Lake Life -August 2013

Presorted Standard | US Postage Paid Newport, WA | Permit No. 18 | ECRWWS

Celebrating Life at Diamond Lake and Sacheen Lake Volume 2, Issue 5

Fire district volunteers Page 9

Produced by The Miner Newspapers

Fiber installation Page 8

August 2013

Shoreline controversy Page 5

Publisher’s Note

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s the nights get colder, the docks and boats come out, the leaders warm up around a good hot meeting to discuss making things even better next year.

That’s been the scene around our communities lately. They first go over the battles they had this summer before planning the strategy for next summer. We’ve included some of their meetings in the issue to close out the season.

Milfoil is still at the top of the list and like an underwater Al-Qaeda of Pend Oreille County the nasty weed is under control but not dead. It waits patiently for the moment the community stops fighting – then it grows and grows.

In our cover picture, taken by Perry Pearman, Bill Slusser was hand pulling milfoil at Sacheen Lake Aug. 3. Divers place the mesh bag over the plant before trying to remove it by the roots.

The Sacheen Lake Water and Sewer District both chemically treats and hand pulls milfoil. They followed up the hand pulling with chemical treatment. Diamond Lake has the same program and reported only a few areas needed treatment this summer.

It has been a great summer. Hot weather. Lake fun. And a few problems solved. There is another summer coming and we plan to have five more Lake Life issues to showcase it next year.

-Fred Willenbrock Publisher

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LAKE LIFE is published monthly in April, May, August, July and August as a supplement to The Newport Miner and Gem State Miner, 421 S. Spokane, Newport WA 99156.

TELEPHONE: 509-447-2433 E-MAIL: minernews@povn.com, mineradvertising@povn.com FAX: 509-447-9222 Reproduction of articles & photographs is prohibited without permission of the publisher.

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Published: August 2013 Publisher: Fred Willenbrock Writers & editors: Michelle Nedved, Desireé Hood and Don Gronning Design: Michelle Nedved Advertising: Susan Willenbrock, Lindsay Guscott, Cindy Boober

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Pend Oreille & Bonner County Waterfront Specialist

If you want to receive Lake Life in the mail outside Pend Oreille County contact The Miner at 509-447-2433.

Infrastructure

Sacheen Lake sewer bids rejected, district to seek additional funding

BY DON GRONNING OF THE MINER

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SACHEEN LAKE – The Sacheen Lake Water and Sewer District commissioners are looking for additional financing for their planned sewer system after bids came in far higher than anticipated when they were opened Aug. 7. Commissioners rejected all the bids.

“The project is temporarily on hold,” district chairman Gary Garrett said. If funding is found, construction on the project won’t begin until late spring or early summer next year, he said. If things go the way he wants, it will be completed 18 months later.

Commissioners had hoped to begin construction this year and be finished by the end of 2014. Because the bids came in so much higher than the engineer’s estimate, Garret is optimistic the district will qualify for hardship funding from the state Department of Ecology.

The total cost of the project had the bids been accepted would have been $12.028 million. That includes more than $2 million for things like permitting, easements and land.

Whether or not to even build a sewer system has been controversial for years.

Some say a sewer system isn’t needed, others say it should have been built years, even decades ago.

Critics say Sacheen Lake Sewer and Water Commissioners have not been forthright in their estimation of the costs associated with building a sewer system or how many would divide the cost.

They use the 388-lot figure to illustrate their point according to one critic. A $7.9 million system would need 465 people to pay the assessment to bring the assessment down to the $16,970, the figure district officials have used as what it would cost to hook into the system, the critic pointed out.

Commissioners initially said were turned into one lot. there would be 388 lots withAs to why the bids came in the Local Improvement in so much higher than the District. But not all lots will estimates, Koesel said that be assessed. The cost would one reason is that he could be shared by 316 landowners, have been wrong. He said not 388. he used numbers from other “So this cost was never true, recent sewer projects he has even before they went out to worked on, such as the West bid, as there was never that Bonner Sewer System. But the many hook-ups planned,” the bids came in higher for the anonymous critic wrote Commissioners had hoped to begin to The Miner construction this year and be finished by in an email. the end of 2014. Because the bids came “It was a in so much higher than the engineer’s number they used estimate, Garret is optimistic the district to make the will qualify for hardship funding from project palthe state Department of Ecology. atable and push ahead.”

