

Illahee Creek Culvert.  The Illahee Creek culvert was running nearly full.  The attached photos show the brown water and the culvert.

Brown Water.  Those who live along the water regularly see brown water coming from the creek anytime there is a rainfall of over an inch in a short period of time.  During major storms the brown water is much more distinctive as shown in the photo from the Illahee community dock.

Phone Calls & Emails.  Thank you for the phone calls regarding the storm and for the emails.  Attached are two that go into some detail.

Ran down to the Illahee culvert about an hour ago and the water is within 12 inches of the top.  The velocity and volume of water is such that no sane person would attempt to cross the creek.  

Wash-out at the top of Oceanview with baseball size rocks in the roadway.  I unplugged 4 catch basins on the upper half.  The water has cut nearly a foot below the blacktop up hill of the debris and I am going to call this into the county immediately.

Found a plugged culvert at the bottom of 3rd Street on the South side of the road.  The results are gravel, and washout debris on Illahee Road.

Took a tour of the stream channel as it appeared after the waters have had a chance to settle down.  The picture presented today shows a culvert which has vastly changed as is as close as it gets to failing.  We were within probably 2 inches of complete failure as the banks of the floodplain took a real beating.  The incised area along the stream showed that we had over 30 inches of water trying to get through the culvert and ended up spilling onto the floodplain.  All it would have taken was for one of these logs to try and get through the culvert.  They are now in a position to move forward with the next storm event.  I must say that this is very discouraging for fish and folks like the Krigsman's who own the land that this failed  culvert sits on.  We need to notify the county that they have installed a product  that needs replacement.  Additionally, by taking the bend out of the stream on Mossano's side they are losing the entire Schutts  point.  How is it that those in the know, fail to understand the dynamics of water and how the velocity controls everything? 

Amazing Deer Photos.  We received some amazing deer photos we will include more in a future wildlife update and have attached one to this email.  

Thanks For Sharing.  Thanks to all those who share your photos and for your comments!

Jim Aho

Various Items - 9/16/10

Illahee Road Accident Info & Photos.  Received some more information and some photos of the accident that occurred last Friday evening on Illahee Road.  Thanks to neighbors who helped and then passed the following information on to the community as this accident was not reported in the papers.

Here are some pictures my son took of the wreck. The driver
fled the scene - he was lucky to be alive! Sure hope everyone drives
safely!

.......terrible crash.....lots of police and fire trucks ........  ;-(

We ran down  to check and call 911....but the people from the trailer court were even faster and had called ....

The driver did however crawl out of the wreck and up the steep slope and ran away...... unbelievable that he was able to do that......

We talked with other people who knew him and he came apparently from the house only a bit up the road (with big gate) and drove full power in the ditch.....

The truck is gone....but the driver is O.K.       thank goodness

That is the third accident this year down below us.....!!!!!!!

Deer Photos.  Received the following note and the deer pictures this afternoon as we started this update.

These 4 deer were grazing in my front yard (University Point Circle) this afternoon. The 4 point buck looked like he had some mixture of fallow deer.

Illahee Creek Culvert Partial Clean Out.  Early last Thursday morning (9/9/10) the county cleaned 4 or 5 truck loads the sediment out at the outlet side of the culvert that goes under Illahee Road.  By removing the sediment and creating a depression (hole) at the end of the culvert, they are hoping the sediment level inside the culvert will decrease enough to prevent the failure of the culvert.   

Illahee Creek Culvert in Jeopardy?  The clear opening at the inlet (upstream end) of the culvert before the clean out was 31 inches, which is significantly less than what the culvert was designed for.  The clear opening height will continue to be monitored by the community as well as the county.  If there were to be a storm like there was on December 3rd of 2007, there is a strong likelihood the culvert would not be able to handle the stormwater and the culvert and road would probably wash out.

The Rain Garden Solution.   The initial cost to fix the stormwater problems affecting the culvert, Illahee Creek, and Puget Sound is estimated at $20 million, but if each resident in the watershed installed a bio-retention facility it could go a long way to help.  That is why some 1600 copies of the attached brochure have been printed and distributed at public events like the Fair and have been partially circulated in the community.  As the brochure states "While major work will be required to correct all the sedimentation problems, the immediate solution of having home owners install rain gardens is one thing that can be done now...."  The brochure is also downloadable on the illaheecommunity.com website.

Illahee Community Petition.  We have been asked if we could resend the petition as a number of you reported either not receiving the petition packet.  Attached is an updated black and white version of the petition and the Frequently Asked Question (FAQ) sheet, which are also available at the website illaheecommunity.com.  While the current response is 94% in support of the petition, they are reportedly well below the 500 responses desired and are asking that residents would respond one way or the other.

