City confronts slippery situation: grease-clogged pipes
May 17, 2011
Council creates regulations to limit damage to sewer system
In a maneuver more common to cardiologists than City Council members, the city enacted a step May 2 to unclog the pipes looping beneath streets, like arteries inside the human body.
The council approved a measure to create regulations for grease and other oily discharges from businesses. Supporters said cutting out the fat could lead to reduced maintenance costs from clogged and damaged pipes in the long term.
“It definitely is going to benefit the city,” Councilwoman Eileen Barber said before the unanimous decision. “As we all know, a lot of these fats and greases that go into our sewer actually create some kind of bacteria that eat our pipes. So, it is definitely beneficial for all of us, as citizens, to begin to save that.”
Julius Boehm Pool upgrade is City Council priority
May 14, 2011
NEW — 5 p.m. May 14, 2011
The long-discussed plan to redo outdated Julius Boehm Pool inched ahead Saturday, as City Council members listed priorities for 2012 — a key step in determining how leaders decide to spend next year.
In addition to confronting increased maintenance costs as Boehm Pool ages, a 2009 city-commissioned study declared the facility as inadequate for the community.
“We’ve gone to tactical mode,” Council President John Traeger said. “We’ve got to fix the pool.”
The pool emerged as a major focus early in the session, as council members and department chiefs gathered in a map-lined Public Works Operations Building conference room. Other priorities included downtown parking, economic development and Lake Sammamish State Park.
The price tag to expand and upgrade downtown Boehm Pool in a major renovation is estimated at $21 million.
City Council confirms, lauds municipal board appointees
May 3, 2011
Onetime City Council finalist Paul Winterstein is going to continue serving the city on the Human Services Commission, the liaison between social service groups and municipal government.
The council appointed Winterstein and 35 other people as members and alternates to city boards and commissions April 18. Terms on the 11 affected boards start May 1. The city does not pay members.
“I am continually amazed at the number of people — and their qualifications — that stepped forward to fill our boards and commissions,” Councilman Fred Butler said before the unanimous decision to appoint the members. “It seems to me in going through the applications and the qualifications of folks, we’ve got an especially strong group of people filling some critical holes on our boards and commissions again this year.”
The city put out a call for board and commission applicants in January. Then, Mayor Ava Frisinger and board officers narrowed the applicant pool, and recommended appointees to the council for approval.
The city is continuing the interview process for alternates to serve on the Sister Cities and Urban Village Development commissions.
Landslide poses risk to Squak Mountain neighborhood’s utilities
April 26, 2011
City Council OKs study to find possible solutions
A car drives past the landslide on Mountainside Drive Southwest during the morning commute April 25. By Greg Farrar
The city has agreed to spend $30,000 to gather data on a landslide creeping down a Squak Mountain hillside and threatening utilities leading to the Forest Rim neighborhood.
The landslide poses a risk to the only utility lines and road to the hilltop neighborhood of about 100 homes. Forest Rim is the highest-elevation neighborhood on the mountain.
“The earth essentially just decided it was time,” Sheldon Lynne, city deputy public works engineering director, told City Council members April 18. “It couldn’t hold itself up any longer.”
The landslide is inching down Squak Mountain near a switchback along Mountainside Drive Southwest, less than a mile downhill from Forest Rim. The section of displaced hillside is about 200 feet across and stretches about 100 feet from end to eroded end.
Landslide poses risk to Squak Mountain neighborhood’s utilities
April 22, 2011
NEW — 7 p.m. April 22, 2011
The city has agreed to spend $30,000 to gather data on a landslide creeping down a Squak Mountain hillside and threatening utilities leading to the Forest Rim neighborhood.
The landslide poses a risk to the only utility lines and road to the hilltop neighborhood of about 100 homes. Forest Rim is the highest-elevation neighborhood on the mountain.
“The earth essentially just decided it was time,” Sheldon Lynne, city deputy public works engineering director, told City Council members Monday. “It couldn’t hold itself up any longer.”
The landslide is inching down Squak Mountain near a switchback along Mountainside Drive Southwest, less than a mile downhill from Forest Rim. The section of displaced hillside is about 200 feet across and stretches about 100 feet from end to eroded end.
Only a road shoulder is closed so far, and the roadway remains open to traffic. The landslide also eroded soil from beneath guardrail posts along the street.
Council sees ‘light at the end of the tunnel’ in Park Pointe deal
March 22, 2011
NEW — 8 a.m. March 22, 2011
The city is on the verge of preserving more than 100 forested acres on Tiger Mountain and in the Issaquah Highlands due to a series of agreements the City Council adopted Monday night.
