Examiner The Whidbey
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Thursday, April 9, 2015
VOL. 20, NO. 35
Hughes to seek bid for mayor By Megan Hansen Co-Editor
Coupeville Town Councilwoman Molly Hughes announced this week that she will run for mayor. Hughes, who is serving her 12th year on the council, announced that last month that she would not run for her council seat again. That same week Mayor Nancy Conard said she would not seek reelection after 20 years in office. “It’s a big job being the mayor and the people who would do it successfully need to care about the community,” Conard said, “and Molly has demonstrated she has a big heart for Coupeville.” Hughes said she isn’t looking to make
See MAYOR, page 20
Lawsuit says landslide is county’s fault By Jessie Stensland Co-Editor
Residents of a Central Whidbey neighborhood struck by a massive landslide two years ago have filed lawsuits against Island County. The residents are claiming that the county was negligent and contributed to the landslide. They also say the county failed to properly maintain a public road. Seattle attorney Karen Willie filed two lawsuits against the county in connection with the March 27, 2013 landslide at Ledgewood, south of Coupeville. The two lawsuits were filed in both Snohomish County and Island County superior courts last month; Willie said she wants the case to be heard solely in Snohomish County while the Island County’s attorney said he will likely argue to have it here, though he hasn’t made a final determination. The lawsuits ask for unspecified damages and court orders forcing the county to own and maintain two roads that provide access to homes near the landslide area. Willie, who said she’s known affectionately as “the water witch,” specializing in
See LAWSUIT, page 2
Ron Newberry photo
An excavator with Island County Public Works is used Monday to break up and load material during a project to remove a former Navy rake station at the Keystone Spit in Coupeville. Also removed unintentionally was a ferry landing ramp that is believed to be about a century old.
history reduced to rubble County demos early ferry ramp by accident By Ron Newberry Staff Reporter
A historic ferry landing ramp in Coupeville was inadvertently reduced to rubble this week during a demolition project designed to remove an aging structure that rested on top of it. Island County Public Works spent Monday demolishing a small World War II-era rake station once used by the Navy at its county-owned Driftwood Park along the Keystone Spit. What the county was unaware of was that the structure was constructed atop a concrete ramp believed to be about a century old that once served as the terminus of the CoupevillePort Townsend ferry route before the presentday Keystone Harbor landing started being used in 1948.
Crews used heavy machinery to dismantle the building, its foundation and the ramp beneath it, loading the rubble on to trucks before filling in the area with rock and dirt. But when the dust settled, a problem emerged. “Nobody mentioned this historic ferry landing,” said Bill Oakes, Island County Public Works director. The project went through the proper county permitting process, Oakes said, and was reviewed by an advisory committee through the Historic Preservation Commission. None of those channels revealed the existence or significance of the former ferry terminal ramp that was visible above ground in an area frequented by beach walkers and salmon anglers.
Fishers referred to the structure as the “pump house.” More than a half century ago, it was a naval “rake station” where observers would track the accuracy of bomb drops in Greenbank during training exercises. What it rested on dated back much further. “When we were approving it we were looking at the building and thinking it was on a heavy foundation,” said Sarah Steen, preservation coordinator with Ebey’s Landing National Historical Reserve who served on the advisory committee. “It just got missed.” Steen said that neither the military building nor ramp underneath it existed in the reserve’s historic structures inventory, which might’ve otherwise avoided the ramp’s demolition.
See RUBBLE, page 2