"Group sues over WSU water rights decision"

I was struck with the similarity between this quote from urban planner Richard Carson's essay, "Wicked Thoughts at a Public Hearing:"

The outraged and uninformed neighbor spends money to hire a lawyer and possibly other experts to prove that a proposed development project is an abomination against nature (their nature) and violates all manner of codes and the comprehensive plan. This outrage results in an appeal of a staff or planning commission decision to the locally elected officials, and ultimately to a land use appellate board or a state court of appeals.

In every state there is a cottage industry made up of professionals who make a living aiding and abetting such unhappy neighbors. I say "cottage industry" because many of these folks pride themselves on their anti-establishment and a counter-culture lifestyle that is strangely at odds with the often gluttonous lifestyles of the property owners they represent. It is a perverse fact of life that instead of buying the now offending property, the neighboring property owner ends up financially supporting people he (or she) otherwise would shun. You know, like lawyers with names like Freedom Child.

And this quote from today's Daily News:

A group of conservationists is continuing its legal fight against a decision that allows Washington State University to consolidate its water rights.

Rachael Paschal Osborn, a Spokane-based attorney with the Center for Environmental Law and Policy, filed a lawsuit Thursday against WSU, the Washington State Department of Ecology and the Washington Pollution Control Hearings Board.

Osborn represents the Palouse Water Conservation Network, the Palouse Group Sierra Club and Pullman-area resident Scotty Cornelius.

I just want to know who is financially supporting the anti-development cottage industry. Prince Cornelius is not doing it on his own.

From today's Moscow-Pullman Daily News:

A group of conservationists is continuing its legal fight against a decision that allows Washington State University to consolidate its water rights.

Rachael Paschal Osborn, a Spokane-based attorney with the Center for Environmental Law and Policy, filed a lawsuit Thursday against WSU, the Washington State Department of Ecology and the Washington Pollution Control Hearings Board.

The lawsuit, filed in Whitman County Superior Court, is a request for review of the Washington Pollution Control Hearings Board's April decision that shot down the group's appeal of an Ecology decision granting WSU's water rights consolidation.

Osborn represents the Palouse Water Conservation Network, the Palouse Group Sierra Club and Pullman-area resident Scotty Cornelius. They claim the WSU consolidation will allow WSU to annually pump more than three times as much water as it currently does.

The Pollution Control Hearings Board based its decision on the state's 2003 Municipal Water Law, which allowed Ecology to issue water rights based on how much a municipal system's pumps and pipes can handle, rather than how much water actually is needed. The Municipal Water Law was challenged by conservationists and a handful of American Indian tribes, and key parts of it were ruled unconstitutional by a King County Superior Court judge in June.

The King County ruling could affect the amount of water WSU is allowed to pump on an annual basis, considering the university is deemed a municipality under the water law.

The consolidation permit allows the university to pump up to 5,300 acre feet, or 1.72 billion gallons, of water each year. However, WSU only pumped 505 million gallons of water in 2007, when irrigation began on the new golf course. That's an increase from the 477 million gallons it pumped in 2006.

Osborn said the King County decision provides additional ammo for her case.

"The board found WSU's water rights were valid based on the Municipal Water Law. Now, King County has held that it's not constitutional. So the very law the board and Ecology relied on is invalid," she said. "We've known all along that these cases would affect each other."

WSU spokesman James Tinney said university officials are hoping for a positive outcome.

"The substance of (the lawsuit) was not a big surprise, but we think our position will be upheld in court," he said. "We agreed with the Department of Ecology's original decision and the Pollution Control Hearings Board's original decision. We hope that will prevail in court this time around, too."

In 2006, Ecology granted WSU's request to consolidate its seven wells. The Pollution Control Hearings Board reviewed the conservationists' initial appeal in January, and ruled April 17 that they did not prove that the consolidation would negatively affect other wells in the area. The board also denied the group's request for reconsideration.

Last month, Osborn filed an appeal of the hearings board's April decision in Whitman County Superior Court.

The group points to the university's new 18-hole Palouse Ridge Golf Club as a project that will create more drawdown of the area's primary water source.

Osborn said the case in Whitman County Superior Court will allow oral argument and testimony in front of a judge only. Ecology and WSU have 20 days from Thursday to file a response to the lawsuit. A conference likely will then take place to set a court date.

Hawkins 3-Fer, Part One

It seems the Whitman County Commissioners approved the formation of a Revenue Development Area in the Pullman-Moscow corridor over the objections of King Solomon's heir to the Aquinut throne, Prince Cornelius.

