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Journal
The 75¢ Wednesday, November 26, 2014 Vol. 107 Issue 48
New aid for EMS? salary scale-back Financial plan maintains ‘zero-billing’ policy By Scott Rasmussen Journal editor
Journal photos / Emily Greenberg
San Juan Island Food Co-op members shop for local produce, meat and dairy along with an array of natural groceries from around the world. The Co-op gains more popularity each year as islanders adopt more conscious eating habits.
And it keeps on growing Four years after moving to larger space, Co-op will expand again By Emily Greenberg Journal Reporter
From a small retrofit storage unit, to the 1,650 square foot building it occupies today--size matters at the San Juan Island Food Co-op. At the Food Co-op’s location on 775 Mullis Street, which opened in 2011, 750 members come to shop the shelves stocked full of organic, low-preservative, minimally packaged, local, regional groceries. Customers can be sure that all items offered meet at least three of those characteristics. Although you can rely on dry goods and other staples to be at the Co-op year round, the produce section changes in cycle with the seasons. This time of year you’ll find boxes of ripe apples, baskets filled with garlic, and squash lining the walls. “What we try to provide are the best possible choices in food and products,” said Manager Anna Coffelt, who came onboard when the Co-op moved to its bigger location. “We do our research on every
brand we bring in.” The co-op started out seven years ago with only 50 members and, before it moved, membership had grown to about 300. Coffelt said the decision to move was necessary because the smaller space was no longer large enough to accommodate the expanding community interest.
Creating more space
Nearly four years since the doors opened on Mullis Street and it’s time to expand again. A volunteer effort this summer transformed an unused back room of the building, that once functioned as a metal shop, into a space to store food, sort deliveries, and host workshops and cooking classes. Coffelt said the space will eventually be used to stock and sell more bulk foods, local produce, and meat supplies. The Co-op is also planning to add bulk spices and prepared foods to the shelves. With San Juan Island declared GMO free, and See GROWING, Page 4
Pinching pennies, pay cuts and a dip into cash reserves highlight the financial plan of attack for the remainder of this year, and for the next, at San Juan EMS. Two weeks after a would-be property tax increase failed at the ballot box—the 15-cent increase would have provided as much as $400,000 in new revenue for operations of San Juan Island hospital district's emergency medical services—district commissioners approved without dissent a revised budget for 2014 and a revenue and spending plan for 2015. Together, the two feature pay reductions for the agency chief, at 17 percent, and for another four administrative positions as well, at 8.5 percent. The salary reductions are a continuation of a cost-cutting move, marked by unpaid furloughs, implemented earlier this year and intended to help the agency keep a tight lid on expenses. The 2015 budget calls for a draw down of roughly $300,000 in reserves, as well, to help keep the agency's balance sheet from sliding into the red. The drawn down of reserves is expected to keep EMS on firm financial ground but will leave only the agency with only about $269,000 cash-on hand by the end of 2015, hospital district chairman Dr. J. Michael Edwards said. "It'll be tough, but we think it's doable," Edwards said. Chief Jim Cole, whose salary is slated to be lowered by 17 percent, from $123,000 to $109,000, said that the budget calls for little if any in the way of capital improve-
Winner of six 1st place awards in Washington Newspaper Publishers Association 2014 BNC, 17 in all
ments (such as replacement of a 22-year-old ambulance) and that it is also built around maintaining the long-standing policy of “zero-based billing” for emergency ground and air transportation for district residents. Under zero-based billing, district residents are not charged for the balance of transportation expenses not paid for by insurance, or, as EMS officials term it, “no out-of-pocket expenses.” District boundaries encompass the entirety of San Juan Island, as well as Brown, Pearl, Henry, Spieden, Stuart, Johns islands. The 2015 EMS budget approved by the commission Nov. 19 forecasts $3.4 million in revenue and $3.2 million in expenses. In 2013, See SCALE-BACK, Page 5
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