South Cove Annexation Committee Meeting Notes

From: David Bangs
Sent: Tuesday, July 30, 2002 5:30 PM
To: List
Subject: Annexation Meeting Minutes - HOA Representatives - 7/29/2002

Representatives from area Homeowners Associations met

at 7pm at the King County Library Resource Center on Newport Way

Attending:

David Bangs, South Cove

Jeff McDiarmid, Timberlake Lane

Richard Cook, Timberlake Lane

Walt Dorsey, Meerwood

Marsha Potts, Sammamish Beach Club

Julie Holms, Weatherwood

Nancy Outcalt, Weatherwood

Joan Probala, South Cove

Roy Cress, Greenwood Point

Represented HOA's, Home Counts, and Financial Contribution so far.

South Cove, 289 homes, $200

Sammamish Beach Club, 105 homes, $50

Timberlake Lane, 46 homes, $50 (received tonight)

Weatherwood, 49 homes, $100 (received tonight)

Meerwood, 102 homes, $100 (approved by board)

Greenwood Point, 138 homes, board will discuss contribution

Total: 729 homes are represented by the represented associations.

Approximately 225 homes/condos/apartments are unrepresented.

We are planning on distributing 950 flyers and survey cards total.

Outreach outside of major HOA's:

Joan Probala has been contacting apartments and condos, and is forming connections with management and associations to write articles in newsletters and distribute flyers and surveys to residents.

For houses outside of represented HOA's - Nearby associations can agree to handle areas near them. For example, South Cove will handle "Lake West." Joan will coordinate to make sure areas are covered.

Distributing Information and Conducting Survey:

Joan brought copies of "One-Pager" Flyer and Survey Cards to distribute.

She also brought 23 cent stamps to make it easy to return survey cards.

She will create a cover letter to add context when the flyer and survey card are left on doorsteps of each home to allow the household to collectively express an opinion on annexation.

Text of Postcard is as follows:
[[[

Annexation Survey: Please review the information provided on the handout, fill this in, and mail it in. The committee will pursue early annexation to Issaquah only if survey results indicate support by a vast majority of residents. More info: www.issaquahweb.org

Please check one option, and fill in the name of the neighborhood or complex where you reside.

[ ] Our area should proceed with annexation to Issaquah and initiate this process as soon as possible. (Could possibly be on the ballot in 2004)

[ ] Our area should remain as part of unincorporated King County as long as possible. (County provided urban services will end in 2012)

[ ] I understand that Bellevue does not consider our area to be within its "sphere of influence", but feel we should petition to be released as an Issaquah annexation and then proceed with the annexation process to become part of Bellevue.

[ ] After reviewing the flyer and the web site I still need more information to make a decision.
My neighborhood is: __________________________________

]]]

Joan donated the printing (thanks!). The stamp purchase (23 cents x 950 survey cards) will be reimbursed out of survey funds. ($218.50). Given the donated printing, stamps to encourage return of survey cards will the committee's largest monetary expense.

David brought petition forms, to be signed by registered voters who support annexation. The City would a number exceeding 10% of those voting in the last election to sign the petition. 150 signatures would clearly exceed that number.

Representatives from each major neighborhood indicated they were able to distribute the information door to door sometime during August. Representatives from all neighborhoods went forth with copies of the one pager and stamped survey cards. Cover letters to be distributed to those who are not home will be emailed soon, so people can print them out. Survey cards are addressed to be mailed to the South Cove HOA P.O. Box to be counted.

Those going door-to-door are encouraged to discuss annexation with those who are home and wanting to discuss, and leave packet of information with those who are not home. Residents can take their time studying the one-pager and web site before filling in the survey card and mailing it back. Those registered voters who are home and are able to make up their mind on-the-spot can sign the petition. Hint: You can get multiple signatures from homes with multiple registered voters.

Those handing out information are encouraged to read all information posted on www.issaquahweb.org to aid in providing the best possible answers to any questions.

Additional copies the one page and survey.

Visit www.issaquahweb.org, click on Links, then scroll to the bottom for printable .PDF files.

Various Discussion Items

We discussed various issues regarding annexation. Everybody is encouraged to read the Q&A page on the web site to come up to speed on these issues.

We discussed tax savings. The City of Issaquah has told us the current property tax savings on a $300,000 home if annexation occurs would be $444, but overall tax savings, after considering non-property value based taxes, would be about $218. Richard Cook says, based on county data, property tax savings would be even greater than that. The group feeling is that all statements about the exact dollar savings are just estimates, and no one knows for sure the exact impact in each individual. Overall, services should improve and taxes should go down.

We also discussed the Fire Department situation. Currently $1.50 per thousand of our property taxes goes to Eastside Fire and Rescue, but if annexed only $1.02 would go to them. This is clearly a problem for EF&R, since their funding would decrease and they are already strapped. The group feeling is that we need to protect the funding of the fire department. Even if our per thousand property taxes goes up 42 cents to provide the department consistent funding, our property taxes would still go down significantly. It would be most fair if somehow everybody could pay the same rate for the same service.

Jeff McDiarmid questioned why Bellevue is listed on the survey, considering that Bellevue is not really an option. Given the facts (Issaquah and Bellevue agreed this should be an Issaquah Annexation area in 1979, and that Timberlake Lane subsequently petitioned to be release by Bellevue to join our Issaquah Annexation Area, and Bellevue states that we are not in their "sphere of influence", and all volunteers interested in annexation have concluded Issaquah is the right direction), Bellevue annexation is not a likely option, or an easy option.

However, the over-riding feeling is that not listing Bellevue as an option would open the survey up to criticism. This is especially true since Klahanie HOA conducted a survey only listing Sammamish annexation, and concluded people wanted to annex to Sammamish. But a separate survey listing Issaquah demonstrated an overwhelming support for Issaquah. We must have a survey that allows people to express the full range of opinion.

Roy Cress asked whether the large group of HOA representatives would get together again to regroup and see results prior to the larger October 8th public meeting. The question came after adjournment, so the small group will discuss this question and take care of scheduling a follow-up meeting if one is needed.

Next Small Group Meeting:

August 5th, 7pm, Joan Probala's Windermere Office in building behind IHOP.

Adjourned at 8:15pm.

More SLSA Meeting Notes