Yes, it is possible to condense an insufferable 3-hour city council meeting into an entertaining 5-minute read. Come join the discussion as we peel back the curtain on what's REALLY going on in Maple Valley.
Tonight’s city council meeting went rather smoothly, and tied up a lot of loose ends from last week. It was the first meeting I could remember where an issue wasn’t put off until another meeting.
On with the proceedings! A good number of the crowd was in attendance for the results of the Community Service Grant Funding requests, but first, we’ve got a few housekeeping items to take care of…
1) Amending Resolution R-07-532 – Council Rules of Procedure
Councilors will now have to disclose their associations with a community service group that has a pending application for grant money, and they will excuse themselves from the room when the discussion is to take place. It was clarified that a councilor must serve on a board, or have some similar official association with the group to require being excused from the room. Merely serving as an occasional volunteer for a group would not require them to leave during discussions. PASS 7-0.
2) Ordinance O-09-394 – Amendments to Multiple Use Zone
This was covered in previous meetings, and is finally being adopted. This mostly affects just one property (the Brandt parcel), and deserves more discussion than I can give here. PASS 7-0.
3) Repealing Section 12.10.080, replacing with Section 12.10.085
This concerns the Public Works Director being allowed to grant variances, which was covered previously. The staff came back with language adding that the PWD will advise the city council on variances that were granted. Everyone seems happy about the compromise. I’m pretty sure this one passed, but these three items went through so quickly, it was almost a blur!
Our City Manager says that beginning in 2011 the city will change to a “Contract for Services” type model (for some or all of the requests; I couldn’t tell which). Apparently, this will lead to greater control over the use of the funds, and will allow the council and/or staff to put specific restrictions in place, if they choose to do so.
My favorite moment was when the City Manager stated that out of an $8 million budget, $250,000 isn’t that much to quibble about, and he will be reserving that as a discretionary amount for incidental expenses and overages, including minor overflows from the grants (my words, not his). I was waiting for a challenge from the council, but none came, which surprised me. On to the requests:
* COMMUNITY CENTER
The Community Center requested an 8% increase over the 2009 grant, but the city staff recommended a 2% increase. Part of the reduction came from money designated for improvements to things like the kitchen, bathrooms, hall flooring, and courtyard. There was mention of the decrease in funding from King County, which will be $0 as of July 2010. They requested $248,905 and received $236,900.
* MAPLE VALLEY DAYS
Asked for $5K, got $5K (same as last year).
* FOOD BANK
Asked for 32% less than last year, and got it, for a total of $15K.
* MAKE A DIFFERENCE DAY
Asked for $5K, same as last year, and got it.
* MAPLE VALLEY FARMER’S MARKET
Asked for $4500, versus the $10K they got last year. Approved.
* GREEN RIVER COMMUNITY COLLEGE
We learned that the $20K they requested for small business development was ¼ of the total request among four different cities. It was to pay for an advisor at $80K per year to do this job full-time. The other cities asked will likely say no, and Maple Valley did too. The official reason is that grant money can’t be used to fund personnel. My guess is, the city staff feels that this is something the Chamber of Commerce could work on, and they probably thought it was a dumb proposal anyway. Request denied.
* ARBORETUM
Asked for an increase to $42K from the $36,500 they got last year. A lot of the increase is due to a well they want to put in, to save the $5K per year in water costs. We’re going to stop importing water from Covington, and pull it out of the ground ourselves. Yeah! Now all we have to do is keep kids from climbing down into the well, and keep our names out of the national headlines. Approved.
* CHAMBER OF COMMERCE
There was a brief discussion of creating an Office of Economic Development, to be jointly run by the city and the Chamber, but that was shot down. Chamber requested $9700, an increase from the $5600 they got last year. Approved.
* MAPLE VALLEY HISTORICAL SOCIETY
Asked for an increase of about 13%, to $12,780 for next year. Approved.
* MAPLE VALLEY YOUTH SYMPHONY
Wanted $5K for a 20’ x 30’ tent for outdoor performances. Approved.
* SHEPHERD OF THE VALLEY – BALLFIELD PROPOSAL
They didn’t pass the requirement that grant $ only goes to “existing, proven agencies”. There wasn’t any real discussion on this request.
* TEAM TAHOMA
For a brief moment, I thought there might actually be some opposition to this request. However, most councilors expressed their support for the idea, and it passed unanimously, although for $6K, instead of the $10K requested. The money will be used for a volunteer fair, and the establishment of a citywide volunteer registry.
* VINE MAPLE PLACE
Passed quickly, for the same amount requested as last year, $15K.
******************
POLICE REPORT
******************
Our police chief gave a brief update on the department’s response to the recent rash of burglaries in our city. A task force was put together, perps were picked up, and several police agencies joined in to lock down the streets this week. We can all sleep a little easier knowing that we have a proactive police department that jumps into action, rather than compile statistics and have meetings.
Just a side note, 9 of the 11 burglaries involved homes that had a door unlocked or a window left ajar. Sooooo, there will be a public meeting on October 28th at 5:30pm at Tahoma Junior High with a theme of crime prevention. If I get more info on this, I’ll post it down later on this thread.
I was surprised to hear about that many open doors and windows, but I grew up in south Florida, where you always always always lock everything down. A house across the street from mine had bars on the windows, and it was considered a good neighborhood.
My aunt and uncle moved to Maple Valley in the 1960’s, and only recently have started locking their door. I think they are the target of this kind of community education, but I’ll give you the quick version here:
1) Lock your doors (house and car).
2) Don’t leave stuff in plain sight in your car.
3) Don’t leave valuable stuff out in your house or business where it can be easily seen.
4) Consider an alarm with a monitoring service (and don’t overpay, I’m at $10/month).
5) Forget the gun. It’s much more likely to be used against you or stolen.
This advice is no substitute for good crime prevention education, but it should tide you over until the Wednesday the 28th.
See you next week!
Ryan Ryals Ryan Ryals is a carbon-based life form who has been spotted in the Maple Valley area for the past 11 years. He found access to a computer, and has been stirring up trouble for the establishment ever since. If you need to get your hands around his throat, he usually shows up at Maple Valley city council meetings Monday nights at the Tahoma Central Services building (shares a parking lot with Rock Creek Elementary).
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