Ozias waffles again
Commissioner undermines county engineer
"When people show you who they are, believe them" —Maya Angelou
On December 26th last year, the commissioners unanimously passed a resolution that selected "Option 2" (trail with a through, two-lane road) as the preferred option to complete Towne Road with a commitment to complete surfacing by the end of the 2024 construction season. Today, one commissioner backed away from his commitment.
"I'm not comfortable with a 6-inch curb," announced Commissioner Mark Ozias during the Towne Road update provided at today’s weekly work session. It was the first project update Ozias had attended since committing to its completion over two months ago. Despite hundreds of miles of county roads that offer incident-free recreational opportunities every day, he is skeptical that 400 cars per day, traveling only 25 mph, can share the 38-foot-wide road surface with walkers separated by a six-inch curb.
"I'm interested in thinking about how do we focus on the trail experience and the assumption needs to be that the road is adequate width to provide for safety needs," said Ozias in an apparent attempt to return to a design that would allow the public road to be used by only emergency services and a handful of residents. "Maybe others don't share that opinion."
He's right. County Engineer Joe Donisi, who is working on a tight timeline to open the road that has been temporarily closed for 20 months, answered Ozias' concerns about prioritizing a recreational experience.
"I have a whole lot more to say, but I just want to leave folks with, maybe, where did we start and where we're at now." Donisi reminded the commissioners that the original plan of a standard road with wide shoulders has morphed drastically. Now the road width has narrowed to accommodate a trail, as some in the community wanted.
"From a 'recreational experience', we've come a long way from connecting one levee to the other levee to this wider space," said Donisi, but he agreed to conduct more research with the consultant to provide a positive recreational experience.
Administrator Mielke walked on the levee two weeks ago. He reported that the .6-mile Towne Road Levee (a road) connects the North Levee (a trail) and the River’s Edge Levee (also a trail) using the same hard-packed gravel on all three surfaces. He observed a few pedestrians and a wheelchair user enjoying recreational experiences on the gravel surface during his walk.
Mielke also observed that the parking lot beside the Dungeness Schoolhouse (where people park to walk on the levee) had a fair amount of garbage which he collected. He also directly observed two dog walkers, with dogs off-leash, who did not attempt to pick up their pet waste. Mielke's concern is that the garbage and pet waste are detracting from the recreational experience.
The previous goal, for the project to go out to bid on March 26th, is in danger of being delayed. The next Towne Road "check-in" is scheduled for Monday, March 18th.
We've known since at least July of last year, when Commissioner Ozias used his power as a commissioner to stop the Happy Valley Gravel Pit, that his commitment to serve the community ahead of his personal, private, and special interests, is an empty one. Today's move to revisit design elements that were already addressed reveals that his allegiance, once thought to be focused on the community he has sworn to represent, may lie elsewhere.
So far, Ozias has wielded his power as a commissioner to delay the Towne Road project four times. First, when he rewrote the resolution to absolve his campaign's top donor of blame after the original dike was breached (Aug 1, 2022, in the Towne Road Timeline). Second, when he told the public that soil contamination had left the project financially insecure (after the county had been fully reimbursed for that cost). Third, when 98 signatures asked to keep the road closed (while 140 signatures asked for it to reopen). And fourth, on December 5th last year when, after sensing that the other commissioners were in favor of selecting Option 2, he steered them away from taking a vote.
Today had all the hallmarks of the fifth delay being orchestrated.
Dungeness Levee Trail Advocates (DLTA) have already summoned their supporters for tomorrow's meeting. Tomorrow, consider reminding the commissioners that the community expects them to uphold their promise to reopen Towne Road by the end of this year's construction season.
Commissioners' Weekly Meeting
Tuesday, March 5th - 10:00 am
Clallam County Courthouse, Port Angeles
Attend in person or via Zoom
Public comment up to 3 minutes is allowed
Ozias might not be familiar with urban trails, as he lives in the rural countryside, but urban trails have a 6” curb delineating them from roadways, they are also known more commonly as sidewalks. Millions of people in urban settings use these urban trails daily, walking alongside heavy traffic and vehicles traveling at high rates of speed. Oddly enough, people have generally felt that these urban trails are safe despite only having a 6” curb. Cities have even made it a priority to install more of these urban trails as pedestrians request safer spaces to walk alongside vehicle traffic. But if he feels these curbs are hazardous death traps, he should contact the City of Sequim ASAP, as they’e installing them along Sequim Dungeness Way as we speak!
I expected Commissioner Ozias would attempt something as each update approaches. As you aptly quoted Maya Angelou, he is who he is and always will be. We have a thorough timeline and multiple caches of emails that you have researched and shared to keep bringing to the podium every Tuesday. Thank you for this invaluable treasure, Jeff. Excellent comments today!