If the project were to go Sacheen Lake project. Koesel ahead with the current bids, said bidders were having a assessments would have been hard time getting subcontraccloser to $38,000 a lot, the tors. person wrote.

Koesel said that when the Although there are 388 $16,970 assessment number lots in the LID, a number of was first publicized there had lots are unbuildable, so they not been a detailed design or were not assessed, said Kevin even a map.

Koesel, the engineer who deFor instance, when the syssigned the system. Other lots tem was designed, it turned were formally aggregated, meaning two or more lots SEE SEWER, 15

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SACHEEN LAKE – So, right out of the box, you’re probably wondering what the heck I’m babbling about with this EOS business...

Well, for the purpose of this article LUTZ EOS simply means end of summer. And, as you have probably already guessed, yes EOS is my favorite part of the season, especially September for a number of reasons!

First and most important, the mosquitoes are gone, at least a majority of them. Yes, we have the Yellow Jackets, but they typically fly in like a buzzing B-52 with stingers-a-blazing and you have plenty of time to smack them in the snout with your hat as a deterrent. (Yeah, I know that you’re not supposed to do that, but I for one have actually become quite good at it!)

Mosquitoes on the other hand come in like a stealth bomber and before you know it, you’re making an unwanted blood donation.

Oh, and in the late summer we also have those dumb stink bugs (not sure what their

technical name is) that fly right into you as if they have no eyes or antennae that work worth a darn. But again rather harmless and certainly much better than mosquitoes and black flies, hands down!

Okay, enough about bugs.

Let’s talk animals.

In September, you can pretty much figure that the dog days of summer are now behind us. The “ground” squirrels are already in bed for the winter, and your common outdoor housecat is munching down on those overpopulated moles, saving you money on cat food. And for us humans, we are enjoying some of the freshest produce of the year.

Yard maintenance is way down too (YIPPEEEE) as the weeds begin to die off and the grass is not growing near as fast. All of this spells less lawn mowing and more time for fishing and enjoying the great outdoors.

The kids are back in school and with the busy sports schedules, the lakes, rivers, and campgrounds are a bit less crowded, even on the weekends.

Oh, and speaking of sports, I’d be a hammer-head if I forgot to mention that late summer also marks the beginning of the NFL

season!

As for the weather, it is typically near perfect! Even if the days get a little on the toasty side, the daylight hours are shorter, so the heat does not cook us all that long. We typically do get a short-lived heat wave early in September which really does feel quite hot, and for good reason.

It’s the sun angle, which is lower in the sky, so the sun tends to beat on us more directly. This is what makes it “feel” so hot late in the summer months. Usually by the latter half of September, the daytime temperatures are just right for an afternoon nap out on the deck or patio, and the night air is clear and crisp!

Late summer features the golden months when we’re in between the sizzling days of summer and the cold nights of winter, and I for one always try to take advantage of it. The steadier rains will soon return, but even early October can bring with it some rather pleasant conditions.

Geez, I almost forgot to mention all the county fairs with their gargantuan elephant ears and huckleberry ice cream cones... mmmm-mmm-mm I think I just gained 5 pounds just from mentioning them, but it’s all good!

So, as we get ready to close the books on yet another spectacular summer, don’t forget to get out and enjoy the EOS as it too offers some spectacular human enjoyment!

Before I close my series of Weather Babble for the season, I want to remind you that I will be issuing my annual winter forecast around the end of September. You can find it online at climatehawk.org under Seasonal Outlooks.

I know, I know, some of you don’t like winter much and even mentioning the “s” word would be grounds for war in some family circles! But without it, we would not have all these beautiful waterways to enjoy. So with that said, I want to wish you all a happy, healthy and safe fall and winter season ahead, and God willing, I will be back filling your brains cells with more weather babble next spring.

Government

NEW MINER PHOTO|DON GRONNING

Pend Oreille County commissioners and community development director Mike Lithgow met Friday, Aug. 30, to go over responses to public comments about the county’s Shoreline Master Program.

