NEWS SOURCES:
Monroe Monitor, Everett Herald, Seattle-PI, Seattle Times, Sacramento Bee, Wall Street Journal, NY Times, Chicago Tribune, Wired Magazine, Associated Press, LA Times, Washington Post, Drudge Report, Yahoo, G.R.I.T. Updates, The Valley Review, Times' Community Connections: county@seattletimes.com.; or send a fax to 425-745-7723 (include daytime phone number.)

NEWS ARTICLES

New

Herald Opinion: "Don't let Wild Sky lose low-land acreage" (The Herald staff nails Sax's lie about the 2.5 million visitors to Wild Sky he usesd in his testimony which would exacerbate Hwy. 2's congestion. Thanks, Herald, for saving me the trouble; I had sent an email to Patty Murray's office, requesting verification of this figure.)

Previous

How will this affect the SPD Levy ballot? - 800 Mhz towers will delay 911 switch-over service eight months. (The manner in which Snohomish Co. has handled this "transition" is, quite literally, criminal. Whomever [or whichever] person or govt. agency was responsible for the initial decision to switch to 800 Mhz, and the manner in which it's been implemented, should be held personally accountable, rather than issuing an "explanation" for the delay. People's lives, quite literally, depend upon 911 service.

Sultan's Snohoco council representaive, Jeff Sax, thinks U. S. Hwy. 2 too dangerous, congested, to approve Wild Sky, my-oh-my.

$400,000 for a home with a golf course view?

FROM WIRED MAGAZINE: THE FUTURE IS TRAFFIC CRAWL, NOT GRIDLOCK

PI OPINION: CITIZENS CAN ONLY STAY INVOLVED IF THEY ARE KEPT INFORMED

Are we ahead of our time, or simply using common-sense oversight? Wired Magazine - Absolute Corruption: " IF YOU CAN'T ARREST THEM, FLAME THEM. INFORMATION IS A GREAT DISINFECTANT."

DISCUSSION, OPINION & MESSAGE FORUM

RECORDING WARS
(When the City tried to stop G.R.I.T. from recording public meetings)

FOOD BANK: Put a pre-addressed food bank envelope in your "bills to pay" folder and send a check monthly: $5, $10, whatever you can spare!
For more info, click here.

Note: We have relocated last week's Wild Sky material to our newly-updated Wild Sky page.

• "No-no's" of Interest...
  • "No-no" #1: At the last Gold Bar council meeting, Councilman Robert Amenn voted against an issue on which he's been busily working (Mayor Hawkins recall), when he should have recused himself: Discussion and vote on legal fees for Hawkins' recall defense. Amenn voted "nay.".
  • "No-no" #2: Welcome back, "Concerned Citizen"! Whomever he, she, they or it may be. We have been told by one of our sources that this/these person(s), paper bag placed firmly over their head(s), is once again using this anonymous name. This "Concerned Citizen" moniker has been trotted out numerous times in Sultan's past and is meant to convey a deep, abiding, and unselfish concern for all Sultan citizens. In its current form, "Concerned Citizen" is attached to an ANONYMOUS hit piece sent via the U. S. Mail, defaming a Sultan Planning Commissioner, one who has been standing up for what's right rather than holding out their hand to grab financial goodies. Our take on this? Yawn. It's a spitball projectile fired from the back of a grade school classroom. We can't help but wonder what "Concerned Citizen" is so concerned about. It's safe to say that if someone will not to take responsibility for the "facts" they wish to communicate to others, then they are not only cowardly bullies, but liars as well. (But, then, history has shown that the most important tools in a bully's arsenal are lies spread through skulking, stealth and harassment. Good job, fellows! And welcome back....Again.]

    Update 7-27: Yesterday afternoon we obtained copies of an anonymous 7-23-04 letter of complaint sent to Sultan Council and Planning Commission members, consisting of a packet of virtually-unreadable copies of documents, along with a cover sheet and a copy of a 2-17-04 anonymous letter sent to Mayor Tolson February 17, 2004. Whomever sent these letters is advocating for the removal of Josie Fallgatter from Sultan's Planning Commission, as well as Josie's husband, Mark Fallgatter, who "purports to be some sort of inspector." (Mr. Fallgatter works for a jurisdiction other than Sultan.) The letterhead on both letters reads "Concerned Citizens Sultan, Washington," and reflect no signature(s), address or phone number. The subject of the letter was "Illegal Structure on Fallgatter Property," and concerns construction of "...an addition of a second floor without first obtaining the required building permit(s)...." The then-Fallgatters had, apparently, begun to renovate an already-existing out-building by adding a second story. (Sultan Plng. Commish Josie Fallgatter was not involved legally in any of these actions.) The then-Fallgatters were court-ordered to obtain a building permit, which they did. The Fallgatters are currently in posssession of a valid building permit for this renovation, which expires October, 2005. We will be posting these two letters a bit later.

