Keep in mind one simple thing: It's not necessarily HOW you respond that counts, it's that you DO RESPOND. Obviously, the more technical and appropriate the response, the more impact it will have.

Another suggestion: If nothing else, we urge residents to email or mail a letter (it must be postmarked with tomorrow's date) to the following individual, reinforcing the combined response by resolution of the Sky Valley Alliance formed by Steve Higgins. If you have not yet heard, Gold Bar Councilmember and Monroe Monitor reporter Steve Higgins was the force behind this orchestrated multi-city response to the EIS, which included Index, Gold Bar, Sultan, Monroe and Granite Falls, which was, in a nutshell: You cannot evaluate this subject without also evaluating transportation of gravel. The cities' combined resolutions are urging the county to go back to Square One and include this vitally important transportation element.

Or email him by clicking on his name above. (Make certain the subject line says "Response to Draft EIS Mineral Comp Plan" and that the first line in the body of the email states in capital letters: "ATTN: TOM NIEMANN - TIMED RESONSE"

At the last county Mineral Plan Task Force meeting Thursday, January 17^th, the question of impacts from transportation of gravel resources -- and the EIS' studied neglect in addressing the issue -- was the primary focus. Great minds think alike.

This was a "surprise" discussion item which was placed on the 1/16/02 council agenda by Mayor Rowe at the beginning of the meeting. A full word-for-word transcription of the discussion appears below (toward the end of this report).

I would like to say a few words on this subject: Most folks are already aware of our recording and transcription efforts, which we have been doing since May or June of 2000.

We believe that actual transcriptions of what our elected officials say -- backed up by their actions -- speak louder than any campaign promises. Not to put too fine a point on it -- it's difficult to "fog the facts" when a word-for-word transcription is available. This goes directly to the accountability issue we're constantly promoting.

The fact that the city recordings are so poor (or were -- we have requested, but have not yet received, any tapes since the mayor has been mic'd), we believe makes our recording incredibly important.

Until the beginning of December, 2001, the city had not expressed any concerns with our practice of hanging a 3 1/2-ounce microphone from a steel ceiling brace. Since then, however, the city has organized a series of objections to our recording in the guise of issuing "concerns" over this practice, first beginning with faux fears for our safety, next concerns for structural damage to city property, and then a deliberate escalation and orchestration to create a "problem" that required a "solution" by allowing -- and, we believe, encouraging the use of boom boxes as a rationale for restraining our recording.

We wrote a letter addressed to both Mayor Rowe and Attorney Grant Weed on December 28^th, requesting their precise objections to the placement of our microphone and our recording practices, as well as written verification of complaints from others, but have not yet received the courtesy of a reply. (That is not surprising. Despite countless communications to Mayor Rowe, we have never, ever received any response, verbal or written.)

During the last council meeting it was announced that city attorney Keithley, Weed and Graafstra has issued an opinion to the city regarding recording of public meetings. We have not yet been given the courtesy of seeing this opinion. It's important for Sultan residents to keep in mind that the city attorney is PAID BY THE TAXPAYERS of the city, not by the mayor, the council members, or the city clerk. We urge that this opinion be made available to Sultan taxpayers.

The solution the city has devised by which our recording efforts can be maintained will probably not be acceptable

The city's solution is placing a speaker (either outside council chambers in the hallway, on a "media" table in the back of the council chamber room, or in both locations) by which we can "pick up" mic'd comments from the mayor and each council member. First, while the quality of a recording performed in this manner might be acceptable, the suggested physical arrangement of this "solution" is definitely not.

Neither my husband, Ray, nor I will subject ourselves to a push-shove match that will inevitably result by being placed in such close proximity with any of the Boucher family members, or most certainly with Kenton Coy. If folks recall Sultan's not-too-ancient history, both Ed "Chico" Boucher and Kenton Coy have caused us great personal harm. And to suggest that we "share" a small table -- upon which will rest large boom boxes and other non-functional paraphernalia -- is not appropriate. At the least, the mayor, city attorney and council members certainly do not expect us to "share" a table with Mr. Coy, a person with whom we have a current lawsuit, in part, over the legal ownership of our "GRIT" name, or with Mr. Boucher, who assisted him in this effort? They cannot be serious.

We ask that residents remember two things, at least: (1) We have received no valid and written explanation from either the city or the city attorney as to why placement of our microphone, our recording, and transcriptions present a problem; and (2) there was never any "problem" until the city made it one, aided by Brady and Chico Boucher.

