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Mount Si scores key victory at Skyline Page 7
Your locally owned newspaper, serving North Bend and Snoqualmie, Washington October 9, 2015
Mayor defends Snoqualmie Falls-area development By Dylan Chaffin dchaffin@snovalleystar.com Snoqualmie Tribe members made their voices heard in a letter to Snoqualmie Mayor Matt Larson on Sept. 29, rebuking him for comments made to the media about the construction of the Tokul roundabout. “Your opinions of our decades-long effort to protect the Snoqualmie Falls and the land nearby are hurtful and detrimental to a respectful and effective government-to-government relationship,” the letter read. “Your actions call our relationship into question.” The letter addressed Larson’s comments in an interview with KING-TV in early September that said he was “surprised by
our opposition to the controversial roundabout project, adding that you had ‘never heard,’ in years of deliberations, that the area surrounding Snoqualmie Falls are sacred to us as burial grounds,” it read. Larson said the same thing to SnoValley Star when interviewed for a recent story. The Tribe has stayed quiet as to where these sacred sites are located, Larson said, but no artifacts, beside the isolated arrowhead found earlier last summer seem to suggest that the roundabout is being built on any tribal settlement. Tribal Councilwoman Lois Sweet Dorman held firm in the accusation that the city is still pursuing development that she says the Tribe feels
is irresponsible. “We are the Snoqualmie, this is the Snoqualmie Falls, the Snoqualmie Valley, Snoqualmie National Forest, Snoqualmie Pass. And when you do something of this magnitude, it is deeply hurtful to our people,” she said. She noted that the Falls are registered as a traditional cultural property on the national registry, and the city “can’t ignore that.” Larson disagreed with the accusations, saying he found the letter disappointing. “It’s devolving into a middleschool taunt and brawl,” he said of the back-and-forth between the city and the tribe. “It’s unhelpful and unproductive,” he added.
The iconic Snoqualmie Falls has long since been a major consideration to development in the city, he said. In 2001, a collaboration between King County, the city of Snoqualmie, the Weyerhaeuser Real Estate Co. and the Cascade Land Conservancy completed negotiations to permanently protect 145 acres of land directly adjacent to the Snoqualmie Falls, Larson said. The concern was born over the development of land called Falls Crossing, which would have included 300-500 homes being built on the south side of Snoqualmie Parkway and a retail area that would have spilled over to where the Snoqualmie fire station is located.
At the city’s urging, Weyerhaeuser agreed to pay $3 million to protect those lands, Larson said. Larson also said without the deal, continued construction of Snoqualmie Ridge would have potentially grown over Interstate 90 and down the state Route 18 corridor toward the Raging River, which the city also protected from development. The city has also taken special care in building “neo-traditional” neighborhoods, Larson said. The city planned tree-lined boulevards, pushed the sidewalks further off the streets and maintained trails, parks and wetlands. “All of this has proven that we’ve been thoughtful in planSee DISPUTE, Page 3
Warm weather, low water wreak havoc on salmon By Sam Kenyon skenyon@snovalleystar.com
City of Snoqualmie
Snoqualmie Mayor Matthew Larson and large group of children kickstarts the grand opening of Fisher Creek Park Oct. 2 celebration with a ribbon cutting.
Fisher Creek Park opens in Snoqualmie Fisher Creek Park opened Oct. 2. In response to community feedback, the Snoqualmie Parks Board asked local Girl Scouts, ages 8-12, to choose park amenities they would most like to have. The result is eight slides, a rock climbing
wall, a merry-go-round, spider ball, BMX Park and dueling 100-foot-long zip lines for family races. “We want families to have a gathering place where they can spend time together, where the kids of all ages will be entertained and challenged,” Parks
and Public Works Director Daniel J. Marcinko said in a news release about the park, which is park number 38 in Snoqualmie. “That’s why we asked the Girl Scouts for their input when we built this beautiful park. It’s all about the kids and community involvement.”
The grand opening included giveaways, music with a DJ, hotdogs grilled by the Snoqualmie police and fire chiefs, climbing on the fire engine and a ribbon cutting with Mayor Matt Larson. The park is at 7805 Fisher Ave. S.E.
The exceptional summer heat hit the Snoqualmie River at a time when water flow was the lowest on record. The heat and low water levels combined to create a very challenging environment for the native salmon population. “I truly mean the lowest lows ever recorded, and recording has been happening for many decades in that river system,” Snoqualmie Watershed Coordinator Janne Kaje said about the historically low water flow. Over the summer, the water flow was extremely low. However, recent rain has helped spike the water flow to near normal levels again, although the See SALMON, Page 3 Prsrt Std U.S. Postage PAID Kent, WA Permit No. 71 POSTAL CUSTOMER