The Thurston County Board of County Commissioners will hold off on voting to approve an interlocal agreement (ILA) for the Deschutes Estuary restoration project while further legal review is being completed.
The board was scheduled to vote on the agreement during its Tuesday, Oct. 15, meeting, but during their agenda setting session that morning, four of the five commissioners opted to move the agenda item to the Tuesday, Oct. 29, meeting.
Commissioner Carolina Mejia was the lone commissioner to oppose the delay of approving the agreement with the Washington state Department of Enterprise Services (DES), Squaxin Island Tribe, City of Olympia, City of Tumwater, the Port of Olympia and LOTT Clean Water Alliance. However, she was one of the commissioners who voiced her concerns about the agreement’s funding source, as the county would pay $7,673,000 to sediment management costs through the life of the agreement, which would run through 2050.
Concerned Thurston County residents expressed their fears that taxpayers, particularly in unincorporated areas as well as the cities involved, would have to front the bill for the county’s contributions to the sediment management costs.
The commissioners also questioned if the county can use stormwater funds to help fund its contributions, and County Manager Leonard Hernandez said during the agenda setting meeting that the “initial perspective from our legal team is that stormwater funds can be used, but we need to get that in written opinion.”
During the board meeting Tuesday afternoon, Mejia adamantly opposed delaying approval of the agreement because of its impact on the deadlines set by the DES. The agreement was agreed to by the cities of Olympia and Tumwater, and the other parties are waiting on the county’s approval to move forward.
“Based on the timeline that’s been given by DES multiple times over the years on this, deadlines that they had to adhere to in order to submit the budget request to the governor’s office … I believe that the board really needs to move forward with this request,” Mejia said.
Chair Tye Menser said he would “probably not” support pushing the potential approval of the agreement past Oct. 29.
“There is a little bit more detail that most of the board wanted to see regarding our financing options for the financial pieces of the ILA and a couple other nuances that I think can be easily addressed by that meeting on the 29th,” he said.
Commissioner Gary Edwards commented on the history of mistakes that Thurston County has made over the years and the impact it has had on taxpayer dollars. He cited a 2018 Washington Supreme Court decision in which it affirmed a verdict against the county over a mining permit for a Maytown property that he said cost the taxpayers $16 million in the end.
“There have been many [mistakes] to the tune of millions of dollars being wasted of the taxpayers’ money being paid out in litigation. Every one of those issues were rushed,” Edwards said. “I like to point that out when we get in a hurry because if we get in a hurry, we make mistakes.”
The estuary restoration plan involves removal of the 5th Avenue Dam, restoration of tidal flats and marsh habitat in the 260-acre basin, construction of physical assets such as a new 5th Avenue Bridge, and long-term management of sediment naturally transported into navigational areas of Budd Inlet. Removal of the 5th Avenue Dam will also restore natural sediment transport processes. This will result in increased sediment accumulation in navigational areas of West Bay compared to existing conditions, similar to sediment processes that existed prior to dam construction.
The dam’s removal will also reintroduce native habitat and benefit salmon populations and the species that depend on them. The earliest the dam could be removed is 2033.
Barry Halverson, a resident of unincorporated Thurston County, told the commissioners during the meeting that while he supports the idea of the estuary restoration project, the agreement is not in the best interest of unincorporated county taxpayers. He argued that the state, which constructed the 5th Avenue Dam in Olympia to impound the Deschutes River to create a reflecting pool for the Washington state Capitol Campus where Capitol Lake is now, should be paying for the project.
“If the taxpayers knew more about it, they would almost unanimously be against it. Thurston County is partially funding this. This is essentially a gifting of unincorporated Thurston County taxpayer dollars to private marinas and yacht clubs and paying for a portion of dredging of the Port of Olympia,” he said. “Why should county taxpayers pay to dredge access areas to private marinas and yacht clubs, arguably the richest people amongst us? This is wrong, and I think you know it.”
The next meeting for the Board of County Commissioners is scheduled for 2 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 29, at The Atrium, 3000 Pacific Ave. SE, in Olympia.