By the way, during the last meeting we saw an individual taking a frequency reading of our microphone. We would like to remind this person (or others) that it is a federal offense to intentionally cause any RF (Radio frequency) interference.

We have established a new website page on the subject of past communication with the city.

Martin Kline [Mr. Kline's presentation was not transcribed. He was representing Coronary Health Improvement Project, or CHIP, which is a scientifically documented program by lifestyle changes to reverse cardiac, diabetes, osteoporosis, arthritis, obesity and hypertension. Brochures are probably available at city hall.]

Sandra Poulson (Willow Run resident): I would just like to clarify some comments that I made at the December 19^th city council meeting regarding a couple of police incidents. My comments at that time were only meant to express concern and gain feedback. In no way -- let me make this very clear -- in no way were my comments meant to criticize the police department, as was stated by our city's newest newspaper -- for lack of a better term -- the Sky Valley Weekly, in their debut issue on January 4^th. I commend the Sultan Police Department, and will only criticize those that interfere with their ability to continue their high level of service and protection due to budget and job cuts. I'm happy to show up here tonight and find out that things hopefully are resolved in that aspect. Another comment I would like to make is, when I first drove into Sultan and was thinking about buying out here? The first thing that I noticed driving down the street was a police officer car sitting in front of the middle school, which I knew my son would be attending. I think it's very crucial that that police officer is in that school. It gave me peace of mind. It was one of the reasons that I decided to buy out here. It not only gives our children protection that they deserve, the same as we deserve that protection, they deserve it also. But not only that, it gives them a working relationship with the police department. It turns it into a partnership instead of the kids against the cop. I think it's important. And I would just finally like to say to Chief Walser and all the Sultan police personnel, thank you very much for all of your hard work and sacrifice.

Brady Boucher: In the last council meeting many may have noticed, uh, a small taste of what could be a problem in the Sultan city council, unchecked in the far, as far as the use of recording equipment, uh, monitoring equipment, taping, whatever you want to call it. I did some research over the last couple of weeks and I'd like to share that research with the city council just for basically FYI. I called some cities and asked them their policies regarding citizens setting up equipment, such as this, that I'm staring through to see the mayor [Brady is referring to a 1/2-inch wide wood dowel which extends the height of GRIT's microphone stand to a point where accurate recording can take place] in or--in order to record a council meeting. None of the cities that I talked to had ever experienced this situation, since all of the cities I talked to, with the exception of Duvall, have their own recording system that they supply to the citizens of their town at the citizens' request, which is an audio copy of the action to (sic) city council. I'll name a couple of these cities directly, because they were a little more specific on their way of handling the situation. I talked, spoke with the city clerk in the city of Lynnwood. I spoke with the city clerk in the city of Lake Stevens, Mountlake Terrace, and Snohomish. All of these cities said handling the situation would be best -- they did not disallow recording. And I'm not here telling the council that they should ever consider disallowing recording of any kind by a citizen. But they would not allow their recording equipment to, (A) have contact with city property, (B) be a disruption, or (C) be a -- I guess you'd call it "barricade"? -- Uh, intrusion of city council process. Basically, in layman's terms they all said that the recording equipment had to be kept on person. I realize that this is a subject city council has been taking up, and is going to have to resolve sooner or later. These cities are successful cities. They're not cities that are hitting the papers every day with failures. And they are a range of cities in size. Sultan might want to look at their policies of keeping their recording equipment on person, and take that into effect, into account, excuse me, when they decide on the decision of the situation. Thank you.

Janice [last name was unintelligible--the way the mayor pronounced it, it sounded kind of like, "Spread-ker". I do not know this person.] I want to thank the police officers of the town, the mayor, they've done a wonderful job here. I came in in '80, '80, I, since then and there's been great change in this town. For the best. And the children aren't on the street corners anymore hanging out. They've got things to do. It seems like the chief of police is very dedicated to his work and the children and keeping things up. So thank you.

