Welcome to Access Skagit County

COUNTY OFFICE CLOSURE

Skagit County Offices and Departments will be closed on Friday, February 12th due to mandatory closure days designed to help with the Skagit County budgetary shortfall. District Court, Superior Court, Clerks Office and the Transfer Station on Ovenell Road, will remain open. The Guemes Island Ferry and the Skagit County Historical Museum will also stay in operation. ALL offices and departments will be closed Monday, February 15th in observance of President's Day.
Regular business hours will resume February 16th.
We appreciate your understanding of this closure. We hope to restore our traditional work days when the economy strengthens.

Tuesday LIVE on Access Skagit Television Skagit21:

8:00am– 9:30am Planning and Development Services – Gary Christensen - Director

10:00am – 11:00am Briefing – Puget Sound Partnership Recovery Council

11:30am– 11:45am Public Comment Period

Watch here.

Groundbreaking ceremony scheduled for Ferry Terminal Building

Skagit County Public Works Department will host a groundbreaking ceremony to celebrate the start of a project to build a new Guemes Ferry Terminal Building.

Skagit County Law Library Open House

Friday, February 5, 2010 8:30am TO 4:30pm

Senior Driver Refresher Course Can Reduce Insurance Rates

The next scheduled sessions of "Getting There Safely", a senior driver refresher course, will occur through June on the following dates in 2010

Lunsford hired for Fairgrounds Event Coordinator Position

The 2010 theme for the Skagit County Fair will be “Bringing It All Back Home”

Skagit County Now GMA-Compliant For the First Time in 19 Years

For the first time since the passage of the Growth Management Act in 1990

The Skagit County Commissioners are pleased to announce that the county has obtained GMA-compliance for the first time since the passage of the Growth Management Act in 1990, making the county eligible for additional state grant and funding opportunities.

In an order issued on Christmas Eve, the Western Washington Growth Management Hearings Board dismissed Skagit County's last remaining GMA compliance issue and the long-running Abenroth case, which was initially filed in 1997. Skagit County reached settlement with the remaining parties in the case early last month, and all parties jointly moved for dismissal. The settlement commits the county to a community-based public participation program for creation of Planned Unit Development regulations and low impact development techniques for the Bayview Ridge Urban Growth Area. More information is available at www.skagitcounty.net/planning.

"Growth Management Act compliance is a noteworthy accomplishment and signifies that the County is working toward sustainable and well-planned growth while meeting community goals and policies under the requirements of state laws and community plans,” Skagit County Planning and Development Services Director Gary Christensen said. "Skagit County residents should be proud," Commissioner Ron Wesen declared. "We are planning for responsible growth while protecting property rights."

Although Skagit County has one additional compliance matter regarding the county's critical areas ordinance for ongoing agriculture, the county is precluded from taking action to achieve compliance by the Legislature's imposition of a statewide time out prohibiting changes to critical areas regulations affecting agriculture until July 1, 2010. The Legislature is expected to extend that timeout another year in the next legislative session.

For more information contact Civil Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Ryan Walters at ryanw@co.skagit.wa.us or 360-336-9300 x 3135.

Flu Vaccine Information

Updated Monday, February 1, 2010 9:38 AM

Advisory Board members sought for Skagit County Parks, Recreation, and Fair

The Skagit County Department of Parks, Recreation, and Fair has open positions to fill on their advisory board for 2010.

Clean Samish Initiative Seeks Public’s Help

Samish basin residents can learn about clean-water actions under way in that area and how small steps at homes and farms can help the newly-formed Clean Samish Initiative.

More than 20 non-profit groups, businesses and government agencies formed Clean Samish earlier this year to speed cleanup in the river, bay and nearby streams. Several of these water bodies do not meet state clean-water standards for fecal coliform, bacteria from digestive systems of people and animals.

Other Clean Samish participants include Samish Bay shellfish farmers, the Samish Indian Nation, the Western Washington Agricultural Association, the Puget Sound Partnership, and the state departments of Health and Agriculture.

“Clean Samish represents a community-wide commitment in the broadest sense,” said Ecology’s regional director Jeannie Summerhays, who chairs the Initiative. “If you’ve ever had questions about the Samish cleanup, many of the organizations working on it will be under one roof at this open house.”

Summerhays added that owners of septic systems and farm animals can make very significant contributions. “When managed properly, none of these uses represents a threat to water quality,” she explained.

Teams from the county Health Department and Ecology have been visiting homes and farms in selected sub-basins to provide information and assistance on meeting local and state requirements to prevent contamination from reaching Samish waters.

