Cliff Morris' Trout Farm Road 160-acre Annexation Petition: Several Trout Farm residents turned out, urging denial of this petition, and submitting a petition of their own, many signatures from residents who reside on the west side of the road, but who would be significantly impacted by any change. Council discussion included safety issues and whether sidewalks would be installed; questions on why the Morris petition included so many signatures by people whose last name was Morris; and questions as to the legal ownership and/or easements of Trout Farm Road itself, which might negatively impact the legality of the petition. The council decided to table the issue until a legal opinion can be formulated on the road issue. The city has 60 days from the validation date of the petition (11/25), so this will be raised at the next council meeting, which is scheduled for January 18^th.

The city staff's submission to council indicated there would be no fiscal impact from this annexation. And, of course, there would be. Always is. My concern -- which should concern every taxpayer in Sultan -- is and always has been the superficial manner in which the city has "analyzed" any development, but especially annexations, and I reiterated this during closing public comments. How can the council make informed choices without empirical data by which to justify their decisions? The issue of easements and legal ownership of Trout Farm Road should have been brought to light and addressed before even coming to council, along with a capital facilities plan to justify the annexation.

Kudos to the council for demanding a more in-depth analysis. The money it takes to do a first rate fact-finding job up front is infinitely less expensive than trying to "fix" a problem after the damage has been done This annexation would affect everyone in Sultan, not just those on Trout Farm Road.

(We'll have a full transcription later on their discussion.)

North Wagley Creek Water Line:

We'll be doing a full transcription on this discussion. But the gist of council's discussion and decision -- lead, surprisingly, by Dusty Boucher -- involved concerns of the long-term impacts to all Sultan taxpayers, not just the 25 residents the water line installation would benefit. There seems to be some confusion -- at least in my mind -- as to what future capital costs (infrastructure) would result from the line and how taxpayers could recoup the $1 million (estimated) needed for the line.

(I also question a $1 million estimate for this 7500-ft lineal water line, which runs the entire length of 132^nd St. SE and most of Rice Road, when the recent High Street reconstruction amounted to $1 million for a 0.2 mile job that was estimated as $40,000 on the city's 2001 proposed six-year road plan submitted to WSDOT. My confusion was increased over the expenses shown on that same report for road "reconstruction" of Cemetery road to the tune of $1.9 million, an item that showed the total length of the reconstruction to be 0.70 miles, yet the improvements only go approximately 0.30 miles of a mile. Curious.)

Craig Bruner "confused" over Issuance of Building Permit on Gary Broughton's Short Plat: In response to a clarifying question on the city's process for issuing building permits (from Councilman Raney), Mr. Bruner indicated he was "confused." I'll say. Especially considering the number of years Mr. Bruner has been doing this. How can the city approve/issue a building permit for a project that's constructed, all roughed in and has a roof on top?

ESCARC: Monroe, Snohomish, Gold Bar and Granite Falls have either all withdrawn from ESCARC, or are seriously considering doing so. Council agreed to drop from this service and assign two councilmbmers (Bruce Champeaux and Jim Porter) to work with bidders to replace ESCARC.

Darcy Dinky Donuts Impact Fees (an item added to Agenda as an Action item by Rick Cisar): This Mountainview Chevron station's espresso stand's new owner is expanding the business by 64 s.f. and is requesting a wavier of hook-up water/sewer fees of $9,000. The connections have been there for years, which tie into the Chevron's, since the espresso stand leases from them. The owner will pay for and install a separate water meter. There is currently no provision in the SMC to waive fees in cases such as this. Council approved waiver.

While we're on the subject of fees, we spoke briefly with Kay George following the meeting, and asked her to clarify her appeal to the council on the impact fees the city was charging her for a revision to an already-existing accessory dwelling unit. She indicated water and sewer hook-ups were present, but because of the way the ordinance reads, she was told by the building department that she'd have to pay new hook-up and connection charges for water and sewer before they would grant approval for creation of a small kitchenette in the apartment. Mrs. George also indicated that she has withdrawn her appeal and has instead requested the city to address her concerns by revising the city's code on accessory dwellings. (Rick Cisar was directed by council earlier to bring this to the planning commission for review. Gee, wish they'd move that fast on creating an ordinance -- as we have requested countless times -- to make available documents and city information in electronic form for wide distribution and access by all.)

Clearly, this underscores the need for the city to review impact fees in general, increasing some that are inadequate, but also to provide for an alternate and equitable charge when new or expanded capacity is required for small-scale existing hook-ups.

Bruce Champeaux took exception to Mark Raney's quoted remarks in the last Monroe Monitor that indicated the council's action on setting the ballot date for November 2003 was "illegal," even though our word-for-word transcription of the council's discussion of the judge's decision reveals just that. (Bruce was present during the judge's decision, but apparently he and his dad, Burl, didn't understand.)

Dusty Boucher thanked Rob for the "countless hours" he's worked on the veteran's memorial.

Perry McPherson highlighted the worsening problem with dogs running loose in the city, and urged action to address the city's obvious and potential safety and legal liabilities in this area. Recent occurrences involving dogs running uncontrolled are: A dog and a cat were killed in separate incidents, and a property owner was attacked. Even the mayor was accosted by a dog going into his home. (Sounds like we need a "dog catcher." Hmmm…a few candidates immediately leap to mind.)

