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Sent: Saturday, May 14, 2005 4:54 PM
To: SLSA Meeting Notifications
Subject: Notes from the Spring SLSA Meeting
The Spring SLSA meeting was held 5/12/2005 at the Library
Resource Center on Newport Way.
In
attendance were: Gary Thede (Sammamish Beach Club), David Bangs (South
Cove), Rod Putney (South Cove), Joanna Buehler (Meadowbrook Point), Kevin Morgan
(South Cove), Debbie Smith (Sammamish Crown), Melody Scherting (Sammamish View),
Jeff Parsons (Greenwood Point), Becky Stenzel (Meerwood), Dallas Green (Waterford Terrace), Ted Gibbons
(Sammamish Beach Club), Wayne Eddy (Weatherwood)
In these
notes:
- Secretary/Treasurer's Report
- Issaquah Annexation Report
- Road Maintenance Report
- Lake Sammamish State Park Project Not Funded
- Fence Tagging Noticed
- Political Sign Legislation: Signs Must Be Allowed
- Issaquah Recycling Event May 21st
- Community Presentation on Lake Sammamish Water Quality.
- Next Meeting
Secretary/Treasurer's Report
David reported that SLSA has $533 in its new bank
account. All member associations
have made their annual contribution except Timberlake Lane and Meadowbrook
Point. We're not sure if Meadowbrook
Point will be participating.
SLSA is registered with the Public Disclosure Committee to
take a stand in the upcoming Annexation election. Since we have agreed to take
no individual or organizational donations over $300 and spend no more than
$3500 overall, we are exempt from campaign reporting. We do, however, need
to keep records of contributions and expenses and make them publicly available
for inspection. To see the records, contact David Bangs at
(425)957-9733.
Issaquah Annexation
Report
David Bangs reported that Issaquah has applied to the
Washington State Boundary Review Board (BRB) to annex our Greenwood Point
Potential Annexation Area by method of election to be held this November 8th.
They have proposed a Klahanie annexation election for the same
day.
The Boundary Review Board
will hold a public meeting for our area
June 7,
2005 at 7:00p.m. at the Holiday Inn
in Issaquah. The
Holiday Inn is located in the at the entrance to the Pickering Place shopping
center nearest to us. We want a good positive showing at the meeting.
Gary distributed flyers announcing the meeting which
various associations can attach to mailboxes. If you need some, email
slsainfo(AT)issaquahweb.org
.
We encourage residents to attend and
Homeowners Associations to send a representative to let their stand be
known.
David reviewed information gathered
by our annexation committee during 2002. It is posted on our web site at:
www.issaquahweb.org/slsa/annexation/2002case.htm . He explained that it is critical for voters
who favor annexation to vote YES on both Annexation and the separate ballot
issue accepting Bonded Indebtedness. If we vote to be annexed but
not to accept the responsibility to help pay back bonds, the city will very
likely reject the annexation bid. If we do accept bonded indebtedness, we
will be paying the property tax rate Issaquah residents currently pay, which is
significantly less than our current
rate . Rejecting bonded indebtedness is the same as asking to
pay significantly LESS taxes than other Issaquah residents pay. This is
not a reasonable request. We will be annexed if at least 50% of voters say
"Yes" on annexation and at least 60% say "Yes" on bonded
indebtedness.
It was proposed that the South Lake
Sammamish Association take an official stand and present it at the BRB meeting. The stand (as
moved by Melody Scherting and seconded by Debbie Smith) and edited by David
Bangs would be:
"The South Lake Sammamish Association enthusiastically supports the Annexation of the Greenwood Point Potential Annexation Area to the City of Issaquah. Leading up to the November election, our organization will work diligently to encourages voters to approve ballot measures relating to Annexation to Issaquah and the Acceptance of our fair share of the City's existing bond-related debt."
Based on our weighted voting method, there are 23 votes outstanding apportioned to the various neighborhoods based on number of homes. We need 14 affirmative votes to take a stand. Reps will check with others from their neighborhood board or residents and vote via email during May so that we can take this position at the Boundary Review Board Meeting.
Work has already
began to put together an annexation committee. The following people
have agreed to be on the committee so far: Joan Probala, David Bangs, Gary
Thede, Kevin Morgan, Melody Scherting and Becky
Stenzel.
Some
suggestions for the committee from
attendees:
- Ask Issaquah if the ballot wording can be made less confusing so people will understand about bonded indebtedness.
- Have a public information meeting prior to the election.
- Come up with a catchy slogan like "Yes Squared."
Road Maintenance
Report
Gary Thede reported that the roundabout project is out
to bid and on track to start immediately after school is out for the year.
The roundabout by Sunset Elementary will be enlarged for greater traffic
flow.
