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Inside Fair wraps up. Page 8 Thursday, August 22, 2013
VOL. 19, NO. 3
Group forms to promote hospital bond By Nathan Whalen Staff Reporter
Volunteers promoting a ballot measure for a bond to finance an update and expansion of Whidbey General Hospital are focusing their efforts on North Whidbey Island. The Friends of Whidbey General Hospital, a volunteer group tasked with promoting the $50-million bond, recently formed and conducted a campaign kickoff at Coupeville Town Park. Around 30 people came together to gather signs to post throughout the island, learn specifics about the bond and answer questions. “We need to bring this hospital up to a level that matches how good the doctors are,” said Brian Jones, an Oak Harbor resident who is part of the Friends of Whidbey General Hospital group and is coordinating the group’s speaking engagements. Joe Mosolino, an Oak Harbor resident who is president of the group, said promotion efforts for the ballot measure will concentrate in the Oak Harbor and North Whidbey area. When hospital officials ran the bond two years ago, the majority of North Whidbey residents rejected the $50 million bond. He also noted that a majority of voters in the Langley area and along Saratoga Road also rejected the bond. In May 2011, 55.49 percent of Whidbey Island voters apMosolino proved the hospital bond, which is short of the 60 percent supermajority required for approval. Hospital officials are asking voters to consider a similar proposal during the November general election. Voters will consider whether to approve a $50-million bond that will fund construction of a new wing that will include 39 single-patient rooms. If approved, the property owners will pay 32.2 cents per $1,000 assessed property value. Property owners currently pay 9 cents per $1,000 tax for the hospital’s maintenance and operations levy. The construction project will be divided into three parts. The first would be construction of a new parking area that will be located behind the hospital’s Coupeville campus. The See HOSPITAL, page 7
Nathan Whalen photo
ABOVE: Don Hok, a preservationist at Channel Islands National Park, installs skip sheathing at the Comstock Barn located off Engle Road near Coupeville. He is an instructor participating in the Pacific Northwest Field School organized by the University of Oregon. BELOW: Amy McAuley, a traditional sash joiner with Oculus Fine Carpentry based in Portland, demonstrates how to repair windows at the Comstock Barn.
Volunteers raise the roof Comstock Barn gets a new lease on life thanks to the help of students, residents By Nathan Whalen Staff Reporter
A historic barn in the heart of Ebey’s Landing National Historical Reserve is getting a much-needed facelift thanks to the help of a handful of college students and volunteers. Students participating in the University of Oregon’s Pacific Northwest Field School visited Ebey’s Landing last week to install a cedar shake roof on the Comstock Barn, which is located off Engle Road south of Coupeville. Shannon Sardell, director of the Pacific Northwest Field School, said the barn is a significant part of the reserve’s historic landSee BARN, page 16