RECORD SOUTH WHIDBEY
INSIDE: Hometown Hero ... Island Life, A12
WEDNESDAY, MAY 1, 2013 | Vol. 89, No. 35 | WWW.SOUTHWHIDBEYRECORD.COM | 75¢
Big wind sinks barges as marina project starts By JIM LARSEN Record editor A surprise wind from the northwest Monday morning caused havoc for the crew beginning work on the Langley Marina expansion project and forced the cancellation of the last whale watching cruise of the year by Mystic Sea Tours. At 7 a.m., workers with Neptune Marine were securing two small work boats to the 400-foot floating breakwater. Waves swamped both of the barge-like structures and only one end of one could be seen sticking out of the water. Plans were to refloat the boats using inflatable devices, work that commenced Tuesday morning in the pouring rain. Meanwhile, workers Monday started to remove the planking from the skeletal remains of the old Langley Marina building owned for decades by the late Barney Hein. Ed Field, operations manager for the Port of South Whidbey, owner of the marina, said materials were brought in over the weekend to begin work Monday. He didn’t expect the heavy weather to significantly delay the project. Some of the more solid pilings that were the foundation for the old marina building will be left in the water, Field said. Removing the decking should allow sunlight to reach the water and encourage the growth of eelgrass, which is part of the project mitigation requirement, he said. SEE BARGES, A6
Jim Larsen / The Record
A Neptune Marine employee scurries to secure a sunken work barge in Monday morning’s storm. Two small barges sank in the strong wind and work to refloat them started in heavy rain Tuesday morning. In the background is the new tug built by Nichols Brothers.
Groundbreaking set for today The Port of South Whidbey will host a groundbreaking event at what is officially called the South Whidbey Harbor on Wednesday, May 1 at 4:30 p.m.
The port will kick off the long awaited Langley expansion project with Congressman Rick Larsen, Island County Commissioner Helen Price Johnson, Langley Mayor Fred McCarthy, and Port of South Whidbey commissioners Curt
Gordon and Dennis Gregoire. Construction will commence directly after the groundbreaking event and is planned to be complete by December.
Fallen tree cuts power in Clinton By BEN WATANABE Staff reporter High winds knocked a tree down, splitting its top onto the ground and dangling its trunk in a Clinton power line. The stress blew a transformer and cut power to 700 homes in Clinton near the ferry terminal around 7:20 a.m. Monday. “The sound was crazy,” said Kristie Davis, who was working in the Southern Cross Espresso stand when the tree cracked. “I ran out of the stand.”
Leaning on the line, a 20-plus foot tree trunk caused the power line to sag at least six feet down on the wires along Central Avenue near Commercial Street. Whidbey Island Bank’s reader board, which usually displays the time and date, was dark, as were all the lights along Highway 525. Davis said she saw several cars and buses drive on Central Avenue under the compromised power line. Had the wire snapped, it could have been a dangerous scene. South Whidbey Fire/EMS
responders from the Clinton station just down the street closed access to Commercial and Central avenues for more than an hour. Deputy Chief Mike Cotton, Clinton station Capt. Jerry Beck and Adam Conley wanted to keep people away from the potential hazard area where the line could injure someone. Beck said “luckily” no one was injured by the tree. Puget Sound Energy sent a worker to saw through the tree, about three feet from SEE TREE, A6
Ben Watanabe / The Record
A Puget Sound Energy contractor saws through a tree in Clinton that fell onto a power line and knocked out electricity to 700 homes Monday morning. The outage was short-lived, as power was restored about 90 minutes after the accident.