FIRST AND MOST IMPORTANT - CANDIDATE NIGHT: Please make certain you go to this event. If you wish to know what the candidates think before you cast your vote, this will be an excellent opportunity. Besides, what else could possibly be as entertaining as a hot political debate? The details are:

Where: At the Fern Bluff Grange Hall (located at the southeast corner of Cascade View Drive [opposite the Sultan Basin Road] and Highway 2.

When: Friday, October 26^th - 7 - 9 p.m.

It should prove to be lively evening.

One of our adversaries in the community filed a temporary protection order against me, personally, as well as our website. Until the November 5^th hearing in Evergreen District Court at 4:00 p.m., we are RESTRAINED "…from making any attempts to keep under surveillance petitioner…." And from "entering or being with 100 feet (distance) of petitioner's property…." We find the timing of this restraint and the hearing for it -- one day before what is undoubtedly the most important election Sultan has ever had -- suspect, at the least.

As everyone knows by now, the DNR gravel pit proposal is not dead, merely dozing (no pun intended). As mentioned in DNR's press release when they placed this project on hold, completion of the county's mineral comp plan is one of the stumbling blocks to going forward with an auction. The other key item needing to be addressed was Highway 2 traffic problems, in particular where the highway intersects with the Sultan Basin Road.

I have spoken with the two county planners who are intimately involved in developing the county's mineral comprehensive plan EIS (Environmental Impact Statement), Bob Hilgenberg and Tom Neimann, and a rough draft of the EIS is anticipated before the end of the year, with the final draft EIS completed Spring of 2002.

Some of the criteria they have/will address in this first draft are:

• Gravel operations with UGA's (Urban Growth Areas) to be limited to only "high grade" S&G (Sand and Gravel). There are basically nine different classifications ranging from A-1 through C-3, with A-1 being the highest quality.
• Traffic/roadway constraints of Levels of service restrictions: Will not be addressed.
• No gravel operations in "salmon corridors."

I am planning on obtaining details on the report upon which this EIS rough was based, and will communicate when it is received.

By the way, while we're on the subject of gravel…. in one of the sheep-in-wolf's-clothing "newsletters" that have been distributed around town, I was attacked for vilifying the good people of the Highway 2 Safety Coalition because they wish to improve safety along Route 2. Whoever wrote that frothing piece, entitled, "The Enemy Among Us," said of me: "How a group could be so narrow in view, so completely cynical, so thoroughly thoughtless, is beyond comprehension." Oh, pul-eeze. Still, I would give the piece a "B" for amusement value.

What I really said, which was a link to an online Acrobat file (an exchange of communication between the Coalition and Congressman Rick Larsen) was: "Route 2 Safety Coalition Letter to Rep. Rick Larsen: Safety Improvements could also help DNR's future gravel operation plans by eliminating one of their problems: transportation of gravel." Yep. That's a pretty dastardly statement, all right. It is simply a matter of reality that fixing the problems at this intersection will not only speed development of the industrial area, it will also provide at least a partial green light for the DNR proposal to once again move forward.

We have already done a detailed spreadsheet on how much each consultant received from the City and the results are posted on the website. I have also obtained copies of previous consultants' invoices and will add to this study at my earliest opportunity.

Sal Chavez and Bruce Tagashira (Willow Run residents): Indicated there is a problem with the park and open space areas. They did not receive what was promised. He said residents are still awaiting the results of the status of the long list of items that residents submitted several weeks ago to the city, requesting their help in resolving outstanding problems in the community, among them, the fire hydrant problems, payment and placement of signs for Winters Creek buffer zone area, safety problems, etc. Mayor Rowe said "That bond [developer's] will not be signed off on until issues are resolved."

Ed "Chico" Boucher spoke.