Dave Boneham [Owner of DND Glass]: I have a glass shop here in town. Just mainly came to support our police department. Had a business for ten years and we have managed to not be robbed, entered, uh, in any way harmed by any, uh, unfortunate children or anything, and I appreciate that. And that's even despite an occasional maybe leaving bay doors wide open and going home for the weekend. So that really says quite a bit to me. And I also have a daughter in the high school, and she mentioned -- I believe last week -- there were some kids who were instructed about not carrying their illegal substances in the schools and that made quite an impression to far more than just the kids who got in trouble. That kind of stuff goes around the school very quickly, and that really shows the value of that officer there at the school. And basically I just came down to say 'thank you,' and as a citizen of the town, I, I do support our police department and I think they're doing a darn good job. Thank you.

Ray Kistenmacher [G.R.I.T. Co-founder]: I find it more than an incredible coincidence that the only person complaining about my recording equipment was personally involved in the fiasco he referred to. He and his family. I know the road that the city is going down -- [Ray's comments were interrupted by Ed "Chico Boucher yelling, "We got a big family, Ray! Are, who are you talking about?" to which Ray responded, "Just back off," at which point the mayor used his gavel.] -- and this road has been tried by other cities. We, too, have done some research. I'm going to give the city attorney a copy of the state attorney general's opinion [Ray gives Mr. Graafstra a copy of the AG's opinion, to which Mr. Graafstra responded, "Already read it."] -- all right. You might advise the mayor what it said in there.

Graafstra: Already supplied the mayor, and council and the city clerk with an opinion concerning the subject.

Kistenmacher Okay. Very good. And as far as any fiasco that may come, again, I reiterate, the only problem that has ever been caused was caused by the people that are complaining about it. Not by me.

Ed "Chico" Boucher [local developer and owner of the Dutch Cup Restaurant]: I'd like to make two or three comments. First is, uh, I'd like to say we appreciate our police department, too, but this did not just start because we bought a house a year or two ago or came driving into town or because we left our door open a few years back, and we've appreciated them for a lot of years. They've done a great job around here and I think there is not a soul in this room that doesn't appreciate Fred, the police department that we've got now. It's probably better than we've ever had. And I think that anything that's ever been said, whether it's for or against, uh, the situation, is strictly a budgetary situation. I don't think anybody has any problem with any one of the, the police chief or any of the officers. And hopefully we can keep everybody on board and be able to afford it. I don't know that much about that part of it, but I, I'll just make that comment that we've appreciated 'em for, uh, actually for 50 years. Since it was a one-man force. So I would say that about that. The other quick item I'd like to say is, um, is, uh, that new paper that somebody was referring to, uh, I read the article that she's referring to. I, I thought it was quite accurate, uh, as to what was said. I don't know that it was said the way it was meant, but that is the way I heard it at the council meeting. I thought it was quite accurate. Uh, next thing I'd like to say is about the recording, um, devices here. I think -- I'm not sure and I'm not even asking what's legal, what isn't legal. I know that this and hanging items is a problem. It'll be more of a problem if it, if it, if everybody continues to do this. But what I would like to say about it is 99% of us, uh, wait to get the minutes, uh, information from a council meeting until they have been, uh, put out, uh, approved by the council. And then you get a, uh, the accurate minutes. The problem that, um, the last speaker there is referring to is that we're getting -- and I suppose this is possible whether it's recorded or not -- we're getting a, uh, an unapproved, uh, minutes put out there that are not, uh, anywhere near what is being said, or, uh, accuracy (sic). And that's what the problem is and if, if we need a, if the council needs a petition of some sort signed, it's not just one or two people that have a problem with this, it's, it's a number of people. Quite a few people. And, uh, the city's official minutes and, from their recording and from the transcripts or whatever, it doesn't make particular council people sound like idiots. They don't do the "does" and the "uh's" and the double-repeats and leave out unintelligible kind of thing. That's my complaint with, with this situation and with the recording. I think if we're going to be videotaping or, or recording, it should be done from the chair with your own personal equipment. And... thank you.

Karen McIntosh [an Eagle Ridge resident]: I kind of looked at the budget in here. Well, guys, I am thrilled that you are protecting my family in this town for the little money that you make. [comment addressed to the police.] Thank you. And I'm so sorry that it is so little [applause]. Uh, Mr. Mayor, I'm asking this council to please look into revenues to bring into the city. Um, you have a lot of commercial property up the road that could bring in some wonderful businesses that we desperately need in this town. And those revenues would help bring this, you people's salary up to what it should be to protect our town. And I want to thank them because they have been to my home. I've had my car egged. I've had my house paint-balled. And I only lived in my house less than a year when it was paint-balled. And I thank them for coming out, taking the report, and doing the best they could to find out how did it. So I just hope that this city would stop bickering about microphones and find a solution to bringing more revenue into this city. Um, bringing business in so that we have a place to shop so we don't have to go spend our dollars down in Monroe. Thank you. [applause]