Request for Email Petition.  We found out that a few had send email responses, and we have been asked if that was acceptable.  We contacted the ICC and they were advised by their local legal counsel that email responses such as attached below or on the website are acceptable and should be sent to:  web@illaheecommunity.com

Jim Aho

_____Yes!  I agree with the petition and add my signature in support of the Port taking these actions.

_____No!  I am sorry but I cannot support the petition.  (Please let us know your reasons.)

Comments:    ______________________________________________________________________________

                       ______________________________________________________________________________

                       ______________________________________________________________________________

                       ______________________________________________________________________________

NAME        _____________________________________SIGNATURE__________________________________

ADDRESS __________________________________________EMAIL__________________________________

CITY, STATE, ZIP ___________________________________________________PHONE__________________

Miscellaneous - 3/9/10

Saturday Rain Garden Planting.  On Saturday 21 volunteers from Illahee, and those with various connections to Illahee, showed up to plant 5 demonstration native plant rain garden plots at the Illahee Preserve Almira parking lot.

Botanist Aimee Weber Supervised The Planting.  The rain garden plot plantings were coordinated by Aimee Weber, a volunteer botanist with rain garden installation experience.  Aimee helped develop the plant order, picked up the plants, and worked with her plans and the plans of landscape architect Jenny Morgan and four Master Gardeners and the installing volunteers to come up with the final layouts.  She was one busy person trying to keep up with so many helpers and so many different plants going in so many different locations.

Earlier Plot Preparation.  Before the planting could begin, volunteer plants that were emerging from the rain garden area had to be transplanted, weeds had to be removed, and the plots had to be rake graded.  The plot designs were laid out earlier and the three paths separating four of the demonstration areas were covered with wood chips.  And prior to that Parks Department had the parking lot center area prepared with the amended soils required for rain gardens.  In other words there was lots of work that had to be done before the actual planting, by a number of different groups that was finally completed by the Saturday's volunteers.

Over 300 Native Plants Planted.  The number of native plants that were planted on Saturday numbered over 300, which included some sword ferns that came from the Illahee Preserve.  The number of different species is about 20.  Because of security issues the taller native species rain garden plants were not installed.  Note that there will likely be other native plant species eventually planted in the representative species plot at a later date.

Rain Garden Interpretive Signs Later.  Now that the Rain Garden is essentially complete the planning for the interpretive signs will begin.  There are eight interpretive signs being planned to describe and promote rain gardens for area residents.  

Demonstration Rain Garden Authorized by DOE/Port Grant.  The demonstration part of the rain garden is authorized as part of Port of Illahee/Department of Ecology grant Parametrix report that found bio-retention facilities (or rain gardens) would help both with storm water and aquifer issues.

Rain Garden Plots are Primarily for Illahee Residents.  The demonstration part of the rain gardens are installed primarily for Illahee residents.  There are two important reasons for informing residents of the need to consider installing rain gardens on their properties.

To Help Decrease Storm Water Surges.  There are places in Illahee and north of Illahee where storm water is tight-lined into Illahee Creek rather than being slowed down and retained in detention ponds.  This was done before retention facilities were required.  Those areas greatly contribute to the storm water surges that run through the Illahee Creek corridor and then out into Puget Sound waters with brown silt laden storm water that can be seen for miles out in the bay.  Residents in these areas provide one of the keys to solving the sediment pollution problems in Puget Sound if they would install a rain garden on their property.

To Help Replenish Critical Aquifers.  And in other parts of Illahee there are critical aquifer recharge areas where rain garden infiltration of storm water is crucial for maintaining the stream flow (called base flow) in Illahee Creek.  

Pictures Coming.  Photos of the planting event were taken and we are expecting to put them on the illaheecommunity.org website.  We will provide a link to the photos at a later date.

Another Tree Planting Event to Note.  We have attached a pdf file that notes that in April 2010 Illahee resident and arborist Jim Trainer will plant his 1,000,000 tree on Blake Island.  Congratulations Jim!!

Lost Dog in University Point Area.  We just received the following lost dog report that was sent to our website (illaheecommunity.com).

My name is Gabriela Jablonski and I live off of University Point Circle.  Yesterday as I walked my dogs on the beach, one of them wriggled out of her collar and took off in full sprint after something.  I was unable to retrieve her and she is now lost.  Her name is Koda, she is a large white fluffy Great Pyrennees without her collar.  If you see her or have her please call 633-7224 or cell: 832-528-5167.

Jim Aho

Miscellaneous Items - 1/16/10

Illegal Logging - Awhile back we noted that someone was logging on the Timbers Edge properties. Evidently this was reported to Kitsap County enforcement, who reportedly contacted Mr. Jim James, who reportedly stated that someone was stealing the timber. Since we took pictures of the logged stumps, we were called on Thursday by KC Enforcement for more information. We were not home when the call came in and will call on Monday to try and see if can give them more information.

Logging or Dump Truck Seen on Fir Drive? Theoretically someone should have seen a logging or dump truck with trees in it on Fir Drive in November or December. We would like to get some more information on this illegal logging so if anyone has any information please contact us.

Eyes in the Woods. Interestingly we just received information from another Illahee resident who thought we and the Illahee Preserve might be interested in a program called EYES IN THE WOODS, a non-profit organization of volunteers who assist the Department of Fish and Wildlife (DFW) in protection and perpetuation of our natural resources. It is similar to the "Neighborhood Watch" program only for forests and public lands, such as we have around here.

