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The IssaquahPress
Issaquah’s only locally owned newspaper
www.issaquahpress.com
Thursday, October 22, 2015
Friends group unveils big plans for Lake Sammamish State Park By Tom Corrigan tcorrigan@isspress.com The Issaquah Chamber of Commerce is sponsoring an Oct. 22 fundraising event for a playground at Lake Sammamish State Park, but the playground is only one of several improvements on the drawing board, said Janet Farness, executive director of the Friends of Lake Sammamish State Park. In its 2016 capital improvement budget, the state Legislature supplied $750,000 for a new playground at the park. The Friends group needs to supply $250,000 in matching funds in order for the project to go forward. “We are trying to be out in the public as much as we can,” Farness said. “I know they are out there promoting it,” said Kathy McCorry, executive director of the Issaquah chamber, who added the chamber doesn’t normally use its Meet and Greet events for
IF YOU GO Issaquah Chamber Meet and Greet 43:30-5:30 p.m. Oct. 22 4Lake Sammamish State Park 4Donations of $50 are suggested to support Lake Sammamish playground. 4RSVP by emailing info@ issaquahchamber.com. 4If you can’t attend, send donations to the Friends of Lake Sammamish, P.O. Box 605, Issaquah, WA 98027. fundraising. McCorry said several factors convinced the chamber to break with tradition, including the fact that Issaquah annexed Lake Sammamish State Park earlier this year, though the park still See FRIENDS, Page 10
Volunteers are needed for tree planting at Confluence Park Hundreds of volunteers will join the Mountains to Sound Greenway Trust and the city of Issaquah for the Annual Tree Planting Celebration at Confluence Park on Oct. 24. The celebration begins at 9 a.m., with half- and full-day shifts available. Mountains to Sound Greenway Trust provides all the tools, plant material, gloves and project oversight. No experience is necessary. Volunteers are encouraged to pre-register at mtsgreenway.org/ volunteer. Confluence Park is at 595 Rainier Blvd. N. “When you plant a native tree you are building the sustainable future of our region,” Jon Hoekstra, Mountains to Sound Greenway Trust executive director, said in a news release. “Our Tree Planting Celebration is an incredible opportunity for the whole family to have fun outdoors together and make a positive impact.” City officials have worked with the Mountains to Sound Greenway Trust for nearly two decades, with volunteers contributing more than 35,000 hours to restore critical habitats along Issaquah, Tib-
betts and Laughing Jacobs creeks, as well as the shoreline of Lake Sammamish. Confluence Park is the latest joint project. “Confluence Park is the crown jewel — not only of our city park system, but of the green necklace encircling Issaquah,” Mayor Fred Butler said in the release. “Our network of parks, open space and trails is part of what defines our outstanding quality of life. “Over the years, as we preserved this land piece by piece, we never lost sight of our goal to create a beautiful park in the heart of our historic downtown.” More than 6,000 native trees and shrubs will be planted at Confluence Park in a long-term effort supported by the citizens of Issaquah, King Conservation District, Washington State Legislature, Washington State Recreation and Conservation Office (through the Salmon Recovery Funding Board), and Carter Subaru as part of its On the Road to Carbon Neutral campaign. Plantings will help increase native plant diversity, canopy cover and tree regeneration, all of which will benefit native salmon populations.
By Greg Farrar
Sammamish’s Wally Pereyra, on the heels of his effort to restore Ebright Creek, wants to next to take on Zaccuse Creek, bringing it back as a spawning ground for kokanee salmon.
SALMON SAVIOR’S NEXT FIGHT Sammamish’s Wally Pereyra sets sites on restoring Zaccuse Creek By Tom Corrigan tcorrigan@isspress.com Having spent more than $200,000 of his own money to save kokanee salmon in Ebright Creek, Sammamish’s Wally Pereyra is on a new mission. The hero of the only species of salmon native to Lake Sammamish, Pereyra next wants to take on restoring Zaccuse Creek. The hardest part may be having to dig up close to $1 million for replacing a culvert that serves as a pathway for the creek under East Lake Sammamish Parkway. There are three culverts that can cut off any fish trying to make it up Zaccuse Creek from Lake Sammamish, said David St. John, chairman and coordinator of the Kokanee Work Group, part of the King County Department of Natural Resources. The first is under East Lake Sammamish Shore Lane. It is usually not a problem for fish, though it can be when water flows too fast. The same thing applies to the second culvert that sits in the area of East Lake Sammamish Trail under construction by King County. Pereyra said he expects the county will replace that culvert as part of the East Lake Sammamish Trail project. The third and final culvert is the parkway culvert and it is always a problem for fish, St. John said. Pereyra said the cul-
Dave Reichert decides: He won’t run against Jay Inslee for governor By Jim Brunner Seattle Times political reporter Congressman Dave Reichert will not run for governor in 2016, eliminating the Republican Party’s highest-profile potential challenger to Democratic Gov. Jay Inslee. Instead, Reichert says he’ll seek re-election to his 8th District congressional seat. The 8th District includes Issaquah. Reichert made the announcement in an email Oct. 16, finally
putting an end to months of speculation the former King County sheriff might jump in to take on Inslee. “Like so many of you, I have Dave Reichert been extremely disappointed in the decisions coming out of the governor’s office…” Reichert said. “Yet, I believe I can better serve you
now, today, in another Washington where politicians are more interested in fighting each other than fighting for America, where leadership has been in retreat, and courage has been on recess.” In what has become an everycouple-of-years ritual, Reichert, R-Auburn, had been telling reporters he was keeping his options open and considering a See REICHERT, Page 10
By Greg Farrar
Zaccuse Creek flows out through a very old culvert that runs under the road in the 400 block of East Lake Sammamish Parkway Northeast on its way to Lake Sammamish. The culvert does not allow sand and dirt to pass downstream, creating a blockage and marshy wetland upstream that kokanee cannot pass through. vert doesn’t even line up with the creek. Pereyra purchased 13 acres of land east of the parkway, land through which the stream flows. He said the creek clearly needs rehab in that area. “But the next critical issue is to replace that culvert,” he added. Pereyra said he wants to use a box culvert under the parkway and ensure that the culvert and the creek are properly aligned. Pereyra described a box culvert as sort of a “U” over the stream. The culvert would be bottomless. The box would pass dirt and sand and so on,
whereas the current pipe does not, creating a blockage fish just can’t overcome. St. John said the creek below the parkway is seriously degraded, under invasion by non-native plants. There is no gravel in the stream for kokanee to spawn in. Pereyra hopes to change all that, largely at his own expense. Kokanee would be released into the creek as needed. “The first developers did a very poor job. They just bulldozed over the creek,” Pereyra added. The creek now runs in odd See CREEK, Page 10
Fire commissioners propose benefit charge re-authorization On the Nov. 3 ballot, Proposition 1 will request approval by citizens of King County Fire Protection District 10 for a reauthorization of the Fire Benefit Charge, which was originally supported by voters in 2003 and re-authorized by a near 80 percent majority in 2009. Fire District 10 encompasses Issaquah and parts of Sammamish and Renton. Under state law, the charge must be re-authorized every six years and cannot exceed 60 percent of the total annual cost of operations. (The charge in the
district, over the past five years, provided 37 percent of annual operating costs.) Agencies authorized by voters to use the charge have a tax limit of $1 per $1,000 of assessed value, rather than the ability to collect $1.50, as was the case prior to 2003. The commissioners feel the re-authorization of the charge is crucial in the continuation of providing stability for needed funding, which translates to predictable and sustainable service See PROP
1, Page 10
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