County granted more time to respond to shoreline comments

BY DON GRONNING AND MICHELLE NEDVED OF THE MINER

NEWPORT – Pend Oreille County commissioners are working on responses to public comments on the Shoreline Master Program. They continued their regular commissioner meeting Aug. 27 to Friday, Aug. 30 to read public comments and develop responses with community development director Mike Lithgow. They also took up the SMP in a three hour meeting Tuesday, Sept.

10.

Nine members of the public attended the Aug. 30 meeting.

The county has been granted one 45-day extension by the state Department of Ecology to reply to the public comments.

They had asked for another 45-day extension and were initially denied, but the Spokane office granted a 15-day extension because Lithgow is on vacation.

The county’s responses to the comments are now due Sept.

30.

Commissioners and Lithgow went through the comments.

“All the comments say the plan is too restrictive and vio-

lates rights,” county commissioner Karen Skoog said.

Some of the comments said that the Department of Ecology requires any changes to the SMP be supported by science, yet didn’t supply current science to justify the increase in

the setbacks.

Skoog said Grant County is developing its own science.

Individualized scientific backing for setback rules is something that Pend Oreille SEE SHORELINE, 14

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DIAMOND LAKE – The members of the Diamond Lake Improvement Association agreed to make some cuts next year and increase dues to help maintain a reserve that has gone from $70,000 in 2011 to an expected $50,000 by the end of the year. But they won’t stop fighting aquatic invasive species and high water levels.

More than 100 people attended the annual Diamond Lake Improvement Association meeting Saturday, Aug. 31, at the Boy Scouts of American Camp Cowles Carbon Lodge. The meeting lasted from 9 a.m. to noon.

In response to the board’s concerns with their expenses exceeding revenue, they asked for annual dues increases. The members voted to raise family memberships from $25 to $50 a year and single memberships from $15 to $30. This could raise more $5,000 next year. Of the 515 property owners they have about 287 paying members.

They also discussed the need to get more of the property owners to become paying members.

This year’s budget as explained by treasurer Sallee Dyer was $35,000 with about $7,000 from dues and the rest coming from primarily from donations to specific projects such as fireworks, lowering the lake level, the boat inspection at the launch, aquatic invasive species control and fish pens.

The DLIA accounting period goes from Jan. 1 to Dec. 31, but dues and donation letters go out in May with a good share collected at the August annual meeting. They collected several thousand dollars at the meeting Saturday. Dyer said she estimated they had spent about $2,200 more than they took in by the day of the meeting. But they were still collecting money.

At the meeting, Dyer posted on the walls the total donations and SEE DLIA, 7

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More than 100 people attended the annual Diamond Lake Improvement Association meeting Saturday, Aug. 31.

Board candidate Julie Doughtery addresses the members.

FROM PAGE 6

expenses to date for the major programs. The fish pen program received $435 in donations but spent $1,596 giving them a deficit of $661. The high water program received $10,000 in donations and had spent $4,191 with $5,888 left. Committee members said they would spend this and more this year.

The Clean Boats/Clean Water program raised $676 and spent $449. This does not include another $3,000 to pay the summer lake host at the boat launch, which Dyer said is included in the Aquatic Invasive Species expenses of $4,026. That program had $2,340 in donations leaving it short $1,686. But it would have still had money if the lake host cost of $3,000 wasn’t deducted.

Although other programs spent more than was donated specifically for them by members, the board focused on the fireworks show. The fireworks donations were $3,265 and the expenses were $5,017 leaving a deficit of $1,752.

DLIA president Connell Dyer proposed not having the show next year and said he wouldn’t vote for the show as long as donations didn’t pay for it.

But the members in a close vote Saturday shot down canceling next year’s fireworks out right, which cost $5,000. On a second motion, the members agreed to only have the show if $5,000 is raised by next May 15.

They will not include the $1,700 shortage from this year which apparently will come from the

reserves. If they don’t raise $5,000 they will hold the donations until the following year or until they reach the goal to pay for the show.

Some questioned how they could reach their goal when the membership and donation letters only go out in May and don’t come back very quickly.

