2003_07

Four Creeks Unincorporated Area Council

Special Meeting Minutes – July 2, 2003

Submitted by Gwendolyn High

Attending:

	David Rockabrand	Kelly Faoro
	Gwendolyn High	Matt Hebb
	Bette Filley	Paul Zucati
	Marshall Brenden	Edie Jorgensen
	Brian Thomas

Minutes of Regular Meeting of June 18 Regular Meeting:

Date Motion Description	Member	Motion Made By	2nd	Aye	Nay	Abstain
2003.07.02 Adopt the Minutes for the June 18 Regular Meeting	David Rockabrand			X
	Gwendolyn High
	Tom Fisher
	Cynthia Green
	Bette Filley	X		X
	Marshall Brendan		X	X
	Brian Thomas			X
	Denise Jones
	Kelly Faoro					X
	John Gillingham
	Matthew Hebb					X
	Michele Fisher
	Paul Zucati			X
	Edie Jorgensen			X
Result: PASSED				7	0	2

Treasurer’s Report:

§	No Treasurer's Report this meeting.

Correspondence:

§	David R. - Presented receipt for video repair necessecitated by damage sustained by viewing tape of previous UAC forum. Total of $21.76

Date Motion Description	Member	Motion Made By	2nd	Aye	Nay	Abstain
2003.07.02 Reimburse David R. for video repair	David Rockabrand			X
	Gwendolyn High
	Tom Fisher
	Cynthia Green
	Bette Filley	X		X
	Marshall Brendan		X	X
	Brian Thomas			X
	Denise Jones
	Kelly Faoro			X
	John Gillingham
	Matthew Hebb			X
	Michele Fisher
	Paul Zucati			X
	Edie Jorgensen			X
Result: PASSED				9	0	0

§	David R. - Presented Notice of Decision from DDES: - Warnes Shortplat L02S0016 - minor revision propesed to provide direct access to SE 166^th St instead of joint use driveway.
§	Discussion among councilmembers that there is insufficient time between receipt of these types of notices from King County and the specified comment period deadlines. Jannette McKague was asked for her suggestions of how to get more timely notice. She suggested that we directly contact the sending parties and ask for earlier notice. David R. agreed to do so.

Deputy's Reports:

§	No Deputy's Report this meeting.

Dave Dahlin Presented Bio

§	Dave Dahlin Presented Bio and announces his self-nomination for the At-Large seat vacated by Oscar Bandelin's resignation.
§	David R. announced that the UAC will vote on this nomination at the next UAC meeting on July 16, 2003.
§	Marshall B. asked why there would be no vote at this meeting since the vacancy had been announced, recorded in the minutes and posted on the website.
§	Gwendolyn H. read Article VI.B.3 which states that the date at which the UAC will vote to fill a vacant position must also be announced two weeks prior to that vote.

Letter RE: May Creek Presented By David R.

