INSIDE: Smell the roses ... Island Life, A12
RECORD SOUTH WHIDBEY
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 24, 2013 | Vol. 89, No. 33 | WWW.SOUTHWHIDBEYRECORD.COM | 75¢
County marks Earth Day by killing recycling program By JUSTIN BURNETT Staff reporter The Island County commissioners likely made history this week when they killed a curbside recycling program on Earth Day, an international movement focused on climate change. The board hammered the final nail into the coffin of the controversial program, which aimed to bring curbside service to Langley and unincorporated areas of Whidbey Island, in a 2-1 vote Monday in Coupeville. Republican commissioners Kelly Emerson and Jill Johnson voted to end the planned service while Commissioner Helen Price Johnson, a Democrat, voted against the motion. The decision effectively rescinded the ordinance the board adopted this past December when two Democrats controlled the panel. The move was made after Angie Homola was defeated by Johnson in the November election, but before she left office. Monday’s public hearing and the subsequent vote took place at the board’s first regularly scheduled evening meeting. The attending crowd of more than 50 people seemed slightly weighted toward those in support of the curbside proposal and many were not happy with the board’s decision. “Shame on you,” chanted
Justin Burnett / The Record
Reilly Richards, a 16-year-old Coupeville resident who attends Oak Harbor High School, urges Island County commissioners to retain the mandatory curbside recycling program adopted in December. She spoke in vain, as the program was rejected. At left in the leather jacket is Cynthia Tilkin, a Langley business owner, one of several South Whidbey residents who spoke Tuesday night. Coupeville resident Paula Spina loudly, moments after the vote. Although the meeting was not yet finished, the mantra was picked up by others in the room. Added to an existing roar of voice, they drowned out any possibility of further action.
Even when the room was finally cleared, heated discussion among those on opposite sides of the issue continued in the halls outside. Curbside recycling was a discussion for the past five years. A previous board nearly moved forward
Striking concept images prompt public notice push By BEN WATANABE Staff reporter Provocative concept graphics caused Langley city leaders to urge a preemptive public relations push by the city’s planning director. Six capital improvement projects like a promenade on Cascade Avenue, a marinato-city funicular and Third Street connection between Anthes and Cascade avenues show a Langley changed yet familiar. And all of the work may never happen. “These are just conceptual designs for public education purposes,” said Jeff Arango, Langley’s planning director. Arango acknowledged the vast impact
these projects would have on the city and the legacy he could leave if any were finished while he was the city planner. “It’s what I thrive on. It’s why I do what I do,” Arango said. “It’s a big opportunity for the community to have a lasting imprint on the future.” The major projects are part of the city’s six-year Capital Improvement Plan, essentially Langley’s wish list for public works. Creating a major waterfront boardwalk from the Langley Marina to Seawall Park, for example, is several years away, at best. It involves property rights, rezoning and major construction. Most of Langley’s elected leaders agreed at a recent city council meeting that creating a SEE IMAGES, A6
with a program in 2007, holding several community meetings, but aspects of the plan proved unpopular. It was mandatory for existing Island Disposal customers and the hauler would not accept glass. Attempts to find another hauler were
unsuccessful and the plan was shelved for several years while the county looked for alternatives. In 2012, the county once again sought willing haulers but Island Disposal was the sole company to respond. It submitted a plan nearly identical to the one pitched years before but, at an estimated $11.60 a month, it was almost twice as expensive as the $6.40 rate that was proposed in 2007. Once again, glass was not accepted and curbside service would be contingent on subscription to trash pickup. The plan did not force the public to become an Island Disposal customer, but anyone who does pay for the hauler’s trash service would also have to pay for recycling. In December, the Democratdominated board ended the long debate by passing an ordinance that required Island Disposal, the county’s franchised hauler, to roll out the program this year. The dust had hardly settled, however, when the new Republican-led board agreed to begin the process to rescind the ordinance this past January, bringing the matter back into the public limelight. Monday’s meeting saw more than two-hours of public testimony but few new arguments. Rehashing the same issues that were debated for years, some complained about the service’s shortcomings while others SEE RECYCLING, A6
Hladky Park Expansion Concept Plan
City of Langley
First Street
Site Plan Anthes Ave.
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This concept image shows a drastically different intersection at First Street and Anthes Avenue in Langley. A raised intersection would include a pattern in the street and benches facing Saratoga Passage.