Upcoming EYES IN THE WOODS Training Class. The Tacoma Sportsman's Club is holding training from 7-9 pm on January 27, 2010. For more information contact see the attached pdf file brochure.

Port of Illahee New Meeting Location. We attended the monthly Port of Illahee meeting on Wednesday at their new meeting location, which is 5560 Ocean View Blvd, Bremerton, WA 98311. We asked if we could take a picture, which is attached, and shows from right to left, Commissioner George Schaefer, Commissioner Dennis Sheeran, and newly appointed Commissioner Mike Mantzke. This new location should make it easier for residents to attend the monthly Port meetings, which are at 5 pm the second Wednesday of the month, or for February 10th for next month.

Brown Storm Water in the Bay. Those living along the water have likely noticed the daily brown silt laden water emanating from Illahee Creek this past week. On Friday we watched as a flock of several hundred feeding American mergansers encountered the muddy water. They evidently were unable to see any fish and flew about a third of a mile until they were on the other side of the brown water.

Mussel Sampling Feed Back. We received several emails regarding the mussel sampling and will pass that information on in a later update.

Appeal Information. We like to provide links to articles about Illahee in our local papers. The following linked story is about the Illahee community's appeal of the Timbers Edge project to Superior Court. We send out our community Updates to the local press and they often call us and when they think they have enough for a story, put one out. We think the papers around here do a very nice job with their stories

Visibility Helping With Donations. One of the benefits of visibility from articles such as the one above, is that some donations are coming in as a result of them. We recently had a $300 donation from a friend who heard about what was happening, and after explaining what the situation was, gave the check to the community to help with the legal expenses. We have been told that donations such as these are needed to continue the appeals

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

Important Items - 1/8/09

Minor Illahee Oil Spill. Anyone walking by the Illahee North detention pond early this week noticed green and white oil absorbent pads placed at the stormwater outfall coming into the pond, and green pads placed at the overflow outlet where water was leaving the pond. Emails to the Health Department found the pads were placed by Kitsap County Public Works personnel in response to calls from Illahee North residents who reported an oil sheen visible on the pond waters. The county was unable to determine the source of the spill which evidently was visible just as the pond was freezing over but not reported until the ice left. See the attached photos showing the white and green absorbent pads.

Tightlining. The stormwater system in Illahee North tightlines the 20 acre development's stormwater into the detention pond where the water is detained and the overflow is then discharged at the Illahee community dock. The problems with this type of stormwater system is there is no aquifer recharge or bioinfiltration close to the source of the stormwater. Experts have determined that the earlier requirements for these ponds were inadequate and that there are now better methods and systems for taking care of stormwater. Also, when there is a contamination problem like a sewage spill or oil spill, overflows from the pond are tightlined directly to Puget Sound.

Illahee Outfall Mailing. On Wednesday many Illahee residents received a "Shoreline Permit Revision" notice from Kitsap County. This is the settlement outfall that better distributes overflow stormwater to Puget Sound rather than concentrating it all at the Illahee community dock. We have presented the details of the settlement in previous Updates which are also available at the website illaheecommunity.com.

Bio-Infiltration Swales. The new Sunrise Terrace development is using bio-infiltration swales which will process 90 to 95% of our normal rains back into the aquifers and only the overflow will be directed to Puget Sound. This is the direction the Department of Ecology and the Puget Sound Partnership is recommending for handling stormwater and is a great improvement over the tightlining system discussed earlier.

Cost of Legal Challenges. The "Settlement Outfall" was a compromise agreement between the Illahee Community Club, the Port of Illahee, and the MT Illahee Corporation. The end results are improved methods for handling stormwater. But, it also comes at a substantial cost in dollars for the Illahee Community and the Port of Illahee, not to mention to the developer. Just the Community Club's legal costs of the Outfall appeal and the Timbers Edge appeal were $20,000 in 2008.

Timbers Edge - Waiting on Hearing Examiner. The Timbers Edge project appeal is waiting on the Hearing Examiner's decision. The community just received the attorney's bill for the closing argument portion of the hearing and they find themselves $3,000 short.

Volunteer Donations Needed. The Illahee Community Club urgently needs donations to its legal fund in order to continue to work for agreements such as the Settlement Outfall. The Hearing Examiner hearing the Timbers Edge appeal has a nearly 100% record of siding with the County so they expect further appeals may be needed. This is a situation where the community voted with its contributions in 2008 and will need to do so again in 2009 if things are to proceed.

Revised Illahee Boundary Map. We are waiting for a revised Illahee Community Plan Boundary map from the county and will send it out when we receive it.

Jim Aho

Status of Hearings & Appeals - 10/18/08

Update Request. We have been asked to provide an update on the status of the Hearings and Appeals being funded by local residents through the Illahee Community Club (ICC).

