Editor,
The Whidbey News-Times reported the new sewage/wastewater treatment plant is at the 30 percent design stage and already potentially almost 50 percent over budget.
The RV park is scheduled to close for at least the next three years during construction of the plant, which is due to begin at the end of this month.
According to the latest plans for the sewer plant, Bayshore Drive will be re-routed across the ballfields and a large portion of Windjammer Park will be sacrificed to the Bayshore Drive realignment and its extension between City Beach Street and Beeksma Drive.
The Fourth of July event, as well as any other community activities that normally take place in that part of the park, will need to be relocated for the next three years, and possibly forever.
Why is the city breaking ground on the sewer plant when design is only 30 percent complete? How can you break ground on a building when you don’t know the final design? Would anyone in their right mind break ground on a house with only 1/3 of the design complete?
If we are already 50 percent over budget at the 30 percent design stage, are we projected to be 150 percent over budget by the time we reach 100 percent design stage?
Why is the RV park being closed when it is one of the few places to stay downtown, and one of the few reliable sources of tourists for the downtown merchants? Has the city investigated other options outside the park for storing the construction dirt?
Why is Bayshore Drive being realigned and turned into a through road, further diverting traffic from the downtown merchants and taking park land away from Windjammer Park? Is there public demand for a through road across the middle of Windjammer Park?
I have not addressed the aesthetic impact the sewer plant will have on Windjammer Park. I will save that for another day.
Meanwhile, I think the city should slow down and reconsider the location of the sewer plant and the speed at which this project is being advanced.
It’s time to stop and reevaluate before any more of our tax dollars are spent on a partially conceived and incomplete plan.
Hal Hovey
Oak Harbor
