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Mitchell brothers made lasting impact on Wildcats football, Page 7
Your locally owned newspaper, serving North Bend and Snoqualmie, Washington November 27, 2015
Snoqualmie weighs options for business park development By Dylan Chaffin dchaffin@snovalleystar.com
By Dylan Chaffin
Crew members ready the camera for the next shot of lead actress Samara Lerman, who will play protagonist Lily in “End of the Line,” filmed at the Snoqualmie Depot on Nov. 18. By Dylan Chaffin
Samara Lerman has makeup rubbed onto her hands for the next sequence of the film.
The City of Snoqualmie gathered public testimony regarding the proposed development agreement of a new grocer and potential retail space to be built in Snoqualmie Ridge at the City Council’s Nov. 23 meeting. The proposed development would sit on a 7.4-acre lot zoned as mixed use that is currently vacant, east of Snoqualmie Parkway and North of Douglas Avenue Southeast. The agreement aims to ensure the development of a full-service grocery store, with a minimum of 30,000 square feet and a maximum of 55,000 square feet, according to council documents.
The estimated floor space is the total amount of space prior to issuance of certificates of occupation for any non-grocery retail. Snoqualmie-based company EDG Development LLC submitted the proposal alongside Puget Western Inc. last summer. With the new grocery store and retail space, Snoqualmie could ease retail leakage, or money spent in the neighboring towns of North Bend and Issaquah, and establish a more stable tax base — in an effort to wean the city off of the revenue solely generated by new construction, said developer Tom Erlandson. A lot of money is being lost in all avenues of retail to See RETAIL, Page 2
North Bend will not raise property taxes
Crew chooses Snoqualmie Depot for historical short film By Dylan Chaffin dchaffin@snovalleystar.com Standing amid the giant metal engines, it’s easy to see why Seattle film director Gabriel Gonda chose the Snoqualmie Depot as a backdrop for his new short film. “I’ve always loved trains,” Gonda, 35, said. The film, “End of the Line” — a working title — will be set in the time period of World
War I, he said. “It’s a historical film telling the forgotten story of a woman railroad worker during the war,” he added. Seattle actress Samara Lerman will play the protagonist, Lily. Gonda and Lerman had worked together on previous projects, but the film is the first time they’ve worked as actor and director, Lerman said. They share a similar passion
for the locomotives, and both knew they wanted to tell a story central to life working on the railroads. The answer was closer to home than they thought. While gathering research, Lerman came across an article published by former print newspaper the Seattle Post Intelligencer — a front page spread with a photo of a See FILM, Page 3
By Dylan Chaffin dchaffin@snovalleystar.com Taxpayers in North Bend will see a decrease in their property taxes next year, as per a decision made by the City Council at its Nov. 17 meeting. However, property tax revenue will rise, according to council members, because of projected growth. The tax levy was set forth as the first option of three presented to the council. The council voted to approve a zero present increase on the city’s 2015 levy of $1,470,306. The 2015-2016 adopted biennial budget includes $1,535,255 for the 2016 property tax levy. While the
levy amount assumed a zero percent increase, new construction and assessed valuation growth was slightly lower than projected, according to council documents. The impact on a homeowner with a $400,000 home will decrease from the current $1.44 levy rate to $1.40 under the decision. Homeowners See TAXES, Page 2 Prsrt Std U.S. Postage PAID Kent, WA Permit No. 71 POSTAL CUSTOMER