After enduring a snow-laden February that complicated travel in Big Bend and throughout Snohomish County, it may seem odd to now be considering a summer drought in all of Western Washington. With a much warmer and drier spring this year, mountain snowpacks are as much as 50% lower than normal. These conditions have already resulted in many spring fires in Western Washington. Summertime flows in the Skykomish River are expected to be exceptionally low this year which will stress fish and other important aquatic habitat. As of last week, the Governor added 26 counties to the Statewide list of drought emergencies.
Be Careful/Be Responsible
We all love the beautiful area of Big Bend where we live. The predicted summer weather conditions make it essential that we all become good stewards of our land, homes and community by:
• Observing Big Bend’s fireworks ban and outdoor burning rules
• Using water wisely and practicing water conservation at all times
• Picking up litter, leaves, branches around our homes to reduce fire potential
• Using caution, especially with children, in swimming and playing in the river
Special Assessment for Snow Removal
In accordance with Big Bend’s Rules and Regulations (R&R’s), the Board approved a special assessment of $11/lot to recover the funds spent in February to plow Big Bend’s roads. Snow plowing is not budgeted in the Roads Operations Annual Budget. The special assessment will be on the September annual homeowner’s statements and will replace funds in the Roads budget spent on plowing.
Wellhead Protection Committee w/Cadman
Big Bend and Cadman continue their cooperation through the Wellhead Protection Committee which will meet next on June 12. Cadman’s annual water quality monitoring reports have shown no change in the quality/quantity of the groundwater used at their gravel operation. Big Bend also has probes in our wells to monitor similar water quality parameters.
Gravel operations are expected to increase significantly at the Gold Bar site in years ahead due to the closure of several older sites. Careful monitoring of the groundwater will be very important to ensure the integrity of Big Bend’s wells is retained. Cadman’s 2018 Monitoring Report is posted on our web site.
Water System
Work on Big Bend’s water system continues on many fronts. The probe used to collect water samples has been reprogrammed to improve collection of data. Big Bend is currently looking to hire a contractor to help install 3 water quality testing stations. The new stations will be used to collect water samples directly from the water mains rather than individual homes. Samples can be obtained at any time from the new sites.
The pump was recently replaced that runs the soda ash feeder to our water system. The older pump was 10 years old and not repairable. Soda ash is needed to reduce the pH of Big Bend’s water to reduce the potential for reaction to solder used on older water pipes and faucets.
Big Bend is also investigating options to have a contract with an on-call contractor who would be available for water system emergencies and repairs to our distributions lines. Work continues implementing the projects in the Water System 5-year Plan approved last year. And thanks to Board Member, Scott Hoskin, for stepping in this spring to manage our system when both Dick King and Kim Peterson were out of town.
Be a Good Neighbor
Neighbor Day is a special day set aside each year to reach out to neighbors, make new friends and express thanks to those who help make the neighborhood a great place to live. Neighbor Day this year was May 4. We can all be good neighbors throughout the year working together to make Big Bend as good as it can be in the future. If you haven’t yet done so, reach out and connect with your neighbors.
Annual Homeowners Meeting
The annual homeowners meeting is scheduled for Saturday, July 13. As usual, it will be held in the work shed at the entrance on Fir Road and start at 10:00am. Mark this date and time on your calendars and plan to attend. There will be two Board positions open for nominations.
Note: If you are unable to attend the meeting and plan to vote by proxy, your signed proxy authorization must be received by the Big Bend Administrative Secretary one week in advance of the meeting (July 6).
The Board always appreciates your ideas and comments.
Feel free to leave us a message on the Big Bend messaging center line at 360-793-7852 or send us an email at this address: bigbendtalk@gmail.com.
Sincerely,
Your Board of Directors
Big Bend Landowners Association
