Ozias filibusters to stop Towne Road

Commissioner tries to run out the clock

Towne Road dodged Commissioner Ozias' sniper attempts at today’s work session. It appears Commissioners Johnson and French will push the project forward citing safety concerns for emergency response times and fears that another delay will see a rise in costs. 

Eleven county leaders attended the Towne Road Update presented by Department of Community Development Director Bruce Emery who continues to support his original recommendation of a hybrid road/trail.  County Engineer Joe Donisi estimated that incoming bids can complete the project with funds to spare.  Fire Chief Justin Grider and Sheriff Brian King urged reopening the road for safety and connectivity of rural neighborhoods in case of an emergency.

Those who witnessed Ozias' attempt to stall Towne Road in early December will be familiar with his tactic of circular, rambling, repetitive, meandering, unnecessarily arduous questions into every aspect of the .6-mile length of road. 

Curb height, guardrail cost, stormwater mitigation, permitting schedules, if the sides will be mowed or weed whacked -- Ozias dissected the details of every project component from the ground up... and then he did it again.  Short of standing up and announcing, “I'm going to do all I can to stop this road from being completed,” he tried every scheme to bring Commissioners Johnson and French to his side.  It was a masterclass in filibustering, but it didn't work.

However, Ozias did have one ally.  Cheryl Baumann, a reliable opponent of Towne Road who works under the DCD and is the manager for a salmon coalition, suggested that the money intended to complete Towne Road would be better utilized to relocate residents in Dungeness to other areas before climate change makes their community uninhabitable.  

The County Engineer estimates that the project will cost $2.4M.  That includes chip sealing the surface twice this year and once next year.  It also includes the 6-inch curb that Ozias requested (accounting for $120k of the cost) and it also includes a 10% contingency.  Available funding of $2.7M will come from the remaining $1.5M of the Recreation Conservation Office (RCO) grant, $800k from the road department, and $400k from real estate excise tax but the project is estimated to only cost $2.4M.  Pending final commissioner approval, the project should go out to bid on April 9th.  The bid could then be awarded on May 7th.

Readers have wondered what issues Commissioner Ozias is passionate about. He wasn’t eager to follow due process for permitting a gravel pit proposed to reopen near his home. He hasn’t displayed any outward interest in helping residents protect their private property rights in the path of an irrigation pipeline. And he certainly hasn’t proactively cleared the confusion about the North Olympic Development Council’s economic agenda for our county. But now we know what drives the commissioner and motivates him to spend three hours on the topic he is most passionate about…

The chance to take a public road away from the residents who have paid for it.