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NEWS ARTICLES

U. S. 2 Safety Coalition's request for $700,000 to finish the RDP (Route Develop. Plan) continues to move forward.

Legislation would allow cities to be able to "afford" annexations

Barclays hires Jeff Sax: Sax has formed the Cascade Resources Group. He states that hopes to help public and private entities wend their way through regulation and permitting processes on development projects. Their first project will be to build "housing for homeless teenage girls."

Looks like $$$ battle brewing re where to spend $110 million slated for Hwy. 522 improvements in/near Monroe

Some in Monore irked at 39th Sen. Val Stevens re that city's sex offender ordinance

OTHER "STUFF"

DISCUSSION, OPINION & MESSAGE FORUM

G.R.I.T.'s 2002 RECORDING WARS
(When the City tried to stop G.R.I.T. from recording public meetings, with the help of the Boucher Clan, then-Mayor C. H. Rowe, and others..)

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.

Sultan held its 2006 council retreat Saturday, Feb. 11th . Here's a summary and some photos (of a map of the city's planned development -- 800 homes to start -- and the new interim City administrator and Finance Director) The audio of this meeting will, unfortunately, not be posted until later this week.

LEGAL - New date -- 2/21, 6:30 PM -- for the rescheduled CAO (Critical Areas Ordinance) Workshop, which now also includes a workshop for Sultan's Shoreline Management Program (in Word)

Brief Summary & Info of Sultan's Wed., 2/8/06 council meeting & hearings on tax increase (Here's the FULL agenda packet as a web page in Word, Acrobat) will be coming soon. In the meantime, below is the audio of testimony received during the REET hearing (primarily from the large group of Realtors in attendence, all of them wearing "anti-REET" buttons (sorry, no photo; did not bring our camera).

• Part 1(3:55 min., 0.7 mb): Tolson opens hearing; Cisar gives summary of proposed Ordinance 907-06
• Part 2 (2:26 min. 0.4 mb): Tolson invites public comment from the Public/Assembly; Deborah Brown, Sultan resident testimony.
• Part 3 (6:25 min. 1.1 mb): Testimony from Nathan Gorton, Govt. Affairs Director for Snohoco-Camano Realtors Assn.. Mr. Gorton states that the REET ordinance lacked proper public notice, contains a conflict in percentages as written, and lacks "long-term thinking," in that it is short-sighted.) Here's his letter to council and the attachments to that letter, both in pdf format.
• Part 4 (5:04 min., 09 mb): Testimony from 124th St. resident Jeff Cohen and Loretta Storm.
• Part 5 (5:21 min., 0.9 mb): Dave Demerest (Snohomish RE Broker) and Gold Bar's Frank Linth
• Part 6 (2:26 min., 0.4 mb): Russ Hokinson (Snohoco-Camano Assn. of Realtors), echoing comments from Nathan Gorton (above); and clarifying statement of percentages by city attorney Thom Graafstra.
• Part 7 (0:54 min. 0.2 mb): Peter Paterno, Lake Stevens Windemere RE broker.
• Part 8 (2:09 min., 0.4 mb): Question by C/M K. Blair and Cisar statement that the DOR requires 75 days' notice before revision will take effect.

New - Herald article (2/8) re U. S. 2 Safety Coalition's efforts to obtain $700,000 in funding to complete the RDP (Route Development Plan)

Recent - MP3 AUDIO & COUNCIL SUMMARIES OF JAN. 11TH AND DEC. 29TH MEETINGS

LEGAL NOTICES:

• Wed., Feb. 8th Council Hearing on city's intent to switch from share of property taxes to REET, Real Estate Excise Tax (in Word)
• 6% Utility Tax increase (in Word) (Our thanks to both Cyd Donk and Laura Koenig for sharing these with us.)
• Council Hearing 6 PM March 23rd to reduce/retain current PUD lot size designations (in Word, pdf). Note: The scope of this proposed code review/revision is goes far beyond what the council directed.)
• Notice of Application for Sultan 114, LLC, development of 48 s.f. homes on 22 acres on 132nd St. S.E., located 1/4-mile east of Sultan Basin Road (in Word, pdf)

Wednesday's (1/25) Council Meeting: Briefly....all ordinances and ACTION items were approved and passed as written, with the exception that the Council voted to abolish the current Plng. Commission and to make itself its own Planning Commission for an approx. three-month interim period (until its new Community Development Department can be created and becomes organized. No disrespect meant to individual council members, but isn't this like allowing the foxes to guard the hen house? Kudos to newest council member Steve Slawson, who voted against this new change, and for Councilwoman Kristina Blair for her courage in putting forth several different alternatives than the one outlined in the proposed ordinance (An ordinance (in Word). By the way, we don't know who authored this ordinance (Mr. Cisar or Mr. Graafstra), but whomever it was needs a crash course in the GMA. (During discussion of this item, C/M Blair indicated that the majority of people she spoke with opposed abolition of the PC, while Councilmembers Derek Boyd and Jim Flower stated just the opposite. Hmmmm....) HERE'S THE FULL COUNCIL AGENDA PACKET (in Word, pdf) and other associated documents: CAO draft regs, B&H memo re BAS, Memo on CAO draft ordinance and Information related to Comm. Transit's/WSDOT recommendations to relocate dangerous bus stop.

