The proposed Powerhouse Site, a 600-acre gravel operation north of Sultan proposed by the Department of Natural Resources, was placed on hold February 6^th during their DNR Board meeting. Land Commissioner Sutherland took this action until "discussions could be held with Snohomish County Executive Bob Drewel and Council Chair Dave Somers."

Land Commissioner Doug Sutherland briefed the Board on certain process irregularities that occurred during the Mitigated Determination of Non-Significance (MDNS) which was issued by DNR November 16, 2000, and indicated there were "some community concerns" about the project. Bonnie Bunning, Executive Director for Policy and Administration for DNR, indicated they had received "17 emails and 7 letters" from local Sultan residents, urging that the project be stopped. But according to grass roots organizers involved in this effort, hundreds of emails, letters and phone calls have been sent to the Department of Natural Resources, and in particular the DNR board, requesting that the project be cancelled, or at the least, that the SEPA process be reinitiated.

Sultan residents giving testimony were City of Sultan Planning Commissioner Chris Wakefield-Nichols, local sculptor Kevin Pettelle, Sue Shawger, a Sultan resident, and Loretta Storm of G.R.I.T. Also on hand were City Councilman Perry McPherson and his wife, Barbara.

Chris Wakefield-Nichols gave a detailed account of the virtually insurmountable problems facing gravel trucks that would have to access U. S. Highway 2. Using a poster-sized graphic, she explained the challenges presented by difficult topographical and road configurations. Among these problems are the Wagley Creek bridge, the bottleneck at the intersection of the Sultan Basin Road and Highway 2, and other tricky accessing conditions which would make this site unfriendly and hostile to gravel trucks. She stressed the fact that WSDOT was never sent the MDNS, and was therefore unable to make any comments on this project.

The difficulty with this highway was echoed by Loretta Storm, who indicated that the Powerhouse site was reviewed as Alternative #3 during the Granite Fall's CSR project in 1996, and at that time Highway 2 was designated as presenting a "significant and unavoidable adverse impact" to the selection of that site. She explained that the MDNS process was flawed, and that "there are glaring omissions, treading the edge of falsehoods" within the SEPA document. Ms. Storm also indicated that the tonnage amounts given during the December 5, 2000 board briefing were erroneous.

Kevin Pettelle and Sue Shawger offered eloquent testimony on how it would virtually destroy our rural way of life.

Of curious note is that the DNR board had significant prior knowledge of the problems with the MDNS process and citizen outrage, before voting to approve and finalize the Minutes from their December 5, 2000 Board meeting, which is when they initially approved this project.

During the February 7^th City Council meeting, discussion centered on a request received from Mark Morrow of the DNR to set a date for an "official" public comment meeting. Councilmember Mark Raney reflected citizen concerns by stating that the DNR already had all the citizen input they needed at the January 27^th meeting, and that any formal meeting with residents should not take place until the county has met with DNR and the results are known. It was also agreed that a resolution would be drafted to oppose the gravel facility, which will be presented for a vote at the next council session.

Sultan activists are holding a strategy meeting February 9^th to decide a future course of action.