SHB Appeal. The Shorelines Hearings Board Appeal is going through the interrogatory process at the same time the parties are trying to come to a possible resolution. We think the two parties are very close to finding a way to resolve many of the problems now and in the future and are waiting on the county to make sure they are supportive. If the county concurs with the plans, the ICC Board will need to approve, along with the Port of Illahee. Having seen the plans, we think both groups will be happy with the proposed resolution.

Timbers Edge Hearing Status. This one is going to be a little more difficult to explain, so we have broken it down as follows:

The Plan on August 28th. If you remember, the Timbers Edge Hearing was rushed by the applicant and the county. The ICC was only able to obtain one expert witness for the Hearing and the Hearing Examiner gave the community until September 30th to get written expert testimony into the record. The plan was for the applicant to then have until October 15th to rebuttal the expert testimony, and final arguments were to complete on October 30th.

Written Expert Testimony. The ICC was able to get four written expert witness reports into the file by September 30th.

Applicants Response by October 15th? We didn't hear that the applicants met their October 15th response date and will need to report on that latter. We will contact the ICC attorney on Monday to find out what happened.

The Sewer Notice Problem. The sewer issue that was addressed at the beginning of the August 28th hearing was the lack of sewer notice to residents along the sewer line. A stipulation agreement between the two lawyers was for the county to issue a new notice to residents along the new sewer line and if anyone requested a sewer hearing it would be scheduled.

Notice to Some Residents. A sewer and stormwater notice went out, but it didn't go to all the residents it was supposed to according to the stipulation agreement, but instead went to only about half of the residents. Evidently the county interpreted the notice recipients differently from the stipulation agreement.

Sewer Hearing Requests. The notice that went out also went out late. It was dated on September 18th, but not received by local residents until September 26th, with some out of town residents receiving it on October 1st. In spite of the county not giving the necessary 14 day notice, several residents along the way evidently did request a sewer hearing and a sewer hearing date of November 14, 2008 was scheduled.

Another Notice Required? Many residents are confused with what is happening. We talked with a resident on Saturday who was not notified and yet lives in the area where notices were to be sent. We will check on that situation on Monday. Those who were at the August 28th hearing thought the Hearing Examiner made it clear that residents along the sewer line should have been notified and that was the reason he asked the two lawyers to work on the stipulation letter. We therefore feel a new notice needs to be sent to all the residents along the new proposed sewer line.

A New Hearing Date? If a new notice is sent out then it would seem like a new hearing date might be needed? This is where it becomes even more confusing.

Plan for November 17th. We have been told to nevertheless plan for the November 17th hearing date. While it seems like a long time, there are many sewer issues that need to be researched and understood and the time will go fast.

Sewer Town Hall Meeting Requested. As other residents learned of the sewer plans for Illahee, some requested a Town Hall meeting for the county to explain the sewer infrastructure plans for the Illahee Community. The request was reportedly made on October 13th at the County Commissioner's meeting. We are attempting to get a copy of that request.

We Support A Town Hall Meeting. We support a sewer town hall meeting and would hope the county would schedule one very soon.

Jim Aho

Meetings & Responses - 5/11/08

Reminder of Two Important Upcoming Meetings

Appeal Hearing on Monday (5/12/08). The Illahee Community Club's appeal of the Illahee Outfall project will be held Monday evening at 7:15 pm in the Commissioners Chambers at the County Administration building.

Illahee Community Plan Citizens Meeting on Tuesday (5/13/08). The Illahee Community Plan meeting is also being held at the above facility on Tuesday at 6:30 pm. The anticipated agenda is a more thorough review of the Natural Resources chapter of the Plan, which includes many items of importance to Illahee citizens, and likely some other major items.

Information provided by Illahee residents

Seattle Times Article re Stormwater. There was a very timely article in the Seattle Times that talks to many of the issues of concern to Illahee residents that was passed on to us today. The first link is the article and the second an accompanying illustration:

Wildlife Responses. We received several responses to our wildlife update and we wanted to pass two of them on.

Jim, we lost three eagles last week. The PSE wood butchers cut trees within 50 ft. of the eagle nest in Illahee. They were told about the nest and just ignored the advice. They blew the two adult eagles off the nest and the eaglets were in the nest alone and predators killed them The other incident was in Seabeck at Apex Airport. There was a report that an airplane hit an eagle and did not report it. We did see the eagle on the ground and it could not fly and it got away from us in the brush and we searched for two days and could not find it. I am sure the coyotes got the eagle. Regarding the Illahee nest I am working with Shelly Ament, WDFW in developing a color coded eagle map for local tree crews.
Jim Trainer

Its good to know about the bees, I'm not seeing very many here, next door to RUE VILLA. We also have possum, three deer, otter (under my house), seems to be fewer raccoons, I too saw the fish top feeding, I think last Tuesday. We seem to have more Kelp this year and the fronds seem to be about two to three feet. That has not been on our beach since our return 9 years ago.........I was a child here until 19 years old. The bay is so muddy now, its hard to imagine how long it will take to settle out. Probably not in our life time.

