February 2009 Meeting Summary

By Peter Rimbos, Corresponding Secretary

On Monday, February 2, the Greater Maple Valley Area Council held its regular monthly meeting with 12 members present, 1 member absent with a proxy, and 3 positions open. In addition to Area Council regular business, King County Councilman Reagan Dunn discussed issues important to area. The Area Council serves as an all-volunteer, locally elected advisory body to the King County Council. It represents all rural unincorporated area residents living in the Tahoma School District.

Public Comment

Patty Davis provided an update on the formation of a Maple Valley Farmers’ Market to be located on Saturdays June 20 thru October 10 at RockCreek Elementary School. Ms. Davis is hopeful the Maple Valley Farmers’ Market will receive an $8800 grant from the USDA and the state to supply some of the start-up monies. In January the Area Council provided a letter of support to Ms. Davis.

King County Update

King County Councilman Reagan Dunn provided his year-end report and took questions from those in attendance. Major topics included: flood control and recent local flooding and King County budget status. He also introduced his new Aide, Bridget Elliott, who will help work land-use issues among other activities.

Councilman Dunn had just returned from touring areas affected by recent flooding. He mentioned that the Cedar River flow had peaked at 11,300 cubic feet per second (CFS) while normal flow is 650 cfs. He is pushing for more adequate warning given to potentially affected residents, as well as much more strategic placement around the county of sandbags for residents to pick up. He particularly intends to work with the City of Seattle and the Army Corps of Engineers to much better coordinate water releases during flood events. Better coordination between all the involved government agencies will be part of the purview of the Puget Sound Partnership.

On the King County budget Councilman Dunn indicated that the King County Council late last year adopted a $4.9 billion budget with a general fund of $627.8 million. It makes cuts to the Sheriff, Prosecuting Attorney and the courts, provides only six months of funding to many public health programs, and closes county government for ten days next year with an unpaid employee furlough. He had several concerns with some of these provisions and is pushing for a “counter-cyclical” reserve fund to help serve as a cushion in bad economic times. Finally, he mentioned the possibility of an unincorporated utility tax. King County has discussed this possibility in the past for unincorporated urban areas.

Other local items of interest mentioned by Councilman Dunn included: increasing fines (with half going to the affected property owner) to stem illegal dumping; passing a safer neighborhood ordnance to hold landlords accountable for some illegal actions of their tenants such as drug houses and met amphetamine labs; repairing levees to help reduce future flood events; refunding the King County Fair in Enumclaw and establishing a new Fair Board to ensure local control; and passing an amendment to require Transfer of Development Rights (TDRs) for the City of Maple Valley “Donut Hole” to be purchased from land owners within a 5-mi radius of the city limits to ensure environmental benefits of TDRs stay local.

In 2009 Councilman Dunn will chair the Government Accountability and Oversight Committee, which is responsible for policy recommendations relating to strategic planning, performance management and measurement, management organizational structure, technology management, and customer service. He also will serve on the Committee of the Whole; Budget & Fiscal Management; Law, Justice, Health, & Human Services; and Regional Water Quality. Details can be found on Councilman Dunn’s web page.

Long-time Area Council member, Warren Iverson, received a special Recognition award from Councilman Dunn for his long years of service and help in the local community. Warren thanked Councilman Dunn, but also made it clear that his wife Barb has been helping in the community for many years as well and deserves at least half of this award.

Donation

The Area Council voted unanimously to make a $100 donation to the Voice of the Valley. We all benefit from the local news and events that the Voice brings to area residents every week and has been doing so for 40 years. Thank you to Voice Publisher/Editor Donna Hayes and all the Voice staff.

Next Meeting

The Area Council meets on the first Monday of each month (except on legal holidays) at the Sheriff’s Precinct # 3 Headquarters located at 231st St & SR-169 (across from Fire Station). The public is encouraged to attend. Each meeting begins with a Public Comment period to provide local citizens with the opportunity to voice issues of concern to Area Council members and King County officials in attendance. Our next Regular Monthly Meeting will be held on Monday, March 2, 2009, at 7:00 PM. Major Dave Germani of the Maple Valley Sheriff’s Precinct will hold his Quarterly Community Forum to listen to issues from the public.