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WEDNESDAY, December 2, 2015 n VOL. 108, NO. 28 n 75¢
Update Land Bank seeks acquisition of Bandit gets paid 300 acre Zylstra Lake property with the by studio council By Leslie Kelly
Special to the Journal
By Anna V. Smith Journal reporter
It has been a busy week for San Juan County council, approving a 2016 county budget, beginning public hearing on the Shoreline Management Plan, approving an acquisition of Zylstra Lake, see right, and more. In a Nov. 23 presentation to the council, executive director Becki Day presented a year in review of the San Juan Island Chamber of Commerce. Day said the chamber is a primary source of information for visiting tourists, and said that so far this year they’ve had 18,000 visitors to the chamber office in Friday Harbor, sent out 744 visitor guides, fielded 4,778 phone calls and mailed 125 relocation packets for people interested in moving to San Juan Island. “It is our goal to strengthen the Town of Friday Harbor and the island’s year round economy,” Day said. “We evaluate our success by comparing the monthly lodging and sales tax reports.” The chamber works with more than 300 business members in the community, and creates events like the upcoming Island Lights Fest to promote visitors. The festival will feature local businesses and activities like arts and crafts and caroling for kids. In the Nov. 23 county council meeting, Ed Hale of San Juan County Public Works Department presented a 1.5 percent decrease in excise tax for solid waste in the general solid waste district, noting that Lopez Island has a separate solid waste district that would not be affected by the tax change. The council voted to adopt an ordinance concerning what Hale called a “sustainable number,” reducing the solid waste excise tax from 16 percent down to 14.5 percent. The council chambers were packed for almost three hours of public hearing on Nov. 30 for the See COUNCIL, Page 5
Greg King and Co. Contributed Photo
An aerial view of Zylstra Lake, with the lower lake in the foreground and upper lake in the background. By Anna V. Smith Journal reporter
Swimming, hiking and boating may be in the future for the 50 acre Zylstra Lake off San Juan Valley Road. The lake has found a buyer in a joint venture of the San Juan County Land Bank and San Juan Preservation Trust, which has proposed to buy the property that includes 312 acres of farmland for a purchasing price of $3 million dollars. In a Nov. 30 San Juan County Council meeting, council members gave the Land Bank the go ahead with their acquisition plan, though many questions still remain about a management plan and financial resources. Lincoln Bormann, director of the Land Bank, presented the acquisition proposal for the San Juan County Council Nov. 23, a topic that he said has been “a matter of some excitement and conjecture.” In order to close the deal before 2015 ends, the Land Bank plans to pay $250,000 by Dec. 15, with an
additional $50,000 contributed by the San Juan County Preservation Trust. According to Bormann, the Land Bank and SJPT would contribute a total of $500,000 each, and sell off 30 acres of agricultural land for $800,000. Bormann said that there are multiple buyers currently interested. The rest of the money is planned to be raised through conservation grants from the Department of Ecology, Washington Wildlife and Recreation program and the Salmon Recovery Funding Board amongst others, as well as private donations. Staff from Windermere Real State of San Juan Island confirmed that there are developers interested in buying and developing the property if it is not sold to the Land Bank, which is zoned for around 50 homes. SJPT currently has it in escrow. The Town of Friday Harbor is not a partner in the Land Bank acquisition, but may pay for water rights associated with the lake, which could then be used to pay for the acquisition.
“The town’s position is the acquisition as open space is a great idea,” Town Administrator Duncan Wilson said. According to Wilson, the water rights are of interest in order to take eliminate some water restrictions that are on the lake via Augmentation No. 2, a pump station on Wold Road that connects to both Trout Lake and Zylstra Lake. Water is pumped up to Trout Lake to refill it during the wet season, between Nov. 1 and April 30. An incorrect number was produced by a Land Bank expenditure and acquisition plan draft stating that the town would commit $1 million to the water rights. Lincoln Bormann said that was just the draft of the proposal, and the amount was being used as a placeholder. “Because we wanted to show the council how the situation looked at the time and how we hoped it would stand when it was time for final approval, potential partSee ZYLSTRA, Page 4
More than five years after his crime spree, Colton Harris-Moore (aka the “Barefoot Bandit”) is coming close to paying off $1.3 million in restitution to his victims. According to the U.S. Marshal’s office in Seattle, 20th Century Fox gave the office a check for $900,000 late last week. It was the studio’s largest payment on Harris-Moore’s debt, which they are making in exchange for rights to his life story. They plan a major motion picture that is set to be released within the next two years. Richard Cohen, an attorney in the forfeiture division of the U.S. Attorney’s office in Seattle, confirmed that the money had been received by the U.S. Marshal’s office. He said his office will initiate a request for the funds to be applied to the court-approved restitution order in the case. He wasn’t certain how long it would take for funds to get in the hands See BANDIT, Page 4
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