Skagit County approves consent agenda including Guemes ferry punch‑card phaseout and $1.6M haul‑out contract

The Skagit County Board of Commissioners on Jan. 21 approved its consent agenda, which included a resolution to suspend the sale and limit future use of non‑expiring paper punch cards for the Guemes Island ferry and a $1,600,000 contract with Nichols Brothers Boat Yards to perform haul‑out work on the ferry.

Commissioner Browning described several items on the consent agenda: a funding agreement with the City of Anacortes to help purchase a vessel intended to transport people in physical distress or provide emergency transport from Guemes Island when other options are unavailable; a grant to the county’s housing authority to develop a strategic plan; a personal services agreement with Lithtex for county brochure work; and a contract with WSP USA Environment & Infrastructure to continue work on the March’s Point landfill cleanup.

“One of the problems we have at the sound, we didn't have a boat that was good for carrying people who are in physical distress,” Commissioner Browning said about the Anacortes funding agreement. She added that Anacortes Fire would own the vessel and the county would provide matching funds.

The board also ratified a personal services agreement with Community Action of Skagit County to provide case management and emergency financial assistance to veterans and to provide space for services at the Skagit Vets Connect Center in Burlington. The meeting record states compensation as a reimbursement fee schedule “not to exceed 303,000, and $88”; the transcript records that figure in that form.

Other items noted in the meeting record included work at the Guemes Terminal to install a fence in preparation for a future parking lot and ongoing monitoring and capping work at March’s Point landfill. The resolution on ferry punch cards makes existing non‑expiring punch cards valid only through Dec. 31, 2025, and stops future sales of non‑expiring punch cards.

Commissioner Browning moved to approve the consent agenda items 1 through 29; the presiding commissioner seconded. The motion passed by voice vote with both commissioners present voting aye (2–0). The board later moved and approved two miscellaneous items under public health — a Home Investment Partnership Program closeout certification and the Community Action personal services agreement — with the same 2–0 vote. The record notes Commissioner Wiesen was on leave and absent for votes.

The commissioners recessed after the morning session and noted a 2:30 p.m. check‑in via Zoom with government affairs consultants to discuss legislative priorities in Olympia.