Plea to State Auditor

Time to seek help outside of the County

October 1st, 2023

Dear Ms. McCarthy and the Washington State’s Auditor’s Office:

Sequim and Dungeness residents have concerns that a multiagency, $20 million dollar, decades long public works project will not be completed due to Clallam County Government prioritizing special interests ahead of the safety, needs, and rights of the greater community.  Towne Road, a vital link that promotes transportation for thousands of area residents between Sequim and Dungeness, and has for over 80 years, is closed to through traffic due to a few active interest groups and one County Commissioner’s decision.  As a result, the mobility and freedom of movement for area residents has been restricted.

The Towne Road Setback Levee project, part of the Dungeness River Floodplain Restoration just north of Sequim, is a project that has required collaboration between County and Tribal governments as well as the Department of Ecology (DOE) and other US Government Agencies.  The project removed a 1960s era Army Corps of Engineers dike, which constricted the Dungeness River, and built a levee slightly east thus restoring 175 acres of salmon habitat.  The County’s intent throughout the project was to move “old" Towne Road, which cut through the new floodplain, and relocate it atop the new levee.  

In the summer of 2022, the original dike was unexpectedly breached by the Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe before the new levee was complete.  This exposed the downriver community to possible flood risk in the coming winter and Towne Road was temporarily closed.  The County declared an emergency and funds were appropriated to accelerate the completion of the new levee.  If not for the breach, Towne Road would not have closed for a single day.

Clallam County, the Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe, and the DOE continued collaborating into 2023.  Grants from the DOE and the Recreation and Conservation Office relieved Clallam County of most financial liability however, the DOE grant’s expiration of June 30th, 2023 loomed.  The only vehicle access atop the levee (apart from work crews) was granted to one farm whose driveway branched off the newly elevated Towne Road roadbed.  The County promised that a straightened, widened new Towne Road would reopen atop the levee on September 30th, 2023.

During a February 27th, 2023 Clallam County Board of Commissioners’ Work Session, District 1 Commissioner Mark Ozias stated that he had received concerns from “several hundreds of people, across multiple petitions” requesting that Towne Road be permanently closed.  These petitioners cited that the reduction of through traffic during the temporary closure had benefited the livability of their neighborhood.  The Commissioner stated he received "exactly one phone call from someone who was interested in reopening it."  Additionally, the farmer with the sole driveway was on record as wanting to keep the road permanently closed.  

County staff attending the meeting immediately raised concerns that the DOE could revoke, or possibly repossess, funds if the conditions of the grant were not fulfilled (namely that the levee be surfaced and opened as a road).  County Biologist Cathy Lear suggested that “the roadbed” was finished, and paving the surface could be considered merely “an improvement.”  There was concern that the recent discovery of contaminated soil could be a financial setback, but county leaders were certain the DOE would cover that contingency.  Biologist Lear and Commissioner Ozias countered that funds meant for resurfacing Towne Road could be redirected into creating parking areas and boardwalks through the salmon habitat.  The Chief Engineer of the Roads Department urged county leaders to move expeditiously toward completion, especially after so many years and delays.  He warned that if the DOE grant expired, and the roadbed wasn’t resurfaced by June 30th, the County would have to “reach deep” into the roads budget and completion could be delayed by years.

At the meeting, Commissioner Ozias apologized to the experts who were urging that he move forward with completing the project, and he held steadfast in his reasoning that hundreds of signatures and the farmer’s wishes obligated him to pause the project.  "I’m very hesitant to move forward with a standard width of two-way road.  I appreciate the availability of grant dollars right now, in most case scenarios that being enough to complete the project, but it’s not a surprise to me that once, with the way the project unfolded, and the public had the opportunity to not have the road there, and to get a sense for what that’s like, it’s not a surprise at all to see so much of a groundswell of support for not reconnecting that space.”  

The Road Department’s representative expressed wishes to follow the original intent and open the levee surface as a County road.  Commissioner Ozias again raised concerns about the desire to keep the levee as private access to the farmer’s driveway.  He concluded, “At this point, given that it has not been clearly identified as a tsunami route, that the vast majority of input that we have received has been, and apparently even from the Eberles has been , keep the road closed [Eberle is the farmer].”  Commissioner Ozias also raised concerns about headlights shining into resident’s homes and the project was halted.

On September 8th, 2023 the Commissioners announced a public meeting to solicit discussion about Towne Road’s resurfacing project alternatives.  They did this by sending letters to residents living within a one mile radius from the north end of the closure — a very small sampling of constituents who use Towne Road.  For the first time, a vast majority of residents were learning that Towne Road would not be reopening.  The notice said that due to the popularity of levee users recreating and viewing wildlife, road construction had been paused due to the "upswell of support” from petitions calling for the road’s permanent closure.  Four resurfacing options would be discussed at the meeting: the promised, paved two-lane paved road with wide shoulders, a two-lane paved road with a trail on one side, a one-lane southbound paved road with a wide trail beside it, or dedication of the entire 38 foot wide levee to the farmer’s private paved driveway with a trail beside it.

I submitted a public records request seeking petitions pertaining to Towne Road and received four.  Of the signatures, 98 call for the permanent closure of Towne Road and 140 support its reopening.  The “upswell of support” isn’t reflected in the petitions nor is it consistent with a 2015 public survey which concluded a 2/3 majority wanted to see Towne Road reopened.  To be clear, 122 of those petitions calling for the reopening of Towne Road weren’t received until two weeks after the Commissioner’s February 27th decision to pause — but I would argue that the community wasn’t aware they needed to campaign to support the County’s promise to reopen a public road.

