Towne Road: Where the money went

Politicians, special interests, and a cutoff community

Piles of logs, sitting in what was a cow pasture one year ago, were ultimately deemed more important than fulfilling a promise to restore a century-old link between communities.  These clustered groupings of dead snags and root balls, lashed together with chains anchored to a meadow, are called “engineered logjams” and range anywhere from 500 to 2,000 feet from the salmon spawning grounds of the Dungeness River.  How this decision was reached, and what entity was paid to build logjams in a cow pasture, reveal the powerful connection between special interests and the politicians they support.

At a Commissioners’ meeting in February of this year, the County was poised to surface Towne Road and have it open to through, two-way traffic by September 30th.  By utilizing grants, the County masterfully found a way to fund the road’s completion by relying purely on non-County money.  In other words, County taxpayer funds were to remain untouched.  The only catch was that work had to be completed by the Department of Ecology's (DOE) grant expiration on June 30th.  The County provided an achievable timeline to complete the project.

At that same meeting, despite pleas from the County engineer, and against advice from a consulting attorney, County Commissioner Mark Ozias halted the surfacing of Towne Road.  He cited an “upswelling of support” to keep the road closed.  That support was later revealed to come from one landowner and less than 100 signatures.  February ended with a decades long, $16 million dollar, massive public works project stalled.  It also left grant money, originally intended for surfacing the road, suddenly up for grabs.

Those DOE grant funds remained unspent over the next four months and as the June 30th deadline crept closer, it looked like the County would have to return the unspent money.  The June 20th Commissioners’ Work Session convened with some additional, but familiar faces in the room.  These attendees had come to voice a concern that had been overlooked during the previous 20 years of planning, design, and construction of the floodplain restoration project.  There was a “reasonable certainty” that the river would eventually break course.  The abutting land had no features to slow the acceleration of the river which could result in damage to the restored floodplain and new levee.  Department of Community Development (DCD) Director Bruce Emery viewed this as an “excellence-meeting-opportunity” scenario and the decision was made to pay the entity for the installation of nine engineered logjams that would slow the torrent of water.

It only took eleven minutes to hand over the grant money originally intended for surfacing Towne Road to the Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe.

Commissioner Randy Johnson expressed surprise during the meeting — he had seen logjams in a river, but never in a cow pasture.  He asked if there was any chance the river could meander that far into the pasture.  “Yes indeed,” replied the Tribe's Habitat Manager Randy Johnson (The Habitat Manager and and Commissioner are both named “Randy Johnson").  He continued,  “We have aerial photography from a one and a half year flood, last December 27th, and the river was overtopping the footprint of the Corps’ Levee… so water was spilling over, getting into the pasture, and flowing over a very well defined flow path and it was hit-cutting its way back to the river… we can see the same thing is geared up to happen right here, but it hasn’t happened yet.  It will take another flood or two.  We’re going to build these logjams and create a salmon dreamscape just waiting, and we’re like 95% sure that the river is going to go there.”  Habitat Manager Johnson said the Tribe was already poised to build tribally funded logjams in the pasture, but more logjams were needed to avert possible disaster.

Commissioner Johnson was skeptical that the Tribe could complete this project before the grant expired on June 30th.  “We’ve already mobilized in anticipation of receiving the County funding,” reassured Habitat Manager Johnson.  “If the agreement is not signed, and we don’t receive County funds, then we will scale the project back, probably in half, which would be a real shame, and we’ll just use Tribal funds.”  The Tribe assured County leaders it could complete the logjams in 10 days and invoice the County before the grant expired.

The Tribe's partnership with the County is an interesting one.  It was just last summer, while the County was building the new levee, that the Tribe removed the 1964 dike ahead of schedule.  This breach opened downriver communities to the risk of flooding and caused the County to declare an emergency thus releasing funds to accelerate the new levee’s construction ahead of the coming flood season.  The “old” Towne Road was closed because it also was in danger of flooding from the breach.

