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Public commenters raise per-household cost concerns for Guemes Ferry, North Shore restoration
Summary
During public comment at the Skagit County meeting, a resident presented per-household cost calculations for the Guemes (misspelled in transcript) Ferry and a North Shore restoration project and asked how the county would secure grants or funding.
Two residents used the public comment period to raise questions about county project costs and funding sources for ferry and shoreline-restoration work.
Lorita Humble (also identified as "Tweety"), of Lake Kavanaugh, presented arithmetic comparing per-household costs under two cost scenarios for the Guemes Ferry and for North Shore restoration. Humble said a recent estimate for the Guemes Ferry had increased to $45 million; dividing that total by 689 homes on Guemes yields $65,312 per household, she calculated. Using an earlier estimate of $34 million would yield $49,346 per household, she said. For a North Shore restoration project she cited an inflated cost of $7 million across 504 homes as $13,888 per household, and a lower $4 million estimate as $7,936 per household.
"Where and when and how do we find these dollars or appropriate these dollars to complete these projects?" Humble asked, noting the need for grants or funding and that project costs can be insurmountable for local households.
Commissioners and staff accepted the comments; the board's public record did not include a county staff response with detailed funding sources or grant timelines during the meeting. The transcript shows commissioners acknowledged receipt of the figures and thanked Humble for presenting them.
No formal county action, budget appropriation or grant award was announced during the meeting. Commissioners reiterated that projects of this scale typically rely on multiple funding sources, including grants, but did not specify which grants or timelines would apply to the projects mentioned.
Humble's comments were numerical illustrations provided as public input; they do not represent an official county cost estimate. The county has not published an updated per-household funding plan for the projects on the meeting record.
