Issaquah’s only locally owned newspaper
THE ISSAQUAH PRESS
117th Year, No. 13
Thursday, March 31, 2016
issaquahpress.com
Traffic task force proposals total $71.6 million By Tom Corrigan tcorrigan@isspress.com The traffic task force appointed by Mayor Fred Butler will recommend a total of nine road projects, costing an estimated $71.6 million, to the city administration. The City Council will have the final say on what projects might be put before voters in November for approval of a bond sale to fund the work.
The nine projects, as prioritized by the task force, are: 4The Maple Street intersection near Trader Joe’s and Target. This work would include a roundabout and other safety improvements. Cost: $5 million. 4Providence Point intersection signalization. The roadway entrances would be aligned and the intersection signalized. Cost: $5.8 million.
4East Sunset Way from Sixth Avenue to First Avenue. The city would add a 17-foot wide multiuse trail on the south side, with three 11-foot travel lanes and landscaping and sidewalks on the north side. Cost: $10.5 million. 4Three Trails Crossing. Construct improvements for motorized and non-motorized users to the intersection of Gilman Boulevard/ Juniper/Rainier. Cost: $1.4 million.
4Newport Way Southwest from Southeast 54th to State Route 900. Various additions, including a center median, roundabouts, sidewalks and landscaping. Cost: $7 million. 4Front Street/Sunset Way intersection. Additional turn-lane capacity at Front Street and Sunset Way. Cost: $900,000. 4Newport Way, from Maple to Sunset. As with the other Newport
PLYING THE WATERS IN SEARCH OF EGGS
Way project, various improvements from bike lanes to roundabouts. Cost: $26.2 million. 4Gilman Boulevard. Safety, bike lane and pedestrian improvements. Cost: $5.7 million. 4Olde Town parking structure. Multi-level parking structure with approximately 400 stalls. Cost: See TRAFFIC, Page 11
City Council OKs $150,000 to begin temporary fix of contaminated well By Tom Corrigan tcorrigan@isspress.com
Greg Farrar / gfarrar@isspress.com
The annual Underwater Egg Hunt sponsored by the city Parks and Recreation Department attracted nearly 200 children and their families to Julius Boehm Pool March 25 for a chance to dive for plastic eggs that could be traded in for toy novelties at the end of the evening. To give all ages a chance to score prizes, there were waves for 5 years old and under, 6 to 9 years old and 10 and over. VIEW MORE PHOTOS AT ISSAQUAHPRESS.COM
School board’s letter asks for legislative help By David Hayes dhayes@isspress.com
Sen. Andy Hill
The Issaquah School Board sent a letter last week to state Sen. Andy Hill imploring him to support a House bill that would stave off a potential $7 million one-year hit, or a $14 million biennium loss, to the school district’s 2017 budget. The school board hopes Hill, as chair of the Senate Ways and
Means Committee, would support House Bill 2698, which proposes to extend the levy lid through the 2018 special session. Board member Lisa Callan, Issaquah’s legislative representative, explained the shortfall to the 2017 budget arose from measures taken during the recession in 2010. See LETTER, Page 2
IN-DEPTH COVERAGE ONLINE
The Seattle Times Education Lab is dedicated to exploring solutions to the most urgent challenges facing public education. Read the Education Lab team’s stories at seattletimes.com/education-lab.
Issaquah will use $150,000 to partially fund a filtering system to remove perfluorooctane sulfonate, also known as PFOS, and other perfluorinated compounds from the city’s Gilman Well No. 4. The City Council approved the expenditure March 21, but more dollars will be needed to keep the filters in operation. Further, they were described by the administration as only a “temporary fix” for the contamination problem. The administration plans to “There are a return to the council on April 4 with a detailed plan to handle lot of question the problems with Well No. 4. marks.” The administration does not yet have an estimate of the cost -Mayor Fred for a permanent fix, said Bret Heath, public works operations Butler and emergency management describing cost director. estimates for a Well No. 4 consistently has filtering system to tested positive for PFOS at levels remove perfluorinated above the Environmental Proteccompounds from tion Agency’s provisional health Gilman Well No. 4 advisory guideline since the city first started testing for the chemicals in 2013. The city says Well No. 4 water is blended with water from other wells, and city tap water meets all EPA guidelines. The source of water for Well No. 4 sits above the city’s Well No. 5, and water from the two wells is blended as it leaves a shared pumphouse. Previously, the administration had expressed worries that simply closing Well No. 4 could have adverse effects on Well No. 5, which is not contaminated with PFOS. The city later reversed itself, saying there was “minimal” risk to the companion well, and decided to shut down Well No. 4 early this month. Well No. 4’s temporary fix will consist of two vertical vessels filled with granulated activated carbon to remove the PFOS, Heath said. Replacing used and dirty carbon could be the most expensive part of the plan. Heath said reloading the vessels could run as much as $60,000. Depending on how much carbon is spent in filtering Well No. 4’s water, the vessels might need See WELL, Page 11
42 years as a Preston volunteer firefighter, and he isn’t done yet By David Hayes dhayes@isspress.com Death, taxes and Ernie Soderman. Three constants in life. The first two for everyone, the last for the residents of Preston. Soderman has been a volunteer firefighter based out of Station 74 in Preston for more than four decades. “Who knew when I started out, 42 years down the road I’d still be doing it?” Soderman asked. Maybe his parents had an inkling. Both were involved in volunteer firefighting — his mother was in the auxiliary and his father was in it for 44 years. Soderman, 58, followed in his father’s boots as soon as he was 16.
“I grew up doing it. Once I got old enough, there was no academy, just on-the-job training. They outfitted me with gear and I responded on Ernie Soderman calls,” he said. A mechanic for United Parcel Service for the past 33 years, Soderman is now the lead volunteer firefighter at Station 74 in charge of eight other volunteers. The technology has changed over the decades, he said. For starters, it’s a lot easier carrying around all that gear. “They used to have canvas bunker gear. Now it’s Kevlar and
lightweight. And the air pack used to be a steel tank. Now it’s a fiberglass tank,” he said. Soderman’s father had it worst than he did. “When Dad started out, they were fighting fires without bunker gear,” Soderman said. “They had a lot of fights over outfitting gear. Air packs were even optional that day. Now they’ve got hot, warm and cold zones, and you better not be anywhere near a hot zone without being on air.” Another significant change is one Soderman is sure the residents of Preston are grateful for. “There used to be a siren on top See FIREFIGHTER, Page 5
Contributed
Ernie Soderman (center, without mask) is the lead volunteer at Station 74 in Preston, where he is in charge of eight other volunteers. Soderman has been a volunteer for 42 years; his father was a volunteer firefighter for 44. FOLLOW US ON SOCIAL MEDIA
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