ROBE – Turnout for one local election Tuesday might not be a problem. At stake is not a political campaign but a neighborhood’s struggles against the forces of nature.
Ninety-six special ballots have been sent to property owners on and near River Shore Lane in Robe, 10 miles east of Granite Falls, to decide a proposal that would help their severe flooding problems.
Record flooding of the South Fork Stillaguamish River last fall washed away two homes at the end of River Shore Lane and left two others hanging in peril.
Many others in the riverfront neighborhood worry about what the next flood might do to their homes.
They will now get to vote on whether to create a flood control district. Doing so would allow property owners to tax themselves and use the money to match state and federal grants for flood-control projects.
“Individually, we were unsuccessful in negotiating the permitting process” to stabilize the riverbank, said Michele Whitt-Smith, a property owner who favors the measure.
County officials advised them to try the flood control district, which would help them contribute to larger projects. One proposed project would install weirs in the river to redirect the main channel away from the homes.
Engineering the river is a touchy political subject. The neighbors have been consulting with county, state, federal and tribal biologists and engineers, trying to find an environmentally friendly design.
“Should we continue to allow building in a flood plain? Probably not. But there has to be some kind of balance that needs to be struck between landowners who have been permitted to build there” and environmental concerns, Whitt-Smith said.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.