Minutes - DRAFT

Four Creeks Unincorporated Area Council

Regular Meeting Minutes –April 19, 2006 at May Valley Alliance Church

Submitted by Dellanie Fragnoli.

Attending:

D1: Rick Spence

X

D2: Eileen Lane

X

D3: Bob Davis

 

D4: OPEN

 

D5: Tom Carpenter

X

D6: Dellanie Fragnoli

 

D7: Marshall Brenden

 

D8: Dick Fackenthall

X

D9: Sharon Schimke

 

D10: Grant Smith

 

D11: John Vukov

X

AL: Dave Dahlin

X

AL: Edie Jorgensen

X

AL: Richard Maki

 

AAL:  Bette Filley

X

 

Call to Order:

The meeting was called to order by Rick S. at 7:10 p.m.

Vacant Council Seats

Rick S. announced that the District 4 position was open.

Public Comment

There was no public comments.

Motion to approve the Minutes of the March Regular Meeting as submitted was made by Eileen L. and 2nd by Dave D.

Y=Yes  , N=Nay, A=Abstention

D1: Rick Spence

Y

D2: Eileen Lane

A

D3: Bob Davis

 

D4: OPEN

 

D5: Tom Carpenter

Y

D6: Dellanie Fragnoli

 

D7: Marshall Brenden

 

D8: Dick Fackenthall

A

D9: Sharon Schimke

 

D10:  Grant Smith

 

D11:  John Vukov

Y

AL: Dave Dahlin

A

AL: Edie Jorgensen

Y

AL:  Richard Maki

 

AAL: Bette Filley

Y

 

 

 

Treasurer’s Report

 

Edie J. reported that there’s been no activity this month.

 

 

Committee Reports

 

Growth Management  Tom C. reported that he, Edie J. and Marshall B. met and are working on a plan regarding 580 acres on the plateau.  He wants the cities and the county to form an interlocal plan for the vision of the area.  His idea is that with a plan, the various actions taken and laws instituted can be evaluated for their effectiveness and for their contribution to the goals set.  He feels that some of the county unelected officials are beginning to listen.  Tom may ask for a letter from the Four Creeks UAC supporting his interlocal plan.  He is getting some valuable help from Shelia Hurst on the formulation of the interlocal plan.

 

Tom C. stated that the County has lost its unique character and that more attention needs to be paid to the individual unique character of the different sub areas of the rural area.  He stressed that a sub-area plan needs to be developed as an evaluation tool which includes intended outcomes so that the County has something to use to evaluate the effectiveness of their bureaucratic decisions.  For instance, in every test made so far, the Growth Management Act instituted by the legislature has had nearly opposite effects from those intended.  The GMA stemmed from the “smart growth theory” which was largely untested and still not analyzed.  Time has shown that the outcomes of the GMA were opposite intentions of its makers.  The main author of the GMA was Leonard Bauer of the Washington State Growth Management  Services in Olympia.

 

Law & Justice   Dave D. attended the Law & Justice Committee hearing of the King County Council on March 27.  It is evident that the communication between local law enforcement divisions in the county and the cities often breaks down.  Warrants issued in one division are not being logged into other divisions, with the consequence that people being stopped in one area are being released without service of a warrant from other areas because the information has not been transferred.  As a result, the Regional Area Information Network (RAIN) has been created to try to solve this problem.  It is far-reaching, involving information sharing between Homeland Security, state, county, and local jurisdictions.  Also, the Automatic Fingerprint Information System (AFIS) has gone into operation.  Anyone who has a fingerprint on file for any reason is now incorporated in an integrated fingerprint file.  This cuts across all levels of government so that federal, state, and local all have access. 

 

Dave testified before the King County Committee of the Whole regarding the need to maintain rural protection levels.  The budget for the Sheriff is being slashed due to the reduced population caused by recent and anticipated annexations.  The remaining rural county residents will be left with a reduced police staff, reduced budget, and still a many miles between incidents as ever before.  The UAC is concerned about rural coverage in light of KC Executive Ron Sims vision of less people, so less money for rural protection.  Rural KC is already far below the national recommended per capita and square mile coverage.  Shelia Hurst said that influence in Sims office is only had through number of calls and letters received in his office.

