Roll Call

Review and Approve Agenda

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

Approval of minutes

7:10 PM

Veteran’s Human Services Levy

Joel Espey, Sadikifu Akina-James, Cynthia Lefever

The goal of the Human Services Levy is to reduce homelessness, emergency medical costs, reduce criminal justice system involvement, and increase self-sufficiency by means of employment. Cynthia Lefever is our representative for District 9, and spoke about her son who was wounded in Iraq. Cynthia asked that we promote Veteran’s services in our area, and let people know that more people with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder PTSD will be moving into our area. Cynthia said that the families and spouses of Veteran’s are also suffering from PTSD. Cynthia is very persistent, and has stepped up on her sons behalf. Many of the young men and women serving on the line do not have mom’s as persistent as she is. There are former military personnel whose claims are being denied, and she is upset with this. There is an appeal process, and there are individuals who have to pay medical expenses for PTSD out of their own pocket because they are not receiving the services they need to integrate back into the community. All the people on the board are volunteers, and Cynthia wants us to know that the Veteran’s and Human Services Levy is important because we have people serving 2-4 tours in Iraq and Afghanistan. These men and women who volunteer to serve our country come home with PTSD, and need help to integrate back into society. The National Guard and Reserves are the next group to be impacted. One of the requirements of the Levy is that services are taken to areas that in the past weren’t normally served. The GMVUAC was provided with a list of locations in our area where Veteran’s can go for services. Citizens can find out information on the King County website. The highest concentration of Veteran’s that need assistance are in Federal Way, Covington, Maple Valley and Black Diamond. The question was asked if there was a reason why the concentration is in the rural areas. The answer is because it is peaceful in the non-urban areas. The levy will up for vote again in 2011.

7:40 PM

Council Business

DDES Permit Process Improvements, Gordon – Gordon would like to propose that the growth management committee look at the details of the DDES new permit process improvement. Peter will send out an email, and ask the committee members to comment. Harry Reinert is our contact at DDES. Gordon didn’t see anything that he was greatly concerned about, but he would like to see a formal answer. There are some supporting documents that Gordon didn’t look at, but he will. Peter commented that Harry responded to our comments in every area and they were pretty detailed. Warren would like to join the Growth Management Committee, and he will be taking Kevin’s place.

Black Diamond MPDs Status, Peter - The letters of concern were sent out to the county and state groups that we decided in the last meeting. The letters are on the website, and Paul Reitenbach and Stephanie Warden were copied. WSDOT wrote a letter back to Black Diamond dated January 25. Even though there are letters going around the ball is moving. Beginning March 6 there will be public meetings. The meetings will have Yarrow Bay and other stakeholders who will comment. There will be an Appeals Hearing Examiner that will be looking at Master Plan Communities. Public testimony will be heard March 10, 11, and 12. All the cities that submitted comments had to do with transportation particularly critical intersections. There were 6 citizen groups that appealed. 98051 Voices has asked to sit down with Yarrow Bay at a public meeting, and they have agreed to meet. Yarrow Bay is the group that is also developing the Donut Hole. Yarrow Bay is trying through the Hearing Examiner to have both their applications considered separately. The 98051 Voices are also concerned about the park development in Ravensdale. They have run into some snags with traffic and drainage. Paul will be coming to our next meeting with Matthew Nolan from Transportation, and will hopefully add some insight. Steve received a response from Bridgett Elliot. Highways of State Wide significances are not subject to Transportation Concurrency. Steve will forward the email to Bev. Currently there are seven schools being proposed, and three of them are going into the rural area. We also received a response from Noel Gerken encouraging us to send the letter to The Voice, Times and The Reporter.

Marissa – KCTV is doing a piece on the 6 UAC’s. They want to film successes in the community, and it would be about a 10 minute presentation. Steve is being asked to assign someone to speak on our behalf, and all the UAC’s will be involved in the project. Participating will help with inform people about the UAC’s. Ravensdale Park, Hobart Ball Field, and the Train Show are all projects that we could consider. There will be a couple of meetings, and then the camera crews will come out.

Website Guidelines, Bev - One of the topics we discussed is to update the bylaws in several areas that impact the website, and expand the job description of the Corresponding Secretary and Recording Secretary. We thought that we should state in the bylaws that the Corresponding Secretary has the authority to update and modify the website to ensure it supports our community vision. We also noticed that the bylaws didn’t state that the Chair needs to approve all outside Correspondence. We also felt that the Corresponding Secretary should have the authority to remove outdated and malicious information from the website immediately should it be compromised, and recommended including a backup like the Recording Secretary. This person will be responsible for the website in the absence of the Corresponding Secretary, and retain a copy of the password. We suggested that we add that outside organizations or citizens should contact the Council through the Chair to obtain time at our committee meetings. It was also suggested that we consider setting up our own email address that can be included in a flyer on the Council. Some members of the Council did not want to consider the proposal. Lauren Smith has found some policy information for the King County website, and I asked her if she can scan it into a PDF file and email it. The Bylaw Committee will meet to discuss any changes.

Strategic Plan Roads Services Meeting, Steve – Steve is currently serving on this committee and about 15 people from cities and the UAC’s are on the committee. The committee was formed to improve communication between the different entities in King County. Most of the people in attendance received their information the day before the meeting or at the meeting. The document provided was written in a way that the average person would ask what the goal of the committee is. Part of the document lists ways for the County to increase revenue. It was a round table discussion, and the general public is not convinced that the money is being spent well. Individuals believe that King County needs to tell citizens how much money is generated by the Unincorporated Area in the Road tax. It was recommended that Linda Dougherty visit our group, and explain what the rural criteria is for Road’s. Four Creeks and Upper Bear Creek UAC’s were also there.

February Executive Meeting, Steve – February 10 Steve will be meeting with the Executive. Members felt that Transportation, Transparency in Government, and urban development that impacts the rural unincorporated areas are a priority. Steve was asked to remind the Executive that we need the infrastructure in place at the time of development.

Fire Commissioners Election, Dave and Warren – Dave is our committee representative, and Warren is also attending. Department morale is high; however, they are not willing to discuss why the last Chief’s contract was not renewed. Dave said that he believes that two Commissioners cannot be in the same meeting at the same time as this would be considered a public meeting. They are not putting anything on the ballot for 2010. The public ratings benefit system is still being discussed. The next meeting is February 10^th. Businesses will be impacted the most. Dave and Warren have some concerns about two of the Commissioners. They are still researching, and may provide more information to the council next month. They also have concerns that the public meeting was not recorded, and the minutes are not detailed in terms of what the speakers said.

General Discussion - Les had back surgery, and he is not doing well. Currently he is at Overlake Hospital

9:30 PM

Adjourn