As a new resident-taxpayer, I have been a quiet observer up until now. Several things happening here are puzzling to me. A few miles from the state’s most famous tourist attraction, Deception Pass State Park, is an eyesore where ugly evidence of gravel mining is in open view. I don’t understand why further mining needs to be done so close to an established residential area, threatening their water supply. Gravel trucks on narrow roads without shoulders are a promise of serious trouble to come.

E.N. Busbee lives in Oak Harbor.