PORT ANGELES — Clallam County lawmakers said they would approve an agreement with the state Department of Ecology for the first component of the state-mandated Shoreline Master Program update.
County commissioners will consider the formal agreement today.
The first component of the update identifies obstacles and solutions to the plan’s development and implementation.
Under the terms of the agreement, the county will manage a $1 million grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to define “no net loss of ecological function” of shorelines.
Ecology will collaborate with the county and provide quarterly reports.
Regional forums will be held throughout the process.
Restrictions on development near shorelines could change with new designations in the shoreline plan.
The state requires all cities and counties to update their Shoreline Master Programs by 2014.
Consultants ESA Adolfson of Seattle will assemble focus groups, hold four regional public forums, meet with commissioners and tribal councils and take shoreline inventories in the first quarter of next year.
County officials hope to send a draft update of the shoreline plan to the Clallam County Planning Commission by April 2012.
Also in today’s business, commissioners will consider closing Crescent Beach Road at Milepost 2.18 — near the west side of Crescent Bay — to clean up a mudslide that started in a recent rainstorm.
County Engineer Ross Tyler recommended closing the road through December because more debris could move downhill.
In other discussion from the commissioners’ work session Monday, County Administrator Jim Jones said the county and city of Port Angeles are in the process of establishing a cooperative services study group.’
The plan is for one commissioner and one City Council member to join Jones and City Manager Kent Myers on a committee that looks for ways to make the governments more efficient.
“The first project that we think we want to take on right off the chute is to bring in our IT [information technology] people,” Jones said.
“It may be an area ripe for saving money. And then as we move along we’ll look at other areas to cooperate.”
The committee would make its recommendations by June 30.
The county commission and Port Angeles city council will consider approving an interlocal agreement for the study group today.
Meanwhile, commissioners will consider extending a contract with Clallam Public Defenders for next year. The $819,301 cost would be a 3 percent reduction from this year’s contract.
All county departments trimmed their budgets by 3 percent to help balance a $3.1 million deficit.
Commissioners will also consider a one-year contract extension with the city of Sequim for municipal court services.
The base cost is $84,390.
Sequim cases accounted for 1,004 of the 11,352 cases handled by Clallam County District Court No. 1 in 2009.
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Reporter Rob Ollikainen can be reached at 360-417-3537 or at rob.ollikainen@peninsuladailynews.com.
