North Bend puts in offer to buy Youth Activity Center
October 28, 2009
By Tara Ballenger
After more than a year and a half of trying to figure out what to do about the Snoqualmie Valley Youth Activity Center, city officials have finally decided to offer to buy the vacant, sewage-contaminated facility from its nonprofit owners and use the land for a pump station and expanding its sewage system.The center, built in the 1960s by community members and owned by the Snoqualmie Valley Youth Activity and Community Association, was the home base for Boy and Girl Scout troops and Venture Crews for decades before it was flooded with sewage in March 2008.
City officials took full responsibility for the backup, which was caused by rags and other debris.
Originally, city officials planned to pay the center for damages with money from the Association of Washington Cities risk management pool. On Oct. 20, however, the North Bend City Council approved a motion to offer to buy the property from the YAC.
“We’ve been negotiating how to do this in a cooperative fashion,” said City Administrator Duncan Wilson.
According to Wilson, the land became important to the city when it needed part of the property as a site for the utility local improvement district pump station.
In the future, the city will also need access to the land to complete the next phase of sewer expansion, so the city’s need to buy the land was inevitable, Wilson said.
“If it hadn’t been flooded, the time frame [for offering to buy the land] might have been further down the road, but this damage has expedited our need to acquire it,” he said.
The offer was sent to Michael Brandt, the lawyer representing the YAC and the scoutmaster for Boy Scout Troop 446, on Oct. 26.
In the offer, city officials proposed to pay $225,000 to the YAC as a down payment for the property and to pay the balance after an appraisal of the facility’s value.
In return, the city will gain immediate control of the property.
The YAC board will review the offer and make a decision in the next couple of weeks, Brandt said. He added he could not comment on the likelihood of the nonprofit accepting the city’s offer.
Meanwhile, Troop 446, which had to scramble to find temporary meeting places after losing the YAC, has found a more permanent spot. The city granted the troop permission to use the North Bend Railroad Depot for its Monday night meetings free of charge, starting this month and going through the end of next year, troop leader Doug McClelland said.
By that time, he said, he hopes that construction will already be under way for a new center.
“It may take partnering with local businesses, but we hope to get started on building soon,” McClelland said. “If we can start by the end of next year, that’d be great.”
Until then, he said, the troop is fortunate that the city is allowing it to use city property free of charge.
Tara Ballenger: 392-6434, ext. 248 or tballenger@snovalleystar.com. Comment at www.SnoValleyStar.com.
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