Keep passing information to us and we will send it out to the community.

Jim Aho

3 Meetings This Week - 4/14/08

TUESDAY (4-15-08)

11AM -12:30 PM Norm Dicks Center - KC Department of Emergency Management (KCDEM) December 2007 Disaster After Action Symposium to address the county's response to the Dec 2007 storms. In Illahee we had more than our share of problems with this storm even though we received less rain than other parts of the county. Some of us want to express our thoughts with what happened and more importantly, what lessons were learned that will help in the future. More information on this meeting was in the 4/5/08 CK Reporter which you can access by clicking on this link.

6 - 8 PM Sylvan Way Library - Illahee Community Plan - County Experts, Dave Tucker (stormwater), Patty Charnes (natural systems), David Greetham (environmental) will be giving presentations. This should be a very important informational meeting and one that you won't want to miss. These are the county experts who make the decisions on what happens in Illahee.


WEDNESDAY (4-16-08)

6:30 - 8:00 PM Fairgrounds Parks Dept Offices (lower level) - Illahee Preserve Stewardship Committee meeting (open to the public). This is the group that keeps the Illahee Preserve going. They are always looking for new members to help them with the management and oversight of the 460 acres that comprises the Preserve.


If there are any questions on these meetings, please give me a call at 479-1049


Jim Aho

Miscellaneous Items - 3/17/08

Miscellaneous Items:

Scientific Experts Briefing. Last week (Tuesday 3/11/08) there was a very informative briefing at the Norm Dicks Center. We brought a small video camera and the results were good so we are working on formatting and hopefully making DVD's available, or possibly putting on our website, illaheecommunity.com. More information to follow on the meeting and the results.

The Kitsap Sun covered the meeting with a report on 3/13/08.

3/18/08 Sale of Tax Title Strips. This is an ongoing item that is currently scheduled for sale on 3/18/08 unless someone intervenes. We reported some time ago (2/2/08) that the public was not given an opportunity to speak regarding these properties as was required by county directives. Members of the community have been in contact with Public Works and the Treasures Office. The response from the county has been interesting and up to the point of this writing, the properties are still on the list for sale at 11 a.m. in the lobby of the County Administration Building.

Illahee Community Plan Meetings. The meetings are held every other Monday through June 2, 2008 and are facilitated by Kitsap County. The second meeting is tonight, Monday 3/17/08 from 6-8 pm at the KUUF Church on Perry Avenue. Illahee residents are encouraged to come and be part of the group.

Gilberton Creek Culvert Replacement. We have requested a public meeting of the Gilberton Creek washout to discuss the county's plan to put in a 10 foot diameter culvert. We will report back when we hear more. We have attached an email from John Sledd, who lives at the mouth of Gilberton Creek which provides much additional information on the creek.

Sorry to be slow getting back to you. I really appreciate your interest in the aftermath of the culvert blow-out and flash flood in December that took out Illahee Road and nearly half a mile of stream. That stream and the lagoon at its mouth were a big part of the reason we bought our place twenty years ago. It hurts to see it trashed, and you can imagine what our neighbors the Grahns feel like -- they've had most of this neck of Gilberton in their family since the late 1800's.

Based on what I've learned in my job (I'm an attorney and I've done a fair amount of fish habitat-related work), Mr. Bear's explanation of why a fish-passable culvert is needed is correct. The State relies on physical characteristics for its initial determination of fish-bearing status when enforcing the Hydraulics Code, which requires permits and protection of fish life for any in-water work in fish habitat. There are also state fish passage laws -- they are actually the oldest laws in Washington, dating back to the Oregon Territory Organic Act of 1849 -- which prohibit the building of culverts that are not fish passable. As I said when we spoke on the phone the other night there is finally some effort to comply with those laws.

In this case the fish-bearing determination based on physical criteria is confirmed by history. Pete and Karl Grahn fished for cutthroat in that creek as kids and the Phifers, who had our place from the early 60's until 1989, still saw cutts when they owned it. The trout probably would have been up past the Road originally. I never saw salmon up that far , but I have seen coho adults and salmonid fry lower down. If the channel were in better shape there could be juvenile coho up to or past the road. They use a lot of small and even seasonal streams, and I had one biologist tell me that they'd spawn in our kitchen sinks if we all made our drain pipes a bit fatter. Probably a slight exaggeration. There may have been chum in there originally, too. They head for shallow saltwater as soon as they hatch , so they don't need much summer flow. The "pocket estuary" at the creek mouth here is pretty prime habitat for juvenile chum , too -- or it was before December filled it with mud and broken trees. We tend not to think of these small creeks as salmon streams, but that's partly because we've beaten them up so bad the fish are gone. To me, the fact that we've already wiped out the runs in a stream is a pretty lame excuse for allowing the degradation to continue.

I'd be interested to see the cost estimates for the different culvert and bridge options, but I'd be surprised if the cost of a fish-passable pipe on Illahee Road is a lot more than sticking another little 18 inch straw through the road and hoping it never rains hard again. The biggest costs in fish passage projects are usually not in the pipe, but in removing and rebuilding the road prism. The flood did the removing here, and made certain that the rebuilding costs will be high no matter what option the county chose.