Kenton Coy [Local ISP provider]: Coy aggressively attacked the city for paying for Councilmember Raney's legal expenses for the recall action filed against him by Brady Boucher. (Judge Cowsert determined there was no legal or factual basis for the charges.) Coy was exorcised about the attorneys fees and certain items on the statement. In particular, Coy was furious about certain charges, as follows: A charge of $107.92 for an investigator; A $42 fee for staff member time (M. Anderson); almost an hour's worth (0.95 hour) of "office work" which referenced Coy's name; another 0.95 hour charge which read "Research. To Court re: Scheduling. Call from Trippitt" (three separate activities in a single day; total=$142); and a charge which referenced assistance from another attorney. This information has been posted on my website for weeks, so we don't understand why it took Coy took so long to grumble about it.

As to Coy's explosion of emotion on the subject, he said he was "astounded and outraged" at the total amount that was paid ($5,637.81). Based on Coy's own personal history of legal entanglements, he should not be surprised at the tremendous expense associated with any legal action. Bills are inclusive of ALL TIME spent on behalf of a client, whether that expense is initiated by the client himself, the lawyer and associates representing him/them, or some other individual not part of the particular legal action. Finally, it is anything but unusual for an attorney to bring in outside resources to help with a case, thereby back-billing a client for those services. Councilmember Raney stated that his attorney has offered several times to come to council and detail the expenses, if requested and appropriate that he do so.

Jim Porter: Recommended that the council review a provision to address methods to discount or work with financial "hardship" cases on utility billings, in order to be ready for what he believes is a future economic downturn.

Cindy Broughton: Cindy brought to everyone's attention that the American flags gracing Main Street were provided by Judy Perkins, owner of that wonderful gift shop, Touch of Class.

Perry McPherson: Perry made a motion that the city either begin to address the problems in the Willow Run community, or at least tell the residents that the city cannot help them. At the least, the community deserves that consideration. Councilmember Raney indicated the city might be legally impaired to act on many issues due to probable future legal actions. The motion was revised to mandate that the council determine how and what they can address on this subject during the next council executive session, to be held before the next council meeting.

Mark Raney: Congratulated Donna Murphy on obtaining the grant for work on the comprehensive plan (GMA).

Bob Ostrom: Good-heartedly poked fun at a flyer that's being distributed around town that says the city is going broke, then went on to discuss budget specifics. (The transcription is given at the need of this update, if anyone wishes to read it in full.) Agreed with Jim Porter about utility issues -- conserving water and adjusting rates for economic hardship cases.

Carolyn Eslick: Also agrees with Jim Porter re hardship cases. Carolyn pointed out that the next council meeting will the last one for the current council. She stated that, unlike most elected positions, the new councilmembers will be seated following the election, rather than waiting until January. Because of that, she wanted to strongly urge that several inter-community groups that she and Bob Ostrom represent for Sultan get picked up by new councilmembers, in order to continue the "voice" that the East Snohomish County area (Monroe, Gold Bar, Sultan, et al.) has with these commissions/committees/boards. They are: Snohomish County Tomorrow (an advisory committee monitoring GMA issues), the Snohomish County Board of Health, and the AWC (All Cities Washington Council).

COMMITTEE REPORTS:

Connie Dunn (Public Utilities Director): Communicated that the Osprey park trail and bridge is completed. She requested that NO bikes or horses be used on the trail, since it pretty well trashes them and will end up costing taxpayers more money for maintenance. The have begun renovation of the baseball field in Reese Park.

Donna Murphy (Economic Development Director): Gave staff and committee reports. Donna reported that she has obtained $499K in grant funding this year. Two workshops (each 3-4 hours in duration) need to be scheduled to discuss zoning and other issues related to the Industrial Park Master Plan/EIS. These two meetings are scheduled as follows:

• To discuss general issues: 6:00 p.m., Thursday, November 8^th
• To discuss zoning issues: 6:00 p.m., Monday, November 19^th (keep in mind that is a short week, due to the Thanksgiving holiday).

Fred Walser (Police Chief): Fred indicated that they are taking security issues very seriously, because of the September 11^th events and those following. He indicated an FBI advisement to ensure that governmental websites are secure and gave the example that the relatively small California town of Mountainview received 10-20 hits a day from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), attempting to access their data, which is most unusual.

