Upper Bear Creek Unincorporated Area Council

Serving 22,000 people in north-central King County
between the Sammamish and Snoqualmie Rivers and
north of Redmond and east of Woodinville.

Upper Bear Creek UAC Meeting Minutes

Date: April 24, 2007

Time: 7:30 – 9:05 PM

Location: Woodinville Water District Offices

Board Attendees: Geoff Clayton, Jerry Hicks, Nancy Stafford. Mary Filkins.

CountyAttendees: T J Davis & Kevin Brown, Parks and Rec. Robert Foxworthy -------- Marissa Alegria

Community Attendees: Maxine Keesling, Pati An, Ron Braun, Kris Bush, Alan Robbs, and Craig Wiley of the YMCA

The meeting opened on time with Geoff Clayton saying Terry Lavender has been named to the Charter Commission. He announced Music in the Park, a six week series that begins June 28 th with the Woodinville Jazz Ensemble at Cottage Lake Park 7:00-8:30 Thursday evenings.

The damage done to the Mary Cash Park and Natural Area by a private party was mentioned.

Geoff gave a figure of 33 thousand sockeye fingerlings passing through Redmond’s Bear Creek Fish Trap in one day!

An obesity pandemic exists in King County. Kevin Brown says access to public recreation programs in King County Parks can be part of the treatment/solution! The County has 200 parks, some as little as ¼ acre to 3,100 acres totaling more than 25,000 acres; much of the land is passive open space with a smaller % of active parks. Parks suffered a severe budget cut in 2002, resulting in 33% fewer full time employees. Currently, 20% of Parks budget comes from entrepreneurial efforts and user fees. Regional open space and regional trails are less expensive to maintain and are the current focus. There will be two Parks levies on the August 21 ballot, one for renewal and the other for expansion. King County expects 280,000more people in 20 years.

T. J. Davis talked about CPG’s Community Partnership Grants. In four years, these CPG’s have produced 20 new facilities with KC spending 7.5 Million for 30 million worth of facilities by:

empowering Community groups to build facilities on KC property.

Craig Wiley spoke about the Odyssey Course at Cottage Lake Park, a partnership with YMCA and King County. There were questions on permitting and liability issues here.

Robert Foxworthy presented the Regional Trails program, 175 miles of trails updated in 2004. The goal is 300 countywide miles of trails linking communities and Rural Lands, by adding 5 miles a year. DDES permits and SEPA long reviews cause delays.

Meeting closed at 9:05. Our thanks to Water Commissioner Geoff Clayton for opening the meeting area for us. Next public forum May 22 on Cold Creek Wetland Enhancement Project and a Draft of the Proposed Shoreline Master Plan.. All interested persons welcome.