Despite the cold wind whipping hair across their faces, the protesters’ tears were visible. In dismay, one man turned his back, refusing to look. With a furrowed brow, one woman watched as she gripped a sign reading “Pavement is forever.”

The chip sealing of Watmough Head Road had begun.

“Where is the democracy in this?” asked protester Tex Gieling, who has lived near the Lopez Island rural road since 1955. Over those years she watched the road change from one lane to two lanes and from dirt to gravel.

Nearly 30 Lopezians gathered near Watmough on Aug. 8 and 9 to peacefully protest the chip sealing of Watmough Head Road, which is just under a mile on the south end of Lopez Island.

To Geiling, the failure to stop the chip sealing, a pavement surface treatment combining asphalt and aggregate, represents something larger than the state of the road: it indicates a failed system of a government meant to act on behalf of the people.

“We’re supposed to shut up and go away,” said Gieling. “It’s very frustrating.”

How it all happened

The chip seal on Watmough was included in the county’s Six Year Transportation Improvement Plan, which was approved by the council in July 2010, but the wording was in general language that did not cite specific roads.

There were no signs or mailers notifying neighbors that the road would be chip sealed, which Russ Harvey, public work’s operation manager, said is common practice, but recently upcoming chip-seal programs were announced on the county council and the public works website.

On June 14, the county council held a meeting in response to letters sent from critics and supporters of the chip seal.

County councilman Jamie Stephens, Lopez/Shaw, was surprised by the controversy.

At that meeting, Stephens made a motion to give citizens 30 days to make a commitment of $70,000 over a 10-year period for the maintenance costs of the gravel on Watmough Head Road; if they did not, the council would proceed with the project.

According to Stephens, the county will save $7,000 each year after the initial cost of chip sealing the road. He said the motion was a “sort of compromise” and “a plan to save money.” The motion failed.

Councilman Rich Peterson made a motion delaying the chip-seal for one month for citizens to develop a funding strategy for the $7,000 and for those supporting the chip-seal to voice their opinions at the next meeting. Peterson’s motion was carried.

At the next meeting, on July 26, John Sangster, a resident of Watmough Head Road, presented the council with more than 300 signatures on a petition opposing the chip-seal.

“We questioned the $7,000 and believed it was a lot less than that [to maintain the road],” said Sangster. “For private citizens to be asked to pay public works for a road that locals and visitors use sets a precedent. What will they be asking for next?”

Bob Myhr, a Lopezian and former county councilman, viewed the motion as a “sort of blackmail.”

“If I had known the road was listed on the plan, I would have gone ballistic,” said Myhr.

Stephens says that if someone wanted to know which roads were on that plan, they could have asked.

Sangster mentioned the San Juan County Scenic Roads manual (at sanjuanco.com) which states, “Consideration during the planning phase [of the protection, conservation, and enhancement of rural roads] is the identification and evaluation of social factors, including supportive property owners.”

Three people came in support of the chip seal.

After both sides voiced their opinions, Stephens made a motion for general deferment of chip sealing the road. Council members Stephens, Howard Rosenfeld and Lovell Pratt voted in support of the motion and Richard Fralick, Patty Miller and Rich Peterson voted against the motion.

Stephens said he voted to defer the chip seal because of the signatures on the petition.

The county council requires four votes to take any action and because of the tie vote, no action was taken to override the earlier approval of the chip-seal at Watmough.

On the day of the road work, county administrator Pete Rose and Russ Harvey discussed the issue with the people gathered in protest.

Rose offered this explanation: “I gave the council an opportunity to vote on this and then to make another motion to defer the chip-seal. No motion was made.”

Community response during the chip sealing

Not all Lopezians opposed the project.

Eugene and Renee VanDePutte have lived on Watmough Head Road for 30 years on property that’s been in the family for a century. For years they have asked public works to chip-seal the road. They cited dust, mud, and washboard surfaces as problems they faced with the gravel road.

“I believe there are more people who support this good decision the council is making,” said Eugene on the day the road was sealed. “I don’t want another year of dust.”

Opponents brought up several issues, including the potential toxic run-off to the wetland and Watmough Bight, a feeding ground for juvenile Chinook salmon and as a nursery for Pacific cod. There is also a concern over the possibility of an increase in vehicle speed and traffic, and the difficulty of maneuvering slicker  roads in winter.

“If you change one thing then other things will change,” said Geiling.

“It will,” many echoed in unison.

“I’m sorry, but we’re moving forward,” Rose repeated several times, citing the benefit of a stable surface and the cost saving aspect of the chip seal.

Harvey added that most county roads will be paved in the future, but only a few are done a year. In 2012, Public Works plans to only chip seal roughly 1.7 miles on False Bay Drive on San Juan Island.

Callie North, one of the most vocal protesters, doesn’t live on Watmough, but as a Lopezian she wants to have a voice in the community especially when it comes to environmental issues.

“We are fighting to keep things the way they are,” she said waving a giant flag imprinted with an image of the earth as the trucks rolled down Watmough Head Road.

“Lopezians are civil and nice people,” said Rose. “To have to decide against them is one of the more difficult parts of my job.”

The future

According to Pratt, the council is amending the plan to list specific sites where chip-seal will occur.

“It’s a lesson learned for improvement, we’re going forward to make it more clear,” Pratt said. “We want to be responsive to citizens.”

Russ Harvey said Public Works is now going to have public notices at least two years in advance.

For Myhr, the amendment for those changes are a “band-aid that won’t help in this scenario.”