Upper Bear Creek UAC Meeting Minutes

Date: September 25, 2001
Time: 7:33 - 9:33 PM
Location: Woodinville Water District
Board Attendees: Geoff Clayton, Nancy Stafford, Mary Filkins, and Peter Lamanna
King County Attendees: Marissa Algeria, Woodinville Water District Commissioner Gail Harrell
Community Attendees: Gwen Maxwell, Connie Hensley, Isah Webb, Kay Tangenberg, Greg Stephens, Little Bear Creek Protective Society President

Nancy began the meeting by welcoming new comers who included Greg Stephens, President of the Little Bear Creek Protective Society and Corinne, BrightWater Siting Advisory Board member. She then went on to present recently received literature and make announcements:

· Water Tenders newsletter
· LDS Church expansion
· Cold Creek Restoration Project

Nancy then summarized where we were at in the BrightWater selection process and handed out a press release from Ron Sims. The previous list of seven sites had been narrowed down to two; Unocal and Route 9. Michael Popiwny, the BrightWater Project Director was then introduced.

Michael Popiwny presented:

· The service and siting areas
· Background on the project
o Project began in November 1999 when the council approved it.
o There were originally 95 sites based upon the adopted siting criteria.
o In March of this year, seven sites were announced but the council only approved six. The Woodinville site was dropped because of its designation as an affordable housing site.
o Site visits have been made, landowners met, public feedback gathered over the summer, and technical reviews performed. Two weeks ago the King County and Snohomish County executives recommended Edmonds Unocal and Route 9 sites. The Kenmore Gun Range was dropped because of the siting criteria requirement that no law enforcement usage be displaced. Thrashers Corner was eliminated due to the amount of wetlands on the property.
· Edmonds Unocal Site
o Is a suitable site for relocating the Washington State Ferry Terminal and a possible bus terminal.
o The City of Edmonds is opposing this site. They have passed a resolution against it.
o It is believed that there may be Indian artifacts on the property. An investigation is being conducted.
o Nancy asked about the outfall at this site. Michael presented a map and explained that there were two options; deep tunnel and surface pipe.
· Public Meetings on the two remaining sites will be held on October 9th, 10th, and 15th.
· Ocean sites are also being studied for the best area to mix and disperse outfall. Water depth and tide patterns are critical parameters in the study.
· Questions:
o Geoff asked about discharge into lakes and rivers. Treatment for tertiary (micro filtered) water to introduce into the water supply, stream augmentation, would require that water temperature be reduced to 50 degrees Fahrenheit thereby imposing an additional energy expense to accomplish this.
o Gail Harold asked if an archeological site had been found at Edmonds. She also recommended that the Snoqualmie Tribe be invited to sit on the BrightWater Siting Advisory Board. The Tulalip and Snoqualmish tribes are already involved.
o Gwen asked about the cost of water re-use with the Unocal site versus the Route 9 site. There is about a 30 million dollar difference.
· Route 9 Site
o Currently is home to auto wrecking companies, Campells Soup, and office space zoning.
o Offers good transportation possibilities with the railroad and 522 in close proximity.
o It presents the opportunity to enhance Little Bear Creek corridor.
o The location will require environmental cleanup.
o There was discussion about this site being too close to the rural area thereby bringing pressure on the surrounding area to be urbanized. President of Little Bear Creek Protective Society, Greg Stephens, felt that the best way to preserve the area was to purchase it. His neighbors are very concerned about odor control. He had concerns over the government delivering on the mitigation.
· Funding
o New housing will pay a hookup charge through their local water districts to King County.
o Current rate payers will bear a smaller cost i.e. monthly rate increase of about 18 cents.
o A minimum of 10 percent of project cost is designated for mitigation of whatever is appropriate.
· Michael defined mitigation as compensation for unacceptable things or actions.
· Phase 3 will conclude at the end of 2002 or beginning of 2003.
o A single site will be selected.
o Site development guidelines will be established.
o A new advisory board, local to the selected site, will be established.
· The siting advisory board has suggested adding back two sites; Point Wells and Gravel Quarry. There is concern that should one or both of the current sites fail EIS or have some other problem that would eliminate it as a possibility then we would be back where we started in the process with no candidate sites.
· The final site is scheduled to go online in 2010 and expanded in 2040.

Geoff reiterated concern over the pressure that the site will put on the rural area.

Nancy concluded the meeting by saying that the best thing to do for this project was to for us to get involved. Michael could be emailed at popiwny@metrokc.gov.

Next meeting will be at the Norm's House on Cottage Lake on October 9, 2