Roll Call

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

Review and Approve Agenda

Approval of minutes

Steve read the oath of office, and new member Bruce Trelstad was sworn in today. Bruce has lived in Maple Valley for 11 years, and lives in the Francis area. He has a tree service business and is married.

7:10 PM

Sheriff’s Precinct Level Involvement Program, Major Dave Germani - Major Germani asked if there were any issues that he should look into. There were no issues in our area. Major Germani will be bringing the new head of the Precinct to the meeting in April. He read letters from people in the department and the community, and this has been a hard week for him. The area council presented Major Germani with a plaque for his years of service, and had a cake social with the community in his honor. The past Chairperson’s of the GMVUAC were in attendance. We appreciate Major Germani so much, and will miss him.

7:40 PM

Larry Rude came to speak to us again on the changes in the fire code. The King County Council and local cities such as the City of Maple Valley are considering the new codes. If passed, new homes will need to put in a sprinkler system. A 13D system is not that expensive, and it will save lives. If you remodel and expand the home, there is an exception that says you do not have to put a sprinkler system in the home. King County is still in the investigative process. The State will adopt by July 1, and Mr. Rude will get back in touch with us in May. It was pointed out that some cities are looking at adopting separate meters, and this could cost $9 a square foot. Separate meters could be an unintended cost of this rule. The City of Maple Valley does not require the same type of system as other cities such as Covington. It was also brought up that something such as a Boundary Line adjustment could trigger the need for a sprinkler system in an existing home as well as a fire hydrant. Mr. Rude suggested that we speak to our representatives in Olympia about our concerns. Right now the King County Council is in the decision process. The question was asked about MPD’s. This falls under the international fire codes. The Commission meets the first and third Thursday at 6 p.m.

7:45 PM

Master Planned Developments, Paul Reintenbach and Matthew Nolan - Paul is responsible for updating the King County Comprehensive Plan. Matthew Nolan works in the Road Services Division. In 1996 an agreement was signed under Gary Locke, and now the agreement is coming to fruition. A lot of land around Black Diamond was designated as open space, but within this area there would be some development. This interlocal agreement is within the urban growth boundary in theory, and should not spill over into the rural area. Two Jr. High Schools and an elementary school are being planned in the rural area. When King County sent their comments to Black Diamond, they said that the urban buildings planned in the rural area should be in the urban areas. There is also a large drainage facility planned in the rural area for this urban community, and it is their opinion that this is a way to expand the building pocket. Some positive feedback that’s been proposed is that they are going to relocate a road that feeds the Green Valley Road. King County has the authority to issue permits, but Paul is uncertain that they have the power to stop a permit that meets zoning requirements. What is being pushed on the rural area is allowed by the zoning. Yarrow Bay has been asked to put the schools within the urban area. Cindy Proctor has been involved in the meetings with the schools, and she said that she feels it would benefit cities like Enumclaw for King County to send a letter and take a stand against this development. Susan from the Voices of 98051 said that she was told that the Hearing Examiner is there just to insure that the codes are being followed.

Paul said that the Examiner is there to hear both sides of the story to ensure that the needs of the community are addressed as a whole. Paul pointed out that the non-revenue generating facilities are being pushed into the rural area.

Matthew Nolan then spoke to the Road’s issue. The City staff tipped King County off that there was a small lake being built for drainage. The State of Washington has also sent letters about the traffic impact. When the development is finished in 2025, their study shows that there will still be capacity on Green Valley Road even though the average citizen will see more traffic. King County believes Yarrow Bay is being overly optimistic. There could be specific intersections that are above capacity even though the entire road isn’t, and this should be considered.

The key thing we need to understand is that we don’t have a limited access freeway in this area. East/West travel is identified, but probably underestimated. Matthew has suggested that some kind of mid-point review is added to ensure that Yarrow Bay’s traffic estimation is correct. If more cars than predicted are on the road, there needs to be a plan on how they will address the problem. Matthew suggested that they put triggers in place. He has even provided tools that Black Diamond could use to measure the impact. Paul and Matthew will be testifying on what could happen in the area. They were also asked to look at the Issaquah/Hobart Road. School teachers are expected to live in the community, but in reality they don’t so the external trips could be underestimated. Typically the houses are built, and then the commercial businesses come in. There can be a lag in time before the business comes in, which will impact projected revenue. Redmond Ridge East has an annual measure and a 5 year measure in their plan. The Black Diamond City Council would need to buy into these checks and balances. Noted in the city’s EIS is that they are taking more growth than they were allocated under the GMA so the transportation numbers do not support the growth of this development. Their 20 year need identifies growth; however, they will exceed the anticipated growth. A baseline assumption is that the people that live in the houses will work in the new community. This isn’t necessarily the case.

The Snoqualmie plan was designed in 1990, but the commercial business has not happened to the extent that was projected. Presently there is a concern that Black Diamond will lose money on this development. There is also a difference in the two traffic studies that were completed, and it is felt that they are overly optimistic. The question was asked have they ever seen the demise of any city if such a plan were implemented. The City of Maple Valley was used as an example. There is also a concern that there would be the demise of our rural way of life.

Paul then spoke about household growth targets, and they are doubling and tripling the growth targets. The targets are set up as minimums. There is no upper limit, but Black Diamond is way over their target. The theme of vision 2040 is to center growth towards the inner city urban centers. If several cities did the same thing as Black Diamond, then there could be a major concern. Currently there are no limits. Nobody knows when the project will actually be finished. It could be 40 years from now. The question is does the City of Black Diamond have the political will to push back? Will their elected officials and the Hearing Examiner push back? The question is how much of the project will Black Diamond permit? They are in essence building a new city that would cause old town to disappear through eminent domain. The citizen concerns are that the old homes in Black Diamond will be taken to expand the Maple Valley Highway. They will be doing a gravity flow sewer system back into Renton. It was decided that you can speak to the EIS issue or the MPD issue at the hearing, but you only testify once.

The point was made that a lot of jurisdictions were not notified in time to respond during the comment period. The question was asked what authority and responsibility does King County have? King County has very little authority over what Black Diamond does, and there is very little that they can do. WSDOT has more influence than King County because Highway 169 is impacted.

The question was asked, “Why is King County allowing Schools in the rural areas? It is because the City of Black Diamond is the decision maker and King County will need to learn what the city decides before they can respond. It isn’t until the permits are applied for that King County will get involved.

Why are they not being asked to build fewer houses, and put the schools in to the urban community? The Black Diamond City Council meets the 1^st and 3^rd Thursday at 7 p.m. at the Courthouse building. Citizens should plan on attending these meetings, and address their concerns to the elected officials. There currently isn’t a plan to widen rural roads; however, there are some additions to turn lanes. Matthew isn’t clear how they can have an urban facility located in the rural area without having a hydraulic permit approval. The City did not notify the Department of Fish and Wildlife on a timely basis that a hydraulic permit might be necessary. The new administration has been very willing to listen to what is going on. The Voices of 98051 will attend the meeting on March 16 from 7-9 pm at the Tahoma Jr. High Commons located at 25600 SE Summit-Landsburg Road. Concerned citizens can contact Susan Harvey at susandharvey@hotmail.com.

9:30 PM

Council Business - Susan was asked to give us a Treasurers report next month as the meeting went longer than anticipated.