Residents ask how to speed up the Corps

Once again, local officials and residents are unhappy with the slow progress of permitting beach nourishment for eroding beaches on Cape Horn and Puget Island.

Residents and county officials are waiting for the US Army Corps of Engineers to finish work on planning for dredging work and permits for right of entry to do the work on private property. The process has dragged on for months, and meanwhile, property owners say erosion continues along their shorelines. They fear significant property loss if sand isn't placed along their shorelines this year.

County Commissioner Dan Cothren said Tuesday he had expected a detailed progress report from his contact at the Corps, but he received a one-sentence email just before the start to the board's Tuesday meeting; that email simply said that the contact hadn't received any reports from other Corps staff working on the project.

"That's not enough," Cothren told Island and Cape Horn residents Tuesday morning. "I've made the calls, but they haven't responded.

"This has drug on too long."

Residents asked what could be done to speed up the process.

"Have we reached the point where we need a public demonstration," asked Island resident JB Robinson?

Commissioners said they want to pressure the Corps without antagonizing anyone.

"We want to work with them," Cothren said.

Commissioner Blair Brady said he has been interviewed by a daily newspaper reporter.

"I emphasized we're not trying to alienate the Corps but I expressed the urgency," Brady said. "We don't know if that (a demonstration) would be counter productive or not."

Commissioner Mike Backman suggested residents and officials band together and take a bus trip to the homes of the federal officials like Congresswoman Jamie Herrera Beutler for a short visit and discuss the situation in order to boost pressure on the Corps.

"We should go to their homes and have a nice visit and say these are the people who are losing their houses," Backman said. "Maybe that would help them push harder.

"I like that idea," Brady responded. He added that the congressional delegation, which has no direct control over the Corps, "has been helpful but not too productive."

"You guys can do what you want," Cothren told the audience, "but I will be trying to work with the Corps."