Jim Porter requested Rick Cisar review and revised the city's ordinances on ADU's. (Impact fee ordinance conflicts are of significantly greater concern, citywide.) Jim also asked Connie Dunn about hanging sighting mirrors at the alleyway exit of City Hall (at 4^th Street). Connie said mirrors have been ordered for several locations around town. And Porter readdressed his crucial concern for installation of a water fountain on the 2^nd floor of city hall.

Jeff Everett indicated a business owner tripped and injured herself over a sidewalk badly in need of repair, and indicated that repair replacement of some might be in order. Jeff also mentioned he'd like to see the on-street parking revised on Love's Hill Drive to permit parking on one side of the roadway (this issue was addressed by Fred during a recent meeting with the Eagle Ridge HOA; owners agreed to purchase the posts, city will provide the signs). Jeff indicated there are two spots open on the library board, and that the county is seeking a member for the Boundary Review Board. Jeff reinforced Perry's comments by saying he was attacked by a dog while distributing flyers on the SCTF public meeting.

Mark Raney thanked Connie Dunn for erecting a "25 mph" speed limit sign to slow traffic at Gohr Road/Trout Farm Road/Willows Avenue. He reiterated his request that the $280 rent the food bank pays to the city be waived so the amount could be spent on food. Asked Craig about the permit process to ensure the city issue permits before the house is built. Responded to Bruce's concerns about his quote in the Monitor article and clarified the judge's comments for him.

Brennan Deveraux lauded the way the school responded to Bryan Classen's death, by showing togetherness and support.

C. H. Rowe asked about the possibility of having a telephone for public use installed in the library.

Donna Murphy announced there will be a service station and a lube business in Sultan Center. Said Bart Dalmasso is working with the Sultan Art Council and high school on the murals. (Here's hoping input from Main Street. business owners is being used during the process. I'd also like to see a "master plan" and draft of what the murals will look like. This project needs to be a first-rate and attractive job, fully thought out and executed. We understand there's been no mechanism put in place to cover the entity responsible for performing long-term maintenance on owners' buildings. Also, it's our understanding that the paint to be used will NOT be purchased at Ed's Hardware. This seems a bit odd, considering the entire purpose is to bring more revenue to Main Street owners and that should start with buying everything for the project locally. Doesn't it?) Donna indicated that a "Home of State Girls' Soccer Champions" shingle could be hung from the Sultan Gateway sign at the east and west portals of town.

Re $1 million grant for sidewalks: Perry McPherson asked if a survey of owners along First Street had been done prior to moving ahead on the project. (Donna said it had not been.) He has talked to owners who do not want sidewalks.

Chief Walser advised he'll be taking delivery of the $7,000 K9 vehicle, which will have a slightly different logo. Unfortunately, Sgt. Shelton will being training Jan. 6^th and will be absent for four months. This will leave the city short-handed. Lauded Detective O'Blenness for three local drug busts for which he was primarily responsible. Later in the meeting Fred addressed Action Item 3, the probability of holding a special levy vote to help fund police services. Preliminary estimates from the auditor indicates the assessment, if passed, would be $1.17 per $1000 of assessed value. (That would be $184 per year for a home assessed at $150,000.) The cost of the election could range between $3 - $8 per registered voter. There are approximately 1950 registered voters in the city, so the costs would be $5,850 and $15,600. Truly, a shared election for the police levy, the school election and the change of city government vote would be highly beneficial to city taxpayers. The school board will be deciding the date of their election during their January 15^th Meeting.

Kathryn McDonald acknowledged Mrs. Karon Deveraux's admonishment that everyone use courtesy when addressing both city officials and people in the assembly, and apologized if her comments gave offense to anyone.

Kelly Korn, Josie Falgatter, Teresa [Sounded like, "Nucky"], Christina Bass and Cole Auckland all spoke eloquently against the Trout Farm Road annexation.

I handed out 3-ring binders to all councilmembers that included educational materials printed from mrsc.org. The information described the various forms of government, specifically council-manager v. mayor-council forms, trends in cities to revising forms of government, and statistics and tables related to same. The package also included copies of the Declaration of Independence, The U. S. Constitution, the Bill of Rights, and the RCWs that guide a council-manager form of government. I strongly urged the council's cooperation in authoring an informational piece that could be sent to all Sultan voters/residents, and a public meeting be advertised to discuss the subject with the public at large and respond to questions.

Transcriptions will follow in a few days.

The Planning Commission hosted another update on the Comprehensive Plan process by Tom Beckwith on Tuesday. He presented section 4.6 of the draft Comp Plan EIS which we'll be scanning in and posting since it gives an excellent description of what happened during the 1995 comp plan process and why there's continuing confusion on Sultan's UGA boundaries (city's v. county's).

The Planning Commission also passed their new rules or procedure, with the exception that provisions for what constitutes commissioner absences and how a tie vote should be interpreted, are still undecided.

It was decided that commissioners will not attend the John Galt Everett-based class ($184 per commissioner) on land use planning since it conflicts with the Planning Commission schedule. I think that was a wise decision, based on the fact that this Galt class is "advertised" as designed for real estate agents, developers and other economic development interests, as well as the fact that Mr. Galt is the Sultan Hearing Examiner, which presents a clear conflict of interest. It would be great if the Commission or the City would check into a planning and GMA class sponsored and taught by the Municipal Services Research Center (mrsg.org), if such a one exists. It would certainly be cheaper, the scope and content would be more "objective," and it could be held locally here in Sultan.

Loretta Storm, co-founder, G.R.I.T.

360-793-6683

http://www.ittakesgrit.org