SULTAN CITY COUNCIL

AGENDA ITEM COVER SHEET

CITY OF SULTAN

RESOLUTION 02-01

A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY OF SULTAN IN OPPOSITION

TO THE POWER HOUSE GRAVEL PIT PROJECT

Whereas, the Washington State Department of Natural Resources (further referred to as DNR) has decided to proceed with a "Proposal for the sale and removal of Sand, Gravel and Rock valuable material from the Powerhouse Site located in Sections 17, 19, 20, 29 and 30, Township 28 North, Range 8 East, W.M., Snohomish County" and,

Whereas, the DNR is bound to proceed in a manner consistent with both the letter and intent of laws governing the management of resources that are the property of all of the citizens of the State of Washington and,

Whereas, the DNR failed to comply with certain laws regarding the notification of surrounding residents, property owners, jurisdictions and other interested parties and further failed to disclose to Sultan city officials their plans for the site, despite multiple recent meetings held to discuss the future of adjacent water resources and lands and,

Whereas, the DNR has issued an Environmental Checklist that is incorrect and incomplete in that it fails to list several endangered species native to the proposed site as well as critical habitat found inside the boundaries of the proposed site including the Sultan River, Cascade Creek and the headwaters of Winters Creek. These waterways are all listed as Class III waterways by DNR standards and,

Whereas, the DNR has released documentation from recent traffic studies that clearly state that the Sultan site is not acceptable given the current safety issues surrounding the US 2 and given current budget constraints, it is unlikely that these safety issues will be resolved anytime in the near future and the increased burden of Gravel Pit traffic constitutes a health and safety issue for

both the residents of the City of Sultan as well as any who use this Federal roadway,

NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED BY the City of Sultan and the surrounding community that the City firmly protests this threat to the health and welfare of the Skykomish River valley and it’s residents and visitors.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that in the absence of a complete withdrawal of this proposal, we demand that the project be remanded back to the initial phase and that the process begin anew to insure that accurate information can be included in the documentation that is required to be presented to any interested purchasers of the rights to harvest these resources should this sale proceed.

ADOPTED BY THE SULTAN CITY COUNCIL this 21st day of February, 2001.