HISTORY PRESERVED Land Trust finalizes important purchase. Page 5
NEWS | First set of election debates set for Thursday. [4] COMMENTARY | Island works to end domestic violence. [6] ARTS | Welcome fall with First [13] Friday festivities.
AIMING FOR LAUGHS Drama Dock presents classic comedy. Page 14
BEACHCOMBER VASHON-MAURY ISLAND
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 30, 2015 Vol. 60, No. 39 www.vashonbeachcomber.com
Final review set for VES Fields By SUSAN RIEMER Staff Writer
Five years after the park district broke ground at the VES Fields, the agency is poised to meet a major milestone there this week, when a county official conducts a final review of the project. The fields have drawn controversy in recent years, providing much-needed field space, but costing considerably more than the district had planned for and taking far longer to complete than expected. The fields have been open for play since 2013, but much of the necessary work was finished only in recent weeks. On Thursday, Mike Meins, with the King County Department of Permitting and Environmental Review, will evaluate the recent work at the completed fields, which a countyissued clearing and grading permit required to be finished this month. Vashon Park District Executive Director Elaine Ott said Meins has been to the fields during this latest period
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Fire chief: Financial ‘jigsaw puzzle’ awaits new comissioner
Two women running for open board position By ANNELI FOGT Editor
Jim Westcott Photo
The VES Fields were filled with activity on Sunday, when several Vashon Island Soccer Club teams held games there, including these U10 teams, the Yellow Jackets and the Green Lemurs. of construction, and she believes any final requests will be minor. Although some work remains for the near future, including removing a large pile of dirt and planting thousands of plants in the rain garden, the work — for now — is complete, and Ott, who
joined the district mid-way through the project, said she is pleased. “I think it has turned out to be just beautiful. I am proud of that facility,” she said. “There was a need, and this goes a long way toward meeting that need.” The park district broke
ground on the fields project in 2010 and planned for a grand opening in the summer of 2011. The renovated complex was slated to include new sand-based fields, as well as lights for at least one of the fields, SEE FIELDS, 22
Two women are vying for a spot on the five-person Vashon Island Fire & Rescue board of commissioners, and VIFR Fire Chief Hank Lipe said Thursday that the new commissioner will face a “jigsaw puzzle” of finances upon election. The department is in the midst of a longer-thanexpected transition to a new paramedic program that would make the department’s paramedics part of the larger South King County system. VIFR board commissioner Rex Stratton, who is moving and leaving his position on the board open, said Thursday that the transition is taking so long because of the negotiations between the county and
firefighters’ unions. When completed, the transition is expected to take some of the strain off the department’s overworked budget, especially in overtime costs. However, the plan has been controversial within the department because of worries that it would leave the island with insufficient emergency medical service (EMS) and fire coverage. Lipe said that currently only two paramedics and two EMTs work a shift on any given day. Because of Vashon’s location, patients sometimes need to be transported off the island and when that happens, one paramedic and one EMT can be off the island for two to three hours. The setup is an exception to King County’s regulations that two paramedics must always transport patients. While the one paramedic is gone, another paramedic SEE FIRE BOARD, 23
School board bringing bond options to public ahead of ballot By ANNELI FOGT Editor
A more than $32 million plan to renovate Vashon High School’s gym, track, tennis courts, Building K and service buildings will be presented to the public beginning next week after a recent decision by the school board. The decision came at a special Tuesday meeting almost exactly one month after the board asked architects to come up with a $25 million proposal for the projects, dubbed Phase 2 in the plan to upgrade
and redesign the island’s schools, with special focus on the high school. The board has yet to vote on any of the improvements, and the Tuesday meeting was called so the board could decide how many of the projects would be presented to the public for consideration to be put on the ballot. In the end, the board decided to go ahead and present all the options, topping out at $32,062,000. Board member Bob Hennessey voiced his concern briefly at the Tuesday meeting about the procedural way that the board
Courtesy Photo
A $17 million proposal to renovate the VHS gym is one of five options being presented to the public for consideration on the bond ballot. went about their decision to jump from a $25 million project cap to $32 mil-
lion, citing that he wanted to make sure correct methods were followed. He did
say that he agreed with the board’s decision to bring everything to the voters
and let them decide. “We are not deciding what we build. We’re deciding what the community wants to vote for,” Hennessey said last week. “My takeaway is that the board has done all the work to date in a bubble. We’ve heard from the user groups; now we have to hear from those footing the bill, which is everyone. We need to invite them to participate.” Board chair Laura Wishik said the board has made clear that its main concerns are more gym SEE BONDS, 19