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Thursday, April 24, 2014
VOL. 19, NO. 38
Greenbank septic gets good tests By Megan Hansen Editor
Officials for Port of Coupeville and Greenbank Farm are hopeful recent education and minor tinkering to the farm’s sewage system will prevent the port from having to make costly repairs. Recent testing to the system revealed positive results. “This is good news,” said Commissioner Bill Larsen. “That system continues to be key for any existence in the future.” “If the system stops, we’d have to shut down Greenbank Farm.” The farm has a Larger Onsite Sewage
See LOSS page 6
Town garden opens May 1 By Megan Hansen Editor
People who have a green thumb, but no place to utilize it, have an opportunity to garden this season. The Coupeville Community Garden will open May 1 and plots are still available for rent. Mayor Nancy Conard said the project started four or five years ago after some residents were reading about how other communities have gardens. The town owns property at State Highway 20 and Broadway near the Four Square Church. Conard said it’s perfect for a community garden because it’s level and gets sun all day long. The first year the garden got started, the town worked with the Coupeville Garden Club to create plots and get the soil ready. The town built a fence around the garden to keep deer out and created 60 plots for organic vegetable, flower and herb gardening. Central Whidbey Lions built a shed and people in the community donated tools. Water is available on-site. “So if you had nothing, you could still get going,” Conard said. Garden plots are 10 feet by 12 feet and cost $30 for the season. “It’s been fun to see how creative people get,” Conard said. Gardens open May 1 and close Oct. 31. Call Town Hall at 360-678-4461 to rent a space.
Jessie Stensland photo
Longtime Coupeville resident Barry Burton surveys the view from the deck of the Cottage on the Cove, a historic building that’s in danger of falling down the bluff.
Historic cottage faces collapse By Jessie Stensland Editor
A unique cable system is pretty much the only thing preventing a small, historic building on Coupeville’s famed Front Street from falling into the water below. In order to ensure that doesn’t happen, Barry Burton, who manages the Cottage on the Cove, is planning a large project to build a stable foundation for the building this summer. It will involve moving it to a vacant lot while a new substructure is installed on the cliffside. “Saving the building is the priority,” said Burton. “We’re trying to do our part for Coupeville.” The building, officially known as the Samsel / Zylstra Law Office, is important in a historical sense not just because it’s more than 100 years old, but because of its location, according to Sarah Steen, preservation coordinator for Ebey’s Landing National Historical Reserve. “The three blocks on Front Street was the original commercial core of everything that became the historical reserve,” she said. Concerns about erosion of the Front Street
bluff isn’t confined to the cottage. The owner of at least one other historic building has similar worries about the potential for the property slipping into Penn Cove, according to Kristin Griffin, manager of the reserve. In fact, the street used to run in front of the nearby Captain Thomas Coupe House but was rerouted around the building because of erosion problems. A section of the bluff collapsed and threatened a sidewalk in 2012 and town officials still don’t have a solution. As for the Samsel / Zylstra Law Office building, the history is on solid ground. It was originally half its size, according to Burton and reserve documents. It was built in 1904 for attorney John Samsel, but attorney James Zyltra moved in a couple years later. It origi-
See COTTAGE page 6
Town may make part of Front Street one-way By Megan Hansen Editor
Town of Coupeville officials have yet to make a firm decision on how to deal with a small landslide on Front Street, but action may be taken next month. Plans to deal with the small slide,
See ROAD page 6