Cornelius is as factually-challenged about the Hawkins development as he is the Palouse Ridge Golf Club. Maybe he should spend more time Googling and less time putting.

Scotty seems to believe that Hawkins shouldn't be built because "the closest District 12 station is in west Pullman, more than 7 miles away." Apparently, Prince Cornelius didn't catch Item #7 in the draft Letter of Intent between Hawkins and the county:

On the Development site, Hawkins will build a rural fire station and donate the land and building to Fire District 12.

Oops. No wonder that whole golf course appeal thing isn't working out too well.

You can read Cornelius' RDA comments here, (is that a WSU fax number that he used?) as well as those from fellow Aquinut David Hall of Moscow, who quoted the New York Times (the case cracker!) to the commissioners, and Queen Nancy's pruned response.

UPDATE: Despite Chaney's downplaying of the matter, Dale Courtney at Right Mind is pursuing the blatant lie the Queen has been caught in. Seems she claimed at a council meeting that Whitman County sent a letter to Moscow soliciting input on the LIFT proposal. There was no such letter. Dale also has a copy of the original draft of Her Honor's LIFT comments, as well as the draft RDA proposal. Check them out here.

From today's Moscow-Pullman Daily News:

Board moves forward with LIFT plans;
Approval of Revenue Development Area was necessary for grant request

Whitman County commissioners unanimously approved the formation of a Revenue Development Area in the corridor that runs between Pullman and Moscow at a public hearing in Colfax on Monday.

The formation of the RDA clears another hurdle for the county in its effort to secure $18.1 million in grants through Washington's Local Infrastructure Financing Tool program. The RDA - which encompasses about 300 acres, including the site of Hawkins Companies' retail development and surrounding properties - is a geographic area in which public infrastructure improvements may be financed with state-collected sales taxes.

The program awards $2.5 million annually to city and county governments across the state in an effort to create local jobs and increase economic growth. Counties and cities can apply for up to $1 million a year for the next 25 years under the program.

LIFT money is awarded from the state's portion of the county's 7.8 percent sales tax. The state will recoup its money and benefit from additional tax revenue from the developed land that might otherwise be left vacant.

The county hopes to use a significant portion of the grant money to cover the costs of bonds that will pay for the construction of public infrastructure at the site of the Hawkins development on the Pullman-Moscow Highway.

In February, the county approved a preliminary development agreement to enter into a public-private partnership with Boise-based Hawkins. According to the agreement, the county will finance the construction of public infrastructure at the site through the sale of $9.1 million in bonds.

However, Public Works Director Mark Storey said money still will be available for additional improvements within the RDA.

During the hearing, Pullman resident Darl Roberts questioned the location and the size of the RDA and its proximity to Moscow rather than Pullman. He said it would likely only perpetuate the problem of businesses choosing to locate in Moscow rather than Pullman.

Commissioner Michael Largent addressed Roberts' concerns by explaining that the grant money also would free up county money and expand the county's capacity to invest in other areas.

"This doesn't preclude us from spending county dollars outside of the RDA," Largent said.

Storey said extending the size of the RDA to encompass more area along the Pullman-Moscow Highway or Airport Road actually would decrease the county's chances of beating out other entities competing for LIFT money.

Commissioner Greg Partch said Pullman still stands to benefit from the RDA if the county and city can come to terms on a sales-tax sharing plan for the corridor. Both the county and city would receive equal portions of the sales tax generated in the corridor.

"It's good for both of us and we have become partners rather than competitors," he said.

Partch added that the RDA and LIFT grant would move Whitman County closer to controlling its financial destiny.

"We can't depend on the federal government and the state government," Partch said.

The state also stands to benefit in the coming years from growth in the RDA.

"A million dollars would be a very small percentage of what is generated in that area," Storey said.

Partch estimated that the state will generate $250 million in sales tax over 20 years. He said that was a conservative figure.

"It's a great investment for the state," he said.

Partch said Whitman County should have a strong chance against other entities vying for the money.

"I think we are going to be right on the top of the pile," Partch said. "We think we are going to be very competitive in this."

The county has until June 30 to submit its completed application to the state.

"We are in that time frame and everything is moving along," Partch said. "This is just one more step - and a big step - in the process."

LIFT money is awarded by the Community Economic Revitalization Board, which is expected to announce its decision Sept. 18.