Local
New beginnings: a dozen new, talented, gifted graduates outward bound page 2
Island Scene
Editorial
Wags to Riches; cats in the cradle, kittens, puppies, dogs, too
Changing of the guard at the top of county government; a bit of advice for the ‘new boss’ page 7
page 9
Journal
The 75¢ Wednesday, June 19, 2013 Vol. 106 Issue 25
of the San Juan Islands
www.sanjuanjournal.com
Broadband plan takes pivotal turn OPALCO in search of internet service partners By Steve Wehrly Journal reporter
Journal photo / Scott Rasmussen
The opportunity to take in the interior of the renovated Brickworks Building on Nichols Street, including two 55-foot long trusses made of fir, draws a crowd at the building’s grand opening ceremony, Saturday, in Friday Harbor’s Sunshine Alley.
Brickworks unveiled Plans include farmers’ market, events center, kitchen, and more By Scott Rasmussen Journal editor
The vision of a few became reality for the many as the freshly painted red double doors rolled back to reveal the spacious interior of the painstakingly, expertly crafted, renovated Brickworks Building in the heart of downtown Friday Harbor. From its gleaming wooden floor made of island fir, locally milled, to the two 55-foot-long trusses towering up above, each fortified with 300 shiny, massive bolts, the sight of the refurbished former home of the Friday Harbor Electric Company, drew an outpouring of
admiration from an enthusiastic crowd gathered for the building’s official Grand Opening ceremony. Even those that know it best couldn’t help but marvel at the transformation. “It’s a dream come true,” said Friday Harbor architect David Waldron, who crafted blueprints for the building’s reconstruction and renovation. “It turned out even better than I thought it would.” It didn’t come easy. Saturday’s grand opening stands as a testament of perseverance on the part of the San Juan Islands Agricultural Guild, which endured and overcame considerable obstacles in its seven-year odyssey to establish what was conceived of at first as simply a home for a year-round farmers market. Preferred locations vanished and partnerships dissolved until
the Ag Guild, backed in part by state and federal grants, purchased the last remaining industrial building in Friday Harbor, at the intersection of 150 Nichols Street and Sunshine Alley, and then began searching high and low to raise the $1.65 million that would be needed to renovate a dilapidated building and to pay off its debt. Ag Guild Treasurer Mike Wick noted that through grants, donations, large and small, and newfound financial support from the Town of Friday Harbor, that roughly 82 percent of the funding goal, $1.3 million, has been collected to date. The town in February contributed a $100,000 matching grant from its lodging tax fund. “This is a historic day that we’re all going to remember,” Friday See Unveiled, Page 4
Somewhere along the line, Orcas Power and Light Cooperative’s vision for expanded countywide high-speed internet service took a turn. Over the past year, OPALCO developed and promoted a plan to provide high-speed internet access and internetbased telephone service on a subscription basis to its membership for $75 per month. Foster Hildreth In recent weeks, however, the co-op has decided not to become an internet service provider itself. The build-out of the fiber optic infrastructure would be financed in part by a $34 million U.S. Department of Agriculture rural development loan, some of it to be repaid with a $15 monthly additional charge to co-op customers whether or not they subscribed to internet service. OPALCO announced in December it would proceed with the provision of internet service plan if half of its membership indicated support for the plan by signing up with the co-op and providing it with a pre-subscription deposit. Some 900 OPALCO members signed up for internet service and made pre-subscription deposits of $90. Those deposits were returned or credited to customer accounts when OPALCO announced the plan would not be implemented. On Wednesday, June 12, at the
2011 Special Award; Second Place: General Excellence from the Washington Newspaper Publishers Association
first of five open-house meetings on San Juan, Lopez, Shaw and Orcas islands, Assistant General Manager Foster Hildreth introduced the revised plan to an audience of about 50 people at the Grange Hall in Friday Harbor. Several people in the audience dubbed the change of course as “Plan B”. Before the meeting, a dozen islanders gathered around Hildreth to ask questions about the “new direction.” Some said they still supported the plan approved by the Board in December, others expressed satisfaction that OPALCO had scrapped that plan. Hildreth told the small group that the vision hadn’t changed, but said the co-op was moving to an See Turn, Page 4
Real Estate in the San Juan Islands
See inside for May’s real estate sales, listings and statistics.