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January 2010 Meeting Minutes
7:00 PM Call to Order Pledge of Allegiance Roll Call Public comment on topics not listed on the Agenda Review and approve Agenda Approval of minutes
7:10 PM: Council Business Council Member Elections: Steve reviewed the results of the election, and all Councilmember’s were reelected. Dave Fields and Rob Morris were reelected to their seats in the Hobart area and Les Dawson and Patrick Seiver were reelected to their seats in the River Heights area. James Callow was elected and sworn in as a new member to fill an open position in the Ravensdale Area. We had three write-in individuals that tied in the Francis area, and Steve read their names. Bruce and Carl were in attendance. Ravensdale was won by Joan, and she decided not to take the position. James Callow was sworn in for Ravensdale. Steve reviewed the requirements of the office for those considering the council. We have a number of people interested in the council that Steve hasn’t been able to contact, and he proposed sending a letter to those he cannot reach. It was suggested that Steve’s email address and phone number be included in the letter, and Steve will draft the letter himself. The traditional coin toss will be used in the event of a tie.
Election of Executive Committee Officers: Treasurer: Susan Dawson - Voted into office Recording Secretary: Bev Tonda - Voted into office Corresponding Secretary: Peter Rimbos - Voted into office Vice Chair: Dave Fields - Voted into office Chairperson: Steve Hiester - Voted into office
Advisory Survey: Steve reported the numbers from the survey. Please see the website for a complete summary of the totals. The cost per person was $7, and we’ll look for ways to reduce the cost in the future. Steve will be mailing a copy of the survey to each of the King County Councilmembers. Peter will draft the letter for Steve to send. The comment was made that we should highlight the fact that people are concerned about Public Safety. By July Major Germani will loose another 8-12 officers because of annexation. They are looking at a very large east precinct. There will be 3 operations captains that report to the Major in Sea-Tac. Major Germani will be retiring by April. He can either be a captain, work in the private sector, and has some other options. His 30 years are finished in April, and he is hoping to make it to the end of his 30th year. Major Germani gave us an update on who will be replacing him, and provided information that will help with planning purposes.
Draft Article for Publication: Peter is currently writing a letter for the Voice of the Valley. He will use the same letter for the KC Council, and will also draft an additional letter on Public Safety. Peter will email the letter to us, Gordon will give Warren a copy, and we will comment so the letter can be approved before our February meeting. A motion was made that we use both the Voice of the Valley and the Maple Valley/Covington Reporter. The motion was passed. Gordon will contact the Voice of the Valley, and let them know what we decided.
Black Diamond Master Planned Developments: Peter briefed us on the development by Yarrow Bay. There are 700 acres involved with approximately 5,000 units, and another 6,000 spaces at another location that will be developed over the next ten years. They have completed a draft statement and plan, and the results were published a month ago. Some people in the area have appealed. Black Diamond is calling these self-contained communities; however, the traffic will impact our area. Peter wants us to take a position on this because the through traffic will impact us. The Issaquah and Snoqualmie developments are sitting next to major highways. There are no plans to expand highway 169 because according to our state officials the money that was proposed for highway 169 is being used for other projects. Peter is concerned about traffic flow, and currently highway 169 does not meet traffic concurrency. WSDOT stated that the plan Black Diamond proposed will not support transportation concurrency. One of the concerns that the area council has is that the money that is generated in our area for highways is not being spent on highways 169, 516, and 164. Council members agree that we should be on record with our opinion. Our letter will be sent to the state and King County to include the Executive, Reagan Dunn, Jay Rodne, Glenn Anderson, and Cheryl Pflug about the concerns of our constituents. Our letter could also be sent to the surrounding cities. A motion to send a letter to WADOT and King County was passed. An amendment to send the letter to surrounding cities and our state officials was also passed.
Unincorporated Area Transportation Benefit District – December 23, 2009 the King County Council had a discussion on the Unincorporated Area Transportation Benefit District in order to increase revenue for roads. The district could charge up to $20 a vehicle to fund this district. We determined that we have a lot of questions on the UATBD, and our major concern is that we weren’t contacted on this topic to provide input. Dave commented that he believes these improvements violate the growth management act, and will review the original draft of the GMA.
Fire District #43 Levy – Dave will present the results of our survey, and let them know that our constituents would vote to restore services and are not interested in increasing taxes. Tahoma School District Levy – The current proposal will restore current spending.
Ravensdale Ridge Update – Gordon reviewed the documents from Erickson logging. 25-30 truckloads of fill will be coming through our community from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Gordon said that he read that their hours of operation will be changing to nighttime hours, and they are going to resubmit their plan. After they resubmit the plan there will be a new public comment. The plan states that they will be using clean fill, however, there is no statement on how they will determine if the fill is clean. We are also concerned about the environmental impact. Road Division Stakeholders Group Meeting – Steve will be participating in a Road Division Strategic Planning commission. The first meeting is January 19, and this group will be providing information to the road division. Tom Carpenter will also be attending.
Website Guidelines – Peter recommended a three person committee advisory committee. Bev will chair the committee and Peter and Jim will be a part of the committee. Audit – Dave Fields will audit the books before Susan takes over.
9:30 PM: Adjourn
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