November 1991
President's Report by Lee Bayley
1991 in review - the ongoing community building at Deer Lake has shown significant advances. The long sought sewer projects, started in 1974, is finally coming to fruition. The project is over 50% complete. Simultaneously, the water project also is right on target with the main line in on the north side of the lake. Understandably, there have been some problems, but most have been anticipated and all have been resolved fairly.
The big question now is - where do we go from here? What is our Vision for the short term and our Goals for the long term? We look forward to your suggestions for future projects but also resolutions to anticipated over development problems that could impact everything from water quality and fish populations to service issues such as transportation, fire and police support.
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Firestorm 91 by Lew Houdak
Fire Storm '91 was very kind to the Deer Lake area. We had one fire, a cabin on the north side of the Narrows, on Tuesday October 15. Deer Lake, Loon Lake and Clayton fire departments responded. We had to use detour roads due to sewer construction but were able to contain the fire. Unfortunately, it rekindled at 1am the following morning and destroyed the structure. Neighboring structures received little or no damage.
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Shoreline Access Conference Overview
The Washington State Shoreline Public Access Conference was held in Tacoma, Wa, on September 6-7. The topic was "Water access, our legacy in crisis".
Considering the title of the conference, one might expect to learn what the problems and needs of public access are. Neither of these issues were directly addressed in the program.
The people attending were mostly state and local government employees and individuals from the West side of the state. Professor Ralph Johnson presented his theory that all lands under the waters (regardless of 2nd class or tideland ownership by deed) belongs to the state and that the state did not have the right to deed that land away 100 years ago. This concept is called the Public Trust Doctrine. The DOE states that "public trust" applies to wetland areas as well as open water.
The DOE provided a handout at the conference entitled "Shoreline Publica Access Handbook". The following statements (in quotes) were extracted from that handbook.
"Shoreline public access is the legal physical ability of the general public to reach and touch the water's edge and/or the ability to have an unobstructed view of the water and the shoreline from upland locations."
The handbook explains how to condition a development permit though the city/county planning dept. They may require, as a condition to build on or develop a parcel of land, that a private individual or developer provide and maintain forever public access across that piece of private property.
There are sections in the handbook devoted to "condition for access without compensation","negotiating with developers" and "payments in lieu of dedicating access".
The DOE also advices that "in all cases, a landowner who allows public access would be well advised to purchase comprehensive liability insurance".
The Shoreline Management Act is cited as the law that requires public access. This act refers to "public access to publicly owned areas" and "recognizing and protecting private property rights". Nowhere does it state or suggest that the public has a right to access the water or shoreline across private property.
The Stevens County Shoreline Advisory Committee strongly urges that all references to public access are tied to public lands, not private property. There will be time, however, when a permit will be issues a a "conditional use". In these instances, the permit must be approved by the DOE. Again quoting their handbook, "The Dept of "Ecology may decide to attach conditions of its own for public access if it determines that the local proposal for public access is inadequate.
In Summary: Private property owners may be required to allow public access across their private property to the shoreline without compensation. One might consider that there is reason to be concerned regarding the erosion of our enjoyment and right to private property ownership. You might consider contacting your local and state government representatives or attending local meetings to ensure your rights are not abused.
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Water and Sewer Update by Jerry McBride
Considerable progress has been made this year in installing water and sewer systems around the lake. Dick Price of the PUD gave me this summary of the project status, November 14, 1991:
If the good weather continues, the construction crews will move over to the south side of the Narrows and start installation of main water and sewer lines from the end of the Narrows moving west. Other crews will start on site sewer connection work at Sunrise Point, the Salvation Army Camp, and Pinelow. If they have time, they will then start sewer connection work in Gardner Acres.
Charges for connection to the water system if you signed up ahead and paid a $300 deposit have been established at $1600 total. Once you have the meter installed and water is available at the meter, the balance of $1300 will be due.
For those people who did not sign up ahead for water, the charge is $1800 if the conractor installing water meters has not passed your log. A charge for those who didn't sign up ahead and whose lots have been passed has not been established yet.
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Fish Pen Report by Jim Santora
On September 13 we received 15,128 fish from the Game Department. During the first three weeks of operation we only lost seven fish, however, on October 7 the fish started to get sick. We called the fish biologist from Colville (Kurt Vail) and he determined a virus was the cause. After 10 days of medicated food and salt baths, the problem seemed to resolve itself. We lost approximately 2000 fish to this illness. The fish are now 5-7 inches long and very healthy. They will be released as soon as the ice melts, the pens cleaned and readied for the next batch of fish. In conjunction with Wes Wagoner's fish egg hatchery, we hope to be able to return good fishing to Deer Lake. I would like to thank DLPOA for the grant money.
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Emergency Services Report by Jerry Linton
The annual Deer Lake Fire Dept pancake feed was held in July and was a roaring success. Over 700 paying customers were served and the money raised was used to purchase many needed items including a call board to track all dispatches.