In a landmark decision, the council agreed to accept ownership of the long-disputed Park Pointe property — 102 acres on Tiger Mountain near Issaquah High School. The other agreements, described as housekeeping items by city leaders, cleared up access and boundary issues related to the highlands land.
Now, after years of negotiations, the complicated transfer of development rights to preserve Park Pointe and add more density to the highlands is almost complete. Read more
Decision to appoint Stacy Goodman splits City Council
March 15, 2011
Issaquah City Council members voting for Stacy Goodman on March 7 are (left) Mark Mullet, and (middle, from left) Joshua Schaer, Eileen Barber and Fred Butler. Tola Marts (second left) and John Traeger (right) voted for Paul Winterstein. By Greg Farrar
In the end, after 20 tense minutes, the City Council elevated Stacy Goodman to a seat left empty after Maureen McCarry resigned last December.
The usually consensus-driven council listened to applicants for a vacant seat for 90 minutes March 1, but needed a couple of rounds of balloting — plus some political maneuvering — March 7 to appoint a successor to McCarry.
City Council vacancy attracts nine applicants
February 8, 2011
The contenders in the running to succeed Maureen McCarry on the City Council include people familiar to city leaders.
Joe Forkner has served on the council before, including a stint as a caretaker member after a councilwoman resigned. Stacy Goodman, past editor of The Issaquah Press, used to cover City Hall as a reporter. Nathan Perea campaigned against Tola Marts for the open Position 7 seat in 2009. Paul Winterstein managed Marts’ successful campaign. Other applicants serve on municipal boards and commissions.
The rare midterm opening for the Position 5 seat attracted nine candidates.
In addition to Forkner, Goodman, Perea and Winterstein, the lineup includes Michael Beard, a district manager for a facilities maintenance company, attorney Cristina Mehling, Urban Village Development Commission member Nina Milligan, Boeing analyst Erik Olson and Development Commission member Mary Lou Pauly.
Candidates face the council in public interviews scheduled for March 1. Then, after the 10-minute interviews, council members could recess into a closed-door executive session to discuss candidates’ qualifications.
Under state law, the council can discuss candidates’ qualifications in a closed-door session, but interviews and the decision must occur in public meetings.
Former Councilwoman Maureen McCarry reflects on years of service
February 1, 2011
Maureen McCarry once used a clear voice to advocate for Issaquah residents.
But amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, more commonly known as Lou Gehrig’s disease, muted the voice and prompted the former city councilwoman to resign in late December.
Maureen McCarry celebrates early City Council returns at an election night party at the Triple XXX Rootbeer Drive-in in 2005. By Greg Farrar
The decision did not come easily to McCarry, a former Harborview Medical Center executive and Squak Mountain resident. Less than a year into a four-year term, she had planned to continue as a voice for environmental preservation, economic development and human services issues.
Instead, McCarry received the ALS diagnosis in October, and the rapid progression of the neurodegenerative disease has left McCarry unable to drive and speak.
After a Dec. 20 meeting, council members offered a poignant and tear-slicked send-off to McCarry.
“I regretted, of course, having to leave so early in my term and so would have loved to have served through exciting upcoming projects,” she wrote last week in response to e-mailed questions. “Without my voice, it was hard to ‘voice’ my great appreciation to the citizens of Issaquah and the council for their support during this time — and for the kindness and appreciation, and humanity, that were demonstrated to me as I left the council.”
Though McCarry is no longer a public official — and in spite of her illness — she said she plans to remain involved in municipal issues.
“I have worked hard for the betterment of our community. I will remain an active citizen and adviser when called upon,” she wrote. “At this time, I feel fulfillment as I see this council move forward and extol the competence of those who have stepped forward to take my place to continue to grow and improve Issaquah.”
Some residents also reached out to McCarry for input as they consider applying for her former position. The council is expected to appoint a successor to the Position 5 seat in March.
McCarry urged the next council member to delve deep into issues brought to the council for decisions.
Newport Way improvement plan includes roundabouts
January 11, 2011
City to redo stretch near Issaquah Valley Elementary
Roundabouts could someday punctuate Newport Way Northwest under a plan the City Council adopted last week to upgrade the bustling corridor in the years ahead.
In a lopsided decision Jan. 3, the council agreed to pursue a plan to add roundabouts at the Northwest Juniper Street, Northwest Holly Street and Northwest Dogwood Street intersections. Planners also recommend extending another southbound lane to the corridor from West Sunset Way to Maple Street Northwest. The plan is designed to address projected congestion on the street in the coming decades. Read more
