It is not very often that Lopez makes up such a large part of the San Juan County Council agenda. But last Tuesday, May 19, 2009, could have been called a “Banner Day” for Lopez Island at the County Council meeting in Friday Harbor (the Council meeting had been originally planned to be on Lopez, but it had to be changed for procedural reasons).

The Council took action on a significant number of items to benefit Lopez:

Appointment of an Ad Hoc Lopez Village Planning Review Committee. This committee will review past study plans for the village; examine the implications of the upcoming move of the Lopez Village Market; look into walking trails and parking concerns in the new UGA; and make recommendations for the future of the village in a report to the Council. Members of the committee will be Nancy Greene, Sandy Bishop, Dan Drahn, Madrona Murphy, Miles Paige, Clive Prout, and Jamie Stephens.

Completion of the Water and Sewer Agreements to serve the Lopez UGA and end of the moratorium on land division in the village area. The Council approved three necessary resolutions and ordinances so that the Lopez Village UGA can move forward and be compliant with the requirements of the state’s Growth Management Act.

Approval of a 50-year lease of the 400-acre DNR Lopez Hill Trust Lands. Culminating a two-year effort that started with the Friends of Lopez Hill seeking to keep Lopez Hill as a local county park, the Council unanimously approved the resolution for the lease and forwarded it to the Washington State Department of Natural Resources for final signature. In the spring of 2007, the Friends of Lopez Hill and the DNR worked together successfully to get the state legislature to fund $5.95 million to compensate this school trust lands property so that it could be leased to the county. The county will retain the right to acquire the property outright. In the past, a similar arrangement with DNR led to the outright county park ownership of Shark Reef park. Lopez Hill is the highest point on the island and a large water recharge area. It can now be Lopez’s “Central Park” with old growth timber and an extensive trail system.

Agreed to review a change of rules to allow covered swimming pools in rural areas. At the request of Friends of Lopez Island Pool, which had dropped an appeal for a land redesignation, the Council directed the county planning department to review a change in the county uniform development code which could help establish a pool if sufficient funds for building and operations become available to FLIP.

Updated the county dog ordinance. The Council approved changes in the ordinance to address dangerous dogs, a concern of the Animal Protection Societies of San Juan, Orcas, and Lopez Islands. The new rules place stronger restrictions on dangerous dogs and penalties on pet owners.

Received a briefing on the Fisherman Bay Bid Opening for Federal Stimulus Package funds for Fisherman Bay Road. The Council noted that the county administrator forwarded the bids for the final portion of the work on Fisherman Bay Road to public works department for review. Federal government stimulus package funds will be used to complete the project and contribute to local employment on Lopez.