Cindy Broughton [Ex-city councilmember]: This may surprise you. I'm here to support the police department. [smattering of laughter]. At a time when the rest of our country has realized how important police and fire people are, it seems like the City of Sultan has kind of, um, not realized that yet. Well, not all of us, anyway. They do a heck of a job. And they don't make a whole lot of money. And sometimes when you don't make a lot of money, at least if you've got job security you know that your paycheck's going to be there next month, it's a big plus in your life. For somebody to go up and give you a pat on the back and say, "You know what? You doin' one heck of a job," also a big plus when you're not making a lot of money. Might want to consider those things. Thanks. [applause]

Jeff Wilson: I'm a citizen here in Sultan and also a business owner of Adventure Taxidermy. As a citizen I'd like to say it makes me feel good when I see the police driving down my street in my neighborhood. As a business owner it makes me feel good in the morning and I see that little blue card that says, hey, we were by last night and checked your business, make sure all the doors were locked and all. This gentleman said, uh, we all [unintelligible] have a good reason to feel comfortable. Well, that's what he -- I just don't think it's something that we can afford not to have. I would hate to see, uh, less availability of our police to drive by and check my neighborhood and check our businesses. And, uh, I worked up there at WSR in the prison for about nine and a half years, and I know what kind of people are out and about here. And let's not, uh, anybody be kidding ourselves. They are here, too. They're everywhere and they look just like we do. I think it's important to say on top of issues of, uh, crime law enforcement in our city, and, uh, not to let crime get ahead of us to where now we're working to get back on top of it. I think right now I feel like we're on top of it here, and I feel safe in this, uh, town. And that's pretty much all I have to say. I'm here to speak in support of the police, and I don't want to see us, uh, get into a situation where we're scrambling to get more police on the force now that we're in trouble. So, thank you. [applause]

Stan Otto: Starting to get used to this public speaking now. I'm not going to make a comment in regards to the recording. Uh, my main concern is that, uh, when everything is drawn up that I am hearing what is actually said in the city council meeting that I am reading the actual words of what is being said. I don't want anything omitted, left out, etc. So I could personally care who, you know, records. That's my opinion on that. As long as we hear the truth and, and everything that's involved. Number two, I know the city of Redmond, I've been to some of their city council meetings, they have TV cameras set up. They have a microphone in each one of these councilmembers. You can turn on the channel to their, uh, to their channel and you can watch it. For the elderly that can't get out to the city council meetings, I think that's a pretty great idea, because there are some people that can't make it. I'm not saying that Sultan should do that. But I'm just saying the people out there need a means of sharing what goes on in these meetings. Number three, uh, I, I, too am here for the police department. I think they're a valuable asset to this community. I heard a comment the other day that kind of frightened me. Um, an individual made a quote stating that, uh, what's, why should we have a police officer in the school? Shouldn't the teachers be responsible for that? I gotta tell you, as a taxpayer, I want to pay the teachers to teach, not to police. And that's where I come from on that issue. I think it's very important to have that officer in the school. For many reasons. Number one, it's over-crowding. My grandson goes to the middle school. He has to fight his way down the halls to get from class to class. I think we know that what occurs in a situation like that, uh, people become aggressive in, a, in a crowded room. We're doin' fine here, but you know. [laughter] But you know it can happen, we're all aware of that. So I think it's extremely important, for number one, the city council some way or another to maintain the police force we have. I, I would personally pay more. Number two, to keep that officer in that school on a full-time basis instead of a part-time basis. I believe in proactive. I don't want to read about it and say, three kids have got shot in our school. Gee, we should've done something about that, shouldn't we? We should have listened to somebody. I don't like that. That's bad news. Uh, and you know, the kids are our most important commodity. They're going to grow up to sit there where you're sitting. And I think they need a solid foundation to do that. Thank you. [applause]

