Dike commission deals with delays

Commissioners of Consolidated Diking District No. 1 of Puget Island would like to delay some projects and expedite others.

On Tuesday, diking Commissioners Gordon Oman, Philip Vik and Mike Phelan authorized county Commissioner Lisa Marsyla to contact US Army Corps of Engineers officials about a moratorium on enforcing vegetation clearance standards along Island dikes.

They also discussed factors impacting or delaying projects on Groves Slough and North Welcome Slough Road., and they authorized Oman to work with a consultant to try to buy brush cleaing equipment at an auction at the end of this month.

Diking commissioners said they need to develop a plan of how they're going to implement a Corps mandate to clear vegetation away from dikes. Commissioners explained the mandate at a public meeting last month, and several citizens questioned the need to remove landscaping in areas with earth built up around the dikes. At that meeting, Marsyla volunteered to contact Corps officials to see what could be done.

Tuesday she reported talks with two officials. One had suggested Islanders seek a two-year delay on the mandate. The Corps has a study underway in the Portland area of the effects of vegetation and roots on dikes, and other federal agencies have recommended delaying enforcement of the mandate until the study is complete.

It was suggested, Marsyla said, that the diking district contact Corps administrators about the delay and in the meantime do as much vegetation removal as possible in areas that aren't developed.

Commissioners agreed with the suggestion. They discussed means of notifying people of the Corps standards so that people don't plant more trees or large shrubs along the dike, and they authorized purchase of a brush cutting machine to trim blackberries and brush where feasible.

In other business, diking commissioners reported slow progress in dredging Groves Slough and shoring up the eroding shoreline along North Welcome Slough.

On the latter project, they received a wetlands analysis with mitigation concepts from a consulting engineer. The next step is to authorize the consultants to begin applying for permits and drafting specifications for the project.

That cost, however, could run $30,000 or more, and commissioners said they wanted to contact other consultants to see what funding assistance they could find.

Commissioners also said they want to study funding possibilities for the Groves Slough project, which should be started next fall.