    The key issue here is harassment masquerading as an unselfishly-directed -- noble, even -- call to action by Mayor Tolson and the Sultan Planning Commission and Council, by an anonymous person, or group of persons, whose motivations are so transparent we can name at least some of them even without their signatures, yet they feared to sign their names. The only way this involves Josie Fallgatter is that her single-minded determination to try and save some semblance of the future quality of life for Sultan citizens, is causing them delays in slam-dunking through their developer-friendly codes. She, and others, have opposed codes that deeply affect current and future Sultan residents, such as the Open/Green Space revisions unwisely passed at the last council meeting. Such codes reflect a strong pro-Barclays North, pro-"more-money-for-us-Less-green-space-for-you" position. Keep it up guys. Who do you think you're fooling?

    If this individual/group of individuals truly want action, then I suggest they come forward during tomorrow night's council meeting, as sincerely-"outraged" men and women would do, and present their case in a bare-faced, courageous manner. Then, perhaps, someone will at least listen to their groundless complaints.

• NEW! If you do NOT want water and sewer rates to rise, you need to attend this Wednesday's council hearing to urge that the city substantially increase the water and sewer installation fees to developers. Otherwise, start saving now so you can cover the costs of substantially higher utility fees (and other financial shortfalls). Several hundred homes are slated to be built on the Sultan Basin Road/132nd -- despite the City's inability to financially support or justify so many new residents. Who will pay for the needed water and sewer services if the developer does not? YOU. This is not rocket science, it's Basic Finance 101. The hearing begins at 6 PM: Your silence means consent. (Click here for more details on this issue.)
• Current - LEGAL NOTICES & COMPLETE TEXT OF ORDINANCES RE POLICE/SECURITY ISSUES: Complete text of Ord. 857-04 (Setting 9-14-04 special election/voter ballot re $384,750 price tag for 911 service/emergency communications; you can thank Snohomish County for this expensive boondoggle, not the city, Fred or sun spots ), and Ord. 858-04 (setting 9-14-04 special election/voter ballot for to fund $188,000 for Sultan Police maintenance and personnel.
• A DIFFERENT "VIEW" - I CAN'T HELP BUT WONDER (as I often have in the past), what sort of a city Sultan might be 5 ot 10 years from now if it developed a small community of $400-500,000 homes with one of our drop-dead, gorgeous views, rather than a large community of $180-200,000 homes. In Mt. Vernon, they're beginning to find out. And the only "view" these new Mt. Vernonites are getting is a golf course; imagine how thrilled they'd be with an unobstructed view of a Cascade Mountain sunrise east of Rice Road, located only 40 minutes from a major ski resort. Let's stop selling Sultan short. Quite literally.
• Update (7/23): The Monroe City council agreed to reduce school impact fees, despite substantial legal justification/support to the contrary.
  • UPDATE ON MONROE'S SCHOOL IMPACT FEE GIVE-AWAY (GOOD NEWS FOR DEVELOPER BARCLAYS NORTH, BAD NEWS for Monroe's Children and their parents, and all other taxpayers) - We incorrectly reported that the Monroe city council "derailed" Barclays North's request to thicken their wallets by over $100,000 in school impact fees (Pick up a Monroe Monitor for the complete story). The Council, by a 4-3 vote, actually approved Barclays' request on first reading. This means that taxpayers' wallets will bear that burden further down the road, assuming the council's current position holds for the 2nd, and final, reading. (Remember a few years back when $850,000 school impact fees for the Fryelands were "overlooked"? (It's on our our impact fee page; check it out.)

    Now is a good time to ask: Has the Monroe Council lost their minds? (Or, perhaps a more appropriate question would be, "What do certain council members feel they owe Barclays North that they don't owe to Monroe taxpayers? Only three council members voted against this issue: Tony Balk, Jeff Frye and Mitch Ruth. MONROE COUNCIL MEMBERS WHICH VOTED FOR A $100,000 PAY RAISE TO BARCLAYS NORTH WERE: Chad Minnick, Geoffey Thomas, Robert, Zimmerman and Ken Berger. Congratulations, fellows.

    This same subject came up last year when one or two folks on the Sultan council wanted to reduce the school impact fees so they'd be "consistent" with the School district's CFP. Click on "School Feel" subject at the top of the file to find out what Sultan School Superintendent Al Robinson (and council) had to say about that.

