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September 14, 2011
New sprint boat track loaded for speed Port Angeles-based Wicked Racing is one of the entries in this weekend’s competition.
Ecology dings port over water By Tom Callis
Keith Thorpe/Peninsula Daily News
Peninsula Daily News
The new Port Angeles sprint boat track at Extreme Sports Park, 2917 W. Edgewood Drive, is filled with water for racing that begins Saturday at 10 a.m.
PORT ANGELES — The Port of Port Angeles illegally granted A2Z Enterprises use of a manmade pond to fill its new four-acre sprint boat track because it lacked a water right, according to the state Department of Ecology. The company has used the pond adjacent to its property free of charge to fill the track in preparation for the U.S. Sprint Boat Association National Finals on Saturday. Ecology issued a notice to stop pumping the water Friday, saying that the port did not have the authority to
give, sell or use it. But the head of A2Z Enterprises said that will not be a problem. Dan Morrison said Tuesday he has pumped the water he needs and that the races at 2917 W. Edgewood Drive will not be delayed. “Oh, yeah, we’re racing,” he said. Morrison, who has said the track holds up to 750,000 gallons, declined to comment further. Port Executive Director Jeff Robb said the port built the pond for irrigation of Christmas trees and still thought it
had authority to use the water. “We built it with the intention to use it for irrigation, and there was no objection at that time,” he said. The pond, which has a liner on the bottom, had not been used for irrigation in about 10 years, Robb said. Water rights expire if not used for five years, said Ecology spokeswoman Kim Schmanke. Even though the pond was manmade, the water is still a public resource, and a water right is needed for it to be put to
use, Schmanke said. “It still is technically done with a resource that belongs to the public,” she said. “And we have to manage that with that perspective in mind.” Schmanke said no decisions have been made as to whether fines will be issued. Turn
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Track/A4
Sequim council settles on tract’s bond Action allows finishing streets, utilities in ill-fated subdivision By Jeff Chew
Peninsula Daily News
SEQUIM — The board president and attorney for the foreclosed-upon Fair Weather subdivision said he believes residents are going to be happy with the Sequim City Council’s decision to settle on bond proceeds. The council Monday voted 6-0 with one member absent to cover part of a $138,000 performance bond. That will allow for completion of street paving, underground utilities, the widening of West Sequim Bay Road and the extension of future utilities for the
duplex development. “I am glad to hear the city has made an attempt to settle this with us,” said Robin K. Auld, a Fair Weather resident and Port Angeles attorney. “I am optimistic that the board of directors will accept the offer.”
Lawsuit by bond company The settlement comes after a lawsuit was recently filed in Clallam County Superior Court by the bond insurance company INSCO Insurance Services Inc. as underwriting manager for Developers Surety and Indemnity Co. of Irvine, Calif.
“This is a bond being paid to us,” City Attorney Craig Ritchie explained after the council’s action following an executive session Monday night. “This will be in the form of a settlement of a lawsuit.” Ritchie said the proposed settlement was “good for everybody.” Auld had contended, when he first approached the City Council in July, that the city illegally allowed the developer’s bond cover to be reduced. In June 2008 just prior to the expiration of the surety bond, the subdivision’s developer, Gerald Engler, requested the city of Sequim reduce the amount of bond coverage based on the fact that he completed some of the required improvements to the development, but not all. On June 10, 2008, Engler
received a letter from former city Public Works Director Bill Bullock stating that Engler’s request to reduce the bond was approved. B u l l o c k Auld estimated that the remaining improvements would cost $110,678 and reduced the bond amount to 125 percent of his estimate, or $138,347. In effect, the bond amount was reduced from $840,336 to $138,347. Bullock left the position that same year, and it was last year filled for the first time in two years by Paul Haines, now working with Auld to come up with a
solution acceptable to both parties. Auld said under the proposed agreement, Anchor Bank will pay about $16,000, Columbia Bank $4,000 and the residents of Fair Weather about $9,000 or $10,000. The city will release the bond balance paid to it by the bond company. “It is less than the full cost of paving our roads but a substantial amount, so we can afford to pay for it,”Auld said. The city will release bond payment for all costs but the streets under the proposal, Auld said. The city will be responsible for completing the widening of West Sequim Bay Road, a portion of a trail running through the subdivision’s frontage and bury overhead power lines. Turn
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Tract/A4
The Elwha Dams — Part 4
Klallams’ river lifeline severed
Clallam County Historical Society
Here is what the Elwha River Valley looked like before completion of Glines Canyon Dam and inundation of Lake Mills in 1927. View is looking south from about where the dam would be built. Upland hills were logged; Olympic National Park, which prohibits logging, wouldn’t be created until 1938.
EDITOR’S NOTE: Work to remove the two Elwha River dams begins this week — with special events to commemorate the beginning of the river restoration project. In conjunction, Port Angeles writer/historian John Kendall continues his look-back at the dams, their role in North Olympic Peninsula development and their legacy as they come down. Parts 1, 2 and 3 of this series can be found at www.peninsula dailynews.com; just search the word “historical” in the search engine on the home page.
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Thousands of years ago, Native Americans settled the shores of what was later called the Strait of Juan de Fuca and Hood Canal. They split into groups, and some of the Klallam group settled along the Elwha River Valley, as far south as Indian Creek and at the river mouth. During the 1860s, non-Native settlers moved in; they claimed up to 160 acres of land promised by the government. Turn
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Klallam/A5
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