 

 

 

 

Main Topic –

_

 

NONE

 

 

 

 

 

 

Other Business

 

 

Rick S. reported that he had attended a meeting with DDES on Rural Economic Strategy and code enforcement.  He started with the observation that he believes that behind the elected government there is an enthroned government with no elected accountability which is caught up in bureaucracy and has little relation to the needs and desires of the people it is supposed to serve.  Rick, Paul Carkeek, and Rob McFarland all testified.  Their testimony was that the code is not aligned with the published goal of the County; no measurement to determine the effectiveness of the rules they generate is being used; the number of rules they are generating are excessive; and there is no mechanism to test and review the outcomes of the code they write. 

 

Regarding rural business, the group testified that there is no list of current rural businesses or any analysis of rural business.  The county has adopted a “one size fits all” policy but has managed to write rules exempting nearly every government agency from following the rules.  For instance, it was asserted that the schools planned in the May Valley area do not have to follow the GMA, the CAO, or the EPA wetlands regulations, all of which are imposed with great focus on the residents of the same area.  Paul Carkeek was quoted as having developed a list of existing rural businesses and  attempting to write a definition of rural lifestyle.  Hot issues are buffers and the uneven enforcement and onerous use of the rule.  Mega-mansions built in rural areas taking up great sections of open space and changing the nature of rural KC.  Code enforcement, often self-driven by the County, sometimes complaint driven.  Focus on small rural business.  Use of code enforcement to change the use of land.

 

Dave D. asserted that the County had 3 goals stated when the GMA was implemented in KC.  The were:  write the CAO, establish a clearing and grading policy, and protect rural areas.  They still have not acted on protecting the rural areas though they have taken many rights and privileges through implementation of the other two.  He said that if you take all of the KC rules there is only about 15 square miles of rural KC left.

 

Shelia Hurst, a guest at the meeting and a volunteer working with Tom C., asked the UAC how it disseminates information on issues it discusses at meetings with the general public whom it represents.  There were several means -- the web site seems to be our most-used vehicle.  Rick said that he had personally taken ads in the local paper at his own expense a time or two.  Tom emphasized that most members are active in other aspects of the community.  Everyone wished for more communication and more vehicles with which to communicate.  Dellanie is preparing a list for each of the members so they know who their constituents are.

                                                                                                                                                                                          

New Business

 

Valley General Hospital has asked for a bond issue to provide tax money for them to open new branches in certain cities of the Eastside of KC.  Questions asked were how can a private hospital be authorized to float a bond issue to provide for their private needs?  Tom C.  suggested that the Halliburton rule (take in derelicts and uninsured for free medical treatment) allows them to seek public money through bonds.  Another question was how can Valley General encroach on the areas served already by other hospitals?  Someone suggested there are no rules against it.  Still another question was how can Valley General seek expansion in areas which were recently denied by the court to Swedish and Overlake?  (see Issaquah Press, April 19, 2006)  It appears that Valley General seeks a bond issue levying $.59 per thousand assessed value against homeowners.  This amounts to about $177 per year for the average $300,000 home.  John V. will try to get a speaker to clear up the questions.

 

Rick S. reported that there will be a new position in the KC Ombudsman’s office for a Rural Ombudsman.  There are already three persons in the Ombudsman’s office and this will be the fourth.  The present Ombudsmen are already swamped with the business they presently have mostly in urban areas.  The new one will be assigned rural and urban duties.  Applicants have been narrowed to three persons, a land use attorney from Utah with some government experience, an attorney from Kitsap County, and an environmental lawyer and state lobbyist Dawn Vivian.  Vivian appears to be the front runner.  The decision will be made by the executive hiring committee of Larry Gossett, Kathy Lambert, and Larry Phillips.  Steve Hammond has definitely been eliminated from contention.

 

Issaquah School District (ISD) plans to build two new schools on an 80 acre parcel in May Valley.  The land is presently known as Winterbrook Farms.  Core sampling has already begun.  Environmental and growth management laws and the CAO do not apply to schools so it appears they may be able to build where all other private applicants have been denied.  Traffic issues, changes to the rural nature of the area and other impacts have not been considered.  The FCUAC will try to get a speaker to address this school plan. 

 

 

 

Meeting was adjourned.

 

 

Submitted by:

 

                                               

Dellanie Fragnoli, Secretary based on notes taken by Dick Fackenthall

 

Dated:  April 30, 2006