§	David R. presented a letter he had drafted in response to ~~Connie Blumen's response to questions and comments presented to her at the May 7 Special Meeting.~~ to all parties who have presented to the FCUAC on the subject of the May Creek Basin this year.
§	Kelly F. spoke in support of the letter. She reported that she read the responses from Connie B. as insulting, distrustful and evasive. She said she thought it appropriate to express the anger in this letter, since the we had so carefully restrained anger in the last letter.
§	Brian T. agreed that anger is justified, but that the letter expressed no clear goal, asked no specific action and did not state to whom it was addressed. He said that each letter should advance the process in some way, and that he did not see anything in this letter that had not been said before. He expressed concern that, as drafted, County staff would become defensive and that managers and the executive would automatically respond in defense of their staff.
§	Gwendolyn H. agreed with Brian T. and remarked that the last letter submitted by the UAC on this matter had been addressed to a different audience and directly drafted in regard to the May Creek Basin Plan and that this letter would be the first correspondence in response to a specific and separate document from Connie Blumen. She suggested that since the UAC has no power but to express the needs and concerns of the residents of our area, that it was very important to take care with our words and not alienate those at the county.
§	Rod McFarland reported that 3 or 4 May Valley neighbors had met earlier in the day with county staff and state Fish & Wildlife staff to discuss possible ideas for pilot projects upstream of the work done on the McFarland/Nguyen project. Three basic classes of project were considered: 1) Public Agency Utility Exemption Permit: DNRP says there is no money to obtain this type of permit. They might be willing to pursue it if funds could be promised from additional source(s). 2) Reasonable Use Exemption Permit: Very rarely granted. Most often only granted to allow construction of a house where such construction would not be allowed due to sensitive area restrictions. DDES staff present did not know the process by which to apply for such a permit. 3) Design Enhancement Project: No affected land owner is expected to be willing to take on the cost or the types of mitigation required under these permits. Rod reported that after 2 hours of discussion all agreed that the only thing that could be done was hand removal of reed canary grass and that such a project would be useless. Conclusion: No pilot projects will be pursued.
§	Rick Spence stated what he considered the reasons for lack of progress by county staff. He urged that the letter be endorsed as drafted. He expressed possible sources of intradepartmental conflict and frustration with the way in which regulations and policies have been implemented and enforced.
§	Brian T. expanded on Rick Spence's comments. He said that regulations as applied have four levels - 1)Ordinance 2) Legislative Policy 3) Departmental Policy 4) Philosophy. Levels 1) and 2) are set through the legislative policy by the County Council. Level 3 is the detailed official set of rules set at the Department level and is largely autonomous and without outside input. Departmental Policy is the practical interpretation of Ordinance (the originating legal code) and Legislative Policy (such as the Comprehensive Plan). Level 4 is the individuals' personal understanding of the goals of levels 1 thru 3. Brian suggests that we should focus on Level 3 - Departmental Policy - to determine where the functional breakdown is in fixing the problems in the May Creek Basin.
§	Marshall B. stated that he thought that the reason for all the regulations was to restore salmon habitat but that he didn't see any restoration happening. He also expressed frustration that he expected that county staff will always fight dredging the creek. He requested that the letter be drafted as strongly as possible but that an 'out', or suggested action must also be included.
§	Rick Spence suggested that the letter must require accountability of the funds collected via Surface Water Management fees. He asked why creeks in Issaquah and Bellevue were being dredged but May Creek was denied.
§	Jeanette McKague said that those creeks were inside incorporated cities which set their own regulations and that neither project was easy to get approved. She said the Issaquah Creek work had taken over ten years to get approval.
§	Gwendolyn H. suggested that since words were all the power the UAC had, that care should be taken to address our efforts and our requests for action where they could actually promote progress. She expressed concern that May Valley residents consistently request UAC endorsement of actions which conflict with the May Creek Basin Plan which is the agreed legal definitions of the action plan agreed by all parties.
§	David R. withdrew the draft letter he had presented for endorsement and asked for a committee to redraft it.
§	Brian T. said that it must be targeted to a specific person of whom specific action should be requested and all that person's superiors should CC'd. He also suggested that the letter be drafted in a manner that would be appropriate to distribute to the press.
§	Marshall B. asked that a working committee be established to address these matters to Executive Sims.
§	Gwendolyn H. suggested that the UAC must do the legal legwork to express the request for action in terms of the existing laws in order to be effective. Brian T. said that the letter could ask that the county provide a list of all applicable legislation. Gwendolyn H. expressed doubt that approach would yield useful results.
§	Paul Z. suggested that the letter remind Ron Sims of the time he said he wanted to see the situation in May Creek "fixed."
§	David R. asked for volunteers. Kelly F. agreed to submit a revised draft. David R. invited any other feedback to be sent to him via email as soon as possible.

Committee Reports

§	Transportation (chair Gwendolyn H.) Ron Sims has submitted a proposal to allow new exemptions to Transportation Concurrency requirements. Gwendolyn H. reported that initial review of the proposal appears to give the same exemptions to private schools as public schools already have. She will monitor and report.
§	Animal Control Rules Change Kelly F. reported that she was one of 4 members of the public who had attended an informational meeting on the proposed change. The intent of the changes is to make the all rules consistent with each other and clarify specific language which had been reported to be confusing. She submitted that no action is needed by the UAC.
§	Land Use and Environment (chair Marshall B.) Marshall B. invited Gwendolyn H. to report on Renton's Open House for their proposed Pre-Zoning of their Potential Annexation Area under their Comprehensive Plan Update process. Gwendolyn H. reported that on Tuesday, July 1, City of Renton held an Open House at the Lord of Life Church at 128th and 160th. There was an impressive attendance by area residents - the parking lot was full. Renton has proposed four different scenarios. Only one of them proposes to keep the same zoning that exists now. The other three propose different variations configurations of zones of up to 8 houses per acre or twice the density allowed now. Renton Planning staff are eager to meet with us and present their proposals. David R. instructed Gwendolyn H. to arrange their presentation as soon as possible.