Of course, as you suggested when you called, a fish-friendly culvert makes no sense if the creek channel downstream stays silted up and braided like it is after the flood -- the fish would need legs and breathing apparatus to anywhere. It is certainly feasible to rebuild the channel, and putting all those downed logs from the flood into the creekbed for habitat would be a lot easier than hauling them out of the ravine. Based on my research, I think there are good arguments why the County and possibly some of the upstream developers are legally required to either restore the creek, lagoon and beach or pay affected landowners enough to restore it. In any case it's clear that if it wasn't for Illahee Road and its dinky old culvert, that flash flood would never have happened, and we'd still own a creek in a forest and a beach, rather than a big, naked gravel bar and a stinking mudflat full of dead clams. It just does not seem fair to trash folks' property that way and then walk off with a shrug.

Commissioner Brown and the Public Works engineers were good enough to come down and see the mess for themselves, and they expressed some sympathy, but I haven't seen concrete evidence yet that the County plans to do more than lug out a few chunks of pipe and asphalt. We wouldn't even have known the County plans to do that much if we hadn't learned about it through you.

My wife (Elaine Thomas) and I and the Grahns gave Commissioner Brown a consistent message when we met with him last month. The County has the opportunity here to do right by the landowners, by the salmon, and by the community. With some coordinated effort and community support we could get funds to restore the beach, estuary and creek, or better yet to take advantage of the Grahn's interest to acquire the ravine and lagoon for the public. The Greater Peninsula Conservancy already owns a couple of acres between our place and Illahee Road. There is a chance to add to that and to preserve a nice public greenbelt and fish and wildlife corridor as the neighborhood grows, and a place with a lot of Native and early non-Native history as well. I'm probably a nut for thinking like this, but crazier things have been done.

You folks in Illahee have the reputation for community organization and caring about your neighborhood -- what do you think?

Sorry to be so wordy but this situation gets me riled up. I hope we can get a meeting together and kick some of this around.

I copied this to the folks on your cc list whom I know, and to the Grahns, and I sent a pretty similar email to Roy Barton. You are free to share this with whomever you please.

Best and thanks again, John Sledd

Additional Items? If you have additional items you would like us to report on, please let us know.

Jim Aho

Gilberton Creek Culvert Replacement - 3/9/08

We have heard from a number of people this weekend who would like a briefing from the county on the Gilberton Creek Culvert Replacement, which is at the north end of the Illahee community.

On March 5th Kitsap County issued a DETERMINATION OF NONSIGNIFICANCE. We have copied a portion of the document which reads as follows:

DETERMINATION OF NONSIGNIFICANCE

Description of Proposal: Illahee Road Culvert Replacement – Replace a failed undersized 18 inch culvert with a ten foot diameter culvert constructed for fish passage. The proposal includes repair of storm damaged stream banks, upstream and downstream channel repair, and placement of gravel in the stream bed to enhance fish passage.

Proponent: Kitsap County Department of Public Works

Lead Agency: KITSAP COUNTY

Location of proposal, including street address, if any: On Illahee Road at an unnamed stream tributary that flows to Port Orchard Bay, approximately 1.5 miles south of the intersection with Brownsville Highway, near Gilberton.

The lead agency for this proposal has determined that it does not have a probable significant adverse impact on the environment. An environmental impact statement (EIS) is not required under RCW 43.21C.030(2)(c). This decision was made after review of a completed environmental checklist and other information on file with the lead agency. This information is available to the public on request.

0 There is no comment period for this DNS.

0 This DNS is issued after using the optional DNS process in WAC 197-11-355. There is no further comment period on the DNS.

X This DNS is issued under 197-11-340(2); the lead agency will not act on this proposal for 14 days from the date below. Comments must be submitted by: March 24, 2008.

COMMENTS:
The replacement culvert will improve capacity for stream flow and fish passage under Illahee Road. The in-stream work will be subject to Hydraulic Project Approval from Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, and Nationwide Permit approval from the Corps of Engineers.

Responsible Official / Contact Person: David Greetham
Position/Title: SEPA Administrator, Dept. of Community Development Phone: (360) 337-7181
Address: 619 Division Street, Port Orchard, WA 98366

Nearly all the people we spoke with have some concerns, first about how the washout happened, and second, they want to be briefed on the project, and possibly having some input, as the project goes forward.

We are forwarding this update to Commissioner Josh Brown, KC Public Works, and the Department of Community Development, to see if they can set up a briefing for the Illahee and Gilberton communities regarding the culvert replacement.

Jim Aho

Illahee Outfall Proposed Appeal to County - 2/17/08

As reported in the Kitsap Sun on Sunday (2/17/08), the Illahee Community Club (ICC) is going to appeal the recent Hearing Examiner's outfall decision. The appeal verbiage is scheduled to be finalized Tuesday (2/19/08) and hand delivered to Kitsap County before 4:30 p.m.

