Towne Road reopens

The power of community

Vicki Colburn’s husband would like to use the dining room table someday, or at least see its surface. It has been covered with stacks of legal filings, letters to elected leaders, and public records requests since his wife learned that their small water utility had been bought by a much larger company, Cascadia Water, and rates were about to double.

“Cascadia wasn’t prepared for us old farts,” said Colburn during an interview with CC Watchdog. Plenty has been happening since “Water Woes,” an article detailing Cascadia Water’s plans, published five months ago.

Colburn rallied neighbors from other water districts acquired by Cascadia and provided testimony at a Washington State’s Utilities and Transportation Commission (UTC) hearing. Her group also met with State Representatives Tharinger, Chapman, Shavers, and Senator Van de Wege, who all wrote letters of support.

Colburn’s advocacy could have widespread ramifications for the state's approximately 2,500 small, independent water utilities.

“There are so many water systems out there that could be bought up,” said Colburn, who hadn’t been aware that her neighborhood's water system was for sale. Because of the issues Colburn has highlighted, state leaders and the UTC could prevent drastic rate hikes from happening when future water utilities are sold.

However, Colburn said her cause wouldn’t have gained much traction without an engaged community. “Even with our first rate case, the UTC commissioners said that the 260 public comments they received had greatly influenced their decision.”

The decision means that the massive rate increase is on hold until February or March of next year, when the UTC has requested a settlement conference.

“We’ve gotten this far in four years because we’ve been vocal and asked questions,” said Colburn. “Small amounts of people can make a difference if they work together. They just have to invest time.”

Towne Road

During Tuesday’s meeting, while the commissioners, Sheriff, and county engineer fast-tracked Towne Road residents' demands to lower the speed limit by ten mph, there was no indication that a decades-long, multimillion-dollar infrastructure project would be completed that day. No one mentioned that, at that very moment, the last stripes were being painted on the Towne Road Levee and that Nordland Construction’s equipment was being loaded up and trailered away.

But word began spreading that evening via social media.

Eleven months

It’s hard to pinpoint precisely when the reopening of Towne Road was determined, but a pivotal event happened last Thanksgiving weekend when resident Tom Ash rented the Dungeness Schoolhouse and invited the community to attend a “Support reopening Towne Road rally.”

The schoolhouse was filled to capacity, but what was most striking was that the attendees weren’t just from Dungeness. The rally drew people from all areas of Sequim who cared about their neighbors’ safety and wanted to support their greater community. People drove from Port Angeles because they believed that a public road, paid for by the public, should be open to the public.

As people left the rally, they could see the charred remains of a home across Towne Road. The family that had once lived there became homeless, lost their two dogs, and nearly lost their lives when firefighters had to detour five miles to reach their burning house because Towne Road was closed.

When residents left the rally that night, they discovered that the world had shrunk, and that people were more alike than different.

Moving the needle

December was a busy month for most people, but you wouldn’t know it by looking at packed commissioner meetings. Every seat was filled in the gallery as people watched the commissioners waffle over the fate of Towne Road.

Many attendees carpooled, and some took days off work. Some were well-seasoned in civic engagement, and others had never set foot in the courthouse before. Residents provided hours of public comment three minutes at a time. Some of those who spoke did so with ease, while others trembled and began by saying how they hated speaking in front of people.

Plenty of folks attended virtually and commented over the sound system, too. As the cacophony of diverse viewpoints from common-sense residents began gaining traction, it was hard to make Towne Road go away.

County workers looked in from the hallway to see what a standing-room-only gallery looked like. They asked each other what issue had filled the boardroom.

The answer was Towne Road had filled the boardroom.

Well into the new year, people kept attending week after week — they weren’t doing it for themselves; they were doing it for the community because the road didn’t belong to the commissioners or special interests. Towne Road belonged to the public.

The commissioners were overwhelmed with emails and letters. Public records show that the authors of those letters came from countywide, not just the area isolated by the closure.

Every time the commissioners put up another roadblock, concerned citizens returned. The needle was moving, and people could feel it.

Lessons learned

There are plenty of lessons to learn about the influence of political, special, private, and personal interests in Clallam County, but that wasn’t the most important lesson learned over the past year.

We have a stunning national park outside our back door and the calming waters of the Strait to the north, but that’s not what makes living here special. Vicki Colburn knows what makes it special, and so do CC Watchdog subscribers. Whether you moved here last week or come from a generational family, you know what makes Clallam County special, too.

It’s neighbors helping neighbors. It’s residents who see a need in their community and address it. It’s the people who opened Towne Road.

It’s you.

Thank you.

Let’s celebrate

After a summer hiatus, CC Watchdog meetups are back. Let’s have a drink, match names to faces, and celebrate community. This is a karaoke event, so you’ll leave thinking, “Maybe the commissioners aren’t that tone-deaf after all.”

This Saturday, October 12th, 6:30 to 9:30 pm

Sequim Elks Club, 143 Port Williams Road

$5 admission supports Elks’ generous work in our community

Open to the public