David Bangs reported that the framework agreement
between Issaquah and King County does not require the county to bring our area
roads up to Issaquah's level of service. The county is reluctant to do
this because they would rather provide funds for areas which are remaining under
county jurisdiction.
Nevertheless, David Irons and county
roads personnel will be making a "field trip" of our area roads on June 2nd,
accompanied by David Bangs and Gary
Thede. The purpose of this meeting is to determine the highest
priority road needs that the county
might be able to meet prior to annexation.
King County Appreciation: Kevin Morgan pointed
out there have been more King County police patrols lately. Joanna Buehler
pointed out King County pays for the lake patrol and is providing good
environmental services for the
lake.
Lake Sammamish
State Park Project Not
Funded
The Lake Sammamish State Park project which has been
under discussion was not funded by the state legislature. There is no money
in the budget to move forward with the environmental impact statement.
Joanna Buehler and Gary Thede (who is on the citizen's advisory task
force) indicated that the project will likely be reduced in
scope to include just environmental
restoration work along the beach and creek and
maintenance of existing facilities.
Fence Tagging
Noticed
Gary Thede pointed out
there have been several instances of graffiti tagging or area fencing. He
suggests that people diligently report such incidences to the King County
Sheriff so they can become aware of any patterns. Tagging unstopped tends
to expand.
Political Sign
Legislation: Signs Must Be
Allowed
David Bangs reported that Washington has a new law
prohibiting Homeowners Associations from banning political
signs. Our Representative, Ross Hunter, reported to a resident
via email that he supported the bill because it does specify that HOAs can set reasonable limits on
how and when the signs can be
displayed.
Here
is an informational link about the legislation:
Here
is a link to the actual legislation as
passed:
Issaquah Recycling
Event May 21st
Gary Thede reported that there is a special recycling
event at Issaquah High School May 21st at which you can recycle items, such as
electronics and appliances, which are normally hard to
recycle.
Here is the printable brochure for the event in PDF
format:
Community Presentation on Lake Sammamish Water
Quality
Presented by Joanna Buehler, of Save Lake
Sammamish
Lake Sammamish is the 6th
largest lake in the state and now has about 1000 waterfront homes. The Lake
Sammamish Watershed is a much larger area from which water drains into the
lake. Phosphorus is the lake's limiting nutrient: The amount of phosphorous
directly affects the growth of algae
and milfoil. There is a danger that over time the lake will become eutrophic due to further
increase in the phosphorus content caused by human activity. Eutrophic
lakes are characterized by green slime, surface scum and few fish.
Not long ago most of the
Lake Sammamish Watershed was forested. This is rapidly changing due to continuing
development. Developed areas have fewer permeable surfaces so
water tends to rush into the lake through drainage channels. This
makes the lake warmer and increases the phosphorus and pollutants present in the
lake. Storms now have a larger and more immediate impact on
water level and water quality.
Since Lake Sammamish is
shallow (averages 50 feet deep) and slow moving, it doesn't 'flush' like
Lake Washington. In the summer, Lake Sammamish water gets
stratified. The water near the top is too warm for salmon to thrive.
Water near the bottom has too little oxygen. The salmon are constrained to
a layer in the middle which is actually quite thin in late summer. As we
warm the lake (which grows the top layer) and add phosphorous (which grows the bottom layer since oxygen is consumed
by decaying algae), we risk further
squeezing the layer inhabited by
salmon. This has contributed to
fish die-offs in some other lakes.
We can help by reducing
runoff into the lake. Be aware that
storm drains here run directly into the lake. Many soap
products contain phosphorous. Lawn fertilizer contains phosphorous,
as does pet feces left
uncollected. Rain washes fertilizer into the lake contributing to the green
slimy nature of the water and aggravating milfoil growth. Chemicals washed into
the lake hurt fish and birds. Organic fertilization can help if it is
properly applied because it is slow-release and not water soluble. Be
aware of runoff and try to eliminate all sorts of chemicals that could be
washing into the lake directly or through storm drains.
In recent years, firms
have been drumming up business by using chemicals to eliminate milfoil.
This has an impact on neighbors and wildlife. Due to recent legal action, no further permits will be issued for use of
herbicides to control milfoil in the lake. Milfoil can be
reduced in general by reducing
phosphorous runoff into the lake and can be best controlled locally by
mechanical removal.
Joanna Buehler founded
"Save Lake Sammamish" in 1989.
Web site: www.scn.org/savelake/ . Email: info(AT)savelakesamm.org
[Gary Thede
recommends Liz Carr to do milfoil removal. She lives in Olympia, but does
work all over Puget Sound. Her email address is lizcarr(AT)earthlink.net and her telephone number is (360) 753-1741. Of
course, there are multiple firms that offer this service and SLSA makes no
recommendation. ]
Next
Meeting
Our Summer quartlerly meeting is set for Thursday
August 11th. We'll try to get the same room.