MAJOR PROPOSED CHANGES AT LAST WEEK'S COUNCIL MEETING:

• All personnel reorganizations as recommended by the Prothman Report;

  An ordinance (in Word) that the Sultan Planning Commission be abolished.
  Instead, a new "Citizens Growth Management Advisory Board" will be created, the decisions of which will not be appealable, which will be part of Sultan's planning functions, a newly-formed "Department of Economic Development."
• An ordinance (in Word) to add a 6% tax charged to all sewer, water, garbage services as well as land line phone service, and cellular phone services (how did they manage to miss natural gas, I wonder?), with the exception that these taxes will not apply to low income or senior citizens. (AND WATCH OUT FOR another $5/month charge to pay for a soon-to-be-created Surface Water Mgt. Utility, needed in part to enlarge wastewater treatment capacity to make room for new development.)

This is not a time for citizens to get mad, it's a time for them to get involved.

These new taxes are necessary to cover the costs of the City's past incompetence in its land use planning, as well as its failure to ensure that -- at a minimum - - those bad decisions were at least partially paid for by developer impact fees and the existance of a Capital Facilities Plan in concert with its annual budgeting process.

It is way past time for Mr. Rick Cisar to move on and find greener pastures. It is also way past time for Mayor Tolson to energetically "encourage" him to do so, regardless of the costs involved in buying out his contract. As I told him several months ago, it would be cheap at the price. I apologize for my rudeness and short temper this morning. But I have held back over the last several months, watching and waiting to see whether the city will do what it needs to be done to ensure wise future planning. It looks, however, as if they will continue their uninterrupted string of poor planning decisions. We have spent six years attending virtually every council meeting, hearing and workshop (and had an up-front view of the debacle the City called its Comp Plan process in the Cisar-run, special-interest-heavy Plng. Commission), watched the city make the same mistakes over and over again while laying the blame on previous administrations, city administrators, planners and councils. Thus, I am deeply discouraged that the taxpayers must foot the bill -- again -- for this City's incompetence in planning for its future and its semi-incestuous relationship with developers, favoring their desires and requests over those of the taxpayers and citizens it is supposed to serve.

FILL A NEED - BECOME A SAFE STOP VOLUNTEER: There has been an ongoing problem finding adult (21+) chaperones for the Saturday night Safe Stop events. If you wish to volunteer your time, please come to this meeting or call Fred Walser (360-793-1051, ext. 223) or Al Robinson, 360-793-9800.

New - How to increase public participation and public noticing? Here's one unique way, being used in England. RELATED STORY: The City's website is, finally, begining to look like a "real" website. It now has listserv capabilities for public notices. Yahoo! (This is an expression of glee, rather than a reference to the internet giant, on which our website is hosted!)

Recent - 1/19/06 Herald article on U. S. 2 Safety Coalition legislative funding efforts.

In a related story: Sultan Police Chief and Coalition Chairman Fred Walser, Monroe Mayor Donnetta Walser, Snohoco Councilman Dave Somers and Sultan Pro-tem John Seehuus (and potentially other "local" elected representatives) visited Olympia yesterday, Jan. 19th.

Recent - PROTHMAN REPORT & Transcription of Prothman's 1/11/06 presentation

Recent - LEGAL Jan. 16, 2006 DNS (Determination of Nonsignificance) Proposal to revise Sultan's code for citywide lot size requirements and multifamily; reduce minimum area requirements & setbacks, increase lot coverage percentages (i.e., impervious surfaces on more land), and estabilsh incremental lot size requirements for multiple family units. (Once again, this notice is available in pdf format only, as the City has not forwarded this notice to us directly. This is a worrisome, and ongoing trend by the City, despite its legal requirement to share such information with "parties of interest," of which we are one.)

