Hazardous conditions impacted response to January storms
March 5, 2012
NEW — 6 a.m. March 5, 2012
The battle against the elements created dangerous conditions for city crews during a snowstorm and a rare ice storm in January, officials said in a recent update on response to the storms.
City crews scrambled to keep pace as the storms battered Issaquah and the region. Sometimes, limbs crashed onto city streets mere moments after a snowplow scraped snow and ice from the surface.
“You’d clear a road, you’d come back down and you’d have to clear your way back out the same road,” Bret Heath, city Public Works Operations and emergency management director, said in a Feb. 28 briefing to the City Council. “Or you’d clear a road and you’d get a call from somebody else in the snowplow that said, ‘I thought you cleared this road.’ The answer is, well, we did. We were just there, but those trees were coming down so fast and frequent that it was impossible for awhile to stay on top of that.”
Issaquah Women’s Club luncheon supports scholarships, local charities
February 28, 2012
At a recent meeting of the Issaquah Women’s Club, a speaker from the Eastside Domestic Violence Program expounded upon how the 60 or so scholarships supplied to that group over the years by the club had changed lives.
The scholarships were intended to help clients of the program get back on their feet, to help them get out of abusive situations. Past president and current promotions director for the Women’s Club Deborah Bader said she and other group members especially enjoyed hearing personal stories about how their efforts had helped other women.
“It was just really special,” Bader added.
Mountains to Sound Greenway seeks federal recognition
February 21, 2012
The greenway, shown above, runs parallel to Interstate 90 from the Seattle waterfront, through Issaquah and across the Cascades. The greenbelt encompasses 1.5 million acres in conservation lands, recreation areas, farms, working forests and cities. By Mountains to Sound Greenway Trust, Greg Farrar
National Heritage Area is meant to highlight environment, history
The 100-mile-long Mountains to Sound Greenway — greenbelt stretched along Interstate 90 from the Seattle waterfront and across the Cascades — is often heralded as a national model for conservation and land use.
City creates commission to attract, retain businesses
February 14, 2012
City leaders continued the latest push to bolster economic development Feb. 6 and created a municipal Economic Vitality Commission — another piece in the effort to attract entrepreneurs to Issaquah and retain existing businesses.
City Council members formed the commission to handle a marketing plan to attract businesses, consider opportunities to improve signage options for merchants, review municipal permitting and inspection processes, and produce annual report cards on strategies recommended in the 2005 Economic Vitality Plan. The commission is expected to offer regular updates to the mayor and council.
The idea for a commission stems from a goal council members set at a May 2011 retreat to outline priorities for 2012.
City Council chooses Tola Marts, Fred Butler for leadership posts
January 17, 2012
City Council members chose Tola Marts to lead the board in the coming year, as the council reorganizes City Hall and delves into a long-term plan to redevelop the business district.
Tola Marts
Fred Butler
In unanimous decisions Jan. 3, council members elected Marts to the top spot on the board — council president — and longtime member Fred Butler to serve in the No. 2 position.
The council president leads the legislative branch of city government. The responsibilities for the role include running semimonthly council meetings and monthly Committee-of-the-Whole Council meetings, handling committee assignments and representing the city if Mayor Ava Frisinger is absent.
Marts joined the council in January 2010 and succeeded longtime Councilman David Kappler. Butler joined the council a dozen years ago.
The shift represents the only change in council leadership since 2009, after former Councilman John Traeger succeeded then-Council President Maureen McCarry in the top spot. (Both officials have since left the council.)
City Council bids farewell to outgoing member John Traeger
January 17, 2012
In a dignified sendoff Dec. 19, City Council members bid farewell to Council President John Traeger.
John Traeger
Traeger decided in late April to step down after a single term as a councilman after leading the council through a busy period.
Other council members elected the technology consultant and Squak Mountain resident to lead the board for 2010 and again for 2011. Under Traeger, council members preserved the forested Park Pointe site near Issaquah High School, hired City Administrator Bob Harrison and embarked on a landmark reorganization of city government.
In addition, the council president runs semimonthly council meetings and monthly Committee-of-the-Whole Council meetings, handles committee assignments and represents the city if Mayor Ava Frisinger is absent.
“I will miss Councilmember Traeger’s presence on the council and his thorough research and good, solid work as a council member,” Frisinger said at the last council meeting Traeger attended as a member.
City Council chooses Tola Marts, Fred Butler for leadership posts
January 5, 2012
NEW — 8 a.m. Jan. 5, 2012
City Council members chose Tola Marts to lead the board in the coming year, as the council reorganizes City Hall and delves into a long-term plan to redevelop the business district.
Tola Marts
In unanimous decisions Tuesday, council members elected Marts to the top spot on the board — council president — and longtime member Fred Butler to serve in the No. 2 position.
The council president leads the legislative branch of city government. The responsibilities for the role include leading semimonthly council meetings and monthly Committee-of-the-Whole Council meetings, handling committee assignments and representing the city if Mayor Ava Frisinger is absent.
Sound Transit honors Councilman Fred Butler
January 3, 2012
Sound Transit board members elected Pierce County Executive Pat McCarthy as chairman and honored the outgoing vice chairman, Issaquah Councilman Fred Butler, in a Dec. 15 decision.
Butler and Lakewood Councilwoman Claudia Thomas served as vice chairpersons during the most recent term.
The board elected Snohomish County Executive Aaron Reardon, the outgoing chairman, and longtime board member Julia Patterson, a King County councilwoman, as vice chairpersons.
Butler, a 12-year councilman, is a respected expert on transit and transportation in the Puget Sound region.
In landmark decision, buildings up to 150 feet in business district OK’d
December 27, 2011
Rowley Properties could someday build tall buildings on 78 acres in the business district, as shown in the rendering above. Contributed
Rowley Properties plans to redevelop land in decades ahead
Tall buildings could someday punctuate the skyline in the modest business district along state Route 900, after city leaders created a framework Dec. 19 to transform acre upon acre blanketed in storage units, low-slung office buildings and automotive service centers into a dense neighborhood for shops and homes.
In a landmark decision, City Council members approved a 30-year agreement between the city and longtime Issaquah developer Rowley Properties to overhaul almost 80 acres in the coming decades. The council agreed to allow buildings up to 150 feet tall and mixed-use development on up to 4.4 million square feet in Hyla Crossing and Rowley Center — parcels along Interstate 90 and state Route 900.
The landowner, in turn, is required to pay for transportation upgrades, affordable housing construction, Tibbetts Creek restoration efforts and storm-water system improvements.
Leaders said the potential for change in Hyla Crossing and Rowley Center offers a rare opportunity to reshape Issaquah as the city readjusts after a decadelong population boom.
In major development decision, city OKs buildings up to 150 feet in business district
December 22, 2011
NEW — 9:30 p.m. Dec. 22, 2011
Tall buildings could someday punctuate the skyline in the modest business district along state Route 900, after city leaders created a framework Monday to transform acre upon acre blanketed in storage units, low-slung office buildings and automotive service centers into a dense neighborhood for shops and homes.
In a landmark decision, City Council members approved a 30-year agreement between the city and longtime Issaquah developer Rowley Properties to overhaul almost 80 acres in the coming decades. The council agreed to allow buildings up to 150 feet tall and mixed-use development on up to 4.4 million square feet in Hyla Crossing and Rowley Center — parcels along Interstate 90 and state Route 900.
The landowner, in turn, is required to pay for transportation upgrades, affordable housing construction, Tibbetts Creek restoration efforts and storm-water system improvements.
