CLINTON — People on south Whidbey Island agree that Whidbey is a scenic isle and welcome signs are a good idea.
What’s troubling some in Clinton, however, is a plan by Island County officials to replace the current “Welcome to Whidbey Island” sign near the state ferry dock with a standardized sign that’s part of the Whidbey Scenic Isle Gateway Monument Project.
The gateway monument project has been in the works for years, has federal funding and has all the permits in place to remove and replace the rotting hand-painted, hand-carved wood sign. The proposed new sign sports a map of the island and the words “Whidbey Scenic Isle Way: Welcome to Clinton.” Similar signs are to be located at the island’s other gateways: Deception Pass and Keystone.
The old sign features two bald eagles, a ferry, a forest, a sailboat and a bunch of local sea creatures. At the bottom, local service clubs have attached their logos.
More than 1,500 people signed a petition to save the old sign, said Ed Jenkins, a member of the recently organized Save Our Sign coalition.
The welcome sign is so fragile that it won’t survive the plan to move it to a new spot up the hill from the ferry dock, he said. The man who made the sign believes it can be repaired where it is and could last another 20 years in its current location, Jenkins said.
“The county wants to move our sign without a restoration plan and no financial provision for it to be done properly,” he said.
The problem is, it would be difficult and costly to back-track on a two-year process that included public hearings, a public comment period, a volunteer committee, local donations and a $98,000 federal grant, said county Commissioner Helen Price Johnson.
“What we have here is a lack of public awareness about the gateway project,” Johnson said. “People apparently didn’t pay attention or didn’t know what was happening.”
The Port of South Whidbey has joined a volunteer effort to raise the money to move and repair the current sign, she said.
Jenkins argues that it would cost about the same amount of money for the permits to change the location of the new gateway sign as it would to move and repair the old sign.
Save Our Sign organizers plan to host a meeting Monday evening at the Clinton Progressive Hall to figure out what the coalition’s next steps will be. Johnson plans to address people’s concerns about the gateway sign project at an informational meeting at the same place Thursday evening.
Johnson said she wants to get the other side of the story out to people.
“The gateway monument project is a positive, unifying thing for all of Whidbey,” she said. “And it’s unfortunate that some folks have chosen to take it as a negative.”
Gale Fiege: 425-339-3427, gfiege@heraldnet.com.
Meetings
The Save Our Sign Coalition plans to meet at 7 p.m. Monday at the Clinton Progressive Hall, Highway 525 and Humphrey Road. More info: 360-341-2831
Island County Commissioner Helen Price Johnson plans to host an informational meeting at 7 p.m. Thursday at Clinton Progressive Hall. More info: 360-679-7354.
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