By Ron Hoss, The Chronicle, June 25, 1997
ROCHESTER - About 75 Rochester and Oakville residents, in various stages of agitation, jammed into adjoining meeting rooms at the Lucky Eagle Casino Tuesday night to hear about flood prevention and improved highway access to the casino.
"We're not here with any authorized plans," said Dale Rancour, the Thurston County engineer. "We're here to gain input and ideas."
Also in attendance, for those same reasons, were representatives from the state Department of Transportation and a consulting firm hired to deal with the flood and highway-access issues.
While the crowd stayed relatively calm when Gary Wheeler, a consultant with Skillings-Connolly Inc. led them through the various ideas, it wasn't long before the room was a frenzy of vocal opinions.
Several people complained about the possibility of increased flooding because of the work. David Palmer, a neighbor to the casino, read a prepared statement on what he saw as the casino's interests. Palmer said he recently spent more than $50,000 building a coffer dam around his home, which flooded when the Black and chehalis rivers overflowed in 1996.
The casino lost three days business when Highway 12 was closed due to the high water in 1996.
"I oppose any plans to improve area roads to allow gamblers access to Lucky Eagle Casino during flood event,: Palmer's statement read. "I am also opposed to any access improvements done for other reasons which coincidentally improve access during flood events."
One of the possibilities raised in Wheeler's opening remarks was raising Highway 12 to stop water from collecting on the road surface. Several people didn't like that idea.
"Raising a road is not one bit different than building a dike," Palmer said. "Dikes hold back water, dikes raise water levels, dikes increase the velocity of flood waters, and dike stored water causes the loss of life and property."
Palmer said a jury in Skagit County found the state and county responsible for damages that occurred as a result of efforts to protect a shopping mall and a business center. He asked if Thurston County and the state are "willing to assume the same liability or a gambling hall?"
There was also discussion over the present condition of Highway 12. Most agreed that there is too much traffic on it and that many of its features - such as the Black River Bridge - are in "terrible condition".
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