Of particular concern is our water supply. Extended discussion of various security measures that could be instituted were debated. It was agreed that specifics on these measures would be contained with executive session, in order to retain security on what measures are eventually adopted. {Which is why we have not given any specifics here on what was discussed. As an aside, I will say that I couldn't agree more with keeping these issues under wraps.]

Regarding handling problems with juveniles, the Chief indicated that they would begin enforcing the 11:00 p.m. curfew on teenagers under 18 years of age. They will give a warning, with subsequent violations resulting in citing their parents which would involve a fine. This will not be enforced on individuals traveling to/from valid events (dances, school events, jobs, etc.) or for those with parental approval.

Cindy Broughton was commended for her efforts in obtaining two computers for use within patrol cars.

Mark Raney (Land Use Committee report): Indicated that the cluster ordinance will be addressed by the new city planner, Rick Cisar, and staff. ["Cisar" is pronounced, "Caesar'.]

Jeff Kirkman, a resident from Willow Run, has made application for consideration to this advisory body as soon as there is an opening position.

Because of the newly-adopted selection process, councilmembers had the opportunity and privilege of interviewing two candidates for this advisory commission -- Michael Kelly, who owns the Farmers insurance in the strip mall on Highway 2 (near Ixtapa and video store), and Josie Falgetter, a resident who lives on Trout Farm Road near Willow Run.

We will let you draw your own conclusions about Mr. Kelly and Ms. Falgetter, and their qualifications, by reading the word-for-word transcription we have provided at the end of this update.

Passed unanimously.

A rather long and interactive discussion took place regarding this subject, specifically a revision on the plat drawing showing the "Hammerhead" turnaround, and a definition of the roadway ordinance used in this decision. Most councilmembers desired to change the Hearing Examiner's decision by using the current road ordinance rather than the old one. But city attorney Thom Graafstra indicated that whatever road ordinance was current at the time the developer was "vested" is the one that's required to be used. "Vesting" of a development occurs at the time the application is considered complete, which would have been November, 2000. Therefore, the old road ordinance must be used. Luckily, the problems will be minimal, since this is only a 9-lot development, not an 118-home community, as was the case with Willow Run.

Both Mark Raney and Cindy Broughton strongly urged a delay in approving the preliminary plat until the council could view the plat drawings with the changes incorporated. It was decided they would delay voting until the next meeting.

This $58,000 contract to review the cost-benefit of the LID-97-1, and to determine what property owners' assessments will be, was approved. A hearing is to be held in either late December or early January on its results.

Porter: Can I ask you a question? You said pertaining to the sewer?

Ostrom Right.

Porter: Excess water would -- ?

Ostrom Well, the idea is that most places charge a sewer rate based on a water consumption. On the assumption that all water that comes in ends up going back out, whether it goes out in gray water or whatever. Now, admittedly, admittedly, there are some in the city who do use a lot of water outside the house, whether it be for gardening or the fire department which uses an awful lot of water that doesn't go back in the sewer system just for washing the equipment. And I understand that. And I think that you can probably look at, uh, uh, maybe commercial enterprises that do pay an excess amount, might, you might make the adjust (sic), but I'm looking -- just regular residential user -- the guy who just lives in the city, doesn't have a garden, and had, has low, low water usage or can actually conserve more. So that's my comment. I know it's debatable. But I'm saying that's a way of looking at cutting it.

Porter I've thought of, I've thought of the water, you know, connecting to the sewer and all, but there's so many items, like you say, so many times where you don't use the water, it goes into the solid waste treatment facility.

Ostrom Well, unless you have a swimming pool, and we don't have that many swimming pools, most residents, if you look at most of them, I'm talking about most of the residents in town, most of the water they use goes out as, goes into the sewer treatment plant. The more you use the more you have to treat. That's all I have.

B.Boucher Mayor Rowe? I have, uh, information on that action item I'd like to give you real quick, information real quick [unintelligible].

Rowe Information on What?

B.Boucher Make a statement, please?

