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The Whidbey
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www.whidbeyexaminer.com
Thursday, March 19, 2015
VOL. 20, NO. 32
Greenbank negotiations look at funds By Megan Hansen Co-Editor
Despite concerned murmurs in the community about the fate of the Greenbank Farm, the Port of Coupeville and management group continue negotiations on a new contract with the focus now on budgets. The Greenbank Farm Management Group was the only applicant to submit a proposal last fall to manage the publicly owned property. A new contract needs to be renewed by June. The previous contract includes a $50,000 annual fee paid to the management group by the port. During the port’s regular meeting last week several community members involved in Greenbank Farm activities questioned what the longterm management plan is. Port Commissioner Marshall Bronson assured the public that the port would maintain ongoing programs and contracts. The issue at hand is the port budget. Commissioners discussed at length last Wednesday where they could possibly cut from the budget. “If we keep going this course, we are going to facing bankruptcy,” said newly appointed commissioner John Carr. “The 7,000 or so people who support the port would like to see a certain level of fiscal responsibility. “Certain cuts have to be made, and we have a responsibility to make it.” Bronson threw out a suggestion to take the $50,000 proposed management group fee and apply it to covering the cost of needed maintenance at the Greenbank Farm. This suggestion was not supported by Commissioner Mike Diamanti, who also serves as the Greenbank Farm liaison. Michael Stansbury, president of the Greenbank Farm Management Group, said going from $50,000 to nothing would be unacceptable. He suggested the port look at cutting port handyman hours or other hourly cuts. Bronson asked to see a breakdown of how the management group uses the $50,000 it receives and how fundraisers and other revenue opportunities at the farm figure into the group’s budget. He noted that in the last several years, the port has born the brunt of budget constraints, while the management group
See Contract, page 2
Ron Newberry photo
Above: Avery Hoyt of Twins Oaks Construction & Metalworks operates an excavator while his father, Daryl Hoyt, looks for more branches to cut as they clear a path in a wooded area for a new public trail just off Engle Road in Coupeville. The new natural trail won’t be ready for the public until June. Below: New interpretive signs are a welcome addition for walkers in the Admiralty Inlet Preserve.
New trails forming near Engle Road By Ron Newberry Staff Reporter
Millie Fonda recently started walking the wooded trails again near Engle Road in Coupeville and found new interpretive signs to be a welcome surprise. “It’s really nice to have all that information,” Fonda said. New things keep popping up at the Admiralty Inlet Preserve property and surrounding land owned and managed by the Whidbey Camano Land Trust. The most recent addition is an excavator, which is carving out a new public trail and rerouting an existing one with the intent to give Coupeville residents and visitors another place to recreate in a scenic natural setting. The near 0.4 miles of new trail and 0.3 miles of improved trail follow along Engle Road near where the land trust is restoring prairie habitat. The new Engle Trail isn’t expected to be ready for public use until June with a community event to be held this summer to celebrate the trail, interpretive signs and educational kiosks placed around the property. “When we do our management plans for
the property, we always look at where are appropriate places where we can let the public come and enjoy nature,” said Jessica Larson, land steward with the land trust. “Part of our mission is to help people connect with the land.” The ultimate goal is to be a part of a network of connected natural trails that would allow users to roam from Camp Casey to Ebey’s Landing, Larson said. The landowners involved in that scenario are the land trust, Washington State Parks, Seattle Pacific University and a private landowner with a National Park Service trail easement, Larson said. Discussions have started with some of the
See Trail, page 2