Island County, Quarterly

March 2026 — Q1 Member Meeting

March 19, 2026; 5:30 pm to 7:30 pm IN-PERSON and ZOOM

Thanks to everyone who attended the first 2026 Member’s Meeting which was held in person on Thursday, March 19, 2026 at the Coupeville Library and online over Zoom. There was a quorum present at the library with over 40 people attending and another 20+ people joining on Zoom. The meeting was a lively discussion over Island County’s new franchise requirements among the community members, county, state and industry representatives, followed by some general Q&A where members exchanged their expertise and experience. Thank you to Ed Sewester from Island County Public Works, and Joanne Skaar and the NW Natural team for participating in the Franchise discussion.

WIWSA’s President Randi Perry opened the meeting with a short formal section covering the meeting’s agenda, the annual meeting minutes from January and hearing the Q1 Treasurer’s report before spending most of the 2 hours discussing the new Franchise Requirements.

After summarizing WIWSA’s December letter on the franchise topic (presented at January’s 2025 Annual Meeting), Randi introduced Ed Sewester (Island County Public Works). Ed reviewed the current Franchise program status along with the objectives of the new requirements that had been announced in a letter sent by the county to Franchise holders last September. He said that maintaining road integrity and limiting repair and maintenance costs is a large factor in developing the new requirements.

Ed was followed by Joanne Skaar (NW Natural Water Services) and members of the NW Natural team who gave the water operator perspective on the impact these requirements would have on the water system operations and expenses. They made a case that compliance requires more than running a few tests. The preparation, communications and coordination demand personnel and time to execute, all of which detracts from the 24/7 operations effort that is on-going.

Many audience members asked questions and provided feedback to Ed which he indicated would be shared with the County Commissioners. Some particular requests are that the new franchise requirements must recognize that the Satellite Management Agencies, who currently manage the water systems, are the best qualified to provide any certification required, and that the county should be working with the fire districts directly in establishing any fire hydrant inspection and testing requirements.

We’ll add a link below to the meeting minutes after the board approves them in April, but you can watch the recording already linked below to get more details about the information discussed. As Ed mentioned in his talk there’ll be further discussion at the Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) work session as early as April, where he would be passing along the feedback from this WIWSA Member Meeting. Look for that Board agenda on the work session agenda page here to monitor that discussion.

You are encouraged to make a Public Comment if you have input for the County Commissioners at either the BOCC formal meeting or work session meeting. You can make a public comment at any BOCC meeting whether the Franchise item is on the agenda or not.