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The Whidbey Examiner • January 16, 2014
EIS: Navy extends commenting period that community member’s comments, whatever they might be, be included in the EIS. THE SAN JUAN COUNTY COUNCIL sent a letter to the Navy Jan. 2, urging them to extend the EIS scoping period by 60 days and to hold a local public input meeting. “At 6.5 nautical miles from the runways at NAS Whidbey, the San Juan Islands are geographically closer than Anacortes or Coupeville,” said the letter from Jamie Stephens, chair council. “Therefore, we feel a comment period extension and a local meeting are in order.” Public affairs officers for the EIS could not be reached for comment. THE EIS SCOPING PERIOD is gathering information about the environmental impact of basing two additional expeditionary Growler squadrons and three additional aircraft to the training squadron at Whidbey Island Naval Air Station. The Navy uses Outlying Field Coupeville for carrier touch-and-go landing practices. Pre-deployment qualification. Operations at both OLF Coupeville and the main base in Oak Har-
bor are being considered in the EIS. The Citizens of Ebey’s Reserve, or COER, a group which sued the Navy in July over jet noise, said in a statement Monday that it was good to see the Navy responding to public requests. “People in areas outside Coupeville, Oak Harbor and Anacortes have gotten the Navy to hear their voices, raised in unison, asking for fairness and a hearing,” said Michael Monson, president of COER. “The Navy has hopefully realized their error in not listening to the many people affected by Growler noise,” Monson said. “COER is still disturbed that the Navy doesn’t feel it necessary to conduct scoping meetings, as they should have done, in these outlying areas.” Public input is very important in order for the Navy to fully understand community concerns and relevant issues, Navy officials said Monday in their news release. n Members of the public may mail comments to: EA18G EIS Project Manager (Code EV21/SS); Naval Facilities Engineering Command (NAVFAC) Atlantic, 6506 Hampton Blvd, Norfolk, Va. 23508. Comments may also be submitted via the project website at www.whidbeyeis.com
360-678-6738
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Whidbey Island Service Directory
Left: A mechanic works on an Island Transit bus parked in the new 34,700-squarefoot maintenance facility that was part of a new headquarters project. Below: Martha Rose shows a scrapbook chronicling the old building that was demolished in 2013.
IT settles into new facilities By Nathan Whalen Staff Reporter
Today’s Island Transit looks a lot different from the entity that formed in 1987 with five buses and 20 employees working out of a former auto shop that contained two maintenance bays and one restroom. The publicly-funded transit entity currently has more than 200 vehicles and more than 140 employees who recently moved into a new headquarters facility that was mostly paid for by a federal grant. That headquarters is located on Highway 20, south of Coupeville near the Pacific Rim Institute and Outlying Field. Island Transit executive director Martha Rose said
she hopes the new headquarters campus will serve the agency’s needs for the next 40 years to 50 years. Officials have been lamenting for years about the state of their old headquarters building; it was small, there was only one restroom for more than 100 employees and a small number of bays made it difficult for staff to keep up with maintenance on a growing fleet of vehicles. Most of the funding for the $22.4 million headquarters came from a $17.9 million federal State of Good Repair grant. The remaining dollars came from Island Transit. The funding paid for the construction of a 15,400-square-foot administration building, a 34,700-square-foot maintenance facility along with
Last Quarter
New Moon
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January 30th
Source: WSU Island County Extension
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Nathan Whalen photos
a fueling facility, car wash bays and generators to power the facility during extended power outages. There are aspects of the new facility that improve conditions for employees. Instead of the single restroom, both large buildings have restrooms and showers to accommodate Island Transit’s workforce. In addition, the administration building has a new lunchroom that includes a stove and several refrigerators and microwaves. Rose said Island Transit’s employee association chipped in to buy fitness equipment for the employee gym. She noted that an employee who has diabetes has already benefited from using the fitness equipment. The Island Transit facility sits on nearly 14 acres of
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Full Moon
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WHIDBEY WEATHER SUMMARY
Jan 6th - Jan 12th, 2014
HI Temp
LO Temp
Wind MPH
Rainfall
YTD Rain
Last Year
Fawn Run, Bachert
45
30
—
1.17
1.72
1.00
Fort Casey, Barnes
50
32
—
0.94
1.35
0.82
Greenbank, Mercer
50
32
28
1.68
1.97
1.64
NAS Whidbey, Weather Desk
54
28
60
1.22
1.85
1.07
Crockett Lake, Haglund
49
27
31
1.17
1.65
0.84
Polnell Point, Seaward
50
31
33
1.15
1.73
1.09
Blue Goose Inn, Coupeville
52
34
38
0.92
1.39
0.00
REPORTING STATIONS
land located just within the confines of Ebey’s Landing National Historic Reserve. Island Transit is using native plants for landscaping and failed trees from a nearby tree orchard are being used for mulch. Island Transit will be helping with a restoration project on nearby Smith Prairie that will include an interpretive project showing life on the prairie. The maintenance bays provide an upgrade for island transit. There are 12 bays that provide enough space for staff to maintain and clean the vehicles in Island Transit’s fleet, Rose said. Island Transit administration and operations staff moved into the new building in early June with maintenance moving in about six weeks later. Once the move was complete, the old building was destroyed to make room for a parking lot. The public will be able to view the new headquarters during an open house currently scheduled for May 17, 2014.
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