Week 2 of the Gerken Administration is starting to take shape, and the councilors are still working on their dynamic. Week 1 was smooth sailing, so let’s get to it and see how this week went!

1) Public Comments
Stanette Rose took the stand first, and is wondering if Mayor Gerken’s statements of goals last week are his personal goals, or the council’s goals. We won’t know for sure since he didn’t answer her directly, but no one else seemed to care. She’s also concerned about the legacy of the previous council leadership, and wants to make sure the councilors don’t give the staff too much leeway to offset previous accusations of staff micromanagement. Meh.

The Maple Valley Chevron owner and his wife were back to request another look at a drive-thru espresso stand in their parking lot. As you might remember, they were denied by the previous administration when the only drive-thru permit was given to a future coffee stand that has a minimum of 500 square feet of seated space, I think.

2) You Say You Want a Resolution
Well you know, we’d all love to see the plan. Alright, we already saw it last week, and a few rules of procedure for the council were added. Now there are public comments at the beginning of every meeting, which means the same people that always give comments can now have an additional 6 minutes each month. No discussion, Pass 6-0.

3) Oh Dear God, Not the Donut Hole Again
Yes, the Donut Hole. I like Councilor Johnson’s recommendation (last week) that we keep calling it the Donut Hole, since nobody knows what “Summit Place” is. Yarrow Bay calls their developer the “Summit Place 156 LLC”, and I’m willing to compromise with them and call it the “Donut Hole Place”.

If you’re really interested in the 3 options they are considering for action on February 8^th, just send me an inbox message on Facebook with your email address, and I’ll send you the whole thing. There’s a Public Hearing on January 25^th, so if you’re planning to attend, you’ll want to catch up.

Here’s the least you need to know:

* Staff recommends adoption of a joint plan by the council and the county council.

* Nobody wants another strip mall for the commercial part

* “Walkable” type businesses will be encouraged; hopefully a donut hole shop

* Amount of parks and open spaces is not yet known

* King County will probably decide on their part in this mess within 10 days

There was a bit of back-and-forth on the amount of houses versus commercial space, and what about the BPA power line easements and the wetlands, etc. It’s kind of like a half-filled balloon; if you squeeze one end to make it smaller, the other part gets bigger. That wasn’t so hard, was it?

My favorite part of the document reads, “Summit Place 156 LLC’s plans for the density, of residential and commercial within Summit Place is expected to proportionally increase the demand for police and public safety services at levels greater than that which the City has historically experienced with lower density residential development.”

That’s the diplomatic city-speak for, “We’re expecting more crime than we already have at the apartments.” It’s really well-written, though.

4) Legislative Agenda
The council will state its support for the Association of Washington Cities’ agenda, but only the top 3 priorities. There was some discussion on sidewalks for Witte Road, which as you know would be made difficult by the drainage ditches and the cliffside. There’s a proposal for $50K to do a sidewalk feasibility study, and I think I will start a new career of doing sidewalk feasibility studies. Just 2 studies per year, and I’ll be set.

5) City Manager Report
The City Hall move went smoothly, and the Reporter has some photos on their website (taken by Deputy Mayor Jonas). We got a lot of free stuff from the landlord, including having three offices furnished, and other building improvements that you normally have to pay extra for.

There are a couple of requests for the MV Historical Society and the MV Arts Council to put their photographs and art on display in the lobby, which sounds like a fantastic idea. I can’t imagine just putting up art that has no direct meaning to the city, and these groups will provide local art, and all of the displays. Win-win.

Animal control has been extended to June 30^th, and the county will be completely out of all phases of animal control. We should have all listened to Bob Barker and had our pets spayed or neutered, and now it’s gonna cost us. We still will have to come up with $30K to fund animal control operations, or else start a Bubba Brigade to take care of this “problem”.

6) FTGOTO (For the Good of the Order)
* Committee Appointments – Councilors have until next Monday to turn in their homework and pick a committee or two to serve on.

* Recent vandalism at the community center brought up the issue of security cameras again. So all you punks who read the council updates are on notice; you’ll be videotaped starting sometime in February, so you’ll have to move on and become someone else’s problem. By the way, discharging a BB gun at persons or property is a misdemeanor in this city.

* Ixnay on the Indow-clings-way
Sorry councilor, but you can’t advocate for a school levy ballot issue by offering to give supportive window clings away from the dais. It was quite a moment to see the City Attorney reach for the microphone, and all the heads snap to look at her. “Uh-oh…” went the room, “no-no” went the attorney, and “buh-bye” went the window clings.

* State of the City
The Mayor proposed a “State of the City” annual address for early February, featuring Hizzoner and the City Manager at one of the MV-BD Chamber of Commerce luncheons. Sounds like a good idea, but you might not want to pony up the $25 admission fee to go hear it. Maybe they could stream it online for the rest of us, or maybe I could talk them into a repeat performance at the annual Chamber of Citizens Free Lunch For The Rest Of Us. We’ll see!

Have a great week, and let’s do this again next Monday, shall we?