Recent - Notice of Application for Twin River Estates (22 S.F. homes south of Foundry Drive and the RR tracks) by Dan Ramirez. A map of the location of this development is part of this file. This information has been presented in pdf only as the city has once again decided to withhold distribution of its legal notices from us. This proposed development will require an amendment to Sultan's CP and CFP because the the owner/developer must have a sewer line approved and installed underneath the BNSF railroad tracks to his property, paid by him personally, as stated publicly in at least two public meetings by Mr. Cisar. Of course, that "requirement"/information is not contained within this Legal Notice. (This could get interesting....)

UPDATE Gold Bar - January 14th's "Special" Saturday council meeting (LISTEN TO AUDIO) called by majority Councilmembers Robert Amenn, Dorothy Croshaw and Jerry Wood -- a meeting that coincided with the Seahawks' playoff game and was not adequately posted -- resulted in several motions related to previously-redacted (refused) emails written by former GB Mayor Colleen Hawkins before she ever took office. Gold Bar has previously spent many thousands of dollars in legal fees defending the City on this issue. These emails are being requested (again) by Allyson Sonsteng, wife of the Hawkins-fired building official David Sonsteng. She is continuing her search for "evidence" on which to base another legal challenge for the firing of her husband. (Her first lawsuit died after receiving an unfavorable summary judgment last year.)

IN GOLD BAR: Due to a new council majority (Amenn, Croshaw, Wood), the first council meeting of 2006 saw Councilman Robert Amenn named the new mayor pro-tem, while newbie Mayor Crystal Hill tried to keep her feet dry amidst a flood of new Amenn-authored resolutions:

Recent - Sultan's planning commisison is in about the same state as the City's finances: Critically ill. Here's a transcription (in Word, Acrobat) of the Tuesday, Jan. 3rd "meeting" and questions posed by sole remaining PC commissioners Josie Fallgatter and Jeff Kirkman. (On hand in the assembly were Ray Kistenmacher, myself and a Sultan resident who sumitted an application to be considered for service on the PC, but rejected by Mayor Tolson as being too "anti-growth."

U. S. 2 Fatalities: Two articles re deaths on U. S. 2 - Dick Montgomery shared his love and life; and Help for significant U. S. 2 improvements not on horizo YESTERDAY: A G.R.I.T. update on two more fatalities on U. S. 2 (in Word) and the 1/3/06 Everett Herald article by Scott Morris

Recent - LEGAL Notices of Application -- dated 12/19 -- for two more Garth York subdivisions, one on Sultan Basin Road (Steen Park, in Word, pdf), and one south of Love's Hill Drive on crtiical slopes east of 8th Street (Cascade Breeze; in Word, pdf). The timing of the legal noticing of these subdivisions -- which reduces the sttate-mandated 14-day comment time period in which government agencies and citizens can comment on these subdivisions by 50% -- is highly suspect. Here's a copy of my email to Rick Cisar (in Word, pdf) on this subject. I find it very disturbing and sad that the City continues to engage in this type of "anti-citizen, anti-input" behavior.

PREVIOUS ARTICLES ON THE FRONT PAGE CAN BE FOUND ON AN ARCHIVED WEBPAGE. Click here for articles spanning (approx.) Sept./Oct. 2005 through Jan. 11, 2006.

OLD ARTICLES & LINKS

Here's an idea for an appropriate T-shirt for taxpayers:
"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.

Saturday, 2/21- Sultan "Chipper" day. City will chip your pruning debris (any limbs 2" in dia. or less). Must have items to be chipped curbside by 8:00 a.m.

Mon., 2/27, 7:00 PM, U. S. 2 Safety Coalition meets (all are welcome and encouraged to attend and become involved) Contact F. Walser with questions 360-793-1051, ext. 223.

10 a.m. March 9, Library Board meets (Agenda as webpage, in Word)

Thurs., 6 PM March 23rd - Council hearing to revise lot sizes in PUD code

ELSEWHERE IN THE VALLEY: the City of Skykomish will host the unique "ART TRAIN" exhibit/event (date unannounced; to be set)

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 Admin. & Planner:
Rick Cisar

EMAIL ADDRESS "formula" for city hall staff and officials: is
firstname, then a period, then their last name, then @ci.sultan.wa.us.
Example: Laura Koenig's address is: laura.koenig@ci.sultan.wa.us

CITY COUNCILMEMBERS:

Kristina Blair
Derek Boyd
Bruce Champeaux
Jim Flower
John Seehuus
Steve Slawson
Ron Wiediger

PLANNING COMMISSIONERS (As of the 2/8 council meeting, Sultan's PC is now in the hands of the city council, which will be acting as its own PC. Prior to its disbandment, the PC consisted of the following individuals:
Bart Dalmasso (resigned just prior to disbandment, and urged its dissolution)
Josie Fallgatter
Ray George (term expired, not reappointed)
Tom Green (term expired, not reappointed)
Jeff Kirkman