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WEDNESDAY, MARCH 5, 2014 | Vol. 90, No. 19 | www.SOUTHWHIDBEYRECORD.com | 75¢
Group forms to fight fair plan Opposition members say the proposal is moving too fast
Tribes challenge PUD tidal turbine proposal By JESSIE STENSLAND South Whidbey Record
Ben Watanabe / The Record
Standing in front of the Gary Gabelein Sr. Building that houses relics from Island County’s past like tractors and tills, members of the Friends of the Fair want the proposal that would radically change the Island County Fairgrounds to slow and seek public input. From left are members Gwendy Hastings, Doris Lyen, Gary Gabelein Jr., Patti Dunigan, Brian Lowey, Maggie Lyen, Robert Lyen, Virginia Keck, Wendy Sundquist and Julie Hougom with her dog Oliver.
By BEN WATANABE South Whidbey Record A group opposed to the grand proposal for an overhaul of the Island County Fairgrounds wants the backers to slow their roll, scale back and seek more design input. Wendy Sundquist, one of the Friends of the Fair members, said she and other volunteers with the Whidbey Island Area Fair and its predecessor, the Island County Fair, feel steamrolled by the proposed changes. “All of us have great love for the Island County Fair and were quite shocked with the presentation given in February,” Sundquist said, referring to the Feb. 18 public unveiling. “For whatever reason, no information was sent out about this to the superintendents [of fair buildings during the annual event].” A steering committee of government leaders, nonprofit directors, fair association board members and business owners did not include anyone from the user groups such as 4-H, the equestrian clubs or agriculture in the planning process. Despite little communication from the Friends of the Fair and the committee, upcoming presentations and hearings will likely be delayed. Fred McCarthy, mayor of Langley and one of
the steering committee members, said Tuesday that a meeting of the committee earlier in the morning yielded a decision to push back the county’s hearing at least a month. In the meantime, McCarthy said the committee would plan a meeting to gather public input, rather than a presentation to pitch the changes to the public. “We need to be open to hearing people’s concern at every phase,” McCarthy said. “Our listening would be with the purpose of hearing ideas that could affect the plan. “We’re listening. We think they have some legitimate points to make and want to make sure they feel heard,” he said. The proposal would demolish several buildings, including the Ray Gabelein Sr. Building that houses old farming equipment and other relics of Island County’s rural past, and most of the animal pens and barns. “Names are on these buildings because people put their time, sweat and tears into them,” said Gwendy Hastings, a former fair association member and a Friend of the Fair. Added Sundquist: “Once you destroy all of those buildings, you can’t bring them back.” Members of the Friends group, an informal assembly of people, say they have “more questions than answers” about the $10.12 million
overhaul that would transform the fairgrounds from a small-town gathering into a regional destination for events, conferences, expositions and also house the four-day fair. They said they were worried that it would fundamentally change the nature of the property and the fair itself, that it would not recoup its expenses, and that the public was being pushed out of the process. “It’s so out of the realm of this little area,” Hastings said. “It’s just not practical.” Many members, who spoke in front of the marked-for-demolition barn that houses old tractors and tills, were flabbergasted that the proposal was presented publicly Feb. 18 and would go before the Island County Commissioners in March for approval. “We feel very bulldozed,” Hastings said. McCarthy rejected the notion that the public was intentionally excluded from the planning process. “I don’t think the public was pushed aside,” he said. “I think the people involved with wanting to rethink the use of the fairgrounds for event coordination gathered together leaders of the community who represented lots of people’s SEE FAIR, A20
The Island County hearing examiner will listen for two days to arguments regarding permits for a proposed tidal turbine pilot project in waters off Whidbey Island. The Tulalip Tribes and the PC Landing Corp. are appealing permits issued by Island County for the temporary installation of two tidal energy generators in Admiralty Inlet and related onshore equipment structures. The project is proposed by Snohomish Public Utility District. The hearing starts Thursday, March 6. Craig Collar, assistant general manager of the PUD, said the appeals are nothing new, but are the same issues the parties brought up in challenges to the Federal Energy Regulation Commission, or FERC. He said FERC rejected the appeals and is expected to issue a license shortly. Whidbey Environmental Action Network, or WEAN, filed as an intervenor with FERC for the pilot project. Members of the environmental group said they’re concerned about the on-land portion of the project, which could impact a scarce plant community. Marianne Edain of WEAN said the group is interested in sustainable alternatives to fossil and nuclear fuels, but technology which may do damage in other ways is not a true alternative. “We would love to see a genuine test of this technology,” she said in an email. “Unfortunately SnoPUD has SEE PUD, A20