Past DLIA treasurer and officer Terry Miller said they should consider setting up online payment options and pointed out they had successful campaigns to raise the fireworks money in the past. She also said that

debate over having or not having the fireworks show isn’t new.

The members also took the axe to traditional donations in response to the board’s concern over the deficit. The Boy Scouts of America Camp Cowles donation was cut to $500. The Scouts had asked for $2,500 and had been given $1,000 in the past.

South Pend Oreille Fire and Rescue received only the amount designated by members’ donations to date, which was $875.

Fire Chief Mike Nokes said they SEE DLIA, 12

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Fiber

Lake areas get connected

BY DESIREÉ HOOD OF THE MINER

DIAMOND LAKE – The Pend Oreille Public Utility District (PUD) is nearing the end of the federal grant period that helped fund the fiber to every home and business in the south part

of the county. Residents do not have to use the fiber once it is ran to the house, but more than 141 lake area residents have decided to request fiber service.

Currently, more than 74 customers in the Diamond and Sacheen Lake areas are

MINER PHOTO|DESIREÉ HOOD

Henkels and McCoy crew John Bezanson is going through the process of stripping the fiber cable of unnecessary parts before connecting it to the gray box at a connection request Aug. 28 near Coyote Trail.

connected and have working service.

The PUD’s Community Network System Supervisor Robert Fritz said about 4,000 out of a potential more than 5,000 businesses and residents in south Pend Oreille county signed consent forms prior to last Sept. 28, to have the fiber cables ran to their homes even if they did not plan to use it.

These are the premises that the PUD has put on a priority list to complete by the end of the grant, at no cost to the customer.

Any customer who did not sign the form by last September is not guaranteed to have the fiber installed by the deadline of the grant. But if they make a request they will be hooked up.

There are more than 786 requests for service in the grant coverage area out of 4,000 homes and businesses that signed the consent form SEE FIBER, 11 8 Lake Life | August 2013

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Calls to law enforcement “New York Style” RISTORANTE drop off in ITALIANDeck Dining Located on Beautiful Sand Creek August NEWPORT – Calls to the Pend Oreille County Sheriff’s Office dropped off substantially in July and August in the Sacheen and Diamond Lake areas. The sheriff’s office received 259 calls in July and only 167 in August, compared to 239 in June.

Twenty-nine traffic stops were made in August, along with two possible DUIs and one confirmed DUI. Only one burglary was reported, and six violations of the burn ban. Four noise complaints were called in and one case of vehicle theft.

There were four traffic accidents, one of which resulted in a fatality.

In July, 18 suspicious circumstances were investigated, and 31 traffic stops made. Eight possible DUIs were investigated, as well as six reports of trespassing.

Eight traffic accidents were reported with damage to vehicles and two resulted in personal injuries.

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DIAMOND LAKE – More than 30 Diamond Lake residents turned out to “play in the mud” Saturday, Sept. 7, to clean up a shallow clog in the Diamond Lake Slough Ditch and off Boy Scout Road.

Organizers said it was a very successful day, with the work accomplished, getting wet, muddy, and making new friends.

The crew worked at what is called the “Boy Scout Road,” hand sawing out Reed Canary Grass root balls that had overgrown and clogged the ditch north of Shore Road culvert.

These areas were the two main concerns and problem areas for impeding water flow.

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Join in the Christmas tree celebration

BY KAREN SKOOG PEND OREILLE COUNTY COMMISSIONER, DISTRICT 2

When I typed “Capitol Christmas Tree 2013” into a search engine I got 1,050,000 results. This is exciting news because The People’s Tree, which is placed SKOOG on the west lawn of the US Capitol, is coming from Pend Oreille County this year.

We will usher in the holidays this year in an extra festive fashion. The tree cutting ceremony Pend Oreille will be on County the first weekend is a great Novemambassador of ber, with a for a message celebration of goodwill, to follow in Newport. love and The compeace for all missionpeople. ers have helped to form an event planning committee, involving members of the community, Kalispel Tribe and U.S. Forest Service. If you would like to be involved in planning or volunteering for the event please contact Jamie Wyrobek with Economic Development Council at jwyrobek@pendoreille.org or 509-447-5569.

