Tensions were running high when a business owner repeatedly called the Coupeville mayor a liar during a town council meeting on March 11, prompting officials to call the town marshal before the man walked himself out.

The disruption, however, seemed to be a result of misunderstandings related to an unusually controversial sidewalk and boardwalk project.

Christian Chambers, the owner of Aqua Gifts on Front Street, said during the public comment period that he submitted a letter to the council a year ago, asking for more communication regarding the reconstruction of the historic boardwalk that ends right in front of his gift shop — whose structure could experience some damages as a result of the work, according to an assessment.

Since then, however, he has heard nothing.

Half a year after the renovation of the boardwalk and the construction of a sidewalk on North Main Street were hoped to begin, the town is still uncertain about the timeline and some details of the project. Some community members are unhappy with the lack of direct communication.

Mayor Molly Hughes countered during the meeting that she simply had nothing new to report to business owners since the details were unresolved. She questioned whether she should have contacted people just to tell them she didn’t know the answers.

In a March 7 memo to the council, Hughes listed a few steps that led to some delays.

“We have faced many obstacles in getting this job done,” she wrote. Among these steps, she included obtaining special permits and Transportation Improvement Board funding, holding public meetings about the appearance of the boardwalk and more.

“We are not obstacles,” Chambers said in response to the public meetings part, expressing concern that community voices are being pushed aside to get the project to move forward, with the risk of disrupting the busy tourist season. He urged the council to make sure constituents are heard.

Councilmember Pat Powell said she was saddened and embarrassed that the town has failed to meet its promise of keeping community members involved in the planning process.

“We didn’t talk to them until May of last year to get their input after the project had been designed,” she said, referring to a meeting at the Coupeville Recreation Hall.

Back then, after a passionate discussion, the town decided to use real wood to pave the Front Street Boardwalk and to keep the parking spots on North Main Street, building a sidewalk and wall next to the Haller House property.

Councilmember Rick Walti and Deputy Clerk Chris Jolly pointed out the town has talked about the project at various meetings and that the public can stay up to date by reading the agenda and minutes, by attending a live meeting or by watching the video recordings. Additionally, Walti said, people can find updates in their water bill.

Still, Powell stressed the need for better outreach, stating that many don’t read all the contents of their bills or aren’t as involved as elected officials or town staff. She said the town has never sent a letter to property owners on Front Street to keep them updated.

This perceived lack of communication seems to have caused some confusion.

Chambers and Lynn Hyde — the executive director of Historic Whidbey — were seemingly misinformed that the town had exempted itself from its own design review process and that it didn’t conduct a cultural impact assessment.

Hughes denied these claims, stating the town had never been exempt from conducting a design review before and that the town did conduct the cultural impact assessment.

Chambers interrupted the mayor, calling her a liar and alleging that someone from Ebey’s Reserve told him the town did not have the cultural impact assessment.

“I can’t sit by to let her lie,” he said, prompting Walti to tell him to quit interrupting.

Since sidewalks are appropriate under design guidelines and the town has opted for a Level A cultural impact assessment, Hughes explained the assessment did not have to go through Ebey’s Reserve for design approval.

The town has also worked on a 65-page archaeological monitoring report and a 50-page cultural resource report, and has all the permits needed for the project, she added.

The cultural impact assessment identified three businesses that could be potentially damaged during construction on Front Street, including Aqua Gifts, Molka Xete and maybe Toby’s Tavern, Hughes said.

Now, the town has to wait for a pre-construction survey — conducted by a professional approved by the Department of Interior — of those properties before giving Valdez Construction a notice to proceed and create a timeline for the project, she said.

While she initially expected construction to begin after the survey, Hughes said the survey’s findings will determine whether the plan needs to be changed, potentially affecting the timeline.

According to Public Works Director Joe Grogan, the original estimated time frame for the project was 150 days, but could also take as little as 93 days.

“With tourist season, that’s all unknown at this time,” Grogan said in an interview.

Following the pre-construction survey, Valdez Construction should meet with the three property owners affected to inform them about the timeline and to talk about ways to keep their businesses operational during construction. Allowing businesses to remain open is a requirement in this project, Hughes and Grogan said.

Another challenge, Hughes said, has been a series of written and verbal requests from Historic Whidbey, a nonprofit dedicated to the preservation of Whidbey’s historic places, including the Haller House.

According to the mayor and Grogan, the town tried to accommodate these requests by changing its plans, but the requests kept changing, further delaying the project. For example, what was supposed to be a rain garden in Historic Whidbey’s first application for a building permit, Hughes said, became “a historic hole.”

At that point, Chambers stood up and raised his voice, saying it wasn’t a historic hole and that the meeting could end there unless Hughes stopped lying. In response to this disruption, the council had a five-minute recess and called the town marshal to remove him from the meeting, though Powell said she found that excessive.

Hughes said the project does not warrant mitigation as the Haller House is not expected to be damaged during the construction of the sidewalk and retaining wall on town property. Furthermore, mitigation has never been discussed for any Transportation Improvement Board project before.

Hyde, however, said a member of the Transportation Improvement Board told her that Historic Whidbey is entitled to mitigation. Additionally, she didn’t expect her previous conversations with town staff would represent a formal agreement to make any plan changes.

To prevent future misunderstandings and keep the Haller House property as intact and historically accurate as possible, Hyde demanded in her last letter that the town agree (in writing) to three requests made by Historic Whidbey.

In a nutshell, these consist of marking the entire length of the Historic Whidbey property line on North Main Street with wooden posts so the exact line of disturbance is clearly identified, stamping the retaining wall with a print that mimics stone, and removing all vegetation that will die as a result of the work, including the trees whose roots cross the property line.

After some discussion, the council unanimously voted to approve the three mitigation items, adding them to the sidewalk plan. According to Grogan, these should have minimal impacts on costs.

The project was initially expected to cost a total of $700,000, but according to Grogan, that price tag has decreased to around $600,000. As stated a year ago, 37% of the cost will be covered by a Washington Transportation Improvement grant.

The council also voted to sign an approximately $390,000 contract with Valdez Construction, which will get a notice to proceed once the pre-construction survey is complete, Hughes said.

Councilmember Jenny Bright asked for the construction start date to be moved to fall, as starting in the spring gets dangerously close to the tourist season. Grogan said the timing depends on the pre-construction survey’s findings and on whether the Transportation Improvement Board is willing to grant a funding extension.