Rowe Okay.

B.Boucher Thank you. My name is, uh, Brady Boucher [gives his address; withheld]. Uh, month and a half ago, I applied for planning commission. Last three or four weeks, things that have happened, have, uh, that have come up have given me concern and I would like to at this time withdraw my application for planning. Thank you.

Rowe Okay. Thank you. Josie? You want to go first? Step up here at -- each councilmember has one question to ask you, and this is not like putting you on the hot sheet. We don't swear you in and all that stuff. For those of you who don't know where Ms. Josie Fal--fal-get?

Falgetter Falgetter.

Rowe Carolyn? Do you wish to start?

Eslick I would. We've had lots of different developments in the last eight years. Um, what would you like to see in a development that we might have in the next two years? What would your residential development look like, if you had, were on the planning commission, what would you like to see?

Falgetter I would like to see…a development, I guess, that is a little bit more thought out from the beginning. And a development that is a little more consistent with what was originally intended. I know you don't -- being notified about some of the developments that were going to come in, we would hear that it was going to be a certain number of houses, and then it would be double that or, you know, even more than doubled. Um…and just, you know, looking at the designs of some of them that have gone in. For example, you know, with the Willow Run, my husband and I used to walk through there, you know, on our nightly walks, and we could tell that there were going to be problems with it. And we hadn't gone to the meetings on that one. We just, after the first couple projects went in, we just thought anything goes in -- you know, any, anything any developer wants to do is going to be [unintelligible]. As you're going up First Street and approaching Willow Run -- or I'm not su--it is Willow Run, isn't it? The parking is on the left-hand side of the road and the sidewalk is on the right-hand side of the road. So anybody whose coming to visit people in the development have to park on the left side of the road, cross traffic -- you know, get out with no sidewalks in rain or mud -- and a lot of that stuff doesn't make sense to me. I would like to see, I guess, just more livable development, as far as the number of houses. I don't think I'm too picky on what kind of developments they are -- you know, if they're going to be, um, condominiums or apartments. I don't think that's my decision. But I would like to see them livable by the people in them and by the people who are impacted during the construction. Um, you know, another one of my personal frustrations with that was all the trash that would blow across the road into the wetlands. [unintelligible--someone coughs] builders, and builders have to put, pick up their trash. And it kind of seemed like these people didn't have to pick up their trash. So I guess I want to see clean development.

Eslick Thank you.

Rowe Do all builders pick up their trash? [smattering of laughter].

Raney They get somebody to pick it up.

Criswell Shouldn't we ask the other applicant -- ? Because he's, he's gonna have time to prepare for these questions if he hears them ahead of time. Is it -- what is that fair to her that he gets that… [simultaneous comments] answers?

Rowe Have him come up now and --

Criswell No, no. What I'm saying is maybe he sholdn't be hearing these questions and just prepare himself.

Raney Well, Rob, one other way to do it is to have him answer this question now, too, and then ask him the next question first.

Rowe Your agreeable to that, Mike?

M.Kelly I'm about as prepared as a rock, so…. So am I supposed to answer that question, or what?

Rowe Do you two know one another here, o r-- ?

M.Kelly Actually, after listening after all that's gone on tonight, I'm wondering why I want to do this. I didn't wear a [sounds like, "Flak jacket"??], so I don't know. But just a little background. I have a degree in Sociology and an emphasis in urban planning. I'm from Virginia Beach, Virginia and participated in voluntary planning commission studies back there when we were a rural city. We were known as the largest resort city in the United States land-wise, not population. But we went from a rural agricultural background to a very large metropolitan area. So I participated in a lot of that development, a lot of the study. What I would do here? I'm not prepared to answer that question because I don't know your ordinances, your [unintelligible] codes or everything else, which I'd have to familiarize myself with. But as a person that lives in the area, I think change is good. I'm part of that change. I've only been here three years. I've come from somewhere else to live here. So I think that I want to maintain the character of the area. At the same time I want to prepare for progress but I want to do it in an ordered fashion. So I think it's very important, number one, that we abide by the codes and regs and everything that are in place now. And I think we need to get feedback from the community and find out how they want us to proceed and see if we can make changes to accommodate those needs. Other than that, I'm really not prepared to give any specifics. I'm just not trained for that.

