Snoqualmie Valley Record, June 15, 2016

Page 1

VALLEY RECORD SNOQUALMIE

SCHOOLS

FESTIVAL

102 S YEAR

Rain or shine, Fall City Day 2016 was a crowd-pleaser Pages 2-3

Valley high schools award diplomas to Classes of 2016 Pages 12-13

INDEX OPINION PUZZLES BLOTTER CLASSIFIEDS CALENDAR

5 7 8 17-19 23

Vol. 103, No. 3

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 15, 2016  DAILY UPDATES AT WWW.VALLEYRECORD.COM  75 CENTS

School District breaks ground twice in one day By EVAN PAPPAS Staff Reporter

The Snoqualmie Valley School District held two ground-breakings on Wednesday, June 8, one for a new gymnasium at Snoqualmie Elementary School, the other for the complete renovation of Mount Si High School. The events started at 1 p.m. behind Snoqualmie Elementary School where students, teachers, parents, and district staff and board members gathered for the launch of the new gym project. S cho ol District Superintendent Joel Aune spoke about the work done to prepare for the new gymnasium including design by architect David Huffman of Richart and Associates. Board members and students together used the district’s traditional shovel, which has been used at many district groundbreakings including the

Evan Pappas/Staff Photo

Geoff Doy, president of the Snoqualmie Valley School Board, uses a jack hammer to break the ground at Mount Si High School Wednesday, June 8, on a multi-year remodel and rebuild of the facility. event held for the new Timber Ridge Elementary in 2015, to move some earth and start the project.

Mount Si’s groundbreaking, held at 3 p.m. the same day, featured many of the same faces

including Aune and the school board. Aune, speaking to an audience of student, and community

Preston forest land transferred to King County A land transaction approved June 7 by the Board of Natural Resources will protect a 35-acre parcel of forestland in King County from development and put more than $500,000 toward public school projects. The board authorized the Washington State Department of Natural Resources (DNR) to transfer the parcel of state-owned forest, held in the Common School Trust, to King County to manage as a park, a wildlife habitat area, or as open space.

Courtesy Photo

The location of the land transferred to King County’s management as open space. The county also won’t be able to sell the land, based on the transfer agreement. The property, located north of Interstate-90 near Preston Ridge Park, had steep terrain and

members including Mayor Matt Larson, recognized SEE DEVELOPMENT, 4

the DNR did not have legal access to it. Timber on most Common School Trust lands is harvested and sold to benefit schools. The timber on this property was valued at $566,000 and the land itself was valued at $260,000. Washington’s Trust Land Transfer program funded the transaction, essentially paying the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction $566,000 for the value of the timber and paying the DNR $260,000 for the land value. The DNR will use the funds to purchase new property for the school trust. King County received the land at no cost, and so can’t harvest any timber from it, but must instead maintain the property as it is. “It’s a good day for Washington school children who need more classroom space and it’s a great day for those of us committed to preserving green, open spaces along the busy I-90 SEE FOREST, 11

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