Fund for the Valley will help food bank
December 8, 2011
For Kathy and other Snoqualmie Valley residents cutting household expenses in the down economy has come to include food. She and her husband get food from the Mount Si Helping Hand Food Bank, where she is also a volunteer. By Dan Catchpole
Every Wednesday, Kathy joins dozens of volunteers at the Mount Si Helping Hand Food Bank and helps distribute dry goods, canned goods, vegetables, fruits, milk and other foods to the hundreds of people who come each week.
After her shift, though, Kathy goes through the line in the squat white building beside the North Bend Community Church, collecting food to take home for herself and her husband, Scott.
North Bend City Administrator Duncan Wilson is leaving
December 8, 2011
After five years, North Bend City Administrator Duncan Wilson is moving on.
He is leaving the city in May to take on the same position in Friday Harbor in the San Juan Islands.
In his short time, Wilson has been deeply involved with several major projects in the city that will continue to influence its look, character and development long after he has left.
“It’s been some of the best years of my life here,” he said. “I think we got a lot done.”
The list of projects ushered along during his tenure includes expanding the city’s sewer system; the Tanner Annexation; getting adequate water rights for the city; ending the building moratorium; reaching an agreement with Fire District 38 for a new fire station; and landing a Metro Park & Ride station.
None of it would have been possible without his colleagues at the city, he said.
There are projects that he wanted to tackle but won’t be able to get to before setting off.
Garbage rates should decrease next year for Snoqualmie customers
December 8, 2011
Snoqualmie has a new garbage collector, and most residents and businesses will pay lower garbage rates next year.
Waste Management will be hauling trash, compost and recycling in the city beginning June 1. The City Council approved the new contract at its Nov. 28 meeting.
Customers will receive new collection cans, which the city will own at the end of the contract.
It isn’t clear whether the new cans will handle the wind any better than the existing cans.
Hospital commissioner recount should be completed by Dec. 13
December 8, 2011
While King County officials certified the Nov. 8 election late last month, four races remain unsettled. The races were so close that they triggered automatic recounts by election officials.
The closest race this year is the contest for a seat on Public Hospital District No. 4’s board of commissioners. The district manages Snoqualmie Valley Hospital.
Six votes separate the challengers.
According to certified results released Nov. 29, Gene Pollard leads with 4,613 votes to Karyn Denton’s 4,607 votes.
The election’s outcome could have lasting effects for the district, which is getting ready to break ground on a $37 million facility.
Pollard ran on a reform platform, and has been critical of the district’s executive leadership and its decision-making process.
North Bend receives grants from state for road projects
December 8, 2011
North Bend has been awarded state grants for two transportation projects in 2013.
The city will receive more than $400,000 from the Washington State Transportation Improvement Board for the projects.
The first grant is for improving the sidewalk on the north side of North Bend Way from Downing Avenue to Orchard Street, and it includes both design and construction work. The award is $156,430.
The city must provide $52,144 in matching money for the project.
The second project is for overlaying pavement on a stretch of North Bend Way west of Thrasher Avenue to beyond Tanner Road. The grant is for $250,000, and the city has to provide $27,778.
The matching money will come from revenue raised by the Transportation Benefit District sales and use tax, which voters approved in the Nov. 8 election.
The new levy allows the city to leverage grants that will help North Bend accomplish “essential improvements to the city’s transportation system,” City Administrator Duncan Wilson said in a news release.
The state Transportation Improvement Board gives out grants to cities and counties for transportation projects.
The board’s money comes from 3 cents of the statewide gas tax.
Letters
December 8, 2011
Why do we need a hospital?
What in the world is the district thinking? The Snoqualmie Valley Hospital, once again, has sign a long-term multimillion-dollar contract. For what? Why a new hospital, of course. All our problems will be solved if we just have a new hospital. Wow! What an easy fix.
I guess I don’t understand. I’ve heard that the hospital is operating in the black. Sounds like the old hospital is perfectly adequate for the services rendered. Other than stiffing the residents for millions of dollars, and guaranteeing the long-term employment of the administrative staff, what is the point?
If the present hospital is operating in the black, sounds like the major problem has always been marketing. Well, the commissioners didn’t ask for the public’s input. Indeed, the contract with the builder has been signed (at 7:30 in the morning last week), so once again, it’s too late.
