sammamishreview051811

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May 18, 2011 Locally owned Founded 1992 50 cents

City move could cost school districts thousands

All for a good cause

By Caleb Heeringa

An apparent accounting glitch by King County led to two Issaquah School District schools being charged $115,000 worth of stormwater fees from which they were supposed to be exempt. On May 16, after the Sammamish Review’s deadline, the Sammamish City Council will consider waiving the back charges, which were levied by the county on behalf of the city against Skyline High School and Cascade Ridge Elementary in 2009 and 2010. At a May 10 study session, the council appeared supportive of waiving the old fees. However, they were split on whether or not the city should continue to waive stormwater fees for schools, which contain large amounts of the impervious See SCHOOLS, Page 5

Photo by Christopher Huber

Tyson Hardtke, 18 months, enjoys a cupcake as his mother, Tyrell Hardtke, holds it for him during Plateau Pink Day May 11 at Eastlake High School. For more about the event see Page 10.

2 announce run for City Council Tom Vance looks to fill Mark Cross’ seat

John Galvin will likely challenge Nancy Whitten

By Caleb Heeringa

By Caleb Heeringa

Former Planning Commission chairman and long-time Sammamish resident Tom Vance announced May 11 that he will run for a seat on the City Council in November’s election. Vance, a 59-year-old resident of the Heritage Hills neighborhood since 1994, said that if elected he Tom Vance intends to focus on preserving the environment and continuing to guide the city’s investments in roads, parks and open space. Having put in countless hours of unpaid time delving into complicated policy matters on the Planning Commission between 2008

John Galvin, a fixture in the audience at Sammamish City Council meetings and outspoken opponent of the city’s Town Center Plan, announced that he will run for a seat on the council this November. Galvin, a private-practice psychologist and consultant, said in a May 12 press release that he has yet to finalize which seat he would run for, but that he intends to run against Nancy Whitten, who is up for reelection this year. Whitten has yet to announce whether she will seek a third term. “Councilmember Whitten … will need to demonstrate to citizens that she has the energy, commitment and vision to justify a third term in office,” Galvin wrote in the press release. “After two terms, it is a rare person who can continue to be an engaged and energetic council member.” Galvin did not return phone

See VANCE, Page 3

See GALVIN, Page 6

Issaquah schools committee calls for a $229 million bond By Laura Geggel

Though far from complete, the nascent 2012 Issaquah School District bond has something for all of the district’s 24 schools, making the work-in-process price $228.6 million. The proposal includes remodeled or expanded schools for Apollo, Clark, Issaquah Valley

and Sunny Hills elementary schools, Issaquah Middle School, Liberty High School and Tiger Mountain Community High School. The proposed bond also shows several trends — switches from carpet to rubber flooring, three new artificial turf fields and two rain shields for outdoor play areas.

On the Web See the bond proposal online at www.issaquah.wednet.edu and click on “Bond feasibility and development committee.” For one of the larger changes, the bond proposal suggests that the district tear down Tiger

Mountain and Clark and move them to a remodeled Issaquah Middle School. The two schools would be close, but not connected, Associate Superintendent Ron Thiele said, with the Tiger move costing about $3.9 million and the Clark remodel costing about $19.5 million. In the meantime, the district would build a new, two-story

Think Pink

Bird-friendly backyard

Schools page 10

community page 12

Issaquah Middle School on Clark and Tiger’s old footprint, costing about $62.5 million. “This is the biggest project on the bond,” Thiele said. The five steps to a bond Every district bond goes through five steps, beginning

Calendar...........16 Classifieds........18 Community.......12 Editorial.............4 Police................8 Schools............10 Sports..............14

See BOND, Page 2


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