    More info on this subject: An article by the conservative pro-business group, The Freedom Foundation, blasting the imposition of unrealistic impact fees, and the "Wellington River Hollow" Washington Appellate court decision, holding for the imposition of impact fees (this was the case that was quoted by Monroe's city attorney Phil Olbrechts during the 7-7 Monroe council meeting)

• FUTURE PLANNING COMMISSIONERS - "Just Do it!" Mayor Tolson would like to try and balance out the current "mix" of members on its planning Commission, and is purposely keeping this open position un-appointed for an extended period in order to find some new blood. Currently there is a major landowner whose land has been, and is, under development (Janie Botting); another landowner and real estate agent who has optioned his 20 acres on 132nd to Barclays North (Tom Green); real estate broker and Sultan mover-and-shaker Bart Dalmasso; and a developer (Ray George, who, despite his loud objections is a developer ), who is also married to Sultan real estate broker Kay George. The City is looking for a candidate who has no such personally-motivated ties; someone who lives within the city limits and who cares about Sultan's overall future quality of life and direction more than what they might personally get out of it. This is a sort of, "Ask not what your City can do for you, etc." philosophy. Are there any "good" people left out there who will take on that challenge? If not, Sultan may have little chance of upgrading its future. (Print out an application.... Pick up a pen....fill it out....take it to the city.)
• JULY 14th CITY OF SULTAN COUNCIL MTG: Police levy ballot title set; The Brothers Boucher led the charge to successfully defeat the ill-conceived revisions to the Main Street/Pedestrian-friendly UC zone, but couldn't muster support to do the same on two ill-conceived ordinances which will allow higher density development with no green or open spaces or in-community recreational areas. This was Mayor Tolson's good idea/concept which carries extremely heavy "financial baggage" along with it (poor implementation). We are extremely disappointed in both John Seehuus, who voted to approve these "open space" ordinances (He should know better, due to his long and distinguished tenure on the Planning Commission), as well as Bruce Champeaux, who of late has seemed to be realizing the negative financial impacts created by the results of this type of ordinance. Jim Flower and Rob Criswell also voted for these two ordinances, which is a good idea that will, inevitably, be poorly implemented. As Councilman Boucher so eloquently explained, invariably, when the City politicizes development issues -- which is the effect these ordinances will have -- it opens up a can of worms which ends up biting the City coffers, future councils and all Sultan residents. He ended his insightful comments by exhorting his felloiw council members to, "Let's try to keep the worms off the dinner table, if we can." an almost $1 million loan will be returned to the state, originally salted to pay for a water line down 132nd. Applications for two TIB grants -- one for $500,000 and another for $100,000 was tabled pending verification that TIB will accept the cost of the City's engineer's cost on these two street projects, as the required $30,000 in-kind donation. (Does it strike anyone as odd that the council would pass two open space ordinances that will result in expensive long-term financial impacts to the city in the form of higher-density housing (and put more $$$ in the developers' pockets), ordinances that depend on a fiscally-strong city government, while being unable to plan far enough ahead to effectively address the issue of the $30,000 in-kind cash contribution by which to obtain these grants? When City Clerk/Financial Maven Laura Koenig pointed out that the cash on which these grants depended upon no longer exists within the City's street fund, she was met with silent, open mouths and blank stares all around. Yet, the City will be able to handle the intricate, long-term financial accountability through which it plans to provideh a large recreational facility, the source for which will be the "funding" gaine from the two open space ordinances passed last night; ordinances that allow developers to buy out Sultan's green/open space heritage, while simultaneously allowing developers to build more houses and creating more financial burdens for the City. I'd sure love to see one more councilman find either the good sense (or courage) to bring this Open Space issue back to the table for reconsideration. These ordinances are a good idea which needs A LOT more work to iron out the fiscal wrinkles. (Our thanks to Councilman Boyd for asking us for help get folks to testify against its passage, and to Councilman Boucher for two amazing arguments related to the UC Zone and the open space ordinances. We hope to find the time to transcribe these, but if we cannot, we will post the audio. One of Dusty's comments was, "I am all for economic development. But I don't want us to lose our souls" while accomplishing it. I've been fighting long-term detrimental lquality of life impacts from short-term, seemed-like-a-good-idea-at-the-time planning mistakes for over four years, and I have never said it better myself.)
• "Asphalt by Default" - Green Space going, "Lynnwood" is coming: Two well-intentioned ordinances designed to build a fund for a large-scale recreational facility for Sultan, are up for a 2nd reading at this Wednesday's council meeting. These ordinances will eliminate all open space areas and recreational facilities in new developments, allowing developers to "buy" Sultan's green heritage that belongs to future children and families. We are joining with Derek Boyd (Yes, folks, believe it or not, right here in River City), at his request, to ask Sultan residents (and, yes, non-Sultan residents, too!) to speak against these ordinances during the public comment period of the city council meeting. You're not a good enough speaker, you say? Well, then, just say whatever's in your heart. Our primary concerns are (1) these ordinances will eliminate any recreational, green or open spaces in new developments; and (2) these fees, if not used within a six-year period, will be returned with interest earned to the developer in question, a tricky proposition for a city that has not performed or published any capital facilities plan since 1994. For your reading pleasure:
