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11/04/2008: "Water For A Few Not A Public Benefit"

The County Council met Tuesday on Orcas to hold a special meeting to hear additional testimony (see story below) on a request to grant a franchise allowing the installation of a water line in the public right of way (along the side of a county road). The pipe would transport water from a well owned by the applicant, to land also owned by the applicant.

At the first hearing on the application, a large number of citizens spoke against the proposal. . The main concern was the water would be removed from an area defined as an agricultural area, and used for domestic consumption for a proposed residential development.


Once public testimony was complete, the Council went into deliberations. Councilman Alan Lichter was the first to speak, stating it was unknown what “the consequences of this withdrawal (of water) and then transporting this large amount of water almost three and one half miles, to benefit a new development, is in my view, a poorly conceived project, and I would like to move to deny the franchise.”

Councilman Gene Knapp seconded the motion, but said he wanted to make some comments prior to the vote. Knapp then laid out in great detail his rational for voting against the franchise. Knapp is a retired attorney, and it was clear to both the attorneys for and against the project, that Knapp was attempting to lay our legal arguments for the denial that would bolster the Counties case if the decision was to be appealed.

After the vote, the applicant’s attorney said they had not decided if they would appeal. The staff reports from the office of the Prosecutor and Public Works were clear that the County Council has the right to allow the public right of way to be used for private use, if they determine there is a public benefit.

One of the reason given by Knapp to deny the application was that “Orcas Island has no current need for new homes,” but he then went on to quote sections from the Comprehensive Plan and a court case to make his point that water should not be removed from an agricultural area if it is to be used for residential use.

Peterson said that even though the Council was told they needed to “look at a very narrow and also a very broad description of what our authority is, in either case… it is easy for me to determine there is not a public interest.”

For Howard Rosenfeld, “the very thought of taking water from an agriculture resource area to the shoreline…where it would not recharge, and go back into the ocean, does not make common sense to me.”

With that, Lichter called the question, and the vote was unanimous. Councilman Bob Myhr did not enter into the final discussion and Councilman Kevin Ranker had earlier left the meeting.