PORT TOWNSEND — Jefferson County commissioners, in a 2-1 vote Tuesday, repealed a policy limiting the use of Conservation Futures Fund monies for the acquisition of land easements.
Such easements are intended to protect open space, agricultural, natural resources and wildlife on properties such as Sunfield Farm and the Quimper Wildlife Corridor in Jefferson County.
The county budgets about $150,000 annually for the fund.
The policy, adopted in December by the former commissioners, was opposed by newly seated Democratic Commissioners David Sullivan of Cape George and Phil Johnson of Port Townsend.
The lone Republican commissioner, Pat Rodgers of Brinnon, opposed the repeal of the ordinance he supported in December with former Commissioners Glen Huntingford and Dan Titterness.
Rodgers defended the former decision, saying it protected open space and the environment in a way that also protected the tax base.
Land off tax rolls
At least one Jefferson County resident, Gene Seton, voiced concerns for taking land off the tax rolls, as was the case with the purchase of easements using the Conservation Futures funding.
“It’s a good ordinance,” Seton told the commissioners.
Barbara McColgan Pastore, chairwoman of the county’s Conservation Futures Fund Advisory Committee, said the ordinance was vague in its language and she urged its repeal.
She called the ordinance passed by the all-Republican board in December “counterproductive.”
Pastore said the fund’s advisory committee was working toward achieving “more transparency” in its application processes, and was seeking two new members.
All projects proposed this year for futures funding will be on the committee’s March 17 meeting agenda, she said.