Emily Keller-O'Donnell, Journalist

Climbers Raise Money for Breast Cancer Research

    To prepare for her second climb up Mount Rainier, Melinda Gage carried her 17-month old son, Marko Gage-Fugate, up Tiger Mountain in Issaquah.

    “Really the best thing is to put weight in a pack and head uphill,” the Sammamish resident said. Gage was in training for the annual Climb to Fight Breast Cancer, which requires participants to carry backpacks weighing 30-40 pounds. The packs held climbers’ food and water, boot spikes called crampons, ice axes, sleeping bags and down jackets for the summit.

    Published in the Sammamish Review. Read the story.

Freed House to be Cut, Reassembled

    The city will slice an old pioneer farmhouse from the 1890s in half in order to preserve it. The City Council will pay BOLA Architecture and Planning up to $25,000 to cut the city-owned Freed House in half and then move and re-connect it. The company will also build the foundation for the house.

    The council voted to sign a contract with the company at a July 21 meeting. The money will come from a $238,600 fund that was set aside in the 2007-2008 budget for the house’s relocation.

    Published in the Sammamish Review. Read the story.

Parks Bond on Ballot

  

  When Sammamish homeowners head to the polls this fall, they will also have the chance vote their financial support for parks and recreation facilities.

    The Sammamish City Council will place two parks measures on the Nov. 4 ballot. The first asks homeowners to pay 14 cents per $1,000 of assessed valuation per year for capital construction.

    The bond would raise about $19 million. The construction fee would last 20 years and cost the owner of an average Sammamish home about $84 per year. The bond also includes $3 million for the first phase of Sammamish Landing (pictured.)

    Published in the Sammamish Review. Read the story.

    Read the background story.

Board Approves Sewer Rate Hike

    More than 50,000 people in parts of Sammamish, Issaquah and unincorporated King County will soon pay more for water and sewer service.

    The Sammamish Plateau Water and Sewer District, which is one of two sewer authorities serving the city, has raised its service rates by 9 percent and increased its connection fees for new users. Four percent of the increase is attributed to inflation and 5 percent is for long-term capital reinvestment, according to the district. The rate hike takes effect in the next billing cycle, beginning with Sept. 22 bills. The district bills customers in eight time cycles and each bill covers the two months leading up to the billing date.

    Published in the Sammamish Review. Read the story.

Planning Begins for Waterfront Park in Sammamish

    City park planners are beginning planning work for Sammamish Landing, a strip of land that could become the city’s first public waterfront on Lake Sammamish.“For those who aren’t on water already this is their little piece of water,” said Mayor Lee Fellinge.

    Planners are working on the first steps of developing the park. They are also conducting a traffic analysis and a cultural assessment of the area, which may be historically linked to the Muckleshoot or other Native Americans, as well as to railway activity.

    Published in the Sammamish Review. Read the story.

Habitat for Humanity Has its Eye on Sammamish

  

  Governing a city with a median income that is more than double that of Washington State has its downside; creating affordable housing so people who work in Sammamish can live here too is a difficult challenge. But living in Sammamish could get a little easier with the development of Town Center, a 243-acre project that is in the planning stages. A City Council mandate means there could be as many as 200 affordable units in Town Center. They will also offer incentives that may double that number.

    One of the city’s potential partners in that effort is Habitat for Humanity, an international non-profit organization with a chapter serving East King County.

    Tom Granger (pictured), executive director for the Eastside chapter, spoke to the Sammamish Chamber of Commerce July 17 about the importance of building housing units for people with low-incomes in Sammamish.

    Published in the Sammamish Review. Read the story.

    Read a related story.

Council Cautious on Park Bond

 

   The Sammamish Parks and Recreation Department is proposing to fund parks improvements with a property tax increase.

    The department wants to place two measures on the Nov. 4 ballot asking voters to help pay for park projects including an all-ages recreation facility that city officials have discussed for years.

    If at least 60 percent of voters favor the measures, East Sammamish Park would get a new spray park, playground upgrades, a parking lot expansion and a new trail to nearby Margaret Mead Elementary School. Nanny Ana Melayes (pictured at the park) favors the measure.

    Published in the Sammamish Review. Read the story.

Fire Marshal Calls Three Recent Blazes Suspicious

    Sammamish has been the site of three suspicious fires in recent weeks. Two of the fires took place on the 20500 block of Northeast 29th Street and the third was in a dumpster behind Quality Food Centers at 2902 228th Avenue Southeast.

    Fire Marshal Tim Pilling of Eastside Fire and Rescue said there is no evidence linking the blazes, which were all extinguished quickly and caused minimal damage. He said they may have been the result of mischief that sometimes accompanies the Fourth of July holiday, or improperly discarded cigarettes. There are no indications that the fires were intentionally set.

    Published in the Sammamish Review. Read the story.

City Council Gives Itself Dental, Vision Benefits

    The Sammamish City Council voted unanimously to offer themselves vision and dental coverage at their July 1 meeting. The coverage could begin in August or September if enough council members elect to purchase it, said Director of Finance Lyman Howard.

    Council members will have the option of buying dental coverage from the Washington Dental Service at a cost of $57 per month as an individual, or $198.90 per month for an individual and two dependents. The vision plan costs $17.82 per month and covers the whole family.

    Published in the Sammamish Review. Read the story.

Council Asks Fire Department to Cut Costs

    The Sammamish City Council will ask Eastside Fire and Rescue to limit the growth of its 2009 budget by no more than five percent over its 2008 budget of $17.1 million, council members said July 1.

    “We should ask them to take a look at if there’s a way they can cut back in areas that are not salaries and benefits,” said City Manager Ben Yazici. “We’re in challenging times and we need to look at ways to streamline our budget.”

    Published in the Sammamish Review. Read the story.