 If it weren’t for the Tribe’s blunder, Towne Road wouldn’t have been closed for even one day. The Tribe caused the road closure, the County found a way to reopen the road, Ozias halted the County’s plan, and then helped redirect paving funds to the Tribe who caused the problem in the first place.

On a possibly related note, the Tribe has endorsed and been the largest contributor to all three of Commissioner Mark Ozias’ campaigns.

A recent email from Commissioner Ozias assured me that $1.5M remains in grant funding to support the surfacing of Towne Road.  This grant comes from the Recreation and Conservation Office (RCO) and expires June 30th, 2024.  It’s misleading to think that the entire amount supports opening the road, and Ozias should know this.  During the June 20th meeting he asked what project components remained after the logjams were constructed.  County Biologist Cathy Lear replied, “In our world, that work is never done.  You can always do something more.  We do have another funding source, a grant from the RCO, that will continue the work.  We want to see how this next flood season comes along [2023/2024] but we certainly plan to do additional plantings… so there is more to follow coming in 2024.”

When I asked Biologist Lear about the $1.5M in grant funding being used to support surfacing, she was quick to remind me about the grants’ earmarks: "Please note that the remaining funds need to cover all project expenses including contracted services such as engineering support; vegetation management; photo documentation; County staff time, direct expenses, and support; and permit compliance and project implementation monitoring.”  It seems that photo documentation and permit compliance are more crucial than linking rural communities. 

I’m reminded of Lear’s creative manipulation of the grant language during the February 27th Work Session.  She reasoned that the County could technically consider the road “completed” because the roadbed had been constructed, and that its surfacing could be considered a mere “improvement.”  Lear strongly advocated that grant money be diverted away from opening the road, and she ultimately succeeded in her quest.  I have little doubt that her current intentions are to redirect the RCO funds to her projects because, “In our world, that work is never done.  You can always do something more.”

When I asked why surfacing would take 2-3 years, Lear imparted this wisdom: "Prudence suggests that a conservative timeline is best for planning.” I’d argue that clear communication, transparency, honesty, and fulfilling promises are also key to planning.

I parked at the Dungeness Schoolhouse last week and walked the levee.  Two pickup trucks sped by during my walk, about 10 minutes apart.  They weren’t farm vehicles — the gates are open at both ends and drivers are using this as a through road.  Other pedestrians, thinking they were on a protected trail, were frantic to leash their dogs in the face of oncoming traffic.  Walkers and vehicles sharing a gravel road without stripes, signage, or guardrails is a recipe that leaves the County open to substantial liability.

Instead of following the roadbed to the Creamery, I headed due west and stood where the “Towne Road Levee” meets the Tribe's constructed “River’s Edge Levee.”    From there I could see the grant funding that had once been promised to pave a county road: more than a dozen piles of logs stretched toward the river, and then turned southward making a giant “L”.  To a layperson, it may be hard to believe how a river, a quarter mile away, could pose such a risk to a levee that was built to "withstand a 10,000 year flooding event,” according to Habitat Manager Johnson.  Then I remembered his dire warning that he was 95% sure the river would breach course, damaging the floodplain and levee, and I saw that his concerns were entirely valid — a 50 foot wide, three-foot deep, manmade trench had been dug between the Dungeness River and the new levee.  This spillway, reminiscent of an empty Reflecting Pool on DC’s National Mall, looks like it could become a firehose pointed straight at the Towne Road Levee during flooding season.  It only made sense to fill it with logs.

