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Annual fair begins Thursday See...A11
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 5, 2015 | Vol. 91, No. 61 | WWW.SOUTHWHIDBEYRECORD.COM | 75¢
County to talk speed limit changes at public meeting
Whidbey Triathlon Racers rallied for South End favorite
By DAN RICHMAN Whidbey News Group Speed limits on 10 Whidbey and Camano roads may change after public meetings scheduled for Aug. 17 and 18. The Board of Island County Commissioners on July 28 set public hearings on new speed limits for Bayview Road, Burley Road, Engle Road, Fox Spit Road, French Road, Juniper Beach Road, Langley Road, Smugglers Cove Road, Swede Hill Road and Terry Road. Hearings on all but the proposed changes for Engle, Juniper Beach and Terry roads are 6 p.m. Monday, Aug. 17 at Trinity Lutheran Church’s new building. Hearings on limits for those three roads are set for 10:15 a.m. Tuesday, Aug. 18 in the commissioners’ hearing room, 1 N.E. 6th St., Coupeville. “It’s unusual to have so many proposed changes at once,” said Connie Bowers, the assistant county engineer, on Monday. “We had a large number of change requests and a vacant position that slowed things down.” Proposals dealing with South Whidbey roads are as follows: • Increase the speed limit from 35 to 40 along Bayview Road from State Highway 525 to Ewing Road. • Cut the speed limit from 50 mph to 25 mph along the entire length of Burley Road. This change coincides with an upcoming SEE SPEED LIMITS, A24
Dog House plans hit another snag By BEN WATANABE South Whidbey Record
Evan Thompson / The Record
Edmonds resident Lane Seeley, 43, approaches the finish line of the 2015 Whidbey Triathlon on Saturday with his daughter, Alina Seeley, 6. The three-part race led participants along a nearly 24-mile course that began at Goss Lake and finished at Community Park. The annual event brought out seasoned athletes and families alike. For the full story, see page 8.
Callison, Emerson lead in first ballot count By JUSTIN BURNETT South Whidbey Record The first batch of primary election results was tallied Tuesday and showed Tim Callison and Sharon Emerson leading the three-way race for Langley mayor. Callison captured the most votes with 160 — 44.69 percent — while Emerson amassed 134 votes — 37.43 percent — according to online results posted on the Island County Auditor’s Office website. “I feel very good and am very grateful for all the support I’ve gotten from the community,” said Callison, who was celebrating the results over a crab dinner with friends. He said he believed the results indicated his vision for Langley was shared by many in the community,
and was grateful for their support. “I’m really, really humbled by the whole thing — I’m quite pleased,” he said. Emerson was also celebrating at home with friends and supporters. She said she was expecting to make it through the primary but didn’t know what the results indicated from voters. She added that she was looking forward to the months ahead. “I’ll just continue to stand for what I stand for, and that will either resonate with voters or it won’t,” she said. “Either way it’s fine.” Challenger Thomas Gill, a Langley city councilman, claimed 17.88 percent of the vote — about 64 votes. If Callison and Emerson hold their leads, they will move on to the November general election, Nov. 3, to vie for the mayor’s seat. The position
is currently held by Fred McCarthy, who decided not to seek reelection. The position carries a four-year term and pays $55,000, not including benefits. The first count also showed Rob Born and incumbent Georgia Gardner ahead in the race for Position 2 on the Whidbey General Hospital board. Born had a healthy lead with 46.45 percent of the vote — 3,858 votes — compared to Gardner’s 37.76 percent — 3,136 votes. Also vying for the position was Rita Drum. She had 1,311 votes, or 15.79 percent. According to the auditor’s office, a total of 13,671 ballots had been counted as of Tuesday evening. The next count is Wednesday at 4:30 p.m. and the election will be certified Aug. 18.
An unexpected hiccup in the Dog House renovation has the building owners calling foul, a city councilman apologizing for an overly difficult approval process and the mayor personally offended. Building owners Charlie and Janice Kleiner attended Monday’s council meeting and during a public comment period complained that the land swap deal the council unanimously approved in March was rejected by the city’s attorney several weeks ago. For some council members, news that the deal was crippled for legal reasons, and that city administrators have known about the problem since July, came as a big surprise. “I thought we were already doing that,” Councilwoman Rene Neff said. But according to city officials, a preliminary solution to the regulatory hurdles was misunderstood and taken out of context by the Kleiners. Mayor Fred McCarthy said the original land swap deal is difficult to pass muster of a state law, and that Director of Community Planning Michael Davolio proposed attaching a public elevator to the building as a means of circumventing the land swap. In that deal, the city would build the elevator up to the planned deck on the north end of the building’s main floor for the restaurant, then have an easement SEE DOG HOUSE, A24