Commissioners Present: Benye Weber, Bruce Bryson and Ann McDonald

Others Present: Jim Patton (Executive Director), Laura Blankenship (Comprehensive Plan Editor-in-Chief), Karen Hutchinson (President, GFMG), Rob Hetler (Vice President, GFMG), Tom Baenen (Treasurer, GFMG), Cheryl Sagmeister (Greenbank Farm Manager), Sharon Dunn (Greenbank Beach and Boat Club) Jeff Vanderford (South Whidbey Record), Justin Burnett (Coupeville Examiner), Amber O'Brien (Edwards & Associates), Jan Graham (owner of the Harbor Café), Barbara Kolar (Native Plant Steward), Jim Somers (President, WSU Beach Watchers), Don Meehan (WSU Extension), Marty Crowley and Graham Johnson (WSU Beach Watchers), Oak Harbor Resident: Brenda Cheagui, Greenbank Residents: Anthony Gatto, James Gatto, John Rohrer, Karen Eaton, Don Stewart, Mary Jo Stansbury, Michael Stansbury, Vern Olsen and Mark Fessler, Freeland Residents: Anne Baum, Carol Gatewood

Call to order: The special meeting was called to order at 2:00 pm by Commissioner Weber in the Greenbank Progressive Club in Greenbank, WA.

PURPOSE OF THE MEETING:

The Port of Coupeville is preparing a Comprehensive Plan and the public review phase began on January 10, 2007. This meeting is one of several at which a presentation on the contents of the draft plan will be given, followed by an opportunity for the public to respond. Weber read aloud this purpose and a list of guidelines for the conduct of the meeting. A copy of the guidelines is attached to these Minutes. Weber pointed out that the Board would listen to public comments on the draft plan but would not defend or debate the contents. She said that written and e-mail comments will be welcome until midnight, March 31, 2007. The Board intends to adopt a final plan at the regular Port meeting on April 11, 2007.

PRESENTATION: (Patton) Patton gave a ninety minute presentation on the draft 2007-2026 Comprehensive Plan. A copy of this presentation is on file at the Port Office.

PUBLIC INPUT: Weber opened the meeting to public comment. The following comments were made by attendees:

Anne Baum: I am with the WSU Master Gardeners. I am here today to reiterate the Master Gardeners' commitment and partnership to the Greenbank Farm and to the Port. Many of our goals dovetail with your goals and to see them up on the board, I know that is true and I know you know that is true. Much of the work that we have done in building the educational gardens and in enhancing the farm, and we have been at this for the better part of seven years, and I know that you know what we have done and all I would like to do today is to ask you to include us in the strategic plan. Although we see a little bit of our garden on the map, we don't find our name in the plan. I would like to have that relationship reiterated so that we all know that we are on the same page and we are going down the road of life together and that is my request from the Master Gardeners to your ears.

Don Meehan: I remember coming here in the early 1980's and working with Muan Kawasaki and Gary Ando and helping those folks to try to combat some of the problems that they were having from some of the diseases, from viral diseases to fungal diseases to insect problems and weeds while trying to grow Loganberries. Most recently, as Ann had noted, we have quite a wonderful relationship with the Greenbank Farm in our educational garden that the Master Gardeners have made a huge investment in. This was something that we have wanted to do for close to twenty years, since I have been here, to have an educational garden for our community and here we have one in a beautiful place. I would encourage that part of the mission of the farm above and beyond the historical and agricultural mission is to educate the community and let that be a lesson as well that you can invest in for our community. I would also encourage that you make an arrangement with our office that we also have an agreement to coordinate and collaborate with our brand new agricultural person that is coming on board who is tasked with not only helping farm families sustain themselves financially and being successful farming in that way, but also the environmental stewardship side of things. We have had a partnership through our office in our weed control program dealing with the purple loose strife and a number of other weed problems that the farm has had, including Canadian Thistle. I think it is really important that we continue that partnership and that the Port recognize us as another resource that can come through the door to help you and continue helping you.

Jan Graham: (Coupeville, WA) said, I am the owner of the Harbor Café that is currently a tenant on the wharf and the Port of Coupeville is my landlord. I spoke Tuesday and the Board graciously agreed to assure me in writing that my lease would remain in place. It is very difficult to do in a three-minute comment but I wanted to complete a thought process that I had. I have invested my retirement savings in the restaurant and that is very serious business to me. I went in to that business looking at it being a long-term situation. I am now faced as a member of the community, which I also am, with a possibility that would benefit more than me in redoing the wharf into a marine educational facility. I would like the Board to consider negotiating with the tenants a buy out the businesses so that we could turn that building over to the facility without going at a personal loss. I would like to be a member of my community as I have always been in doing what is best for all. I can't afford to sacrifice my retirement. I have worked in accounting situations with non-profits before and I understand your process in writing a Comprehensive Plan, which gives you the opportunity to go for grant money in order to do these projects because you don't have it otherwise. I don't want you to be in the situation that the City of Oak Harbor is in right now in spending the money in planning and unable to complete the wharf and a possible payback on the grant of a half a million dollars, which is on the front page of the newspaper. I don't want to see my Port of Coupeville in that situation. I would like you to think about the tenants that are currently there and how to deal with that in a straight forward manner that would benefit all of us.