Rowe Okay. Don't run off. You get the next question first. Okay, Bob?

Ostrom You know, they did such a great job with this [unintelligible] question [unintelligible], both of them are [unintelligible]. [laughter]

F Hire. Hear the word, "hire."

Ostrom We've talked a lot about clustering. It's been kind of a [unintelligible] subject. And I, my question is, what is your concept of clustering? And do you believe the cluster ordinance should apply to all residential zones?

M.Kelly Well, again, I don't know your specific ordinance, but I would say clustering is another form of social engineering, to my concept. Um, I think there are pros and cons to social engineering -- God, these are such political answers. I hate this. [laughter] Trust me. When I'm on board, I, I am what I am. Uh…whew…yeah, I do like the clustering concept overall. I think you do have to have pockets of development and you have to maintain areas of, for enjoyment of wildlife and environmental protections and things like that. But yeah, I like a social engineering concept. I mean, that's the whole point to a city in the first place. And so I do like that concept of, of enforcing that. Other than that, I'm not familiar with the ordinance, so I can't speak intelligently on that ordinance.

Ostrom Good answer, 'cause there isn't one. [laughter]

Rowe Josie?

Falgetter My basic answer is containing development. Um…and I don't think I have too fixed an idea on how we should do that here in Sultan. Um…I don't necessarily think that if our ordinance said that you can have half-acre lots and we have 14 acres, that we want to get 14 times 4 houses on, you know, one -- maximum number of houses on a lot aren't necessiari---or on a parcel aren't necessarily the way to go. Um… [unintelligible] that's my answer.

Male Good answer.

Raney I have a simple yes or no answer (sic). Do you have any interest, or are you related to anyone who has interest in land or business holdings that might benefit or be influenced within the next five years by your decisions on the board?

Falgetter No. And I will give you a, more than a yes or no answer. I don't have any axes to grind, and I'm not beholden to anyone.

M.Kelly Yes and no. I'm from Gold Bar and I'm acquiring a farm down there. But I'm maintaining and preserving the land because it's on the river for the fish hatchery. So my goal is to preserve and maintain that. That's why I'm buying it. I also own a business that's located here in Sultan. And so I have, I'm an insurance agency, I'm an agency. So I guess I have ties to the community in the sense that I participate very heavily with my finances into this community and my time, uh, but I'm not beholden to anyone. I certainly have clients. They're business owners and councilmembers and what-not, but I'm not beholden to any particular -- I am me. And I'll speak my mind. And I make a lot of enemies 'cause I do that, so.

Rowe Welcome [unintelligible].

Eslick He ought to fit right in.

Rowe Mike, come back. You have another question.

M Shouldn't she get the next question?

M No.

McPherson I'll just read this #3 because I [unintelligible]: How do you feel about higher-density single family development on smaller lots, in accordance with GMA ["GMA" means "Growth Management Act."]?

M.Kelly Pshew. That's a tough one. Uh, I do believe in containment, to borrow a word. I do believe in social engineering. I do believe in preventing urban sprawl. You've got a finite territory here to work within. So we've got some very unique situations. To give you an example, Virginia Beach, we would go in and put a 5,000-home community in at one time, and I was the developer that was responsible for that. So we built our services, our schools, our retail outlets and everything within this community. So when you're talking about density and single family home--single family homes in a high densin (sic) area, I, I think there's some good engineering that can be done there. Again, your ultimate source you have to go back to what you're bound to do, uh. And I think you, you get input from the citizens that this is going to impact. I think that's the key thing, even though we're part of a larger area, the state of Washington, I think we really need to look at what the community wants around here. And I think we need to listen to them, and see if there are changes that we can make, if there are things that we can make and we work within the regulations that we have, but… to preserve this area as much as we possibly can for the greater good of the people. And density's something, an issue that we're going to have to face. And these people here have to face. I'm not, because I'm buying a very large farm. But you know, the reality of it is you got finite land you've got to concentrate -- so we're going to have growth. I, I'm [unintelligible] a that growth. I moved here because I wanted to be here. So we've got to control it. Gotta regulate it and you gotta do the best you can to make it a nice environment for people to want to continue to buy and sell and move up and more people to come in.

