Watching Our Water Ways

Battle of the boat launch takes a new twist over trust

October 3rd, 2009 by cdunagan

The latest episode in the battle for a boat launch at Lake Tahuyeh focuses on four fishing groups who were under the impression that a state boat launch for kayaks and canoes was a done deal — then the plans were canceled.

Lake Tahuyeh property owned by the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife

The groups feel betrayed because an official with the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife withdrew the application for a permit after saying that nothing would happen until November, when a lawsuit was scheduled for trial. See my story in Thursday’s Kitsap Sun.

This story has had many twists and turns since 2004. Officials with the Tahuyeh Lake Community Club also have grievances against Fish and Wildlife officials, who they believed had agreed to abandon plans for a boat launch and sell the lakefront property.

Now, it appears a lawsuit filed by the community club may go to court. The issue: whether the state has the legal right to open the lake to the public, by way of owning a parcel of waterfront property.

Comments posted to my latest story generally support the community club’s position of keeping the public off the lake. This seems to be a turn, since supporters of the boat launch were well represented in previous stories.

I’ll keep the informal poll open a few more days to see if anyone wants to add their opinions on this issue. See the right column and vote if you have not already done so.

Here are some of the stories written about this issue:
Oct. 1, 2009: Fishing Groups Question ‘Secret Dealings’ on Lake Tahuyeh
Aug. 20, 2009: Lake Tahuyeh Boat Launch Project Stirs Politics, Passions
July 16, 2009: State Won’t Pursue Boat Launch at Lake Tahuyeh
Dec. 14, 2007: Hearing Examiner Says Lake Tahuyeh Boat Launch Needs a Plan
Oct. 11, 2007: Lake Residents Express Objections to Tahuyeh Boat Launch
Oct. 6, 2007: Tahuyeh Boat Launch Goes Before Hearing Examiner
April 14, 2007: Changes Could Minimize Plan for Tahuyeh Access
April 5, 2007: Sportsmen, Homeowners Take Sides on Lake Access
Nov. 20, 2004: Residents: ‘The lake is ours’

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Tags: Lake Tahuyeh, Lake Tahuyeh boat launch, Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife

This entry was posted on Saturday, October 3rd, 2009 at 10:17 pm by cdunagan and is filed under Fishing interests, Lakes, Land use, Recreation, Waterfront residents. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

One Response to “Battle of the boat launch takes a new twist over trust”

1. Karen Monise Says:
   October 4th, 2009 at 6:47 pm

   Secret dealings are nothing new in the Tahuyeh Lake Community Club (TLCC). Without secrecy, its president would have been fired long ago; she would be forced to take financial responsibility for her own defiant behavior, and there would be no need for lawsuits including this one.

   Her eagerness to sue may have unforeseen long-term consequences for TLCC – with the boat launch issue being just the tip of the iceberg.

   After criminal charges were filed against her and her husband for removing protected vegetation without proper permits, she and TLCC’s board sued WDFW, Ecology and Kitsap County for the right to work in the lake without permits. (Pierce County Case No. 99-2-06453-0)

   And when she told the state that it had no right to enforce laws on this lake because there was no public access here, she likely gave the state no choice but to build one. (JARPA May 1998)

   During an orgy of lawsuits TLCC’s board was paying two Silverdale attorneys to prevent the lawful inspection of the association’s records, while fifteen Seattle attorneys and support personnel were generating $80,000 in billable hours for the lawsuit against the state.

   In the October 24, 2000 settlement agreement WDFW agreed not to reopen the criminal charges against the president and her husband. Was that the real reason behind the lawsuit and the reason the membership never saw the settlement agreement?

   Also in the agreement, which was signed by the president, WDFW gave TLCC permission to obtain permits to lower the lake level.

   But during the December 2007 heavy rainfall several waterfront homes were damaged by extraordinarily high lake levels. Where was the president? Had she forgotten about the agreement she signed? Was this negligence? Has she made TLCC forever legally responsible to prevent flooding? And how will we know?

   What long-term consequences are lurking behind the policy of secrecy?