Fecal coliform bacteria indicate the likely presence of disease-causing organisms in the water. Elevated levels of this pollutant have led to Washington Department of Health closures of commercial shellfish harvests in Samish Bay for a total of ten weeks in 2008 and 2009. Bacteria levels frequently reach levels too high for safe non-commercial shellfish harvesting and for recreational water-contact activities such as swimming and fishing.

“A clean Samish adds a critical value for farmers, especially those who irrigate from surface waters or grow shellfish” said Mike Rundlett of the Western Washington Agriculture Association. “Consumers need to be assured their food products are safe.”

Marine monitoring is conducted by the state Department of Health. Freshwater monitoring is conducted by Ecology, Skagit County and the volunteer Skagit Stream Team.

The Clean Samish Initiative has developed a plan to coordinate its members’ cleanup activities, based on an Ecology water-quality improvement strategy for the Samish, approved last month by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, under the federal Clean Water Act. In addition to proper management of septic systems and animal waste, the plan addresses other pollution sources, including:

farming operations that spread animal manure as fertilizer;
various human recreational activities, including boating, hunting, fishing, hiking;
marina live-aboard boats;
waterfowl attracted to fields planted in grain.

For more information, or to get involved with Clean Samish, please contact:

Corinne Story, Skagit County Public Health, 360-336-9380, corinnes@co.skagit.wa.us

Pete Haase, Skagit Conservation Education Alliance, 360-419-3161, sceamail@verizon.net

Kristi Carpenter, Skagit Conservation District, 360-428-4313, kristi@skagitcd.org

Rick Haley, Skagit County Public Works, 360-336-9400, rickh@co.skagit.wa.us

Skagit County Planning & Development Services announces new hours of operation.

Our office is open to the public Monday through Friday from 9:00 am to 12 noon, and from 1:00 pm to 3:30 pm. Phone service will be available from 8:00 am to 4:30 pm. Permit application submittals will be accepted until 3:00 pm only.

Volunteers of America's Dispute Resolution Center Expands Service Area to Skagit County

On November 1, 2009 Volunteers of America Western Washington will make history as it becomes the designated Dispute Resolution Center for Skagit County as outlined in RCW 7.75

For the past 9 years, Skagit County has been served by the Skagit County Mediation and Facilitation Services which was a program of the Skagit County government. Currently Volunteers of America's Dispute Resolution Center ("Dispute Resolution Center") serves both Snohomish and Island Counties, in addition to trainings, services, and products that have been provided nation-wide. Never before in Washington State has a dispute resolution center had the opportunity to serve 3 counties.

This expansion will allow the residents of Skagit County to continue to receive the excellent service they have experienced in the past while enhancing the ability to provide for and promote peaceful resolution of conflict and collaborative decision making through mediation, facilitation, training and community education. Skagit County residents will continue to be provided services by dedicated staff and volunteers who are certified in their areas of expertise. The Dispute Resolution Center's new Skagit County address will be 1932 E College Way, Suite B, Mount Vernon, WA 98273 and new phone number is 360-542-8487.

"This is an opportunity that will allow the citizens of Skagit County to be served in ways that had not been possible in the past" said Andrea Vallee, Director of Skagit County Mediation & Facilitation Services. "Both mediation communities have a vast amount of experience, expertise, and resources that we will now be able to share and utilize in serving the community on a daily basis."

Both areas have developed a number of areas of expertise and innovation within the conflict resolution field that will now be shared throughout the tri-county area. In addition to Skagit County's strong mediation services, they have developed a strong facilitation training/services program and have recently began a Juvenile Victim Offender Meetings Program. Through the years, the Dispute Resolution Center has developed a strong reputation for mediation services and training, recently expanding into products including co-authoring the Dummies Guide Book "Conflict Resolution at Work for Dummies" to be released in 2010 by Wiley Publishing. Further, for 27 years the Dispute Resolution Center has provided landlord-tenant mediation services and education to Snohomish County and the City of Everett.

"This is a natural progression of the centers' partnering on a number of successful service offerings and trainings. It is this type of collaboration and efficiencies that the Dispute Resolution Center hopes to offer residents. Overall, the transition will increase opportunities to fulfill our mission through delivery of quality services, community, and education while providing a fiscally sound economy of scale that will enhance the Dispute Resolution Center's ability to meet the ongoing needs of the people of Snohomish, Island, and Skagit," said Matt Phillips, Director, Dispute Resolution Center.

If you would like to learn more about our innovative conflict resolution services and training that we provide, please contact us at 360-542-8487 (Skagit) or 425-339-1335 (Snohomish).

Skagit County Planning and Development Services Issues Notice of Decision on Single-Family Dwellings on Farmland

The full text of the Administrative Interpretation can be viewed online.