WEEK of 3/19/12 SHELTON POLITICS

BRING YOUR OWN AXE

Submitted to Shelton Blog by Tom Davis Mason County Progressive

Here’s a fun game - let’s roll back the clock a week for a commentary on political events:

Monday, March 19, 2012

6:00 PM: City of Shelton Commissioner Meeting

Public Hearing - Ordinance No. 1801- 0312 - First and Final Reading
An Ordinance of the City of Shelton, Washington Extending a Temporary Moratorium on the Establishment, Maintenance or Continuation of Medical Cannabis Collective Gardens.

Needless to say, there will be no pot gardens in the City of Shelton any time soon. In a unanimous decision, Commissioners agreed with Community Development Director, Steve Goins, that six more months were needed to research this mind altering topic, or until the Feds find a way of taxing the public perception of marijuana into a new morality.

Personally, I still like the idea of growing pot at the Port of Shelton; it’s very economical, and changing the signage would only require blocking out one letter: POT OF SHELTON. Kind of has a nice ring to it.

Tuesday, March 20, 2012

9:00 AM: Regular Session of the BOCC

Only two Commissioners showed up: Steve Bloomfield and Lynda Ring-Erickson. The action agenda consisted of twelve items, but it was Item No. 8.9 that caught my attention:

Approval of the resolution approving the sale of the real properties located at E. 11, E. 21, E. 51 and E. 71 Agate Beach Drive for $5,000 cash to Gary L. Stout and Colleen S. Dugan-Stout.

The property(s) in question consist of five contiguous unimproved lots the County foreclosed on for back taxes back in 2003. In 2010 and 2011, each lot was assessed at $15,000; in 2012, the assessed value was lowered to $4250 per lot. Now the County proposes to sell each of the lots at $1,000. If you consider back taxes, plus interest, plus foreclosure costs $3,573.90, you must also consider that maybe the County has a lot to learn about the foreclosure process.

Be that as it may, how does the County expect owners of similar size lots up and down the street to pay taxes on the full assessed value of their properties when the county, itself, accepts a bid 75% lower than its own appraised value? And what of the $1,426.10 remainder after the tax deficiency is satisfied? Does the County give this money back to the foreclosed upon property owner? Nay, nay, Nanette...those monies go into County Coffers too.

When the dust settles over this questionable practice, the County loses, the public loses, and the ex-property owner is left with a hobo and a freight train ride out of tent city. I tell you, it just ain’t right.

Same day, 2:00 PM: Regular scheduled meeting of the Port of Shelton

Action/Discussion Item: Forest Management Plan Review Update

Okay, grab your socks, we’re going for a ride:

After some discussion about whether or not a public hearing was required to update the Port’s 2002 Forest Management Plan, Commissioner Hupp put the hammer down, and a public hearing was called for April 3rd (don’t kid yourself, Jay still runs the show).

So here’s what’s happening:

As has been reported, the Port wants to harvest a 100 acre timber stand (two stands, actually) adjacent to the new Capital Hill Road. According to Port hired forestry consultant, Joe Staley of North Wind Forestry Consultants LLC, 23% of the trees are infected with what is called Laminated Root Rot (Phellinus Weirii), which travels from tree to tree through the intertwining of root systems (isn’t that how we all got here?).

Mr. Staley tells us that if nothing is done, tree mortality is only one to two years away. Not un-expectantly, a quick search of the web suggests that clear cutting is the most effective remedy if more than 20% of the trees in a stand are infected.

As luck would have it, the current price for logs is sky high, so it’s a really good time to kill a bunch of trees and sell the logs to local lumber mills. Not as good as if the logs could be exported, mind you, because federal law PROHIBITS THE SALE OF LOGS HARVESTED FROM PUBLIC LANDS INTO THE EXPORT MARKET. This is a hard bullet for the Port to bite, since exported logs are valued at 60-80% above those destined for the domestic market. (Ah, you can almost hear the wheels turning.)

Now back to Mr. Staley and his timber consulting company, North Wind Forest Consultants (NWFC), which he started with partner, Bob Schwartz, way back in June of 2010. LookUpBook.com reports the company address as being 314 Harrison Ave., Centralia, but lists no phone number. The Washington Secretary of State, Corporation Division, lists the agent for NWFC as one James M.B. Buzzard, a lawyer (but then what other profession could the poor man have possibly gone into?). A quick look at the Lewis County Assessor’s office, however, lists the registered owner of the building at 314 Harrison Ave. as - wait for it - “Company of Buzzards”. Honest to God!

Okay, that was fun, but it really has nothing to do with Mr. Staley’s qualifications, as it appears he has previous experience in managing the sale of timber and holds a BS degree in Forestry from Oregon State. But does this qualify him to assess the extent of laminated root rot in the port’s timber stand? Maybe. Let’s wait and see what documentation is offered at the public hearing.

Apropos of nothing, I walked much of the stand and saw no indication of yellowing tree-tops, considered to be the defining symptom of laminated root rot. But then there was only one tree where I grew up in Brooklyn, and someone wrote a book about it, so what do I know.

But here’s what I do know: The Port never looks at trees; they hate trees; trees get in the way of planes and attract huggers and all manner of fauna the Port couldn’t care less about . Matter of fact, the Port has always given the public impression that the only good tree is a dead tree going down the road on the back of a truck, a la Tim Sheldon. So why all the sudden concern over forest health? Could it have something to do with the 55 acres of land adjacent to the airport the Port would like to annex into their domain?

No matter, there are a host of reasons not to harvest the timber, not the least of which is it triggers a mandatory moratorium on non-forestry conversion if the site is not immediately developed. So what is it the public doesn’t know about this deal? Does the Port have a tenant waiting in the wings? Is the proposed harvest a “sweetener” attached to another deal? Or is the Port just broke and needs to start selling the furniture?

These and other questions can be asked at the public hearing to update the Port’s forestry plan on Tuesday, April 3, 2:00 PM at the Port of Shelton administration building. BYOA (bring your own axe).

PORT OF SHELTON PUBLIC HEARING

2002 FOREST MANAGEMENT PLAN UPDATE
on
Tuesday, April 3rd
at
Commissioners' Chambers
Port of Shelton
21 West Sanderson Way
at
2:00 PM