PORT ANGELES — A $50-per-parcel management district to fight noxious Eurasian milfoil in Lake Sutherland has been extended for five years.
Clallam County commissioners voted 3-0 Tuesday to continue the existing district rather than holding a vote of affected property owners to keep the eradication efforts afloat from 2010 to 2014 with a new district.
The current district, which was approved by Lake Sutherland voters in August 2004, is set to expire at the end of 2009.
In a public hearing last week, 10 out of 11 affected property owners voiced support for the continuation of the current district.
Besides the effective eradication efforts to date, many residents said the volunteer cleanup days have been bonding experiences for the community 14 miles west of Port Angeles.
“Based on the overwhelming public testimony in favor of continuing the Lake Sutherland Management District 2 and the fact that it will be a reduction in cost not to run another election, I move to accept the resolution on the continuation of the Lake Sutherland Management District 2,” said Mike Chapman, independent commissioner from Port Angeles.
Lawyers in the Clallam County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office last week researched the legality of extending the district according to county code.
Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Doug Jensen gave the board the green light to continue the district in a memo discussed in Monday’s work session.
Underwater plant
Eurasian milfoil is an underwater plant that infested the 80-foot-deep, 360-acre lake in the late 1990s.
The district was formed in 2005 after a state grant had expired.
Efforts to physically remove the non-native plant have been successful, but Eurasian milfoil could reinfest the lake in short order, said Cathy Lucero, noxious weed control coordinator for Clallam County.
Swimmers can drown and boats can get stuck in milfoil.
It kills native species by blocking sunlight and changing the chemistry of the water, Lucero has said.
This year’s volunteer cleanup days are scheduled for Aug. 8 and Sept. 12.
Juvenile services
Earlier in the meeting, the commissioners passed an agreement with True Star Behavioral Health for chemical dependency and mental health services for eligible youth.
Chapman said the agreement will save costs for the juvenile department.
“This is kind of breaking new ground,” said Pete Peterson, director of the Clallam County Juvenile and Family Services Center.
Peterson on Monday presented a revised budget change to reflect a $22,284 grant for juvenile services. The money will pay for a care management coordinator to screen potential clients and make referrals to partner agencies over a six-month term.
The partner agencies are True Star Behavioral Health, Peninsula Community Mental Health and West-End Outreach.
The grant will also promote a probation officer to supervisor.
The board also renewed an outgrant license with the Coast Guard for use of the Slip Point Light Station. The Clallam County Sheriff’s Department uses a portion of the Slip Point compound as the Clallam Bay detachment office.
The contract, which carries an annual rent of $4,200, is retroactive to November 2007. It will expire Oct. 31, 2012.
A bid award to C&J Excavating Inc. for the west approach to the Elwha River Bridge’s pedestrian deck on the Olympic Discovery Trail was postponed.
The county passed an agreement with the Makah, Quileute and Hoh tribes, along with Jefferson County and the city of Forks to implement the fourth phase of the Water Resource Inventory Area 20 implementation plan.
“Watershed groups are ahead of the curb,” said Commissioner Steve Tharinger, who chairs the state Salmon Recovery Funding Board.
“What we need to do is get the state aligned at the Olympia level.”
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Reporter Rob Ollikainen can be reached at 360-417-3537 or at rob.ollikainen@peninsuladailynews.com.