This is an excellent opportunity for our community to enjoy a festive and historic event together and to help boost our local economy. Let’s get ready for the influx of regional visitors and tourists. We are so excited to work together with the community to create opportunities, great memories and new traditions.

Please check out the lovely website CapitolChristmasTree.com. It may be the top of the search engine page, but it certainly won’t be the only story on the Internet about the Capitol Christmas Tree.

Let’s join together and create a wonderful and memorable event to celebrate and show the world Pend Oreille County is a great ambassador for a message of goodwill, love and peace for all people.

Sacheen boat launch closing for reconstruction SACHEEN LAKE – The Sacheen Lake boat launch is closed Sept. 9-30, for reconstruction.

Work will involve upgrading the boat launch and replacing the toilets.

The launch is operated by the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, which lead the construction project, hiring a local

contractor to do the design and development.

The state approved $500,000 in capital funding money from the state jobs bill in the 2012-2013 fiscal year.

The lake, which has rainbow, tiger, and eastern brook trout, remains open to fishing through Oct. 31.

FIBER | FROM PAGE 8

to have fiber run to their premises.

More than 232 houses or businesses have been connected with working service in the whole project area.

Another 100 premises have the customer premise equipment, the electronics in the box, but they are waiting on splicing or a meter collar before they will be connected

to the world wide web.

Having a working hub is essential to make the service work and currently there are six working hubs in the lake areas. The PUD plans on having 39 hubs total in the south county area. Fritz said they will have them completed by the end of the grant deadline this month.

“Thirty-two are currently powered up and working,” Fritz said.

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DLIA | Work at Moon Creek ditch helped with lake level problems FROM PAGE 7

New Diamond Lake Improvement Association Officers President: Rich Clubine Vice President: Paul Moore Secretary: Gail Johnson Treasurer: Sallee Dryer Board members elected at the Aug. 31 meeting: Jeff Taylor, Julia Craze and Julie Doughtery.

The

Plantman

would be fine without a donation and he would rather they took care of issues like lake level and milfoil to maintain property values.

The budget shows that donations and dues are the primary sources of revenue. But their budget shows some other possible revenue sources. The newsletter, which the board has produced for two summers, contains paid advertising. They had hoped it would raise funds but Dyer said the advertising sales have been about $7,000 a year and expenses for printing, postage and labor use most of that.

T-shirt and other printed collectible items they now get from a national online company showed sales of $782 with expenses of $348 posting a profit, as of the meeting, of $433.

The association also spends about $1,800 that comes directly from dues. It covers operating

expenses such as taxes, postage, insurance, water testing, the website, office supplies and the power for streetlights around the lake.

Lake Level Dan Holman, the board member that heads the lake level committee, said they lowered the lake by keeping the ditch open to Moon Creek. He reported that some property owners have resisted their efforts. He recently reported to the Pend Oreille County sheriff being shot at while surveying the area and went to court to get a restraining order. The legal fees were paid by DLIA. They have permission from the landowners where they are working and state permits to keep the ditch open.

He said because of the height of the culvert in North Shore Road this is the lowest the lake can go by draining it through the ditch. He said the culvert

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was raised by the county about 3 feet in 1996 after the very low water period.

They held a work party to clean the ditch again Saturday, Sept. 7, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.

The spraying last summer worked well to kill the canary grass. Now they need to cut away the debris to keep the channel open during the winter. More spraying was done between Sept. 9 and 26 in the outlet area.

The goal this summer was to lower the lake 1 inch a week and not flood Sacheen Lake properties, he said. They did that and now if they keep the beaver population down by trapping this fall, clean the ditch and put in tubes in the beaver dams they should be in good shape next spring.

Holman said the drainage is actually a man made ditch that must be dug deep enough to drain. He also noted that there are some new sources of water flowing into the lake that must be dealt with in the future.

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“The milfoil gods have been good to us,” said Jerry Senn, who heads the DLIA milfoil committee. Senn reported that divers had only found two small areas where milfoil treatment would be needed: one near the boat launch and the other at the east end.

