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SATURDAY, DECEMBER 27, 2014 | Vol. 90, No. 103 | WWW.SOUTHWHIDBEYRECORD.COM | 75¢
South End gets gift of more accurate weather readings
Kate Daniel / The Record
The osprey nest perched atop a light pole at Waterman’s Field at South Whidbey High School will be moved.
Groups work to move osprey nest at football field to new location By KATE DANIEL South Whidbey Record A couple of ospreys will be returning from their southern migration to a brand new nest location come springtime. The nest is presently located atop a 100-foot light pole on the South Whidbey High School football field. The South Whidbey School District, Puget Sound Energy, Whidbey Audubon Society and Osprey Solutions are working together to relocate the nest to a more favorable location. Brian Miller, director of facilities for the school district, presented the issue to Osprey Solutions, a Seattlebased environmental consulting firm, which suggested the implementation of a nest platform and new post. The company has successfully provided similar
nest solutions for numerous communities including Portland, Ore., Seattle, Spokane and Bellevue, and is headed by raptor biologist Jim Kaiser. In its current place, the nest is potentially hazardous to both humans and birds, Miller said. Droppings of twigs and bird feces from the nest present a potential hazard to passersby while the structural integrity of the pole is compromised by the size and weight of the nest, according to Miller. The heat of the field lights could ignite the nest and injure or kill the osprey, a federally protected raptor species. According to Osprey Solutions, the average diameter of an osprey nest is 41 inches, and the nests SEE OSPREY, A9
Ben Watanabe / The Record
Molly, Anna and John Petersons are hosting a new Washington State University weather station in Langley.
By BEN WATANABE South Whidbey Record The sheep on John and Molly Petersons’ farm trot along the small apple and pear orchard, completely unaware of how the ground temperature and moisture may affect their next meal. John and Molly Petersons know exactly the importance of accurate and reliable weather readings. That’s why when the Washington State University Island County Extension called about using some of their 5-acre property to install a new station as part of WSU AgWeatherNet, they were happy to host the device that looks like it belongs more on the USS Enterprise than on a farm.
“It does look like it just landed,” said Molly Petersons. The Langley station is the first of its kind on South Whidbey, and only the third on the entire island. One weather station owned by the Navy is at NAS Whidbey Island in Oak Harbor, and one WSU station is on Ebey’s Prairie in Coupeville. As South Whidbey residents have long known, the weather differs drastically along the 40-mile island. “We all know the weather on South Whidbey can be complex,” said Barbara Bennett, Island County Extension program coordinator. “We also know that stormwater runoff issues, personal maintenance of property … all of that will benefit from more accurate information.” SEE WEATHER, A9
Well-traveled planner hired by Langley Arts, public input top priorities for new planning director By BEN WATANABE South Whidbey Record Langley has hired a new director of Community Planning for Langley with 25 years of public and private planning experience.
Mayor Fred McCarthy announced that Michael Davolio, a career planner with more than two decades of experience on both coasts and the Middle East, accepted the city’s offer Dec. 20. For Davolio, the Dec. 19 call from McCarthy was a most welcome early Christmas gift. “I couldn’t be happier,” Davolio said in a telephone interview Monday. His first day will be Jan. 5, 2015 for the Langley City Council meeting, though it will not be his first time
at such a meeting. Davolio attended the Dec. 15 city council meeting to observe how the city operated, and liked what he saw. “That was my way of interviewing the city, to see if that was a place I wanted to be,” Davolio said. “I was so impressed with the quality of discourse. Even the people who disagreed with the city were treated SEE PLANNER, A5