September 12, 2022, Meeting of the

Guemes Island Planning Advisory Committee

Hal Rooks opened the meeting at 6:35pm.  Present were board members Hal Rooks, Michael Brown, Patty Rose, Jep Burdock, and Steve Orsini.  Also present were Gary Curtis board emeritus, Mike Murphy, Gabe Murphy, Forrest Nelson, and Diane Nielson.

Draft Agenda was approved.

Draft Minutes from August were approved.

Treasurer’s Report - Checking account balance is $12,929.35.  Roz Glasser Bequest fund balance was $9,162.10. 

Public Comment - Mike Murphy gave a rousing approval of our efforts to encourage rainwater catchment.

Updates/New Business – Hal Rooks gave the board an update on efforts to get the County to follow its own regs re evaluating new wells before they’re drilled on Guemes.  In August, the board met with all three commissioners separately to point out the county is not following its own code when wells are drilled on the island.   

Hal gave an update on the USGS survey.  The team was on island the first week of September to measure static levels of water in over 60 wells to give the island a better picture of where the recharge areas are and what the carrying capacity of the aquifer is moving forward.  Patty and Michael will contact the USGS team members to see if they will give a talk to the membership at our annual meeting on their efforts.

The annual meeting will be November 6^th, 2022, at the community hall from 2pm to 4pm.  Besides the USGS presentation, there will be a recap on our efforts this past year and board elections for an open board seat.

Hal Rooks adjourned the meeting at 8:15pm.