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THURSDAY, MARCH 20, 2014
New clerktreasurer no stranger to town
VOL. 19, NO. 33
Port beach access
By Megan Hansen Editor
Coupeville resident Kelly Beech joined the staff at Coupeville Town Hall last week. Beech is the new town clerk-treasurer, replacing Judy Thomas, who retired this month. Ten people applied for the position. Mayor Nancy Conard said Beech was chosen because Beech she has experience in public finance and is used to being in an environment where she has to know a lot of different things. It’s also a bonus she’s lived in Coupeville for 14 years, she said. While new to town hall, Beech is no stranger to the community. Having moved to the island 22 years ago, Beech has been a steady worker in the Coupeville School District for 10 years. She has held such positions as the secretary of the Cedar Program, which served as a home school support program; a transition specialist helping students coming back from juvenile detention; a technology teacher at the Cedar Program; and most recently a fiscal assistant. She said there was a time when she held all of those jobs at once. Beech said she applied for the town position because it was similar to what she was doing with the school district, but with higher responsibility. She said she’s always looking at moving forward. Her first day on the job was last Wednesday. “I can’t wait to get into it,” she said. “I’m looking forward to working more with people in the community and working with the mayor.” “She does such great things. I can’t wait to work with her.” Beech has two children, one grown and one an eighth-grader in the school district. Her husband is a former Island County Sheriff’s deputy who is currently assisting the City of Langley’s police force.
2014 File photo
Port of Coupeville Executive Director Tim McDonald and port commissioners closed the public beach access near Coupeville Wharf earlier this year due to safety concerns. While seeking engineering estimates to fix the stairs, port officials learned the repairs are much more complex and involve the foundation of the port office building.
Stairwell project larger than thought By Megan Hansen Editor
Efforts to fix the public beach access near Coupeville Wharf will be more complex than Port of Coupeville officials expected. The stairwell leading to the beach was closed earlier this year due to safety concerns. “We were focused on the stairwell,” said port Executive Director Tim McDonald. “(But) it’s part of an integrated issue.” McDonald said he had two engineers comes out to look at the stairwell and give an engineering estimate. What they found was much more than an unsafe stairwell. The stairs in question are connected to the foundation of the port office building, McDonald said. In order to fix one part of the issue, all of the connecting pieces need to be addressed including, a ramp, foundation and bulkhead. “It’s very complex,” McDonald said. The port is dealing with a really old building in a challenging environment.
“It definitely was not designed to last 100 years.” There are also issues of erosion below the foundation of the building, which was built in 1887 using technology not adequate to today’s standards. Commissioner Marshal Bronson said, as recently as eight years ago, the port office building foundation was stumps. Last week, McDonald brought an estimate from one of the engineers for $17,500. Commissioner Mike Diamanti said the board sees the seriousness of the situation, but the port doesn’t have the capacity in the
See ACCESS page 12
Port hires fulltime ‘handyman’ The Board of Commissioners for Port of Coupeville approved hiring a full time dedicated employee to deal with ongoing maintenance issues. The position is 30 hours per week at $40 an hour. The position has no
See HANDYMAN page 12