County selects citizens flood committee members
John Henderer, The Chronicle, June 17, 1997
Peacemaking may be the first order of business for a committee assembled Monday to grapple with flood control issues in the Chehalis River basin.
Members of the committee, appointed by the Lewis County Board of Commissioners, include people who were at odds with each other in prior discussions on how to control flooding.
Ilona Petersen, a Chehalis school secretary, was a vocal critic of flood-control proposals by the Flood Action Council, a citizen group largely comprised of Centralia and Chehalis business owners.
Commissioners named Peterson, a Dryad resident, as chairwoman of the committee.
The Flood Action Council earlier this year proposed building a dam or series of dams, among other things, on the upper Chehalis River to control flooding in the Twin Cities. Residents of Pe Ell, Doty and Dryad strongly opposed a dam in their neighborhood.
Larry Bailey, who was also named to the Chehalis subzone committee Petersen will chair, said he has reservations about Petersen's appointment.
"It concerns me what kind of prejudices, if any, she may be bringing to the group," Bailey said. "(Of) course I have my own prejudices as well."
Bailey, a Centralia accountant and former Centralia city councilor, served on the Flood Action Council.
Commissioners also unveiled Monday the names of a 15-member advisory committee to the countywide Flood Control Zone District and a five-member committee for the Cowlitz River basin subzone. Interest in the positions was high, generating 65 applicants.
The committees will likely hold an initial meeting together in mid- to late July, said Bob Berg, director of the county Department of Public Services.
Commissioners retained jurisdiction over flood-control measures on March 10 by denying a petition for a public vote among property owners in the Chehalis River basin. The Flood Action Council, which proposed the dam or dams and other measures, asked for the vote.
Commissioners cited concerns over the fairness of weighted ballots based on property ownership in rejecting the vote.
Commissioners established the countywide Flood Control Zone District on March 31. The subzones' creation followed.
"We have in mind that the heavy duty action is going to happen in the sub-basin committees," said Commission Chairman Richard Graham.
Bailey's concerns about Petersen centered around her impugning of the Flood Action Council's motives.
"Is that attitude that she expressed in the paper going to continue? If it is it's just going to slow the work down," Bailey said. "As far as I'm concerned the only solutions we have to the flooding down here are structural. We need those dams up in the upper river."
He said he also supports the council's plan to scoop out part of the "hump" in the Chehalis River and to install a flood-control gate on the Skookumchuck River dam in Thurston County.
Petersen tried to put Bailey's concerns to rest and vowed to bring an open mind to the committee. Both she and Bailey have their own biases, she said.
"He's on the Flood Action Council," Petersen said. "He's as biased as they come. I did give them a bad time, (but) I think I had a reason to question."
Petersen said that among Pe Ell-area residents she may be as open-minded as any.
"I want to know, really, what can work and what can't work, and I want to look at all sides of it," Petersen said. "I know something needs to be done, and I think now we can start really looking at it and get rid of all the animosity."
Other members of the Chehalis River basin subzone committee include Larry Fagerness, a Centralia attorney who represented the Flood Action Council; Charles Shafer, a Centralia chicken farmer and Douglas Wisner, a retired Chehalis civil engineer.
Three seats remain unfilled on the countywide committee: One each reserved for a member of the Chehalis Indian Tribe, the Cowlitz Indian Tribe and the Nisqually River basin area.
Commissioners named applicants of all committees to staggered terms varying from two to four years. This will prevent turnover from occurring all at once.
Commissioners did not appoint any elected officials from cities or towns, as some requested. Instead, they allowed each city to have a non-voting member.
"The city councils already have working relationships with the Board of Commissioners," said Commissioner Russ Wigley.
Moreover, commissioners did not decide who will lead the countywide committee, leaving that to the members themselves. Other work priorities include reviewing work done by others on flood control measures and the county's Flood Hazard Management Plan.