LAKE SUTHERLAND — A property owner and scuba diver who has pulled Eurasian milfoil from the lake have joined the opposition to forming a taxing district to fight the underwater weed.
Lon Riggs, a Port Angeles dentist, has sent out stamped post cards to Lake Sutherland property owners asking them to sign the cards showing they are opposed to formation of the district, which would assess owners $50 a parcel annually.
The assessment would raise money to control the spread of the non-native plant once popular in aquariums.
Riggs, in a June 28 letter to lakeside property owners, called the milfoil threat a “chicken little” scenario that will only lead to added county staff.
“I have been informed that in the last five years the noxious weed department has gone from one to four,” he wrote.
“That is the kind of aggressive growth that should be our concern.”
Attempts to contact Cathy Lucero, county noxious weed control board coordinator, were unsuccessful Sunday.