Some advised the ICC that the Commissioner's nearly 100% of the time back up the Hearing Examiner, which didn't make their decision easy, since the cost just to file the appeal is $500, and then there are the lawyer's fees on top of that. They concluded the issue was too important to not try and convince the Commissioners that locating another outfall at the dock was a very bad decision.

The ICC put out an email to its Board of Directors with a proposed statement that may be a clue as to the basis of their appeal. It read:

"The deleterious effects of discharging storm water directly on a public beach and swimming area were not addressed by the applicant, the county, the Health Department, nor the Hearing Examiner. This omission is too egregious for the citizens of Illahee to ignore or let pass."

We will pass on more information as it becomes available to us.

Jim Aho

Illahee Outfall Appeal DENIED - 2/8/08

We were hoping this would have been reported in the papers by now. We need to report it quickly because of the short appeal window should the community want to take this to the next level.

Outfall Project Approved. The ILLAHEE OUTFALL REPLACEMENT has been approved by the Hearing Examiner.

Community Appeal Denied. APPEAL DENIED was the decision he rendered to the Port's and Citizen's efforts to question the County's decision to approve the outfall and the legacy lot projects.

Community Ignored. The Hearing Examiner agreed with the county and the developer on all counts, and discarded the issues brought up by the Port of Illahee and the Illahee Community.

Community Disappointment. This decision was a great disappointment to everyone we talked with. The common question, paraphrased, was: How can the county, who is supposed to be responsible for promoting health and welfare issues, continue to dump essentially untreated stormwater at the base of the Illahee community dock, where the public recreates and where people swim? (Note that the developer's engineer said it will be treated, but what they are doing is only removing suspended solids, and the technical term for that level of treatment is referred to as pre-treatment.)

Appeal to BOCC? The next decision is whether to appeal it to the next level, the Board of County Commissioners. The cost used to be $200 to file, but as of a week ago, it was raised to $500. Any appeal needs to be filed by February 19. 2008. We will be anxious to hear what the Port of
Illahee and the Illahee Community Club decides. Let them know your thoughts.

42 Inch Outfall. We received the attached photos that 1) show the existing 24 inch outfall, and then 2) a doctored up photo that shows what the second newly approved 42 inch outfall might look like.

1)

2)

Community Comments? Once this goes out by email it is later put on our website illaheecommunity.com where it can be accessed by clicking on "weblog" in the upper left hand corner. At the bottom of the update you can click on "comment" and add your own thoughts and see what others are saying. Our website group is hoping this will be a way for everyone to interact and see how the community feels about issues like this.

Jim Aho

Storm Report #1 - 1/24/08

Storm Reports We are requesting any December storm related photos you might have so we can put them on our website illaheecommunity.com. We also would like to invite you to our blog site which is on the website or at illaheecommunity.blogspot.com so you respond to these updates and see other responses.

Storm Rainfall We were lucky in Illahee to escape any injuries related to the storm, though we did have plenty of storm water damage. We have a rain reporting station in Illahee which reported 2 inches on Sunday (12/2/07) and 6.4 inches on Monday (12/3/07), and thus we did not receive as much rain as other locations in the county.

Photo Documentary On our website is a photo documentary by John Lind of the washout of Illahee Road (note the photo that shows a person at the bottom of the washout with two people looking down from the road). His writeup of the washout is provided below,

Some said 14 inches fell in 48 hours, others reported 11 inches, and in Illahee it was actually about half of that, but we won't argue, cause it was enough to inflict considerable damage to the area on that Monday, the 3rd day of December in 2007. Illahee Road had some major problems with near washout at the south end above Rue Villa, a culvert and estuary at Illahee Creek that filled with sediment, and a total road washout at the Gilberton Creek gully, thankfully without the loss of life.

There were several who crossed the roadway just before it blew out. They reported few people on the road at that time (about 1:30 pm) and a water filled upstream gully that was overflowing across Illahee Road about 2 inches deep and at least twenty feet wide.

We decided to walk the area and the path the water took after it washed out the Illahee roadway just northwest of Grahns road where the next curve starts. We climbed and slid down the bank which must have been 50 to 60 feet deep when we reached the bottom. You could hear the water still running in the broken culvert and over the gravel.

Heading down the newly sculpted gully, we climbed around some big cedars that had been nudged over by what we estimated was a "water wall" of 50 feet or so high as it broke through the road bed. As we rounded the first bend you could see about a block ahead the area had widened out to about 40 feet and was still 18 to 20 feet in height where the banks and tree trunks were scarred by the rushing torrent. I think the most extra-ordinary sight was at the next turn where the area became wider than 100 feet and still had scoured the area to 14 feet high. Hugh chunks of 8 inch thick blacktop were strewn downstream, a guard rail was wrapped around a tree trunk, and trees were piled up on the curves so high that a person with a 7 1/2 foot reach couldn't touch the top logs.