  • A compilation of applicable codes regarding impact fees (in Word, Acrobat)
  • Agenda cover sheet and proposed ordinances (in Word, Acrobat) from June 23rd meeting. (The vote: Derek Body and Jeff Everett voted nay on these issue, but Dusty Boucher, whom we understand might have voted nay, as well, was absent. Therefore, assuming everyone is present at Wednesday's meeting, only one more vote is required to kill these scary ordinances. YOUR VOICE is needed to help win that remaining vote.
  • Remember: Do nothing....get nothing.
• Updated 7-15 - What happens when "good" impact fees go "bad"? - Read Barclays North's May 12, 2004 letter to the City of Monroe (scroll down a bit to the "Monroe" header), which represents over $100,000 in "lost" funding for schools; Developers shill, taxpayers foot bill.
• Recent (7-12) - Barclays North Appeal of City's 5/28/04 Administrative decision on roadway standards, as applied to BNI's Sky Harbor development. This appeal will be held before John Galt, City of Sultan Hearing Examiner, on Monday, July 20th.
• Current & Ongoing: HERE'S A March 26, 2004 letter to City Administrator Rick Cisar from the State CTED on the requirement of a CFP in Sultan's comp plan, draws a colorful, broad-stroke picture in crayon which even the most slow-witted Sultan official is able to clearly understand. I mean, really, folks: How can any city official mandated to plan under Washington State's GMA, not know this stuff? And an even more pertinent question is, how is it possible that Sultan has operated for so many years without a capital facilities plan, an issue that those "truoblemakers" Ron Kraut and Josie Fallgatter (along with Jeff Kirkman) have been pounding Rick about for months during the PC's review of the city's comp plan. The city has, in fact, operated without a legal CFP since 1995. Is it any WONDER that it's broke?
• Current! Cisar's FSEIS is now on Jeff Everett's Council Webpage for review; deadline for comment or appeal is Monday, July 12th by 5:00 PM. Cisar's response to "comments" are interesting. An explanation for the uninitiated: A response by Cisar stating that a commenter's input is "acknowledged" is, in fact, a pat on the head to the commenter. And it's clear that, regardless of the value of the input received, if a comment/requested correction didn't fit with Cisar's plans for Sultan, it was simply "acknolwedged," or more precisely, ignored. A case in point: Check out the comments made by Snohomish County's Long Range Planning Manager Mary Lynn Evans (pg 40), where she points out that the watershed's acreage has not yet been included in the County's SEPA process, but there are legal problems with its inclusion, as well: the watershed's non-contiguous nature and the fact that there are problems with the city's proposed public facilities zone (which did not ever exist and still does not despite Cisar's blatent statements in his SEIS which indicate it does and is the mechanism by which the property can be developed) as it may conflict with the county's commercial forest land use designation. (Hey, is anybody watching what Cisar is doing these days? More to the point, perhaps, does anybody care?) Recent G.R.I.T. posting:City Administrator Cisar, in a response to our request for an electronic copy of this document, says none is available - - Notice of Availability of RIck Cisar's Comp Plan FSEIS (in Word, Acrobat) (which includes the 366-acre watershed; City's responses to comments on the SEIS, received in March from Plng. Commissioner Josie Fallgatter and G.R.I.T.'s Loretta Storm, are finally heard. If anyone wishes to either comment or appeal this FSEIS, it needs to be received by the city by 5:00 P.M., Monday, July 12th.
• June 23rd: Sultan council held a hearing on three ordinances, two of which will destroy open space in new developments, the third of which will negatively affect Main Street's future by changes proposed in the "Pedestrian-friendly" UC zone (in Word), which will allow incompatible automotive uses such as car lubes, in the downtown core and will totally change the direction in which Main Street is headed. There are alsoi two other proposed ordinances by which developers will be allowed to "buy out" required open spaces (in Word) in their planned developments, as well as elminating the requirement to provide tot lots ( Rick Cisar stated last night that tot lots "just haven't worked in conventional subdivisions"). Instead, developers can "buy" open space, the funds for which can ostensibly be used later by providing bigger and better recreational facilities. That's the idea, anyway. But as we all know, "ideas are cheap and easy: it's the implemention that's the challenge. There are a few major problems with this, the most important of which is the 6-year set-aside of funds; if they haven't been expensed within six years, they must be returned to the developer. But the scary part of this process is it assumes both ethical and financially-competent leadership within city hall (a hasty assumption that, sadly, taxpayers historically have not been able to count on).
• Recent - Barclays North Meeting re public participation issues; Here's their 6/15/04 letter on making the draft annexation policy available for public review BEFORE the PC discusses it.
• Put this into the "Hard to believe" category, but last Wednesday's Council Hearing on Water/Sewer Rates (continued until July 28th), attracted only a handul of citizens (despite residents' loud protestations of rate increases several years ago). Barclays North suggested that Sultan keep running at a loss, and Brian Parry (Master Builders Association), questioned the city's legal right to raise connection charges. Clearly, if Sultan is attracting these high-level players, it's clear they need Sultan more than Sultan needs them. Their purpose is to maximize profits to developers. But the council needs always to consider long-term impacts rather than short-term financial gains received from temporary fees through develop by companies who will take their profits and leave Sultan even poorer than theyfound it. If they can develop cheaper elsewhere, we suggest they do so.

