Issaquah City Council sets 2014 goals
May 7, 2013
Developing city’s brand, combined government campus among objectives
At its annual goal-setting retreat May 4, the City Council continued to look into the future.
During the five-hour meeting, attended by most of the city’s department heads and representatives from other regional authorities, the council members presented their individual goals for consideration. Once discussion was held regarding each prospective goal, council members voted on what would comprise their 2014 agenda.
Ultimately, they decided to take on such things as looking into the feasibility of a combined city campus for the government, a marketing packet to develop the city’s brand and adding metrics of the city’s current state to the official website.
Mary Lou Pauly announces City Council candidacy
May 7, 2013
Mary Lou Pauly
A week before the King County candidate filings begin, Mary Lou Pauly has thrown her hat into the City Council ring.
Having lived in Issaquah since 1993, the Canadian born 53-year-old has served on the Development Commission for the past 19 years and has had a growing interest in taking a larger role in the city.
“I’ve spent the last three months looking at campaigning,” she said about her decision to officially announce her candidacy. “I figured it was the right time to run.”
Goodman announces plan for re-election to City Council
April 30, 2013
Issaquah attorney Stacy Goodman announced her candidacy to seek re-election to the Issaquah City Council on April 29. Goodman has served on the Council since March 2011.
Goodman was initially appointed to replace Maureen McCarry, who left the council for health reasons. Voters then elected Goodman in an unopposed race to serve out the remainder of McCarry’s term.
“It has been an honor and a pleasure to serve my community for the past two years,” Goodman said in a press release. “I work hard every day to make Issaquah even better by working effectively with fellow council members, city government and business leaders, and, most importantly, the people I represent. This is important work, and for me, it’s a labor of love.”
Issaquah City Council changes meeting structures
April 9, 2013
Work sessions were added and committees were consolidated at the April 1 regular City Council meeting.
On the agenda for consideration was a bill that reviewed the meetings, procedures and structures of the council’s deliberations. Since January, the council has been discussing how to more efficiently schedule its many meetings. With approval of the bill, a number of changes were implemented, including time changes and the dissolution of chair positions within merged committees.
Council approves easement for dam renovation project
April 2, 2013
Contributed
The Issaquah Creek dam, which sits about a half-mile upstream from the Issaquah Salmon Hatchery and diverts a portion of the water to rearing ponds at the hatchery, is seen in a recent photo.
Overhaul on a 60-year-old dam in Issaquah Creek required an easement of land ownership from the City Council at its March 18 meeting.
Working with the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife since 2007, the city has mapped out most of the logistics in turning an aging, uninviting water maintenance tool into an accessible fish ladder that still diverts the water needed for the nearby stated-owned hatchery. Through past natural damage and structural weakness, the dam is in critical need of attention.
Issaquah City Council extends county solid waste agreement until 2040
March 12, 2013
The Issaquah City Council has extended its existing solid waste interlocal agreement with King County to 2040.
King County approached the city with a restated draft to continue to provide services well into the future and indicated that should Issaquah wish to deny the restatement, it would face higher disposal rates to the county.
“The King County solid waste interlocal agreement provides the city to be a part of the regional solid waste system, including system planning, transfer stations and disposal at the King County Cedar Hills landfill,” Councilman Joe Forkner said in his introduction to the revised agreement at the March 4 City Council meeting. “The county has asked for an extension of 12 and a half years to the agreement through 2040. The primary reason for the amendment is to allow for long-term bonds for capital improvements to the aging transfer stations’ system, hoping to keep garbage disposal rates lower than they would be.”
Issaquah, Liberty and Skyline Japanese Expo / March 1, 2013
March 5, 2013
I-90 tolling plan draws local concerns
February 26, 2013
The city of Issaquah may not have an official stance on Interstate 90 tolling yet, but some of its citizens do.
In a letter to the state’s Department of Transportation, Issaquah’s mayor and City Council wrote that the city would not say whether or not Interstate 90 should be tolled until after the DOT is done with an environmental assessment. However, the city does have ideas about what should happen if tolls go in.
By Greg Farrar
Picket signs posted on the eastbound off-ramp shoulder of Interstate 90 at Front Street North proclaim an opposition group’s stand against tolls on the federal highway to pay for replacement of the state Route 520 Evergreen Point floating bridge across Lake Washington.
“There should be equity for all users of the I-90 corridor,” the letter read. “There should not be populations that are exempted from tolling, thereby receiving public benefit at no cost to them.”
“The city is in opposition to the tolling of off-ramps and on-ramps in the city of Issaquah, specifically exit 13, exit 15, exit 17 and exit 18. It would be inequitable to toll these ramps unless every ingress or egress from an interstate was tolled across the state.”
Bill would allow Issaquah to continue marketing Salmon Days
February 26, 2013
Funding for parts of Salmon Days could be in jeopardy if the state Legislature doesn’t pass a bill under consideration in the house and senate.
Since 2007, localities in the state have been able to use money from the lodging tax, taxes paid by hotel guests, to help fund special events or festivals and also nonprofit organizations that promote tourism. The provision that allows those uses expires June 30.
Localities would still be permitted to collect the taxes, but they would have more restrictions on the ways they could use the money. In Issaquah, that means funding for some parts of the Salmon Days festival and other activities would be in jeopardy.
Issaquah City Council revisits central plan design, development standards
February 26, 2013
The Issaquah City Council moved one step closer to reaching a consensus concerning the Central Issaquah Plan’s development and design standards at a Feb. 20 work session to identify and discuss any remaining issues with the standards.
In December, the council adopted the Central Issaquah Plan, a long-term vision for the city that would transform it into a dense urban core complete with 125-foot tall buildings.
The council delayed adoption of the development and design standards at the time, preferring instead to put them through a more thorough review process.
The development and design standards consist of rules for buildings, community spaces, landscaping, signage and more. It is the only piece of Central Issaquah Plan legislation that has yet to be approved.