We could just imagine the sounds that must have been heard by the people living in their homes high up on the banks overlooking the gully. Talk about a freight train coming thru the woods! Wow! Some of the walls were scoured so drastically it showed different strata of compressed clay and dirt that probably were formed back in an earlier glacial period. It wasn't a difficult walk as everything in the gully was washed out into Port Orchard Bay. As we rounded the last bend and could make out the water up ahead we realized that we were walking on mud flats where the tides were already working to reclaim the land.

Now the big questions are: What will replace the washed out roadway, and when will we be able to drive from Illahee to Brownsville again?

John Lind

Illahee Creek Culvert 1-3-08

This update concerns the Illahee Creek culvert under Illahee Road. Many of us have concluded the culvert has failed and that another major storm could result in a wash out of Illahee Road. We sent the following email to Kitsap County personnel on Tuesday (1/2/08):


We are extremely concerned that the Illahee Creek culvert under Illahee Road has essentially failed as the result of the December 3, 2007 storm. We think this failure is the direct result of the storm and that federal disaster money needs to be applied for to fix the problem.

Another major storm would likely result in the further blockage of the culvert which could result in another major washout along Illahee Road.

The following statement appeared in the recently published Parametrix "Draft Illahee Watershed Characterization and Site Assessment" dated December 2007 which was authored by Erin Nelson and Derek Booth, and provides supporting professional documentation of our concerns.

Along the lower Main Stem and below Illahee Road, the consequences of high sediment loads and nearby base level (i.e., Puget Sound) were manifest in abundant deposition, a braided channel form, and the near-obstruction of the Illahee Road culvert. Based on local reports during the storm, filling of the culvert proceeded from downstream to upstream (i.e., not from an obstruction at the upstream end of the culvert) and almost certainly reflects the rapid delivery of sediment onto the delta of Illahee Creek that built a steepening wedge of sediment into the Sound. Local dredging of the sediment immediately downstream of the culvert has provided temporary relief, but additional high flows would almost certainly deliver sediment more rapidly than a backhoe could remove it. Long-term, a reduction of sediment delivery into Illahee Creek would allow the reestablishment of a reduced gradient between the creek and the Sound, lowering sediment levels in the culvert and recreating free passage. Given the improbability of this scenario absent dramatic efforts to resolve acute and chronic sediment inputs into the channel network, however, emergency maintenance and eventual replacement of the culvert appears almost unavoidable.


The filling of the old stream channel with sediment has significantly altered the stream flow at the mouth such that salmon passage is now questionable .

We have a stream with such a large sediment transport problem, caused by the lack of storm water controls, that it is effectively raising the height of the flood plain up and down the main corridor of Illahee Creek, including the delta at the mouth of the creek.

Some has suggested that the only way to solve the problem is to raise the height of the culvert or put in a bridge structure, which would mean raising the height of Illahee Road in the vicinity of the culvert. We will leave those decisions to the engineers, though they may appreciate some help at this point.

There are no easy solutions and no one has come up with any quick fixes. The recent backhoe work at the culvert outlet increased the opening at the upstream inlet by 3 inches (from a 19 to a 22 inch clear opening). We commend those efforts, but remind the county that the culvert will not likely handle another major storm.

The community needs to be aware of this situation as it is always the local citizens who are most impacted and affected when systems fail. We welcome your thoughts and comments.

Dennis Sheeran & Jim Aho

Wildlife & Illahee CreekUpdate 12/18/07

Brief Wildlife & Illahee Creek Update

Salmon. Salmon are still around and can be seen jumping, in spite of all the seals and sea lions in the area. We are hoping they are hanging around to go up Illahee Creek, but they are probably going to find it difficult, as we will describe below.

Barking. Barking can still be heard at all hours of the evening and less often during the day, only it isn't your neighbors dog, it is coming from the sea lions out in the bay.

Illahee Creek.

1. The Illahee Creek culvert has essentially failed, in our opinion. It filled up with sediment after the last storm such that the vertical opening at the inlet was 19 inches and only 5 inches reported at the outlet. The county cleared an approximate 15 foot section downstream of the outlet on Monday (12/17/07) in hopes that the sediment inside the culvert will wash into the newly created depression. It will likely be a process that will take months of monitoring and cleaning, barring any new major storms.

2. Salmon passage is unlikely since the storm filled the stream channel with sediment causing the stream to free flow over the estuary in a number of places. Several channels seem to be developing and with the rain more channels have appeared. The most surprising is a channel that is draining to the south which goes in front of Louie's house which is evident as the chocolate brown water flowing south out of the estuary. The estuary house seems rather vulnerable to the stream at this point. We hope the county is not liable for permitting the house to be built on a flood plain and in a channel migration zone.

3. On Wednesday we will try to locate the source of the sediment laden water as it is often the indicater of a slide along the creek corridor.

Jim Aho

ps Some have asked how to electronically sign Mike Nicolaus's letter to the Kitsap Sun. If you responded to the email that you supported the letter we copied your response to an electronic signature sheet. The current count is ~50 signatures.