  Durng the hearing, Plng. Commissioner Josie Fallgatter raised the concern that the City needs to factor in future commercial, industrial and retail sewage flows, in addition to the ERU's (Equivalent Residential Units) presented in the City's Study of connection fees (Scroll down for that study and other documents and details.). Here's a sample of uses, by application, that the State's DOE uses... Also, here's a list of monthly sewer flows from the City of Sultan's STP.
  

• DETAILS ON WATER/SEWER CONNECTION FEES which were reviewed. Input and testimony was taken from citizens during the June 9th Council hearing (continued to July 28th): Now is the time to give input/complain about high rates and future increases, BEFORE council takes action. Pass this information along to friends, neighbors, other Sultan residents. KUDOS and APPLAUSE to the City for this in-depth cost analysis by which council members should be able to make an intelligent decision; view in Word, or Acrobat. (Accolades are due also for the City's prompt distribution of this information, which provides advance review by citizens and the council by which they can make intelligent, considered review and decisions.)
• WATER/SEWER RATES- Some bottom-liners of interest from this cost study: Historical costs scream for mandated annually-updated capital facilities plans, despite the fact that Sultan's been operating from an update performed in 1994/95. Look at the realities of what the city has been charging new users/developers for hook-ups versus the City's "real" costs, shown below. (Sultan citizens can thank taxpayers in Iowa, New York and Florida for contributing so much to its sewer system, through Sultan's continued reliance on grant funding.)

Facilities Charges, Per ERU (Equivalent Residential Unit)	WATER	SEWER
A. Historical costs divided by system capacity (base)	$5,469	$7,528
B. Include Allowable interest up to 10 y ears	$7,847	$10,010
C. Adjust for Grants received	$5,254	$6,860
D. Adjust for grants received PLUS interest	$7,498	$9,106
Currently being charged, since 2000 (Ord. 755-00)	$4,400	$4, 496

 

• A scary excerpt from the study on the bottom of page 1 states: "On one hand, the higher the connection charge, the less impact there will be on rates. On the other hand, the city may wish to keep the connection charge lower to encourage more development and new customers to help pay for debt and operations. The decision out of the facilities charge discussion will be fed into the rate studies for future financial projections."
  
• Recent - Transcription of Barclays' Donnie Belk's reading of their letter of frustration during the May 12th council meeting (in Word, Acrobat)
• Recent - Storm comments read during 6-2-04 PC Hearing/Meeting: Re the legal process on the proposed UDC amendments (in Word, Acrobat), and abnormalities of the SEPA process in Sultan's Comp Plan caused by Cisar's issuance of his recommendations issued through his SEIS (in Word, Acrobat)
• Notice of Determination of Non-significance on the City's I&I Reduction Program for 1st St. Sewer Improvements, Phase II (in Acrobat)
• BUDGET AMENDMENT, ETC. - Back-up info to (not included in the Council's agenda packet for a recent hearing on a budget amendment): A letter from Barclays-North, requesting that the city sponsor a joint PC/Council "workshop" to present their PowerPoint Dog-and-Pony show (see previous (Part 1 and Part 2) -- perhaps the same -- show which was given to Sultan's PC)...Detailed budget amendment info, with proposed changes highlighted...Comment from Barclays-North to the City, and the City's response, on the city's proposed Water & Sewer Engineering Standards...And last but certainly note least, a letter from the City of Sultan reiterating its bonding requirements for developers; B-N does not seem to like it, but big kudos to the City for standing firm on that issue.
• Barclays North's April 30, 2004 Letter to Sultan council on "Accusations" of appearance of fairness issues. Barclays' position is that because they've been requesting "legislative" code changes to the City that have "general applicability citywide" (as opposed to what is termed "quasi-judicial" actions, which are site-specific actions by council), that the appearance of fairness doctrine does not apply to them. If some of you out there are saying, "Well, this is just Greek to me," distilled into layman's languge, Sultan is on the verge of celebrating the arrival of a Trojan gift horse; but in this case, the recipient (Sultan) needs to scrutinize this particular gift horse's mouth; its maw will swallow Sultan's future, not "save" it....unless the city gains back the control Mr. Cisar has given away to them. (Time permitting, we will address these issues in more detail later. In the meantime, read mrsc's document on the subject of appear. of fairness. (If amy of you quasi-legal types out there want to take a swipe at locating legal challenges that have been withheld on this issue, your help would be appreciated. The case Barclays submitted was Raynes v. City of Leavenworth (Word, Acrobat)
• While Sultan's new mayor continues to find his sea legs on legal procedural matters (such as the difference between a hearing, a workshop, regular and special council meetings, when votes can be taken, et al.), we offer this document to all, in the hope of clarifying some of these tricky questions (No public interaction or questions were allowed during last night's public workshop, which is, of course, one of the primary reasons for that venue.)
  • Also, inspired by Kay George's suggestion that a development application should not be public information (this is a 653 kb audio file) because people misuse the information by which to stop or hinder a project, here's another helpful tool: AG's Guide to Open Government Handbook (Info on the Open Public Meetings Act, when and how executive sessions can be held, public information requests, and other basic governance issues.) Perhaps it's time that council and PC members have a workshop in this issue so they can learn how to better serve the public and fllow those pesky, irritating laws that we all must follow...