Falgetter That question is difficult for me to answer unequivocally for or against it. I think it depends on what the intent is. When they did Willow Run they were going to do some housing for seniors. And I thought, you know, that was a great idea. They were going to have a section that was 50 and older. But they put it right next to the high school. And it's like I don't know a lot of people that are over 50 that want to live next to the high school. And they didn't sell, and they ended up opening it up to people that were younger than 50. So there was an idea that I thought was a good idea to, you know, if you wanted to do a community that was as a senior community, and put in, you know, tighter houses, that's a great idea. But it needs to work within the overall scheme of what the community is. So I can't say yes, I am for higher density, no, I'm against it. It really depends on how it fits into the community.

Rowe Thank you. Cindy?

Eslick What's your opinion of mitigation and impact fees? Do you think that growth should pay its own way?

Falgetter Yes. I think growth is responsible to pay its own way. Um… You know, again there are two sides to that. Nobody wants to foot the bill. But I think that you need to, to take care of those things up front. I don't think they can be put off. And, you know, and then hopefully somebody will pick it up and then take care of it later, the rest of the community being responsible for it.

M.Kelly My comment [unintelligible] to backtrack. I am going to benefit from this, ultimately, because I own an insurance agency and I do property and casualty insurance, so obviously my business is going to go up by having more houses, more insurable interests, come into the area. So I guess I should qualify that, that everybody know[s] that for sure. That should be common sense, but --

Raney Mike, that's an indirect benefit.

M.Kelly Uh, well, yes. It is. But it's --

Raney You won't be [unintelligible] the community so you get customers on purpose.

M.Kelly The thought never occurred to me.

voices Uh-oh!

M.Kelly Could you rephrase your question? Or just, could you state your question for me again?

Broughton What's your opinion of mitigation fees? Do you think that growth should pay its own way?

M.Kelly Well, growth is always going to pay its own way, but so, so do people in existence in the area as well. Because we're gonna benefit from that growth. The new taxes, the new people coming in the area are going to bring more services. It's going to bring the need for more services. But they're also going to bring the tax dollars to help pay for that. We're all in this together. And so people that live here now are going to pay for the benefits, so the improvements that are going to come in the future, and the people that are moving in here and the growth that's coming in here is going to pay its way as it goes, so it's not a question of who should. We all are. The question comes down to whose gonna pay what percentage of it. And I think our develop--having been a former developer, I think the responsibility falls on our shoulders, the developers or, uh, coming into the area, that we have to pay a large part of this fee. But ultimately it goes down to the consumer anyway. So the person that pays for it is us. You know? No matter how you look at it, we pay for it. So it's going to pay for a portion of itself as it comes in with new people, but the people that are here are going to continue to pay for it as well. We're just going to pay a smaller portion of it.

Rowe Jim? Mike, we've got another question for you.

Male He wants to get outta here.

Porter I'm going to go back - Carolyn mentioned awhile ago something to do with the commercial… Did-did-- I thought you started to ask that. Maybe I didn't.

Eslick About the commercial -- ?

Porter Well, the, uh, how we'd like to see the city grow commercially. Because here we are, we're having a budget crunch now, and we have no tax base in this city, per se, you know? There's just not much here to draw from to do what the city really needs to do. And I thought you --

Eslick No. It was residential development.

Porter You were strictly residential?

Eslick Yeah, right.

Porter So I would like to kind of deviate from these questions here. What do you see as a commercial setting for this city?

