Welcome to Skagit County
February 21st, 2008
FIRST SKAGIT COUNTY FLOOD CONTROL ZONE TECHNICAL COMMITTEES MEETING DRAWS MORE THAN 60 PARTICIPANTS
SKAGIT COUNTY – More than 60 citizens representing dike and drainage districts, tribes, state and federal agencies, and Skagit County cities and towns joined the Skagit County Commissioners, and public works staff to get the ball rolling on the new Flood Control Zone organizational structure. The meeting was held Tuesday night, February 18, 2008, at 5:30 p.m. at Skagit Station in Mount Vernon.
“We were very pleased with the turnout and participation,” said Public Works Director Jim Voetberg. “We have a lot of expertise in our community on flood issues. It’s great to see people working together to find viable solutions.”
In 1970, the Skagit County Board of Commissioners signed a resolution establishing a county-wide Flood Control Zone District to establish an effective means of developing policies and recommendations for countywide flood management program planning and implementation. Last November, the Board of Commissioners signed a resolution re-defining the organizational structure and establishing an official mechanism by which stakeholders may provide advice and recommendations to them for flood control improvements.
The new governance and administrative structure is comprised of a 15-member advisory committee with three representatives from:
- City Representatives, selected from Mayors of Cities and Towns
- Dike and Drainage District Commissioners, selected by all dike and drainage district commissioners
- Environmental Representatives, selected from the Environmental Technical Committee
- Land Use Representatives (Non-City) selected from the Land Use Technical Committee
- At Large Representatives,
selected by the Board of Supervisors (Skagit County Commissioners)
Three technical committees will report to the Advisory Committee. The Committees are:
- Dike and Drainage District Technical Committee
- Environmental Technical Committee
- Land Use Technical Committee
The Skagit County Public Works Director will make staff available to support the function of Flood Control District and the technical committees. The technical committees met for the first time at the Tuesday meeting and will appoint their representatives for the Advisory Committee next month.
"What we’ve learned by observing successful flood projects in other areas is that if we’re going to get anything done, we need to include as many groups as we can. This is something that has already been formed. Now we need to get going," said Commissioner Ken Dahlstedt. “It was great to see so many people with expertise join the process.”
For more information, contact:
Dan Berentson
Communications Director
360-419-3461