Roll Call

Review and Approve Agenda

Public Comment on topics, which are not listed on the Agenda

Approval of minutes

7:10 PM

Stephanie Warden - Director of DDES

She is not here for any proposed land use changes. They do updates of the Comp Plan every 4 years, and there isn’t much new so it is status quo. She recognizes that they are providing a service, and that there are opportunities for improvement. Ms. Warden introduced Ms. Higgens who has attended our meetings in the past.

Joelyn Higgens

DDES is now open 7-5 Monday – Thursday. Their happy hour is 7 AM to 9:30 AM. The health department has moved from Bellevue to their office in Renton. Ms. Higgens said that there is a new online permit search. You see 99.9 percent of what Joelyn sees at work. Joelyn passed out a handout, which gives out the instruction for permits. This links into the I-Mac system, and the routing for the permit is there. The review group information is also there, and it's followed by related permits for each parcel. Eric asked, about the routing. The comments in relationship to each permit are listed. Patrick asked about his neighbor who has a vacant lot where a large trench has been dug. Patrick wants to know who to contact on a hazardous trench. Joelyn said that code enforcement should be called. If they don’t respond, then Patrick should call Joelyn. Joelyn said it sounds like they are trenching for power lines. Mike Tonda, a citizen, commented that he took the Yes for DDES class. He enjoyed the class, and said that it is great to have that knowledge. Warren asked how new this is. It has been available for six weeks in terms of all the information. Joelyn also announced that there is some website suitability testing. She would like to have some volunteers to test the website. If a person wants to contact someone at the County their email address is firstname.lastname. kingcounty.gov. It was suggested that Warren and Mike get involved in testing the website. They also commented that there is a farm pad workshop coming soon. A farm pad (historically critter pads) is used to raise livestock and equipment above flood plain. A horse property workshop will be held April 15 by Joelyn, and an April 9 meeting is scheduled on Vashon Island. Ms. Warden added that the economic downturn has affected her department. There are 29 layoff notices that were sent out within the last two weeks. There was a task force that was implemented that looked at their fees. They are implementing the recommendations that were made by the task force. Gordon Mormon from our Council and Gwendolyn High from 4 Creeks were also on the committee. There will be a more detailed report that will be communicated. The committee is no longer meeting, but will probably get together sometime in July. Permitting is down 40% from what they have forecast. There are 21 vacancies that will not be filled. The projection from actual permitting was down 5%. If they hadn’t been holding vacancies the layoffs would be worse. The department has about 160 staff members, and they have been as high as 350. Bev commented that we are very happy to see that Joelyn is still with them. Warren is very happy with Harry. Ms. Warden will get us the exact numbers. Warren asked about rural stewardship. The waiting list is very short. Ms. Warden said that they are still trying to simplify things. Only the folks that do septic and plumbing from the health department moved to their building.

7:45 PM

Council Business/Committee Assignments

Notice of intent to adopt public rules – fire apparatus

The topic of Minneapolis Sprinklers in all single family houses was discussed. The process is going on at the State level now, and we have to respond by the end of the year. The new regulation will go into place by July of 2010 if supported, and it is hoped that by January 2011 this will implemented. Dave asked how this will be implemented in remodels, and was told that the regulations will not apply in a remodel. This will be for new construction only. What is the pressure for this change? There are statistics that say that if there are sprinklers in a home, that lives are saved. For the average size home the cost is about $1500 plus 1.25 per square foot. Studies show that over time you recoup this cost through your insurance. We were told that the Fire Marshall will send us information, and the new regulations have already passed at the national level. To make changes we would have to argue that there is something unique about this area. It is true that not all states follow this; however, 5-6 years ago we switched over. Prior to that we had our own rules. This is adopted by the State legislatively, and typically the County will adopt it. There will be public comments on this. Steve said that Washington has the opportunity to amend some of the requirements.

Sustainable Housing

Comments are due April 28 and there workshops that are sent up. None are in our area. There are 5 properties that will be up for sale, and they are looking at developers and non-profits to look at these properties. We were notified, but it doesn’t appear to affect us. The desire is to get sustainable, affordable, and green housing. What is the process timeline? The next step is a more formal request for proposals. On a parallel track this will be sent to the King County Council. The health department doesn’t fall under DDES. All the processes can run concurrently. Additions and remodels are taking 8-10 weeks. New houses are in the 3-4 month range.

Guest speaker questions

Eric raised the point that one of the speakers was a little off target, and that it might be best for us to give questions in advance. Steve asked how we would do this. It was suggested that we submit the questions in advance, and they are available when the speaker arrives. If the speaker cancels, then they will be put on hold. It was suggested that when people contact Steve that he lets us know who has contacted him, and we let him know what questions we have. It was suggested that the questions be filtered to the chair. Steve does not send the agenda out to the speakers, but he does send them an email that they are on the agenda. It was also suggested that the agenda’s be on-line, and Peter added that they are already on-line. It was also suggested that we look into how we access the UAC’s though the King County website. Joelyn will send the information to Peter. The point was made that we aren’t trying to alter their presentation, but that we want them to be prepared to answer the question.

Puget Sound Clean Air

A comment was made that there seems to be a lot of different agencies that are involved in the burning topic, and not a lot of agreement. Items are being proposed, and then being taken off the proposals. Steve has contacted Jim Nolan, and has not heard back from them.

Fire District 43

Was suggested as a speaker as they are currently working on their budget.

Critical Area Ordinance

We would like someone to talk to us in June.

Budget Information

We would like someone to speak on this topic.

Surface water management

Warren would like information on how the fees are determined.

Unincorporated Area Newsletter

Peter will submit comments to the Unincorporated Newsletter, and include our website.

Fireworks petitions

Sonya Bowden contacted Steve, and the West Hill Community Council would like our support of a firework ban.

Eric said that last year he had a critical areas review that didn’t go well. In talking about the mitigation it sounded like on site could be done. What he took away is that if you’re willing to pay through the nose you can get what you want done. If someone is willing to pay through the nose, where does the money go? Off-site mitigation usually goes to a pipeline or road project. They don’t have a lot of examples of this because usually on-site mitigation can be done. Off-site mitigation usually applies to the large projects. It can be expensive, but from an environmental standpoint it makes sense. Warren wants to encourage Stephanie to let people develop their property in the rural area without just saying no.

One of the items that we talked about is the importance of having volunteer opportunities listed on our websites. Ravensdale park clean-up was on March 28, 2009

We are going to add the website to the minute’s www.greatermaplevalleyareacouncil .org

Dave – will be working on emergency communication in the rural area. He is an amateur radio operator, and has the expertise to assist with the structure of the emergency communications.

Warren – Is till looking into a plaque for Henry.

Bridgette from Councilmember Dunn was here. She reminded us that Mr. Dunn spoke about some topics on the budget. He spoke about the Unincorporated utility tax that is moving through the state. She provided an outline from Representative Hunter from the Medina area. He would like to take some restrictions away from how money is spent, and there is some information on taxation in the Unincorporated area.

9:30 PM

Adjourn