Karen Hutchinson: I serve as the President of the Greenbank Farm Management Group (GFMG) and I appreciate this opportunity. Fifteen months ago former Port Commissioner Ed Van Patten invited me to participate in the advisory committee. I joined the committee with high expectations and much of it has been good but procedural errors have dampened some of my enthusiasm. Two things I need to note, first, despite the Port's statement to the contrary, I want to assure everyone that my participation is that as a member of the Greenbank Farm Management Group Board and not as an individual and it really is fitting because the farm must have a voice in this process. Second, the Port failed to memorialize the input of the advisory committee, there is no final document of the work that the advisory committee did. While this is a great plan it has a lot of interpretation from the Port in it and that needs to be understood. I can only comment on some highlights today but I will provide full written comments. There are two really important farm-related initiatives that are covered. The GFMG has long advocated a conservation easement and we applaud its inclusion. Existing zoning is really a temporary protection. The plan leaves open a lot of issues about when that easement would take place and where and how and we will continue to monitor that effort and assist the Port in any way - it is absolutely critical. The establishment of the Master Site Plan is highly beneficial. A couple of points on that: concerned organizations and individuals must be an integral part of the process and the process really must be lead by an experienced professional. There is an important topic that is absent from the plan and you have to do a lot of reading between the lines to find it. Regrettably, the Port excluded from the Advisory Committee any discussion of the transfer of the farm's operating responsibility and the assets at the expiration of the current lease and management agreements in 2014. The Plan as it is written offers no guideline on how that transition will be accomplished and it really offers no continued assurance of the operation of the farm or the future investments. It is important to remember that Port Commissioners come and go. It is an elected public office and out of those Port Commissioners that were on the Board when the farm was put in place, there is not a single one of them on the Port Commission today. I applaud Jim Patton's partnership comments and the spirit of the plan and I look forward to working together on that. I feel very strongly that the plan must differentiate between the activities performed by and the assets owned by the GFMG. The 1.5 million dollar state capital grant is on our budget and the plan must not mislead about the financial responsibility. There is a statement that says, 'Termination of farm related obligations will result in a projected minimum increase of $250,000 Port revenue.' Weber asked what page Hutchinson was referencing. Hutchinson said that it is in the Operations and Financial section of the Plan and she would be happy to give her comments to the Board in written form as well. She went on to finish her statement: This suggests that by 2017 the Port would not have further financial obligations. I know that is not the case so we need to clarify that. Today the farm operations would experience revenue of nearly $100,000; this is made up by community support so it is really important to maintain that public/private partnership. Speaking on behalf of the GFMG, I recommend that the Port revisit the plan, clearly delineate the activities and activities of the GFMG from those of the Port, recognize that those organizations working together to contribute to the well being of the farm like the Master Gardeners, and establish a framework for defining what that new partnership is going to look like in 2014. It should be an initiative in the plan and not buried in the other sections. If the plan would recognize and encourage that kind of community support, that would be fabulous. The GFMG is eager to explore with the Port avenues of community cooperation now and in future years and we believe we can be of immense value in continuing to provide both the financial and the volunteer support that makes the farm as special as it is today.

Mary Jo Stansbury: At least 90% of the people that live on Greenbank Beach and in this area are summer residents. As Jim Patton knows, if we do it on a sunny day in the summer; we can pack this house, plus the parking lot. We had hundreds of people here for the salmon habitat estuary meeting. When you have a meeting at 2:00 PM on a rainy Thursday afternoon in the middle of January, no one can come. I don't know how you expect to get input from people like me who live most of the time in town. I would suggest that you figure out some way to contact owners. You have lists of people who live here that can be e-mailed or you can ask Sharon Dunn or me for the e-mail addresses. If you don't communicate to the residents here and in two months say here is our plan, and you haven't talked to the neighbors, you are going to have some negative response.

Graham Johnson: Presently I have taken on the task of trying to spark plug the completion of the initial exhibit that has been planned for the breezeway wharf. I want you to know that we are making progress and I think you'll see substantial progress in the weeks to come. One of the things that has become very evident to me is that I have worked with this group called the 'wharf group.' We have many stories that we would like to tell. The space that we have presently available today does not allow for that. I just wanted you to know that there are many stories that can be told through a marine education center and if and when those opportunities present themselves to us we are prepared to take the challenge and make something that we can all be proud of. Separate from that, prior to coming to Whidbey Island, I had been in the tourist and travel business and for a period of time chaired the tourism development committee for the Spokane convention and visitors bureau. One of the things that was always present in our minds was that you need to have something that attracts people to your area if you want them to come and if you want them to stay. Spokane was definitely not a destination unless you lived in Missoula, MT. Whidbey Island is a destination. Its nature and its environment is an attraction already and I think you can build on that attraction. What your plan tells me underlying everything else is that it is a tourism and development document. What you are talking about doing with the Greenbank Farm and what you are talking about doing with the wharf is really a tourism development product. I think that if this product is adopted and is put into place, that you will see people coming and staying. You want travelers to come but you also want travelers to stay in order to maximize the economic benefits. I think that you have that potential as it is written in this particular document.

Mike Stansbury: One of the things that has always struck me as one of the important foundations and a really important aspect of vision at the Greenbank Farm is the conservation easement. I know that there is a provision in here for a process for working out the elements of a conservation easement and there is a provision for a conservation easement planning group. I am not sure exactly what that constitutes but my purpose in speaking today is to say that if there is an opportunity for public input in that group that I would like volunteer for it. I have an interest in and I think it would be interesting and I think I could contribute to it.

There being no further public comments, Weber closed the public input session. She thanked everyone for attending the meeting and said that if there is anything else that they would like the Board to be aware of, please send it in writing to the Port. Also, she said that the Board tentatively agreed to have another public meeting at the North boundary of the Port district at a location and date to be determined. As soon as a date is confirmed for a facility, the papers will be notified so that everyone is aware of that meeting. Patton said that the Port has copies of the compete draft Comprehensive Plan available to anyone at the meeting who would like one. They will also be available at the Port Office.

ADJOURNMENT: There being no further business, Weber adjourned the meeting at 3:55 pm.