M.Kelly That's a real good question. And I like it. Having come from a different area, it seems to me we've always had some specific identity. For example, Kirkland and the Kirkland waterfront, and we've really developed that nicely to a place where people want to go. It's become a Mecca. And part of that is because of the population. People [unintelligible-someone coughs] to go. But I'll tell ya, this is an attractive area to live, and I've moved out here and I guarantee you I've got of us out here and more of my family's going to be moving out this way. It's an attractive community and it's a great place that you want to live, but we have no reason for being here, other than to get away and people leave you alone. That's not necessarily true, but -- you, you can't escape the city. I'm really big on -- I mean, I just got back from Winthrop and I look at a lot of these small towns? I'm really big on some kind of theme for the community, because realistically -- God, this is where I put my foot in my mouth -- there's no reason for someone to come to Sultan and shop. I hate to say that. I mean, that's a horrible thing. But unless the restaurants -- and you're passing through -- there's no reason to stop here. So if you're local you've got a reason to do business here. And I have a tenet. I don't go out of this town. If I ever go to Monroe, I consider that a major journey. I do all my business locally. And if I can get them to order stuff, I'll even pay more. We don't, we actually don't pay that much more than going somewhere else. But we have no theme. We have nothin' that gets us to come to this town and want to stay here. We've got Sultan Bakery, we got Dutch Cup, we got restaurants, we got a few things like that, but if I'm not from here I'm not going to go to Ed's True Value, I'm not going to go to the variety store, I'm not going to go to Judy Perkins' place for the florist. So I think if we did something as a commun--it's gonna take a lot of money. It's going to take an infusion of money and that's one of the reasons I've located my business here, is because I support this kind of stuff. But we need, as a community, need to have some kind of identity. And my proposal about this visitor information center. I can't get politically involved in that but if we did something like 405 where they had TV news cameras and people from Canada coming down to look at the flowers that they did over in Totem Lake that one time -- if we did a garden -- anything that we can get to attract people who want to stop here, stay here, spend money. I mean, that's what it's all about. As far as the locals, if we just had something to be proud of as an identity for this city -- I think we've started with city hall and we've started with community, Coastal Community Bank. We're starting an appearance and we're starting an identity for ourselves, and I think that's just critically important. It's going to take a lot of money, but as business owners, I'm certainly willing to put my money into it. And do. Quite a bit. [unintelligible].

Falgetter I think I have a somewhat different answer on that. I don't, um… have anything negative to say about building up the downtown identity or anything like that, but I think the potential is out at the four lanes or, you know, out by the Red Apple, perhaps, for some business. And I would like to think that industry could be a part of that growth out here. You know, more people that can work out here in Sultan are going to be clogging up Highway 2 less. So if we can… if they're already businesses, manufacturing, you know, like the food plant or anything like that that would want to be out here, I see those as, um, the kind of commercial industry that we want to invite out here. I think we have room -- you know, I think that out in the four lanes or by the Red Apple perhaps, for some development. But I don't see it so much spreading into the downtown part of Sultan.

Criswell Well, I'll go with the one that's left here. Well, there's two of them. I'll just take the last one. What's your vision of the city of Sultan in the future?

Falgetter I like Sultan keeping its small town atmosphere. You know, as we walk into the businesses downtown and I know the people. If I go check out a video at Seven C's, I know the gal behind the counter. If I walk into the hardware store, you know, I know the people, I know they're going to help me out. I want to keep that flavor. And then I guess the other half of my answer to that is my vision for Sultan is that we can move away from some of the bad press that we've gotten. And I think that's my big motivation for wanting to get on the planning commission. I see this as a place where… I don't want to cause any trouble. I don't want to still anything up. I just want to find some solutions and make this a better place. I don't, I don't want to be part of a faction. And I want to see this a town that people say positive things about. And I guess that's, you know, I want to work towards that.

Male Thank you.

M.Kelly Could you restate that [the question].

Criswell What's your vision for the city of Sultan for the future?