• During April 20th's Plng. Commission meeting: City Planner and Administrator Rick Cisar distributed draft ordinances (see below) on changes to Sultan's Unified Development Code which impact its current comprehensive plan. These items appeared on the agenda as "Discussion" items, yet Mr. Cisar curtailed discussion by saying is only purpose in handing out the proposed drafts was a PC "FYI" only, not for discussion. Text of these ordinances were not made available ahead of time for either Commissioner or public review. Of greater concern is that these draft ordinances have not been approved by the Planning Commission, yet Mr. Cisar has already sent them onto CTED (Washington State's Department of Commerce, Trade and Economic Development) for their comments, an action that bears no resemblance to the legal process, as they impact RCW 36.70A. The more I follow Mr. Cisar's actions in the PC, the more I wonder why Sultan has a PC at all.

  These ordinances follow:

• A Barclays North-requested designer ordinance by which they can construct up to nine model homes (rather than simply building these homes once the preliminary plat has been approved, selling them to homeowners when they're no longer needed as model homes).
• A Barclays North-requested code by which open spaces can be "purchased" by a developer and the funds deposited into a newly-created park fund by which to pay for future parks (supposedly). This leaves the new community without its open space area. This would be a great concept if it were being proposed in a city other than Sultan. Thus far, however, Sultan has a poor-to-horrible track record with this sort of financial transaction.
• An ordinance creating a "Public Facilities" zone, supposedly by which a promised "caretaker" house could be used to "protect" Sultan's 365-acre watershed area, as recommended by Mr. Cisar and approved by the council for Sultan's new comprehensive plan. This ordinance bears no resemblance whatsover to the intent of Cisar's watershed recommendation to council. This ordinance removes any doubt whatsoever that the City has Great Expectations for this land, and that both Cisar and the city have lied to us and its taxpayers. (We do hate it when we're right.)
• Finally, here's the PC-approved (Botting, Dalmasso, George, Green and Kirkman) revision to Sultan's UC zone, to allow a car lube direct access to Route 2 in a zone designed to maintain and enhance a pedestrian-friendly atmosphere downtown.

  During the April 20th PC meeting, Mr. Cisar asked David Toyer, Barclays North's Government Liaison, to clarify this state's current annexation policy. G.R.I.T.'s belief is that it's entirely inappropriate for the City Planner/Administrator to be asking for advice from a developer who's gobbling up hundreds of acres on the Basin for residential development. If Mr. Cisar does not understand the state's new annexation policy, then he should be removed from oversighting this policy, a no-brainer.

  Sadly, at this point we can only surmise that Mayor Tolson is aware of, and approving, all of Mr. Cisar's actions. After 3 1/2 months in office, we can make no other assumption.

