Guemes Island Planning Advisory Committee

GIPAC-Minutes-2025-12-01

Guemes Island Planning Advisory Committee

December 1, 2025

Meeting Called to Order:

Board Members Present:  Allen Bush, Gabe Murphy, Steve Orsini, Kathy Malley, Jep Burdock, Michael Brown, Pat Richley-Erickson

Members of the Public Present: Gordon Erickson, Chief Olivia Cole, Frea Gladish, Michael Gray, Carlisa 

December Meeting Agenda: Approved

November Meeting Minutes: Approved

Annual Meeting Minutes: Review at January meeting

Treasurer’s Report:

GIPAC Account Balance: $3068.96

There was a discussion about mechanisms to accept donations. Jep and Steve will look into an online donation platform.

Public Comment: None

Updates/New Business:

  • Election of Officers:
    • The board briefly considered which members were serving in each role currently and opened up the floor to all members to nominate others. Given that the current officers have a good operating rhythm and no other members showed strong interest in taking on a more formal role, the board voted unanimously to re-elect the current officers to another one year term.
    • Officers were elected as follows:
      • Chair: Kathy Malley
      • Vice Chair: Allen Bush
      • Treasurer: Jep Burdock
      • Secretary: Gabe Murphy
  • Public Works Field Trip: Dec 16th @ 2PM
    • PW Director and County Engineer will be meeting with GIPAC board members and GIFD on December 16th @ 2:00 to go over parking lot design.
    • There was a long conversation about our concerns over the current proposed design including: emergency access, boat launch access, ADA issues, congestion, garbage service, etc…
    • GIPAC would like to help Public Works by demonstrating some of the important uses of the lot like: emergency response, boat ramp usage, and ADA access.
    • Several members of the board and the GIFD will be present to work with the county folks.
  • Boundary Review Board:
    • The metropolitan park district failed again.
    • There was a discussion about why BRB was removed and thoughts about if it could or should be reinstated.
    • GIPAC would like to research this more and consider future options
  • C23-1: Implementation Issues
    • The board discussed an issue brought up by an islander having trouble with permitting, likely related to C23-1 implementation gaps within Skagit County PDS.
    • We believe it is our role to help solve these problems and make implementation both easy for the county to deal with, as well as straightforward for islanders to get necessary permitting.
    • GIPAC will follow up with the county and look into solutions in 2026 
  • Discussion about upcoming 2026 projects: All below projects are on the agenda for 2026
    • Parking Lot
    • BRB
    • C23-1
    • Real Estate engagement 
    • Rain Water Catchment – Continue to advocate for template approach
    • Well data gathering – water works
    • USGS Study
    • Comp Plan – wild fire evacuation routes

Meeting adjourned: 8:35

Gabriel Murphy