Website and Logo Updates

Date Motion Description	Member	Motion Made By	2nd	Aye	Nay	Abstain
2003.07.02 Adopt Logo #1 as presented at June 18 Regular Meeting	David Rockabrand
	Gwendolyn High			X
	Tom Fisher
	Cynthia Green
	Bette Filley					X
	Marshall Brendan			X
	Brian Thomas				X
	Denise Jones
	Kelly Faoro			X
	John Gillingham
	Matthew Hebb			X
	Michele Fisher
	Paul Zucati		X	X
	Edie Jorgensen	X		X
Result: PASSED				6	1	1
Date Motion Description	Member	Motion Made By	2nd	Aye	Nay	Abstain
2003.07.02 Adopt website redesign as presented at June 18 Regular Meeting	David Rockabrand
	Gwendolyn High	X		X
	Tom Fisher
	Cynthia Green
	Bette Filley			X
	Marshall Brendan			X
	Brian Thomas			X
	Denise Jones
	Kelly Faoro			X
	John Gillingham
	Matthew Hebb			X
	Michele Fisher
	Paul Zucati			X
	Edie Jorgensen		X	X
Result: PASSED				8	0	0

New Business

§	David R. presented a quote from Labels and Lists for a list of all the phone numbers of the registered voters of the UAC for $135. He suggested that that each UAC member would get a list for their district and could make calls to introduce themselves and the UAC

Date Motion Description	Member	Motion Made By	2nd	Aye	Nay	Abstain
2003.07.02 Purchase and utilize phone list	David Rockabrand
	Gwendolyn High
	Tom Fisher
	Cynthia Green
	Bette Filley
	Marshall Brendan
	Brian Thomas
	Denise Jones
	Kelly Faoro
	John Gillingham
	Matthew Hebb
	Michele Fisher
	Paul Zucati
	Edie Jorgensen	X
Result: Died for lack of second

§	David R. suggested that the UAC purchase and/or construct "A" boards (otherwise known as "sandwich boards") to announce the contact info and meeting times of the UAC

§
Date Motion Description	Member	Motion Made By	2nd	Aye	Nay	Abstain
2003.07.02 Authorize the Administration Committee to decide the text and obtain as many boards as possible for not more than $200. Suggested signage to include logo, website address, date/time/location of regular meetings.	David Rockabrand
	Gwendolyn High			X
	Tom Fisher
	Cynthia Green
	Bette Filley			X
	Marshall Brendan			X
	Brian Thomas		X	X
	Denise Jones
	Kelly Faoro	X		X
	John Gillingham
	Matthew Hebb			X
	Michele Fisher
	Paul Zucati			X
	Edie Jorgensen			X
Result: PASSED				8	0	0

§	Rod McFarland asked for the endorsement of the UAC to support his candidacy for a position on the King County Governance Committee and submitted a resume.

Date Motion Description	Member	Motion Made By	2nd	Aye	Nay	Abstain
2003.07.02 Endorse Rod McFarland's candidacy for a position on the King County Governance Committee	David Rockabrand
	Gwendolyn High			X
	Tom Fisher
	Cynthia Green
	Bette Filley			X
	Marshall Brendan			X
	Brian Thomas	X		X
	Denise Jones
	Kelly Faoro			X
	John Gillingham
	Matthew Hebb			X
	Michele Fisher
	Paul Zucati		X	X
	Edie Jorgensen			X
Result: PASSED				8	0	0
Date Motion Description	Member	Motion Made By	2nd	Aye	Nay	Abstain
2003.07.02 Authorize David R. to draft letter stating UAC's endorsement of Rod McFarland's candidacy for a position on the King County Governance Committee	David Rockabrand
	Gwendolyn High			X
	Tom Fisher
	Cynthia Green
	Bette Filley			X
	Marshall Brendan			X
	Brian Thomas	X		X
	Denise Jones
	Kelly Faoro			X
	John Gillingham
	Matthew Hebb			X
	Michele Fisher
	Paul Zucati			X
	Edie Jorgensen		X	X
Result: PASSED				8	0	0

Meeting was adjourned at 8:52pm.

Initially submitted via email to all UAC members, and posted on the website on July 6, 2003. gh

Revisions: ~~Strikethrough~~ denotes deleted text. Underline indicates added text.
Resubmitted via email to all UAC members, and posted on the website on July 13, 2003. gh
Resubmitted via email to all UAC members, and posted on the website on July 15, 2003. gh
Adopted July 16, 2003. gh