The lone farmer has publicly stated that he created a petition calling for Towne Road to be closed to through traffic, and he cites these signatures as the reason Commissioner Ozias paused the project.  His petition has over 300 signatures and is on change.org but does not meet the criteria for petition submittal, nor was it disclosed in my public records request.  Also, it wasn’t started until after Commissioner Ozias’ February 27th comments.  If the private farmer’s petition influenced a publicly elected official’s decision to halt the project’s completion, that petition is being shielded from public view.  Possibly related, the farmer permitted Commissioner Ozias to place a large billboard in his field, which faces a busy road, supporting the Commissioner’s re-election.

The public meeting on September 26th was a debacle.  Commissioner Ozias, County Biologist Cathy Lear, and Director of the Department of Community Development Bruce Emery contradicted each other and themselves over the course of two hours.  Reasons for the project's incompletion included funding uncertainty, an “upswell of support” to keep the road closed, soil contamination that the DOE paid for (or didn’t pay for, depending who was answering questions), sloughing of the levee which was expected and accounted for, settling of the levee which was unaccounted for, slumping of other parts, inflation, and Covid.  Community members left the meeting confused and doubtful that honest answers had been given by County staff.

Additionally, our community’s first responders have raised concerns about permanently closing a primary route in a rural area.  In August, a family living on the north side of the closure was displaced when their home burned.  When I questioned various EMS responders in our area about the response time to that disaster, our County Fire Chief said, "the added response time certainly added to the loss for that family.” 

The community anticipated that this newly raised, enforced roadbed would be designated as a tsunami evacuation route for coastal communities to the north.  The levee beneath the road can withstand a 10,000-year flooding event ­– an amount of water equal to a 100-year flood in the Dungeness River, times four, and it was constructed to withstand a river as big as the Mississippi.  The County says the new levee hasn’t been designated for tsunami evacuation and when asked at the meeting if the County has even applied for route designation, Biologist Lear replied, “No.”  I currently have an inquiry into the Army Corps of Engineers asking if a road atop the new levee would meet designation requirements, I am awaiting reply.

The closure has hindered residents’ mobility and raises concerns about tsunami evacuation, egress during other emergencies, and also fire department, ambulance, and police response times.  There are other consequences to consider such as readjusting property insurance rates and the County’s exposure to liability if it choses to restrict and close such an important rural route. 

Community concerns are as follows:

• Petitions, essentially a “popularity contest," cannot be a factor when determining if a planned, engineered, approved, budgeted, and green-lit public works project, invested in by multiple agencies, should be completed.  A county should not “petition” their way out of fulfilling a federally funded and tax payer approved obligation. Further, the petition process was fragmented, biased and not properly conducted to ensure all citizens were informed of alternate considerations. 

• The county didn’t post proper signage to inform the public about the meeting.  Two small signs, each a laminated piece of printer paper, were staked beside the levee and quickly disappeared or blew away.  Obviously, those signs were predominantly seen by those who enjoyed spending time on the levee.  People accessed the top of the levee by passing posted warning signs that stated, “no pedestrians or vehicles allowed.”  The greater community was not made aware of the public meeting less than three weeks away.

• The permanent closure of Towne Road would violate the Clallam County Comprehensive Plan.  The removal of an existing roadway to provide a lower level of access is not an appropriate means of applying the intent of the plan and the Transportation Improvement Plan (2023-2028) promises to “reconstruct and relocate segment of Towne Road on top of completed relocated levee section." Additionally, rural routes are rarely, if ever, removed, without the opening of a new route.

• Regarding the farmer, if a private special interest has influenced our publicly elected Commissioner with biased data shielded from public view, and the interests of the greater community have been compromised, constituents need to know. 

• Residents want to know more about Clallam County’s policies and procedures exercised when making these critically impactful decisions.  Our County’s guiding principles warrant scrutiny if one County Commissioner can cause the incompletion of such a massive project resulting in financial burden to our rural county’s tax base.  

When I began research two weeks ago, my public records requests were being fulfilled in two days — now requests are estimated to take three weeks which is after the closing of the public comment period on October 10th.  County staff has refused to accommodate my request to review the DOE grant until after the public comment period closes, I can’t even research what the grant specified in terms of road resurfacing.  I urge you to revise the deadline for public comments, and pause the County Commissioners’ decision, until after an investigation is completed.  I fear the Commissioners will decide the fate of Towne Road before I gather important determining data.  I’m asking for help in my search for transparency, accountability, and understanding.  The interests, rights, and safety of this rural community need an entity larger than a concerned group of neighbors to advocate for answers.

Sincerely,

Jeff Tozzer

Sources:

Dungeness River Floodplain Restoration: https://www.clallamcountywa.gov/184/Dungeness-Floodplain-Restoration

Commissioner’s February 27th Work Session (Towne Road discussion begins at 52:22): https://clallam.granicus.com/player/clip/1674?view_id=2&redirect=true&h=872ebc977b0b006f4541ff967f535e7e

Article about levee strength: https://nwtreatytribes.org/jamestown-sklallam-tribe-builds-new-levee-for-dungeness-river/ 

I can also provide scans of the Towne Road petitions.