The County reallocated the last of the paving funds to the Tribe back on June 20th.  Three months later, I asked County leaders: "If the original funds to complete Towne Road surfacing by September 30th were reallocated, where did the funds go and who made this decision?”  Here is how they chose to respond:

• Commissioner Mark Ozias: "There was a significant additional expense associated with removal of contaminated soil around and underneath the old Towne Rd, and it took many months before we successfully secured additional funding to cover this cost.  The Commissioners were not comfortable moving forward until we knew how this cost would be covered.” — September 15th, 2023

• DCD Director Bruce Emery: "As events transpired, the funds were re-directed to help defray costs of cleanup of the contaminated material found beneath the surface of Towne Road.” — September 19th, 2023

• Commissioner Mike French:  “We had largely exhausted the grants that were originally going to pay for the road surface (due to the pollution remediation issues).”  — October 10th, 2023

• County Biologist Cathy Lear: "Funds initially planned for levee surfacing were redirected to pay for the contaminated material…” — November 2nd, 2023

I spoke to the State Auditors’ office and learned that the DOE amended the grant to cover the cost of soil remediation.  The County did not pay for this cost, nor were grant funds reallocated — the DOE increased the amount of the grant to cover this unforeseen expense.  That is a direct contradiction to the above assertions from County leaders.  I pressed Ozias on this issue in October, "Did the DOE cover the entire cost of removing the contaminated soil?”  This time, his reply matched that of the Auditor’s, "Yes, we were successful in obtaining additional funding to cover the remediation expense.”  

Towne Road did not close due to financial insecurity related to soil remediation.

An “upswell of support” is the second most cited reason for closing the road.  In 2015, 84% favored keeping Towne Road open.  Results aren’t yet available from this last round of public comments, but when tallying signatures submitted earlier this year, 24% more respondents wanted Towne Road open.  I don’t think keeping the road open has lost popularity in the last eight years, I just think county residents were unaware that they had to petition the Commissioners to keep their promise.  Still, County leaders continued messaging that an “upswell of support” from petitions was the reason the road had closed and they did this months after the money had been diverted to the Tribe:

• A notice about an upcoming public meeting: “…petitions were soon presented to the Board, requesting that the new levee be developed as a recreation trail facility.  This upswell of support for an alternative surfacing option gave the Board reason to pause the road construction portion of the project.” — September 8th, 2023

• DCD Director Bruce Emery: "Having had the levee completed for a few months, several citizens organized and provided petitions to the Board of County Commissioners indicating their preference for the surface to remain open for pedestrian use only. Based on this support for an alternative, the Board decided to suspend the project pending consideration and resolution of the competing alternatives.” [No mention of the 122 signatures in favor of reopening the road]. — September 21st, 2023

Both surveys, eight years apart, raised concerns about evacuation during tsunami and flooding events.  In a June 5th email, Commissioner Ozias assured a concerned Dungeness resident: "We are also working with the appropriate state and federal agencies to do new modeling so that we can better understand whether Towne Rd, if on top of the levy, would serve as a Tsunami evacuation route.”  However, nearly three months later, an attendee at the public meeting asked Biologist Lear if Towne Road had been designated for tsunami evacuation.  Lear replied, “no.”  The attendee immediately asked if the County had even applied for designation.  Lear hesitated before answering, “no”.  

During the Commissioners’ Work Session on October 2nd, Ozias asked whether the “new” Towne Road, atop the levee, would be considered a tsunami evacuation route. He was unsure which department would best assign the possible evacuation route designation and he questioned, “who would be taking the lead?” It became evident that very little, if any, action had been taken to obtain evacuation route designation. That is a stark contrast to the Commissioner's message four months earlier assuring a concerned resident that he was working with appropriate state and federal agencies.

Concerned residents who didn’t attend the June 20th meeting, or watch the video, had one chance to learn about Towne Road surfacing funds being redirected to the Tribe.  It was hinted at in an article published by The Sequim Gazette on June 24th titled “Clallam County approves homeless funding.”  Buried in the 12th paragraph is a seemingly inconsequential sentence:  “They [the Commissioners] also agreed to place on next week’s agenda a resolution to approve a contract with the Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe to coordinate the installation of nine engineered log jams to prevent the Dungeness River from cutting a new channel through the flood plain.”