Brady Boucher (Redux): I had, uh, was going to wait until the end to discuss this, but it was open [unintelligible] respond to the discussion, so I will not respond, but, uh, I wanted to give the rest of my information that I was going to save till last. But first I wanted to say, and, uh, Fred'll probably be shocked to [be]lieve this, but, uh, I make a, I make a living say (sic) driving. And, uh, the reason that I am allowed to have a professional combination driver's license is being on the wrong end of those guys. And being on the wrong end of those guys -- having their lights flash in my mirror -- and it was pretty constant there for a few years, wasn't it, Fred? -- was, uh, probably one of the best things that happened to me. And, uh, I'll state my support with that and just leave it at that. Regarding the state, uh, attorney general. I called that office and discussed that, that very issue today. And, uh, I didn't read their opinion, nor do I want to. I spoke with one of their representatives. And they said that in no way will you ban recording from a person when it's on their person. Now, I didn't mention this before. I also spoke with the City of Everett. The City of Everett, any public recording, any recording that is not on-person, any recording that is separate from the individual, must be -- prior to enacting it -- must be okayed by the mayor. And that goes from TV stations right down to Joe Public. And the mayor can, and has, said no to that. The right for someone to record ends when it leaves their person. And I would just stress the city council take that into advisement. As far as me, my family, whatever you want to call it being the only complainers, I have a petition that I'm, that I have signatures on -- I haven't completed it yet -- but it is very strong, and it is not all Bouchers. Thank you.

Graafstra As, as I said earlier, I've already supplied the council and the mayor and staff with a, an opinion about private recording of open city council meetings. And it's been distributed to the council members that are here, and it supplies some suggestions, and this happens to be a discussion item, I believe that's been added to our agendas, Item 3 in the discussion. So, councilmembers, since it's their meeting, their the ones that set the rules, will, um, take what we've suggested into account and make some decisions accordingly.

Storm Okay. One more thing I'd like to add is regarding transcriptions of "um's", "uh's," stutters and the rest of that, as a professional transcriptionist who has made my living that way for the last seven years, I will tell you that that is the correct way of doing a precise legal transcription unless you have given notations within that transcription to the contrary, and/or the customer has requested something different.

Graafstra [nodding in agreement - laughter follows] I've discovered how inarticulate I can be some of the time in answering a question.

Rowe Two things I would like to make comments on here as we go into the council member comments. Number one is, we are in the process of putting in a better microphone system in here. At the moment I'm the only one wearing a microphone. I get the first one because I'm so soft-spoken. In the near future, everybody will have a microphone and we hope to have a better recording system. I believe it'll be a CD-burner, for those of you who know what that is. It's a better system that what we've got. So we are working towards that. The other thing is with the police department, there's been a lot of publicity in the last few days, part of it true, part of it untrue. But I want one thing understood. It seems to come that it's the council and the mayor against the police department. That's not true. We all live in this town, too, and we all need the police department just as bad as everyone sitting in this room. We've all kids and grandkids that're here and go to school here, and they're just as important to us as your kids are to you. And we've tried every way we could to work that budget around to keep everybody we can, and we finally came up [unintelligible] that the police officers on their own volunteered to do what they did, and we do appreciate that. Like I say, we live here, too, and we need those guys just as bad as you did. [smattering of applause]. With that, I will open up for council member comments.

Bruce Champeaux: I had the privilege last night of sitting in and viewing artwork of the Sultan High School students of what will one day be our new sign at the, uh, entrance to our community. And Donna, I would like for you to pass onto Mr. Armstrong and those students, my thanks and appreciation, I'm sure the rest of the councilmembers, for their, for their time and effort. And, um, the artwork was very good, and a heck of a lot better than what I could ever attempt to do. And from what they have done in a couple of revisions, we're going to have something very fine to put up [unintelligible]. So pass on my thank you. And the other one is, excuse my tardiness tonight. I was at my son's basketball awards and there was 25 kids on the team and his name was last. So I'm thinking as I'm sitting there looking at, looking at the clock wondering why he can't be announced the first five or six, but it was [unintelligible]. So I'm sorry.

Rob Criswell: Fred, I, I agree with the mayor. We don't, we don't have a problem with our police department. We do have a problem finding money to support 'em. Everybody seems to think I hate the chief and I hate JC and I hate the police department. Well, that's not true. I do have an, uh, strong opinion about funds. I don't spend my money foolishly and I don't expect our, our people that have control of our money here in town to spend their money that way. And that's -- money is the only reason that we even talked about laying anybody off. The, uh, the union contract was, was not signed, so we couldn't give them their deductions that they said they were going to take. We didn't have any control over it. We had to, we had to rat--if, if, until that contract was ratified, we couldn't….pay them less than what we'd been paying them before. Consequently that means layoffs, 'cause we didn't have enough money for the budget. Um, I don't know if every, everybody finds that the way it should be, but anyway, we did not want to have to lay anybody off.

