Roll call

Review and approve agenda

Public comment on topics which are not listed on the agenda

Approval of minutes

7:15 PM

Camille Walls

Camille announced that she is a candidate for Fire Commissioner and wants to get back into the community that she grew up in. She thinks she can bring a different view to the office. Camille lives in the Hobart area, and would be happy to be a part of our council. She will be out in the community meeting people. She thinks the fire district does a great job, but we need to look at how we can save money. The benefits surcharge should be looked at and dissected because it is a tax that will cost us more money. She will be sitting with leaders in the fire department, and discussing in depth what the surcharge could mean to us.

She has lived in the area since 1973, and has been with the Fire Department for 30 years. She has held a variety of positions, and has worked extensively with fire codes. She has taught for the officer development academy, is a quick study, fair, and willing to learn.

Gordon asked how she viewed the service side of the department. She doesn’t think the service side needs to change. She wants to maintain what we have, but do it with less money. If we have to look at cutting positions, then we need to do so with caution. Camille believes that the Board of Commissioners needs to open up and look at things more fairly. She was one of five women fire inspectors in the state at one time, and doesn’t have an issue with standing up for herself. Camille said that her job would be to give Chief Lemon the tools to do his job.

7:25 PM

Lauren Smith / Unincorporated Area Newsletter / Dept. of Natural Resources & Parks

Lauren works on operational and interdepartmental issues. She has been working on the newsletter for nine months, and Peter contacted Lauren and asked if we could be a part of the newsletter. The UACs are looking for more UAC-generated news. Citizens were recently asked to respond to a survey on the newsletter, and 30 people responded. The UAC comments have received the most input, and Lauren wants to see what changes we can make without making it longer. It was suggested that there be a lot more interplay between the UAC’s and King County because the UACs are involved in the community.

A comment was made that at every meeting, we have two or three major issues that really should be included in the newsletter since they are targeting unincorporated area residents.

A comment was made that in Ravensdale they feel so left out of the communication that they are creating their own group called The Voices of 98051. It is felt that we need to open the lines of communication with everyone. We would also like to get the word out about our survey.

A question was asked if the UAC meeting dates are put in the newsletter. Currently they are not included, but Lauren wrote it down. Lauren is also working on a new Rural Services Directory, and helped with a Four Creeks pilot agreement to allow for stewardship. The cemetery road pond is an area that they are interested in maintaining, and they want to become stewards because there is some beaver activity in the area that needs to be addressed.

The Four Creeks UAC is interested in hydrology, parks, illegal dumping, and stewardship. There was an agreement that was written up between King County and the Four Creeks UAC, and Lauren brought a copy of the two-year plan. They are currently having quarterly meetings with the community, and this is a new model and a pilot project.It is a Memorandum of Understanding; DNRP is working on this.

Steve asked how the communication works between the Four Creeks UAC, the community, and the citizens. They currently have CARE, SWAN, The Four Creeks UAC, and DNRP working together. They sometimes go directly to the people in charge.The neighbors are doing a lot of the work, and there is an agreement as to what can be done.

8:00 PM

Julia Larson / Rural Economic Strategies

Julia provided a lot of information on rural strategies and mentioned the meeting on August 12 to provide input to DDES. Julia will be working with the new rural permit coordinator to ensure that King County provides relief from taxes for landowners who cannot use their land. Gordon suggested that giving tax breaks on some of the personal property tax for rural area business owners, especially for those who have a home based business, might be something that King County should look at.

The King County Council mandated that the county implement the rural strategies, and has recognized that they need to be more responsive. They are currently working with multiple departments and forming a strategic vision. There is a different mind set at the county, but things are moving along very slowly.

Training for rural business owners is provided by Julia and her team. She works with different groups to provide the training, but much of the training is through business partnerships for a nominal fee. There are no county funds being used on this training. Most of the farmers are men over the age of 40, and we want to bring more people into farming. There are barriers that need to be addressed in farming to encourage more people to become involved.

Julia has been working with the Forestry Commission to identify needs in the community, and a report is being completed. Julia mentioned that there is a program in place to educate livestock owners on manure management.

A question was asked about how RES will work with roads to ensure that public ROWs are maintained. They are currently working better with roads to ensure that the connectivity of the trails is being maintained. They are ensuring that Roads, Parks, and RES are working together.

There are several regional tourism groups working together on planning. Julia is currently working with these groups to preserve the rural character.

They are also looking at a poultry processing unit now that there is a meat processing unit. The City of Enumclaw is going to take the waste into their waste management system. The meat processing unit moves among several counties. Pierce Conservation District paid for the bulk of the unit, and you have to be a member of the cooperative.

Four Creeks is looking at some visioning, or what the area should look like.They are looking at parks and whether they should continue to grow or not grow.

Julia provided a suggestion for a Foundations Strategies Incentive, and suggested that this is something we may want to move to King County:

Explore possible tax incentives and/or reforms to support compatible rural businesses and provide relief for land owners whose use of their lands have been limited by government regulations. This effort will include input from and coordination with the rural UACs, Agriculture and Rural Forest Commissions, and other stakeholder organizations, and rural land owners. A written report on the findings along with recommendation on actions by the county will be provided to the involved organizations and rural property owners.

8:10 PM

Council Business

Fire District 43 Levy

A recommendation was made that this not go to ballot until November of 2010. Warren offered to represent us in Dave’s absence. Fire excess levy is an option in a two- or four-year ballot. A fire service benefit change can be a six-year ballot issue. They both require a 60% yes vote of those who voted. A $12,500 survey will be conducted in our area to find out what this will cost us. A motion was made to rescind our stance on what we recommended, and ask that the fire levy go to ballot in November of 2010. Warren will submit our letter at the next meeting.

Elections

The cost of mailing out ballots would be between $5,000 and $6,000. We need to look at whether or not we have to hire someone to tabulate the ballots, and certify the election. It cost us approximately $2,500 for the CPA to tabulate the ballots.

Advisory Issues

Gordon will resend the advisory committee information.

Friends of the Cedar River would like us to become more involved.

8:45 PM

Committee assignments

9:30 PM

Adjourn