M.Kelly Okay. I think the only difference between the two of us, I think, at heart we both want the same things for the community, but I think we have a very different -- I, I do ratt--shake, rattle and roll. I shake people up. I do take sides. I'm very opinionated. I do have ideas about things that I want to see done. We're going to develop and growth is coming our way and there's nothing we can do to stop it. So we better plan it out really, really well. And that, I think, would be my goal. This Highway 2 corridor, if you can envision, is going to be much wider than it is now. We're going to have to be to accommodate the growth and the population. And I see us as a business development going clear through Startup eventually. I mean, it, it's down the road but it's coming. So we might as well plan that out. And there's a lot of things that we can do to control that and invite the right businesses in that we want. But it's going to be a lot of retail. I think we can get some light industry. I certainly don't want heavy industry in this area. It's too beautiful, too pristine still. And too environmentally sensitive. So light manufacturing is certainly good for the area, retail is certainly good for the area, and I see us boom! just going that way. We're kind of limited with the river here. Unless we can acquire some farms, I don't know what's going to happen that direction, but I see us going this way [eastward] big time. I see a big future. And I'm a rebel-rouser. And that's a difference in styles. And, and, and so I'm very, I'm progressive. I mean, I came from a town of 5,000, it's 3,000,000 now. And I was a large part of that development back in the early 70s, so I know what happens --

Criswell [unintelligible] not to get that big.

M.Kelly And I hope that we will. We don't have a land base to accommodate it. But what we do have [unintelligible]. You obviously know that you live here. Our area's very desirable, and we have tremendous amount of traffic flow, and we can really take advantage of that for our community to do something with it. And, and, and face it. It's gonna come whether we want it to or not, so let's plan it out. Let's do it intelligently. And let's prepare for it and let's control it. And I think if we do, we can do just a bang-up job for the upper Sky Valley, and make opportunities. All of us has kids. I have five kids. I'm going to just stay here and work. I'm preparing my kids to try and take over my business and start more businesses. And, uh, I just see it happening in this valley. And if we can contribute to that by controlling it and planning it out properly, I think we got a great future. [unintelligible].

Rowe [unintelligible]

McPherson [speaking to Mayor Rowe] There's one question on here that I would sure like -- it's #6. Is there a possibility that you could ask that? Or [unintelligible]? I'm just curious.

Rowe There's one question on our list here that didn't get asked, so I guess I get that. [unintelligible] the last one on the list here. To both of you. What is your feeling about protecting critical areas, such as wetlands and streams?

Falgetter I'm absolutely for it. I think that, um…we need to preserve what we have. And I think a large part of that is -- you know, just looking at some of the controversy that happened with Willow Run. We have an area there that's sensitive. Before we go in and build there, let's lay down the groundwork, the framework that the developer can work within. If we lose it, we'll never get it back.

Rowe Okay.

Falgetter And other than that, I hate the deer that come through my yard and eat my roses. [laughter].

Rowe Thank--thank you.

M.Kelly I agree with her. Let's kill all the wildlife [kiddingly]. Well, as a former builder, what's happened up at this place up here -- and I don't know all the facts about it -- but I know if you build on a bad foundation the only way you that you can really fix everything is go back and just tear the whole thing down and start over again. So you've gotta have a good foundation. Uh, I've been, uh, I'm buying a farm that has 1200 feet of riverfront. We own halfway out to the river, from the hatchery, and my goal was to donate that to the City of Gold Bar, turn it into a park that's controlled by future development and paid for by future development. But I think we, we, we absolutely have to protect our critically-sensitive areas. And even areas that aren't so critically sensitive now, because they're going to be in the future. So I think we do absolutely have to have some protections there, and it's proven that we can't live without them. And if we do try to live without them then we've got to create artificial means to do that. That's why we have septic systems and everything else. So we've got to protect more, we've got to preserve them and I agree with her. What she says about that. It think it's critically important.

Rowe Okay. Thank you… [end of interviews. They were approved unanimously and the audience applauded after they were confirmed. Ms. Falgetter will be PC representative who lives outside the city limits, but within the UGA. Mr. Kelly qualifies as a business owner living outside of Sultan's UGA.]