Guemes Island Ferry Committee

January 6, 2003

Workin Meeting Minutes for 1/5/03

The new Guemes Island Ferry Committee, along with Max Benjamin, met at 7 PM this day to complete and formalize the actions voted on at the public ferry committee meeting held Saturday 1/4/03 at the Guemes Island Community Center. Those present were Marilee Fosbre, Glen Veal, Steve Orsini, Dixon Elder, Max Benjamin (from 7 to 8 PM) and Carl Cady. The content of the meeting was as follows:

· The ferry committee charter and proposed county resolution were updated to include the amendments.

· A cover letter to the Skagit County Commissioners was drafted and signed by the new ferry committee.

· Methods of communicating with the community were discussed. The developer of the web site www.linetime.org had requested copies of the meeting agenda, ferry committee charter and the proposed resolution to be posted on their site. It was the consensus of the committee that the Skagit County Commissioners should receive the material prior to a public posting. It was also felt by a majority of the ferry committee that we should have our own web-site so that it would have control over the editorial content. Dixon Elder offered to make a page on his web site available as an interim solution. Dixon will also develop the costs to operate a stand alone web-site. Other avenues for communication will be considered in the future but may depend on the funds available since the ferry committee has no funding at present.

· Quarterly public meeting schedule---In compliance with the new charter provisions, concerning quarterly public meetings, it was felt that the Sunday afternoons would be the most accessible time for both off and on island residents. A tentative schedule, depending on community hall availability, was set for 2:30 PM on 3/30/03, 7/13/03, 10/5/03 and 1/4/04.

· Regular meetings for the ferry committee (non-public) are to be held monthly, for the foreseeable future, and will be the third Sunday of the month at 7:00 PM. The next meeting will be 1/26/03 prior to our scheduled meeting with the Skagit County Commissioners on 1/27/03.

· Glen Veal was elected chairman of the current ferry committee and will make contact with the county commissioners to schedule a meeting to discuss the results of the recent public meeting (charter, resolution and draft study comments) and to introduce the new ferry committee.

· Marilee Fosbre was to contact Sue Gwost to confirm the availability of the community hall for the future public meetings. This was done and the above dates are correct as amended.

· There was some discussion about ways to fund the process of communicating with the public. It was proposed that the subject be explored with the county commissioners.

· The agenda for the next regular meeting will include a review of the issues that are currently of most concern and establish priorities for the committee’s activities.

Ferry Committee