Chemical treatment to kill the milfoil was scheduled.

There are many isolated plants around the lake and hand pulling is encouraged. Chemical treatment of yellow flag iris, fragrant lilies and canary reed grass at the lake outlet was done from an airboat Sept.

9-26. There were several places around the lake the contractor, Lakeland Restoration Services, sprayed 2, 4-D. The association has a three-year $25,000 contract with a company for chemical treatment. The annual amount spent varies according to need.

Clean Boats, Clean Water Pam Tulley said the Clean Boats, Clean Water committee had 31 volunteers and one paid host inspect boats at the boat launch this year. They inspected 2,720 boats. Last year they inspected 1,849. The volunteers each worked about once a month at the launch.

They did not report finding any invasive species.

Who to Contact Pend Oreille County Commissioners 509-447-4119 District 1: Karen Skoog, vice chairwoman (2016) District 2: Mike Manus, chairman (2013) District 3: Steve Kiss, Member (2016) Four-year terms Annual salary: Manus $53,148, Skoog and Kiss $50,490 Duties: Serve as chief legislative and executive body in county; including, but not limited to, approve taxes; adopt a balanced budget, operate budgets under control of appointed department heads; oversee public roads and works; counseling; planning of unincorporated areas; and other services which are not clearly the responsibility of another elected official. Appoint citizens to commissions and boards; represent the county locally, regionally and statewide on various boards such as public health and economic development.

Mail: P.O. Box 5025, Newport, WA 99156 Board meets every Monday and Tuesday at 9 a.m. in commissioners’ office, main floor of the courthouse.

Clerk of the board: Liz Braun Office hours: 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday

Community Development Dept.

509-447-4821 Mike Lithgow, director Responsible for county land use, growth management planning and the county park system. Also responsible for the review and approval of various development and construction permits, such as building permits, shoreline development permits, subdivision and mobile home park and recreational vehicle park approvals. The park board meets the third Wednesday of every month at 2 p.m. in the Cusick Community Center.

Mail: P.O. Box 5066, Newport, WA 99156 • Planning Commission District 1: John Stuart, Steve Wilson, Doug Smith; District 2: Don Comins, Steve Bennet, Guy Thomas; District 3: Rob Payne, Susan Hobbs and Judy Ashton.

Meets on the second Tues-

day of each month at the Cusick Community Center for business, and on the fourth Tuesday of each month for workshops, starting at 6 p.m.

Diamond Lake Water & Sewer Dist.

509-447-4660 Fax: 509-447-0180 172 South Shore Road, Newport, WA 99156-9300

Operates water and sewer systems around Diamond Lake.

Commissioners (six-year term): chairman Bob Graham (2017), Secretary Richard Swan (2016), Ray King (2013).

Commissioner stipend: $70 per meeting Board meets on the first and third Wednesday at 10 a.m. at the district office.

Office open 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Monday-Friday. Maintenance

hours 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

Monday-Sunday.

In addition, they can be reached by telephone after hours for emergencies.

Sacheen Lake Sewer & Water Dist.

509-447-4641 Mail: 8272 Fertile Valley Rd., Sacheen Lake, WA 99156 Located at Sacheen Lake in

southern Pend Oreille County, the Sacheen Lake Sewer & Water District is in the process of constructing a sewer collection and treatment system that will serve the majority of the lakefront properties. The district also continues to work on lake water quality and lake level issues as well as milfoil control.

The district also owns and SEE CONTACT, 15

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County can’t do, as the planning staff is occupied with customer service and in field calls, Lithgow said.

“The challenge is we don’t have a long-range planning staff,” he said.

County commission chairman Mike Manus has said that he favors recommending 50-foot setbacks for residential construction, although there might be something in the comments that could change his mind. The SMP currently calls for 100-foot setbacks for most residential construction.

Tim Ibbetson, a realtor who has been involved with the SMP, said that he could go along with 50-foot setbacks.

The current setbacks are 25 feet.

Properties that are already constructed or that have a completed building permit will be grandfathered in under the old SMP. Once the county forms a response to the 32 comments, they will forward it to Ecology. Responses will likely be posted on Ecology’s website, Jaime Short of Ecology said.

