To the editor:

I write this letter so that you will know that there are many people on Sunlight Beach Road that are supportive of Ray Gabelein and Steve Arnold. I purchased a home on Sunlight Beach in early 1996 and have been an enthusiastic member of the Whidbey Island community ever since. My family uses our home nearly every weekend during the fall, winter and spring and nearly every day in the summer months.

When I began using the home I soon learned about the dike, the levee, and the gravity drainage system. We were billed nominal amounts for maintenance and other costs (mostly legal) in the first few years of our ownership. The legal fees were for a lawsuit initiated by the Henny family against the dike district which claimed that certain rocks placed by the Dike District had somehow disturbed the Henny holdings. This litigation was later dropped by Mr. Henny.

The current brouhaha is about the installation of a pump installed by the dike district to control the basin from flooding during periods of extreme storm accompanied by a low barometer and high tides. The gravity system will not drain during high tides and it was determined by an engineering study paid for by Island County that a 40 horsepower pump would be appropriate to augment drainage during emergency conditions.

The pump system was designed, permitted and constructed by the dike district in coordination with Island County.

Then all hell broke loose. Rumors were created faster than anyone could imagine.

Rumor 1 was that somehow Gabelein, Arnold and Kohlwes (the three dike commissioners) were going to drain the marsh and construct houses, condos, etc. A phone call to Island County planning dispelled that rumor.

Next, Rumor 2 was that the pump was running continuously (evidence that the marsh was being drained). A walk across the levee made it easy to determine that the pump was not running continuously.

Rumor 3 was that Gabelein had made a deal to exchange easements involving portions of his family’s right of way that somehow were illegal and nefarious. I have never understood the gist of this rumor as no one who was spreading it had any idea what they were talking about.

Rumor 4 was that Gabelein would somehow profit by selling a conservation easement on their land in the marsh. While true that the estate sold a conservation easement, that doesn’t hurt anyone since 54 acres of this land can’t be further developed.

Rumor 5 was that the homes on the dike do not benefit from the pump. REALLY! The entire reason for the pump is to protect all of us who live on the dike in case of an extreme storm as per above.

Rumor 6 is that the tax to pay for the pump is unfairly allocated. Since the creation of property taxation in the state of Washington, property has been taxed in proportion to value. A home on the dike is worth far more than wetlands or farmland. Rumor 6 claims that some people who belong to the dike district do not have to pay. That is true and it should be corrected. A person who votes for the commissioners should be required to pay for the dike drainage costs.

Rumor 7 is that certain people who live on Sunlight Beach Road neither vote nor pay for the dike. That is partially true. The dike ends at the Kasperson residence and those beyond (to the west) Kasperson on the Sunlight Beach Road are exempt from paying but some have a vote.

Rumor 8 is interesting. Some people believe that this is a dike district not a drainage district and that the pump system would be illegal under those facts. REALLY! The dike has always had as an integral part of its structure a drainage mechanism. The engineering study (paid for by Island County) was conceived because more stormwater enters the basin every year due to the steady increase in homes, businesses, parking lots, roads, etc. which means that the storm systems surrounding the basin are handling more and more water each year. That additional water finds its way into the basin.

Rumor 9 is that the water that is being pumped is toxic and we are environmentally unsound by pumping. The truth is that the water that would find its way to the pump is exactly the same water that would find its way to the gravity system which continues to work and will in the future.

A group known as CSUBC has been formed and is headed by Coyla Shepard, Judi Winquist and Leo Cruise. They have formed an association (a limited liability company) and have engaged an attorney in Seattle to sue the county, the commissioners of the dike district, various county officials etc., etc. Another group has retained a lawyer named Beth Derrig (who interestingly lives on Sunlight Beach Road but is exempt from the taxes) to sue the dike commissioners Gabelein and Arnold.

None of us on the outside of CSUBC have seen the legal documents so we don’t know what the litigation seeks to do. It is logical to assume that at the least, they want Gabelein and Arnold to resign and be replaced by our neighbors who presumably believe that they can run the dike and drainage system more efficiently than the present commissioners.

Those of us who welcome the emergency pump would be horrified to learn that as a result of litigation, the pump was removed. Could that be what CSUBC seeks? We don’t know since they don’t invite us non believers to their meetings.

I, for one, have avoided attending any meetings as I don’t want to become identified as part of the CSUBC group.

A number of neighbors believe in my point of view. Since we are satisfied that the pump is a sound investment and since we don’t mind paying for it we have stayed out of the mess. I just want you to know that not all the residents of Sunlight Beach Road feel as do CSUBC and Coyla, Judi and Leo.

Finally, those of us who have been exposed to litigation over our careers know how brutally expensive and debilitating the process is. It always seems like a good idea when you begin as lawyers generally like to get the business and encourage their clients to file a lawsuit. The absolute worst way to settle a dispute like this is to go to court. At the end of the day there are no winners except the lawyers.

I come from a family of attorneys but chose to be an engineer instead. I have seen first hand the devastation wrought by litigation and would never willingly be a party to a lawsuit.

Robert M. Helsell

Sunlight Beach