Shoreline Program update discussed in Odessa

Last Thursday at the Old Town Hall, representatives of a coalition comprising Lincoln County and the towns of Reardan and Odessa met with two different groups of Odessa citizens, those living within the Town of Odessa and those living outside the town limits along the banks of Crab Creek. Through a grant from the Washington State Department of Ecology, the firm Anchor QEA, LLC of Kennewick has prepared a Draft Shoreline Inventory, Analysis and Characterization Report.

Ben Floyd of QEA and Dr. Kevin Lindsey, a hydrogeologist known to many in the Odessa area for his work with the Groundwater Management Area (GWMA), gave an outline of what their work would entail over approximately two years. Also present were Jeremy Sykes from the state Dept. of Ecology and Courtney Thompson, the planner for Lincoln County. Basically, the job of the entities involved is to update the Shoreline Master Program originally created in the 1970s. The state legislature has now mandated that these master programs be updated every eight years.

Both Ecology and Lincoln County must approve the updated Master Program before it goes into effect. The overall purpose of the master program is to provide a balance between development and environmental protection, Floyd said.

Responding to questions from audience members, Floyd emphasized that any current land use will not be affected by the update to the master program. Current usage, including agricultural usage, is grandfathered into the existing plan.

Odessa mayor Doug Plinski, as well as some residents expressed concerns about vegetation along the creek bank through town, and in some cases deep in the creek bed itself. Several years of low water flow have made it possible for trees to take root, and homeowners and city crews are worried about what uprooted trees might do downstream, should the area experience heavy precipitation at some future time. The presenters said they would bring the concerns back to their colleagues to see what might be done.

Other residents were concerned with their properties that lie adjacent to the creek bank or in the flood plain or flood way as defined by FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency). Currently, they are being told by FEMA that they cannot build, or rebuild, on those properties. The presenters told them that it is possible to petition FEMA for a change in the definition of the flood plain (or way; no one appeared to know if there was a difference in the two terms). The town of Wilson Creek had recently done just that. Although Wilson Creek was unable to achieve everything they had hoped for, they were nevertheless pleased to have been granted some concessions.

The presenters said in conclusion that several more meetings will be held to discuss various issues with Odessa and Odessa-area residents. These forums allow citizens to say their piece and express their concerns. Anyone with concerns about how the updated shoreline plan will look should make it a point to attend the next meeting. All future meetings will be announced in The Odessa Record.