Some may get individual responses.

After the responses are made, the draft SMP will be reviewed by Ecology for compliance with state law and a response published, Short said. Short said that while Ecology and the county have been working together to make sure the plan complies with the law, a review at a higher level may give a different perspective.

After that, Ecology may approve the proposed shoreline program as written, reject it or direct the county to modify specific parts. Once the plan is approved for compliance with law, it will be forwarded to the director of Ecology. Fourteen days after the director signs off, the SMP will become law, although there is a 60-day period when it can still be appealed, Short said.

People encouraged commissioners to fight to keep shoreline restrictions in line with science and minimize restriction on use.

“We didn’t purchase 20 acres on the river just to look at it,” said one person at the end of the meeting.

CONTACT | FROM PAGE 13

maintains the Myers/Harter Sanctuary, located near the corner of Highway 211 and Fertile Valley Road.

Commissioners: position 1 Perry Pearman (2017), position 2 Gary Garrett (2015), position 3 Peggy Johnsen (2013) Commissioner stipend: 0 District manager: Sheila Pearman Commissioners meet at Sacheen Lake Fire Station, Highway 211, on the first Wednesday of the month at 7 p.m.

South Pend Oreille Fire & Rescue

Serving south Pend Oreille County including Diamond Lake, Sacheen Lake, Deer Valley, Camden and Fertile Valley areas.

Chief: Mike Nokes 509-4475305 Annual salary: $57,000 Commissioners: Gary Wilkey 509-447-0744, Randy Miller 509-292-8065, Leonard Pielli 509-447-3793, Galen Hansen 509-292-9458, Karen Johnston 509-939-7714.

Commissioner stipend: $100 per meeting Commissioners meet the third Thursday of the month at 7 p.m. at Diamond Lake

SEWER | FROM PAGE 3

out 270 pump stations were needed, not 100, as originally thought. The project was designed in two phases, but it wasn’t as simple as 50 percent of the costs in phase one and 50 percent in phase two, he said.

The plan was to build two lagoon cells in phase one. But it made more sense to build three of the four lagoon cells in the first phase. That added cost.

The district arranged to borrow $8.5 million from the Public Works Trust Fund and will have to provide a 5 percent match or $454,000. The district has five years from when the loan was signed in 2011 to complete the project, until December 2016.

Station.

Diamond Lake Station is staffed 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Monday-Friday.

Mail: 325272 Hwy. 2, Newport WA Website: www.spofr.org

Natural Resource Conservation (USDA) 509-447-4217 Fax: 509-447-0371

P.O. Box 280, Newport, WA 99156 Located at Newport post office, in same office as Pend Oreille Conservation District, Room 110.

Resource conservationist: Mark Simpson

Pend Oreille Conservation District 509-447-5370

Fax: 509-447-0371 Website: www.pocd.org/ wordpress Email: POCD@Conservewa. net P.O. Box 465, Newport, WA 99156 Office is located with the Natural Resource Conservation Service in the Newport post office, 100 N. Washington, Room 110.

District administrator: Terry

Holloway Board of Supervisors: chairman Ralph Christiansen, vice chairman George Stuivenga, treasurer Michele Masuen, and members Randy Leestma and John W. Floyd Board meetings the second Wednesday of every month at 9:30 a.m. except July when there is no meeting. Elections and appointments are held in February.

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Calendar of Events WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 11 Home and Community Educators Diamond Lake Club: Noon - Call Billie Goodno at 509-4473781 or Chris King at 208-4370971

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FROM PAGE 10

forestlands under DNR protection.

In accordance with county ordinance, this also lifts the ban in Pend Oreille County.

The law states that fires need to be attended at all times, are no larger than 3 feet by 3 feet and no taller than 2 feet, and that a charged hose or five gallons of water is present along with a shovel, and there is a fire break/ non-combustible surface of at least 3 feet around the fire.

In the event that a fire escapes, the property owner is responsible for any and all fire suppression costs. Outdoor burning is still banned, and the use of propane and self-contained stoves and barbecues are allowed.

Daily updates on burn restrictions are available at 1-800-323BURN.

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