Sounder The Islands’
Serving Orcas, Lopez and San Juan County
WEDNESDAY, January 13, 2016 n VOL. 49, NO. 2 n 75¢ n islandssounder.com
Toxic creosote removal is in progress – page 11
Orcas Center launches What’s coming up season with local show for broadband
Enchanted Forest Cabaret is back for another wild ride
Mandi Johnson/Staff Photo
Cast of “Enchanted Forest Cabaret: Transylvania Express’O.” Director Deborah Sparks is in front, far right.
by Leslie Kelly
Sounder contributor
Living on an island has its advantages. But sometimes there are disadvantages. And internet connection and speed are among them. Rock Island Communications, a division of OPALCO, Orcas Power & Light Cooperative, has plans to deal with that. Rock Island Communications is bringing fiber optic internet to the islands and that will allow businesses and residents to have high speed internet, according to Dan Burke, spokesman for Rock Island Communications. “People who don’t live on an island don’t understand what it’s like to not have high speed internet available when you need it or want it,” Burke said. “So the county and OPALCO and Rock Island Communications have made this a priority for island residents and business owners.” It’s a real task to bring internet to rural areas, and in cases like the islands, where the population isn’t large, companies like Comcast find that it’s not worth the investment, he said. Thus,
Q&A with councilman Rick Hughes by Heather Spaulding Journal reporter
The Sounder and Journal sat down with San Juan County Councilman Rick Hughes to discuss last year’s successes and tribulations as well as goals for the future. The Orcas councilman is beginning his forth year. Sounder/Journal: What were at least three major accomplishments of the San Juan County Council this year? Rick Hughes: 1. Roads and infrastructure. San Juan County Councilman Jamie Stephens was able to bring in a bunch of money from the state. I think it was roughly $3 for road projects. Any time you can get money from the state that is important. We have five road projects on the list for next year, getting prepped for that. We were able to get a bill passed through Olympia that allows San Juan County to use road funds for marine facility projects. That was a fun project to work on. The Cattle Point
Road project was finished. This was where a county road ran through the national park and there was a great deal of concern about erosion on the roads coastal side, so it was rerouted to higher elevation. It (the project) took about 10 years from start to finish. 2. Legislation and budgeting. We passed the Eastsound Subarea Plan (Three ordinances were adopted by the council approving the Eastsound Subarea Plan updates late last year. To view the documents go to http://www. co.san-juan.wa.us/council/ordinances.aspx) and we are really close to passing the Shoreline Master Program (The San Juan County Council has most recently expanded the public participation time for the SMP. For more information, http://www.sanjuanjournal.com/ news/364456331.html, or read the January 12 issue of the Journal.). I’m hoping we will have that completed by Jan. 31, 2016, at the latest. Once we pass the SMP we will have passed, in the last three years, every state-required
legislation. That is a pretty great accomplishment. One of the most important things we did last year was passing the budget for a third year in a row. We continue to put away money in our rainy day fund. We have paid off the Solid Waste Excise Bond, and at the end of the year we reduced the tax by 1.5 percent. We are doing a lot of the things we promised to do, be efficient in government and provide good services. 3. Inter-Governmental Cohesion. We have worked really hard to co-exist and work together with the Town of Friday Harbor. Wherever the town goes, the county has to be a part of that, so we need to work together. I am really proud of our county employees too. I’ve noticed over the last few years, not that people haven’t worked hard in the past, but since I’ve been here, I feel like people are really working incredibly hard. I just saw a
SEE COUNTY, PAGE 6
OPALCO committed to making it happen and set aside $4.5 million to help fund the project. Currently, Rock Island is working with businesses in the Eastsound area of Orcas Island, hoping to get enough of them interested so that the fiber optic network can be laid. As Burke explained, fiber optic is the platinum standard of telecommunications service. Fiber optic allows communication to move at the speed of light. Fiber optic refers to tiny strains of glass fiber that are bundled together in cables. These fibers transmit light pulses which allow communication data to be transmitted and read. In the project Rock Island is offering, the internet connection speed is 100 times faster than the basic DSL offered in the county today, Burke said. The cables will be buried 18 inches deep and every home or business that signs on will get a dedicated strain. In order to make the system affordable to the 12,000 residents of the San Juan Islands, Rock Island is suggesting that neighbors ban together and share in
SEE BROADBAND, PAGE 6
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