SLSA Meeting Notes - Sept 29, 2005

From: David Bangs
Sent: Friday, September 30, 2005 9:16 AM
To: 'SLSA Representatives'
Subject: UPDATED: SLSA Meeting Notes - September 29, 2005

Issues Discussed: SLSA Finance, Issaquah Annexation, Issaquah School District Levies and Bonds, Community Garage Sale, Issaquah for Katrina Relief, Roundabout

In Attendance: Gary Thede (Chair, Sammamish Beach Club Rep), Deborah Parsons (Greenwood Point Rep), Wayne Eddy (Weatherwood Rep), Chad Hardisty (South Cove Rep), Melody Scherting (Sammamish View Rep), Mike Barnett (Timberlake Rep), David Bangs (SLSA Secretary, South Cove), Kevin Morgan (South Cove), Mason Lilly (Sammamish Beach Club), Bob Hogan (Sammamish Beach Club), Rod Putney (South Cove), Becky Stenzel (Meerwood), Joan Probala (South Cove)

Guests from Issaquah School District: Superintendent Janet Barry, Assistant Superintentend of Finance and Operations Dean Mack and Communications Director Mary Waggoner.

David Bangs reported that SLSA started the year owing South Cove $312 for past expenses. $933 was received from the $1 per home neighborhood contributions. After reimbursing South Cove, $621 remained. We spent $40 on room rental and $475 on annexation campaign materials leaving $106 in the bank account.

HOAs should budget a $1 per home contribution for 2006. However, expenses should be dramatically lower next year. The 2006 contribution should be adequate to sustain the organization for multiple years without further contributions being required. We'll discuss this further in February.

David Bangs reported that he, Gary Thede and Joan Probala had been appointed by the King County Council to write the PRO statement for the annexation and bonded indebtedness ballot measures. They completed the job. Nobody wrote a CON statement. The voters pamphlets will be out mid-month.

Flyers were distributed to neighborhood reps and volunteers to distribute within their neighborhood. David Bangs still has many copies of the flyer available to be distributed in other neighborhoods. They should be distributed by 10/15.

Our concern is that some residents, especially those in condos and apartments, won't understand the need to vote YES for bonded indebtedness. If the bonded indebtedness measure doesn't pass with a 60% supermajority. it is unlikely that the City Council will agree to the annexation.

The City Council will decide on an annexation date after the election. The Issaquah planning department is recommending our area be annexed prior to 6/30/2006 on the same day the Klahanie area is annexed. If annexation occurs after 3/1/2006 (which is likely), property tax rates will remain at current King County levels through 2007 and then drop to lower Issaquah rates. This is due to state law, which is designed to make annexations go more smoothly by avoiding the sudden disappearance of revenue right when transition costs are occurring. So at first, our taxes will go up when the utility tax kicks in. But after lower property taxes take effect, overall taxes will be far lower in the city than in the county.

Superintendent Janet Barry presented a preliminary plan that would put 4 school related revenue measures on the ballot for a special election to be held February 7th. A Replacement Maintenance and Operations Levy, Replacement School Bus Levy, Capital Levy and Capital Bond.

If all four measures pass, taxes will remain very close to current levels. 2007 property tax for schools would be about $3.97 per $1000 of assessed valuation. This is compared to the existing 2006 rate of $3.92.

The $$/student spent by the district will continue to be amongst the lowest in the state, which is good considering that test scores are among the highest in the state, according to Barry.

The district is growing fast, and new schools are needed. Some other schools need extensive renovation or replacement. New school buses are needed to serve the new schools and to retire old buses that aren't efficient or clean and don't run well. Computer upgrades are needed. The district hopes to network schools together using fiber optic lines which were installed in Issaquah years ago but are currently 'dark.'

Barry pointed out that all the schools funded by the last capital levy are now open and full. The buses funded by the last bus levy are in use and full of students. Where would we be if the last bond issues and levy failed?

Dean Mack said one of his roles is to carefully project school populations based on developments planned and permits granted. Good predications of number and location of children of various ages is crucial in school planning.

Multiple new elementary schools will be needed, and a new middle school. The middle school will likely be located in Issaquah Highlands, where there is sufficient undeveloped land. No new high school is needed. Issaquah High School will soon be 50 years old and should be substantially rebuilt to solve longstanding problems and bring it up to standards similar to Skyline and Liberty high schools.

Our resident experts on this are Deborah Parsons (deborah(AT)theparsons.com) who is co-chairing the Volunteers for Issaquah Schools campaign to support these measures, and Gary Thede (garydthede(AT)yahoo.com) who is on the scoping committee to determine the school needs and what should be covered by the ballot issues.

After the presenters left, neighorhood reps discussed the proposal. Reps expressed that it is very important that these measures pass so the school district can continue meeting the needs of a growing population.

Some REPS will ask their HOAs to take a stand to endorse these measures. We will also do an email vote to determine whether SLSA should endorse them. SLSA won't actually spend money promoting the measures.

Community Garage Sale: The South Cove board has discussed moving the Fall Garage Sale to be Friday/Saturday instead of Saturday/Sunday. Soccer games prevent many families from participating on Saturday. Hardly any customers show up on Sunday. Friday is the big garage sale day. Reps express support for this idea.

Leigh Bangs and Lynne Marquis were the coordinators this year. Leigh Bangs reported after the meeting that total publicity expenses for the garage sale were $120. Meerwood, South Cove and Greenwood Point will divvy this cost up. Signs will be saved for next year, which should save some cost and considerable effort.

Issaquah for Katrina Relief: Issaquah civic organizations, like Kiwanis, Rotary, the Chamber of Commerce and Churches, have banded together to adopt the city of Picayune, MS. This town is similar to Issaquah in many ways. It was badly damaged by the hurricane. $65,000 has been raised so far. It is likely the funds will be used to support rebuilding schools.

The Roundabout traffic is backing up all the way to 192nd (Entrance to Sammamish Beach Club) in the morning. The traffic meter light operating from 7:30 to 9:00am doesn't seem to be helping enough. Hopes are high that the right turn lane will be reinstated during October. There are a couple of hurdles that need to be overcome before they can promise quick action. An announcement from WSDOT is expected soon, probably in the form a of flyer to be passed out to commuters.