• The State has recommended that the City of Sultan use this Planning Guide for justifying the over-sized UGA being requested by Rick Cisar's SEIS.
• Comments received on Rick Cisar's SEIS (Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement) for Sultan's Comprehensive Plan Update (including a petition for the watershed's inclusion into Sultan's UGA, signed by 63 people [65 signatures, but Ed Boucher and Robert Mann signed twice].
• Washington State's CTED response to Cisar-driven Sultan Comp Plan...and Rick Cisar's transmittal to CTED of the Comp Plan update, along with a map showing proposed enlargements to Sultan's UGA which were not approved by the PC...Also, Tom Beckwith's response to an earlier CTED comment on the Comp Plan Update.
  (To support, at least partially, the assertions we make in the above Acrobat file of Cisar's letters to CTED, and the PC recommendations on properties to be included in Sultan's UGA, read our transcription of the discussion and vote taken by the PC on September 2, 2003, as webpage, Word)

• SPINNING SULTAN WETLANDS INTO GOLD: Barclays North's PowerPoint presentation (in Acrobat, sorry; we only had a hard copy) at the 1-20-2004 Planning Commission meeting, selling more profitable densities to the City, and asking for more lenient codes. (Part 1 contains a B-N "advertisement" of their capabilities, and Part 2 deals with Sultan's buildable lands and why their "clients" can't make enough $$$$ with current codes (which were all revised just last year to compensate landowners -- such as Margaret Skogland and other 132nd St. development-hopefuls -- for non-buildable lands, such as wetlands).

• Follow-up to above: City Administrator/City Planning Director Rick Cisar, when questioned whether Barclays North had paid the city's mandated $500 fee (each rezone) to request zoning changes, responded that Barclays was simply "presenting new development tools" to the city and, thus, were not charged any fees. As we have long stated, if Sultan is so strapped for funds, one "common sense" way to enhance coffers is to simply charge what's what's already on the books, rather than raising fees

• 12/22/03 Denial of Sultan Basin Road CDBG grant (diffrence of opinion between city and county on the real low income population)

• The Affordable Housing ordinance in Sultan: Is it being discarded so developers can charge more $ for homes? Letters from the State CTED and from 1000 Friends of Washington provide support for Ray and Kay George's long-held position that more affordable housing is needed here, not less.. What say YOU?
• SULTAN'S APPEAL FEES WAAAAAY OUTTA WHACK: While doing research for a comparison of what other cities charge for the privilege of appealing a city action, (Sultan seems to be outrageously out of proportion: $1,000 versus other cities' fees of $100, $200 and the largest I could find, $500), I stumbled across this excellent learning tool on the City of Snohomish's website. Whether you're a "newbie" to development/politics or an Old Guard S.I.R.E., everyone will learn something from this. Guaranteed.
• While I was "cruising" for appeal fees, I also happened to notice that the City of Snohomish's school impact fee is $5,208. Sultan's is $1, 637. (Boy, does this city desperately need a study of its fee/rate structure, or what?)
• Matrix of 165 more acres of ecologically-sensitive areas and property ownership slated for economic development (Because the 300-plus acres in Wagley's LID 97-1 Industrial Master Plan is not enough? Some Planning Commissioners' argument is that the LID 97-1 and is "too sensitive" for development. HEL-lo.... ALSO: Comparison of Sultan growth scenarios: City's vs. County's (with maps of various alternatives)
• Traffic Assessment (draft) for alternatives for Sultan Basin Road and Hwy. 2 intersection
• Citizen's "How To Make a Difference" Manual (in Word, in Acrobat): This manual was authored by the grass roots organization, Citizens for Shoreline. They have graciously given their permission for us to share this comprehensive document with the people of Sultan. Warning! This manual still contains many Shoreline-specific references (especially related to the review/hearing process and specific codes), so please keep that in mind when reading it. While we have made a fewcorrections, there is still much work to be done to make it Sultan-specific. For clarification of any specific information or direction given here, call Rick Cisar at city hall (360-793-2231), Loretta Storm (360-793-6683), or email us.
• Transcription of testimony from the July 1, 2003 continuation hearing on the 2003 comp plan (Word, Acrobat)

• Signs of new developer-friendly, environmentally-devastating ordinances in the wind: Plng. Commish Dalmasso and Council Candidate Jim Flower's constant references to Wagley Creek as "The Drainage Ditch" and asking for a reduction to a 25-foot buffer...Rick Cisar's comment during 7-15-03 Plng. Commission meeting that "I think what you're going to see is there's a lot more wetlands up there [north and south of 132nd] than we had anticipated [see note below this one]...and Building Official Craig Bruner's "concern" about the "dangerous" wetlands' fire hazard that needs to be controlled (Oh, pul-eeze).
• Here's a Cinderella Story; the "I'll just make it fit!" version: The North Wagley Creek LID area's "buildable" acreage has been all over the place, beginning with 250-some acres as given by Gary Bourne in August, 2001, despite the Jones & Stokes Wetland study performed in May, 2000 indicating only 71 acres were buildable. Why didn't Rick Cisar know this? Why didn't Gary Bourne know this? Yes, Virginia, a Santa Clause really does exist that can help you sell your worthless, wet land at an obscene profit: The current City of Sultan administration's plans to build on the previous developer-friendly land ordinances passed last year. All you have to do is....ask. (By the way, this is a good time to remind folks that last year's ordinances were passed under the guise of helping the poor, beleaguered LID 97-1 landowners make better use of their property (which, before the LID was also not worth much). But that's not enough. Read the comments during the July 15th Plng. Commission by Commissioners Dalmasso, Botting, Green and City Administrator Rick Cisar on why these poor landowners need even more help. REMEMBER, FOLKS: Once a developer-friendly ordinance is passed, it never, ever gets repealed.