Guess we’ll have to wait a few years for this hospital to fail, and then the district will ask for more taxes and they’ll be turned down, again.
What a merry-go-round.
Herschel Backues
North Bend
With elections over, time to get to work
December 8, 2011
With the Nov. 8 general election results certified and the results of four ballot recounts due in the coming week, it is time to look to the next step.
It is time for the candidates — the winners and the losers — to back up their campaign promises with action.
It is easy to be cynical about the disparity in government between what is said in stump speeches and what is done after the election, to assume that it must pervade all levels of government. But happily, local government often offers a refreshing break from the birthright of politicians — hypocritical, self-interested behavior.
The winners of races in the Snoqualmie Valley face daunting challenges. Infrastructure maintenance and economic development are among the chief concerns this year.
Every candidate for City Council in North Bend and Snoqualmie promised voters they would offer sound fiscal leadership while trying to spur economic activity and keeping city roads in working order.
Given the outlook for the local economy — as morose and gray as the region’s late fall weather — it is doubtful that anyone could deliver on all of those goals.
With both cities passing conservative budgets, city leaders must choose their goals wisely. Projects should never be undertaken simply because construction costs are down or a grant is available.
That is like buying something simply because it is on sale. Saving money on a purchase doesn’t matter if you don’t need the item in the first place.
With municipal resources limited, cities must focus their work on what is most important. (And make headway on other priorities as much as possible.)
Snoqualmie Casino’s credit rating gets a boost from Standard & Poor’s
December 8, 2011
Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services has raised its credit rating of the Snoqualmie Entertainment Authority, which manages Snoqualmie Casino, from B- to B.
The ratings agency announced the change Oct. 21.
The Snoqualmie Entertainment Authority is owned by the Snoqualmie Tribe.
The casino’s credit rating is still relatively low.
The casino’s credit rating had been hurt by a disappointing opening in November 2008 and high debt load, but it has improved since then. Its last credit upgrade came in December, when Moody’s Investor Services and Standard & Poor’s both raised their ratings for the casino.
Sallal Grange fundraiser to benefit Snoqualmie Valley community
December 8, 2011
The Sallal Grange and Community Hall’s fall fundraiser in late October raised more than $2,000, which the group is using to benefit the Snoqualmie Valley community.
The Grange is hoping to raise more money for the community this Saturday at its Holiday Bazaar and Swap Meet.
“The support from the community was nothing short of amazing,” Grange President Larry Houch said in an email to the Star. “We are very grateful and humbled.”
The money will be used to send a local teacher to Wintergrass, an annual bluegrass music festival in Bellevue.
It will be the second year that The Grange has provided a scholarship for the national event.
“The scholarship is for a class about using music as a teaching aid, and was very well-received last year,” Houch said. “This year, we’re expanding to include a student scholarship as well. In an economic downturn, where the arts are the first to get the budget axe, we hope this helps keep fine arts vibrant and alive in our Valley.”
Sallal Grange was originally chartered Sept. 4, 1930, with membership from North Bend, Meadowbrook, Snoqualmie and the surrounding areas. Declining membership led to the group giving up its charter on Dec. 31, 2007.
Police Blotter
December 8, 2011
Snoqualmie Police
Those aren’t cigarettes
At 3:13 a.m. Nov. 26, police in the 6500 block of Railroad Avenue Southeast saw a car in the parking lot of the Salish Lodge and Spa, when the parking lot was closed. The car had California plates, the engine running, a man in the driver’s seat and a woman in the passenger seat.
Police parked behind the car and as the man exited the car, he saw police and tossed a cigarette pack inside the vehicle. The couple told police they had just been watching the Snoqualmie Falls, but police saw a pipe for smoking marijuana next to the cigarette pack. Police arrested them both for criminal trespassing.
Police discovered three grams of marijuana inside the cigarette pack. Police asked to whom the pipe belonged and the woman said it was the man’s. Police arrested the man for possession of marijuana and drug paraphernalia. He was taken to the Issaquah City Jail and booked. Police told the woman she would receive a criminal citation in the mail and she was released at the scene.
