Camas recently posted a public notice on it's official page to do so (there was no posting date provided for that notice). While this public notice page is technically at a public address and should satisfy the requirement, some readers may not have been aware it was there as the items posted rarely make it to the city's main homepage and the page itself if not linked to often, if ever, in more broad city communications. In some instances, the city is legally required by the state to give public notice for things like State Environmental Policy Act (SEPA) issues or the addition/cancellation of public meetings as mandated by the Open Public Meetings Act (OPMA).
The newest notice of public hearing is titled,
Comprehensive Six (6) Year Street Plan, June 1, 7:00 PM Zoom Meeting
Outside of the title above, there were no additional details provided. The actual comprehensive plan referenced was not attached to the Public Hearing announcement nor was a summary provided.
Readers can download/view the PDF that the city released below. WATCH Camas has reached out to the city of Camas to provide these supporting documents and will update this post should they provide them. The notice does say that, "further information may be obtained at City Hall, 616 Northeast Fourth Avenue" but city hall is currently closed.
If you or your neighbors have questions related to this proposal you can direct them to James Carothers, Engineering Manager, at (360) 817-1561 or email at jcarothers@cityofcamas.us
UPDATE: As of 5/26, the city of Camas has not responded to WATCH Camas' emailed public records request for supporting documents. Indirectly though, they posted an update on the city's homepage (but not on its Twitter feed) a couple days after this post was made. That was also after the email request was sent and after they'd posted the information quietly to the public notices page linked and described above. You can find those (three) new documents and the city's announcement here.
UPDATE 2: Hours after the last update to this article (6 days after WATCH Camas' initial request) the city responded by publicly releasing the information sought. Here is their response as written:
Here is a link to the materials - https://www.cityofcamas.us/97-public-works/publicworksnews/1625-city-of-camas-6-year-street-plan
UPDATE 2: Hours after the last update to this article (6 days after WATCH Camas' initial request) the city responded by publicly releasing the information sought. Here is their response as written:
This is just another example of change you can impact Camas. This information was not public before the inquiry and likely would not have been prior to tonight's council meeting as it wasn't attached to the initial public notice as detailed above.
Keep #WATCHING Camas!
UPDATE: As of 5/26, the city of Camas has not responded to WATCH Camas' emailed public records request for supporting documents. Indirectly though, they posted an update on the city's homepage (but not on its Twitter feed) a couple days after this post was made. That was also after the email request was sent and after they'd posted the information quietly to the public notices page linked and described above. You can find those (three) new documents and the city's announcement here.
So where is the actual plan for our review? The information posted by the City says, "The purpose of this public hearing is to review and consider adoption of the 2021-2026 Six Year Street Plan". But they don't actually provide the plan. Are we supposed to review the plan for the first time during the meeting, and then consider its adoption 10 minutes later? Clearly, the plan already exists, so why can't we receive a copy of it PRIOR to the public hearing?
The 6 year comprehensive plan will be interesting to look at. This report will give everyone a "peek" at the City's plan regarding the North Shore build out, and it's supporting infrastructure. We will need to pay close attention to the details of North Shore Blvd, additional round about plans and other arterials/side roads that will potential support the growth out North. Unfortunately, if the Lake bridge on Everett is never addressed and widened, the traffic situation will always be a bottle-neck for the area. Maybe the report will address the bridge on 500?
The bigger question will be - Who's going to pay the large, public bills to pay for the new growth and infrastructure. We'll need to watch the plans, and follow the money trail to make sure the plans are equitable for all Camas citizens. We all have many roads that are deteriorating at an accelerated rate now after 20+ yrs of occasional patch work.