  A Wind through Willows Runs....How a 10-lot condominium became 108 single family homes; the council was supposedly "sold" on those S.F. homes as "affordable" housing; how those "affordable" homes morphed into "high density moderately-priced housing"; and why Valwork is still clutching Willow Run's HOA's financial records and checkbook. (Someone oughta write a book.)
• SURFACE WATER QUALITY UTILITY? Here's the presentation, given by Don Graf, President of Berryman & Henigar,, in PowerPoint and Acrobat
  "Designer" Ordinance: A new ADU code, which has been dragging through the Plng. Commission because of Sultan's comp plan process, has upset real estate broker and developer Kay George. Read her letter to Mayor, Council, PC and Cisar. (But at last night's Plng. Comm. meeting, Mrs. George said her "window of opportunity" had closed on this ADU and doesn't need it anymore.)
• What happens when a $850,000 due bill in impact fees doesn't get paid by the developer? Check this out. You won't believe it.
• Was the Sultan Water System Comprehensive Plan updated and revised in 2000 as Gary Bourne said?
• BOTTING'S SHORT PLAT (Sultan will soon be able to boast of, and celebrate, another gas station, car wash and convenience store! Just what we needed)
• BURDENS ON SEWER USE, PER APPLICATION It doesn't take a genius to understand the equation: Additional customers or changes to existing hook-ups + existing sewage plant = increased capacity burdens, i.e., a new or improved sewer plant needed) The real question is: who will pay for it? The developers? or you, the taxpayer?
• LEGAL NOTICE: Botting Short Plat, SP03-001; notice indicates this land is zoned HOD, yet assessor information for this 30 acres indicates it is zoned "Open Space Argicultural RCW 84.34" with 2003 taxes of $164.90.

• MAGICAL BUILDING PERMITS: How can a building permit be issued AFTER the house is built? It was a simple case of confusion, according to Sultan's building official, who some say should be charged with malfeasance in office rather than being given a raise. Here's the Raney-Bruner exchange during the 12-18-02 council meeting re Gary Broughton Fir/6th Street house. (as webpage, as Word document) (City documents detailing when permits were issued and fees paid)
  

Here's an idea for an appropriate T-shirt:
"Representation by Litigation"

"Put down that bag of potato chips and step away from the TV!" In other words, unplug yourself from your TV I.V. and GET INVOLVED! Don't be confused about everything that's happening here these days. Just take it one hearing/meeting at a time. Come to them, speak your mind and your heart and make a difference. Tell the city what you want (or don't want). NO ONE will laugh at you or what you have to say: It is important...and now is the time to tell the city what you want Sultan's future to be. The only time your voice doesn't count is when you don't use it...

This website is designed and maintained by non-paid volunteers for the purpose of providing news and information to taxpayers who otherwise would have no knowledge of the events going on in Sky Valley, specifically in Sultan. Let us know if you want to learn more, or if you would like to volunteer to help us sculpt our future. From the Washington State Public Information Act: "The people, in delegating authority, do not give their public servants the right to decide what is good for the people to know and what is not good for them to know. The people insist on remaining informed so they may maintain control over the instruments they created." (How to make a Public Information Request) "Nobody made a greater mistake than he who did nothing because he could only do a little." "The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing." Both quotes attributed to Edmund Burke (1729-1797), an Irish philosopher and statesman. Link to his bio: http://www.bartleby.com/65/bu/Burke-Ed.html

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CITY OF SULTAN CONTACT INFORMATION:

City hall info:
City Clerk Laura Koenig (for council agenda and Public Info requests)
City hall address:
319 Main Street
PO Box 1199
Sultan, WA 98294
360-793-2231-ph
360-793-3344-fax

City Administrator/Planner:
Rick Cisar

EMAIL ADDRESS "formula" for city hall personnel who have one is
firstname + a period + @cityofsultan.com
Example: Laura Koenig's address is: laura.k@cityofsultan.com

CITY COUNCILMEMBERS:

Derek Boyd
Dustin Boucher
Bruce Champeaux
Rob Criswell (is not internet-capable)
Jeff Everett
Jim Flower
John Seehuus

PLANNING COMMISSIONERS:

Janie Botting
Bart Dalmasso
Josie Falgatter
Ray George
Tom Green
Jeff Kirkman
Ron Kraut

Donna Murphy (for PC Agendas & info)