Dusty Boucher: I certainly hope whatever, uh, miscommunications occurred we learn from that, because it was getting rather frustrating to have been part of the executive session, and then over the last week get four or five different versions, none of them that matched what I felt actually occurred. So I don't know if that was a -- which end that miscommunication was coming from, but I don't think that's fair to these folks, uh, not fair to our police department, it's not fair to the council. We need to do a better job of communicating clearly under those situations.

Perry McPherson: I just want to thank the chief and all the police, uh, uh, people for doing their job and I fully support you.

Jim Porter: I'd like to say that I'm glad we've got that ironed out. It's been in limbo since [unintelligible] in November. It's been a [unintelligible; someone coughed] for all of us, and I'm glad [unintelligible] up. But I would like to say one more thing, too, concerning this Health Watch here that Martin talked about awhile ago. [goes onto talk about general negative health statistics, especially related to women.]

Jeff Everett: I just want to reiterate something that Dusty has said, and that is it's incredibly frustrating to hear so many different versions of what went on. And we can't confirm or deny anything that happens in executive session. We're, we're bound by law. We cannot discuss it. And It's just incredibly frustrating to hear all the different versions that's gone on and not be able to say anything about it. Uh, Chief, I just want to say, you guys have done an outstanding job. I appreciate your police force and I appreciate the job you've done with them.

Mr. Singh's comments follow: When we got involved with the question about the rural communities, former councilmember Michael Ashley had asked us whether there was any possibility to help the city of Granite Falls. And that opened the discussion in terms of all of the cities east of I-5. And as we put our heads together and we worked with the Central Puget Sound Economic Development District, we saw an opportunity to tap into their technical assistance grant for small cities. One of the outcomes of this is the recommendation that the local economy -- we're all struggling to kind of maintain our economic base. Urban cities have their challenges as well as rural cities. The focus that we would like to do, and in fact, the Economic Development Council had their annual retreat today, was to talk about how we build capacity in terms of quality communities, and that both our rural and urban cities are on the same basis in terms of having an opportunity to have some self-determination to achieve the visions and dreams of any economic development opportunities that are available. One of the things that we found in the process in terms of getting federal funds or state funds, is the ability to build capacity, to build a basis of an inventory, a network of information that is common for anybody that is going to make a business investment in a community. So one of the things that is an outgrowth of this exercise is the ability for the rural communities to share their expertise among themselves to help us identify the niches that are beneficial to their respective communities, then allow that information to get out on the table so that we can begin to match. And one of the primary roles of the Economic Development Council as part of their five-year plan is to expand the manufacturing base to draw in investments in terms of biotech, high tech, raise the family wage jobs in the area into the $38,000 to $40,000 bracket. All of that is going to happen. Growth is going to happen. Part of the thing is how do we distribute all of that growth equally and allow all of our communities to benefit from that investment over time. So one of the options that we're looking at now is to work with our rural communities, get them prepared and understand what their needs are, what they would like, and then allow our other partners to be able to use that information to help you achieve your particular missions or visions. In some cities their focus is on Main Streets, others want to develop industrial sites, and so I think the timing's right and if we work together I think we can achieve some significant things in the near future.

Mark Raney asked: "We don't have this as an action item. Is there a chance that we can actually vote on this tonight?"

This item was added on and the council voted later in the meeting to invest at least $1,000 for a beginning financial participation.

Chief Fred Walser thanks everyone for their comments in support of the police, then recognizes Andy Williams for his efforts. [enthusiastic applause] "Andy has resigned and is accepting a job in another agency in 'City X.' And he has been the school resource officer for us and patrol officer, and has done probably one of the best jobs I've ever seen in schools. And he's getting a plaque from us -- not ready today -- but I think Andy deserves the city's thanks. I wanted to recognize him publicly for a good job." [enthusiastic applause] Fred introduces Colleen Holman, who is a state-certified school resource officer, who will be assuming Andy's role. Fred also recognized Commander J. C. Becker, who did the SPD Financial report, which he finished at 4:00 a.m. that morning.