It’s been two months since the County announced Towne Road may never reopen — I’ve had two months of contradictions, misinformation, and stonewalling from our County leaders.  I thought I’d be relieved I had learned where the money went.  Instead, I’m just disheartened.  Citizens can’t be expected to dig through hundreds of pages of public record requests or attend hours of meetings to see if County leaders are fulfilling their promises.  That’s why we trust County staff to be honest, transparent, and to hold each other accountable.  The three Commissioners and the DCD should constitute a system of checks and balances against such nonsensical notions.  There needs to be a backstop for irrational motives that halt a $16 million dollar project.

Personally, I had doubts that a petition, and one landowner advocating for a private driveway, could close a public road that once saw 160,000 car trips per year.  It just didn’t make sense.  Now I’m suspicious that the reasons given were just engineered to distract trusting constituents from noticing that money had changed hands.  The collateral damage has divided a community, turned neighbor against neighbor, and severed residents' direct route to safety and services.  

I stood looking at the logjam-filled trench, bewildered, but my confusion cleared once I laid out the facts sequentially:

• Summer 2022: Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe breached the old dike ahead of schedule.  That action exposed the “old” Towne Road to flood risk and it was temporarily closed. 

• February 2023: The County found a workaround, and resourcefully outlined a way to reopen Towne Road while saving taxpayers millions of dollars.

• February 2023: Commissioner Mark Ozias halted the project.  Hundreds of thousands in grant funding dollars were suddenly up for grabs.

• June 2023: Funds intended to surface and reopen Towne Road were diverted to the Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe, who had initially caused the road’s closure.

• September 2023: Due to financial insecurity, Towne Road will likely remain closed for 2-3 years.

• 2015-2027: Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe has been the largest financial contributor to all three of Mark Ozias’ campaigns.  Ozias just ran unopposed and will likely represent constituents of the Sequim area for another four years.

Currently, the Jamestown S’Kllalam Tribe and the State are partnering on a $109M project to remove fish barriers along highway 101.  You’ve likely seen the construction near Sequim Bay Lodge or the engineered logjams beside the road just west of Diamond Point.  Millions of taxpayer funded grant dollars are being funneled into these projects, and they’ll likely be reallocated as project conditions change and evolve.  I’m hopeful that funds intended to keep the highway open are not diverted to the Tribe.

Looking to the future, the 396-acre Dungeness Off Channel Reservoir Project west of River Road is already in its planning stages.  When viewed as a public works project, the reservoir makes the half-mile section of Towne Road look minuscule in comparison.  The plan to create a 42 acre “water bank” south of Sequim has all the hallmarks of the Towne Road Levee Setback project, but bigger:

• Even more agencies will collaborate in this project including the DOE, City of Sequim, Clallam County and project partner Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe.

• Initial cost estimates, before breaking ground, are double that of Towne Road.

• An internet search will populate several articles with Commissioner Ozias championing the reservoir project for the same reasons he supported the Towne Road Levee: The climate, salmon, recreation, and farmers will all benefit.

• Recreationalists currently enjoy walking paths through an area that will be underwater once the project is completed.  At the eleventh hour, if there is an “upswell of support” and signatures are submitted to stop the filling of the reservoir, will Commissioner Ozias call a halt to yet another project’s completion?

The first pinnacle of the Commissioners’ Vision Statement reads, "Putting the translated desires of our residents into action...”  The County and Tribe will be partnering on countless infrastructure projects in the coming years.  County leaders need to find the balance between serving special interests and representing the desires of residents.  This balance was sorely lacking during the process that closed Towne Road.

The link to the June 20th Commissioners’ Work Session, which saw Towne Road surfacing funds reallocated to the Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe, is linked below.  Discussion begins at 17:08 and lasts 11 minutes.   

https://clallam.granicus.com/player/clip/1818?view_id=2&meta_id=92349&redirect=true&h=9037d306437b5e5f2f09e23400610b08