CAMANO ISLAND – Camano and Whidbey islands have grown a little closer.
Residents on Camano Island can now “attend” Island County Commission meetings in Coupeville without having to drive 60 miles and back.
A camera, TV and microphone have been set up at the Camano Annex Health Center.
A camera and TV are also stationed in the county commissioners’ meeting room in Coupeville. This enables Camano residents to be seen and heard in Coupeville, and the county commissioners to be seen and heard on Camano Island.
“It’s definitely a positive for participation,” said Phil Lewis, president of Camano Action for a Rural Environment.
The idea has been kicked around for a few years, but no one was sure how to pay for it. Cost estimates came in at about $15,000, said county commission clerk Elaine Marlow.
But Island County Commissioner Bill Byrd said he pressed the idea. There’s a need for a greater link between the islands, he said. As a retired Navy commander, he experienced firsthand the value of a closed-circuit TV system on ships.
Once the commissioners secured a $25,000 state grant to cover what would end up being a $32,000 price tag, they were all for it, he said.
Money was shifted from another program to cover the rest of the cost, Marlow said.
The only operating costs for the system are for use of a transmission line and paying a person at each end to run the equipment, Byrd said.
Lewis, whose group provides frequent input to the county on land-use and preservation issues, has made numerous trips to Coupeville.
This will make it easier on him, he said, and on others who are interested but may be discouraged by the long drive. County commission meetings are at 9:30 a.m. the first, second and third Mondays of each month, and 1:30 p.m. the fourth Monday.
Not many people took advantage of the new setup July 12 and 19, the first two meetings to use the video setup.
But that could change once word gets out. A big crowd turned out for a recent county meeting on Camano Island, Lewis said.
“That does show that people are interested,” he said.
Now anyone on Camano Island can just go and watch a Coupeville meeting on TV, Lewis said.
“This could make it easier for us to be informed on a general basis,” he said. “It should work for better government all the way around.”
Reporter Bill Sheets: 425-339-3439 or bsheets@heraldnet.com.
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