"The comments I wanted to make, was just because people are leaving -- it's kind of out of order a little bit -- but it has been -- in response to [unintelligible] about suppression of information here, I believe that [unintelligible] said it awhile ago -- two issues that come to mind of one, is our recording device here. At no time have, as I know of, has anybody tried to stop anyone from recording anything in these meetings. They're welcome to it. It's a public right. They can record whatever they want. The other one there was a statement in the paper the other day that we have refused to let the police department do an audit of the city books. That is a false statement. They can do an audit anytime they want to. So can anybody else. Anyone of you that wants to. All you have to do is pay for it. That's all [unintelligible]. It's about $14,000 to $16,000 for an audit. So, anyway, that's all I… [trails off].

Sky Valley community awards night scheduled for Saturday, February 9^th, which are awards for communities from Sultan through Gold Bar. Each agency gives an award for volunteerism or a community efforts award, then they all get together to select a Citizen of the Year award. The get-together of the communities to decide on the Sky Valley Citizen of the Year will be held 6:00 p.m., Monday, February 4^th in the community center.

#2 Mountain View Chevron Conditional Use Permit - Hearing Examiner recommendations - Rick Cisar gave summary, all "aye's" except for Dusty Boucher.

"Just one additional piece of information. Conversations are still proceeding between the city engineer, Mr. Bourne, and the contractor. It's hoped that there'll be a final resolution of the final pay requests for the contract for the work we've done as part of this LID by the end of this week. Should it turn out that there is not a final resolution on [there was a brief hiccup here in the sound] we may have to put this hearing to get a later date. But it's [unintelligible] getting a date set now."

Koenig We're really pushing this, because our, um, bond -- our, our interim financing [unintelligible] May 1^st. There's a 45-day appeal period after the assessment hearing, which is going to be cutting it real close for us. So as Thom says, you have your engineers, your attorneys and staff are really --

#4 - Appointment of Mayor Pro Tem - Rob nominated Jim Porter, Jeff Everett nominated Perry McPherson. Jim was elected pro-tem, with Jeff Everett the only "nay" vote.

Applications for Coastal Zone Management Planning Grant and the other is Centennial Clean Water and Public Works trust fund low-interest loan application.

(a) Coastal zone management planning to fund a shoreline master plan which would dovetail with other comp plan updates in process. Total projects costs of are $50,000, with a 50% match. Matching funds can be in-kind monetary contributions, labor (city staff or volunteer labor), volunteer equipment, donations, etc. DEADLINE: February 4^th. (During the discussion, Laura Koenig mentioned that city was spending approximately $140,000 on the city's surface water quality plan, and about $60,000 on comp plan update.) VOTE: passed unanimously.

(b) Centennial Clean Water Loan: DEADLINE is March 5^th. This is a 1.5% loan to fund I&I (inflow and Infiltration) planning and construction. This subject will be discussed during a proposed 3-hour council workshop January 30^th at 6:00 p.m. The total costs are $300,000, which will be an ongoing project for several years.

Connie Dunn (Public works Director) then explained that the city has several areas in town where we have stormwater or groundwater entering into our sewage collection system. And we know that it creates problems. It limits capacity at the Wastewater treatment plant. It will be further identified in both the sewer comp plan and surface water quality management plan. Problem needs to be addressed asap. Laura Koenig said the interest rate fluctuates between 1/2% to 1.5%, depending on the city's match, which can be a 10%, 20% or 30% match, and that determines the loan interest rate, and is a sliding scale, depending on how much you put in. (I.e., a $30,000 match will achieve a lower interest rate, etc.) Connie said this would help pay for engineering designs and repairs, like catch basins in certain areas of the city, two problems areas being Alder at 5^th and Alder at 6^th are the worst, as well as some parking lots on private property that need to be taken out and a couple of city buildings that need to have their roof drains taken out.

Raney I'd like to make a motion that the city approve the city of Sultan participation in the Evergreen Trust Initiative, and that we propose to the business community and the Chamber of Commerce a 50% investment in the $1,000, um, uh, fee for inclusion.

#7 Financing for Bond/Loan - (Report was made previously; Laura phrased the motion for councilmembers that the city proceed with the interfund loan.) VOTE was unanimous.

Jeff Everett asked Mr. Graafstra if he should recuse himself because of his participation on the recall effort against the mayor.

Set for full day for Friday, February 3^rd offsite, and half-day on February 4^th in the community center.

Mark Raney and Jeff Everett are switching places, with Jeff on Community Development committee and Mark on Public Safety.