WAGLEY's CREEK LID 97-1:

PAUL BIRD'S ASSESSMENT STUDY (90-page document broken into 4 sections)

Promises and Protests...

(Hey! Who's gonna pay for this mess?)

G.R.I.T. Home Page - Main Wagley Page - Communication with DOE, WDFW, Army Corps of Engineers - Some early letters on Cost Overruns (pre-construction)

QUICK FACTS:

Total # of acres: 290 to 350 (several different sources; official Sultan documents indicate 290.)
Scope of Project: 16,280 linear feet of 8- to 15-foot sewer line
City Resolution #97-23 dated 11/12/97 Declared intent to proceed with LID
Total # of Parcels: 110 (per 6/97 ED project profile)
Total Estimated Costs (per ED Grant Application): $1,736,700; later, in excess of $5 million
How many direct new jobs would be created by LID? 230 from existing companies, plus 481 new employees within 8 years = 711 employees 8 years after construction.
Total Grant Funding:
$1.04 US Dept. of Commerce Economic Development Grant; $154,800 US Forest Service Grant; $200,000 Rural Development grant = Total Grant Funding: $1,394,800
TOTAL: 340% OVER ESTIMATION (per Paul Byrd's testimony during 2-27-02 Final Assessment Roll Hearing)

DOCUMENTS:

Protest Letters from Owners
What went wrong BEFORE CONSTRUCTION?
What went wrong DURING CONSTRUCTION? (Chronology of ecological damage and restoration)
WHAT WERE LID OWNERS TOLD about cost overruns?
THOMCO & CITY SETTLEMENT AGREEMENT (dated 2-5-02): Executed Release, Attachment A, Attachment B, Attachment C
Hearing Examiner Tanaka's Decision on Hammer-Botting and "all other" appeals, issued mid-June 2002 (it was undated)
Transcript of 2-27-02 Final Assessment Roll Tanaka Hearing (1.6 mb in Acrobat); Some excerpts have been broken out: Gary Bourne, Paul Byrd, Laura Koenig and B of A representative Towery; Mayor C. H. Rowe, Councilmember Porter (working on it!)
Transcript (excerpts) of the 6-5-02 from the Hammer-Botting appeal
FINAL: Certification of Costs (Laura Koenig)
ASSESSMENT STUDY (2-02) by PAUL BIRD - For a complete and full Acrobat file, contact us directly. For ease of downloading and viewing, we have split this 90-page document into four sections, as follows...
Section 1: GENERAL MARKET and "neighborhood" data/land use regs, etc. (950 kb file size)
Section 2: LID PROJECT AREA specifics, basis of valuation, summary, assumptions (378 kb file size)
Section 3: ASSESSMENTS - specifics on individual parcels (851 kb file size)
Section 4: Addenda (320 kb file size)
FINAL ASSESSMENT ROLL LIST (excerpt from Bird's 90-page study; only 120 kb file size)

LETTERS RECEIVED FROM LANDOWNERS:

(If you only read one letter, read Universal Land's. In a nutshell, it sort of encapsulates what went wrong.)

Barmon, Daniel (Barmon Lumber)
Botting, Helen
Botting, Jane
Breckenridge, John
DIVICO, LLC
Drivstuen, Rusty (Mountainview Chevron)
Fern Bluff Grange (Bob Hazelbrook, as Master)
Hammer, Barry A.
Hoekema, Roy (Hoco Flats)
Koehler, James
Lowe, Pat
McDonald's Corporation
Miller, Brett H.
Mustach, Steve and Barbara
Newquist, Don and Bonnie
Pettelle Properties
Porter, Jimmy J. (Sultan council member)
Romac Industries, Inc.
Roesler Timber (Letter #1; Letter #2)
Rowe, C. H. (Mayor of Sultan & ex-mayor of Sultan, respectively)
Storm, Totten
Universal Land Construction Company
Wirta, Al (Associated Metals & Fabrication)
Wold, Sam (Sam's Saw Shop)

PRIMARY REASONS GIVEN FOR OWNERS' PROTESTS:

Assessments too high; much larger than late 1999 estimates (some are four times the estimate)

Improper Notice of hearing given.

Inconsistent assessments made (properties not assessed logically or consistently)

No consideration given for wetlands, critical slopes, buffers, etc.

Not provided with support as to how the special benefit was calculated.

Should not have been assessed at all (Being charged twice because owner was already part of the Bethany/Pacific Development LID; read Mayor Broughton's 1999 letter)

Special Benefit-to-assessment ratio out of whack.

Other than landowners should foot the bill for the construction cost overruns.

City could not explain procedure if some owners' assessments were reduced; how would reassessment values be allocated?

Acreage amounts used are incorrect.

WHAT WENT WRONG BEFORE CONSTRUCTION?
Here's A Chronological Sequence of Events

10/28/97 Minutes: Bourne (acting city engineer), gives report on LID; "wetlands are considerably less than previously indicated."

11/12/97 Minutes: Passed Resolution 97-23 to declare intent to form LID

12/18/97 Minutes: Passed Ordinance 679-97 Passed, forming LID 97-1 (no objections to formation; see what happens when you don't testify?)

Mayor Broughton's 9/14/99 Letter to Landowners

(this is a continuing work in progress...)

COST OVERRUNS: Remember the three letters identified in the Sky Valley Weekly News as harbingers of problems to come? The article inferred that Bill Trippett might be to blame. Here are the letters. YOU be the judge:

- 12/1/98 Letter from Gary Bourne
- 4/1/99 Letter from Dennis Nordin
- 9/1/99 Letter from Dennis Nordin

WHAT WERE THE LID OWNERS TOLD ABOUT COST OVERRUNS?
These two files comprise 100% of what the city gave us when we asked them for verification of communication with owners on cost overruns:

- Corresponence from city clerk Laura Koenig re Assessment Roll Hearing, 2/02 (indicates cost exceeds $6 million)

- Five documents between 1999 and Koenig's 2/02 letter (last communication before Koenig's letter put total estimated costs at $3.5 million)

WHAT WENT WRONG DURING CONSTRUCTION?

CLICK HERE FOR MORE THAN YOU'D EVER WANT TO KNOW: A chronology of correspondence between the city and DOE, WDFW and the Army Corps of Engineers that tells the whole story.

BEFORE YOU BEGIN...here are some of the major players:

EARTH TECH , and BERRYMAN & HENIGAR, the city's engineering firms:
- Dennis Nordin
- Clint McDaniels
- Gary Bourne

J & S (Jones & Stokes), the city's ecology consultant:
- John Ives

THOMCO CONSTRUCTION (the contractor for the LID):
- Bob Bergley
- Robert Williams

WDWF (Washington Dept. of Fish & Wildlife):
- Tony Opperman

DOE (Washington Department of Ecology):
- Sara Suggs

CORPS (U. S. Corps of Army Engineers):
- James Rigsby
- Maryann Baird

CITY OF SULTAN:
- Mayor C. H. Rowe
- Ex-city administratorS Bill Trippett and Roy Bysegger
- Connie Dunn, Public Works Director

SNOHOMISH COUNTY (Acted as ancillary oversight/liaison):
- Lorna Smith