SEE INSIDE: Pie lovers help send Enumclaw local to college | Page 3 . . . . Bonney Lake prepares Kelley Creek Vista annexation | Page 8 . . . White River, Bonney Lake, Enumclaw and Sumner football previews | Page 11
Wednesday, August 31, 2016 | 75 cents
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Coming up... • The Panthers, Spartans and both Hornets are
gearing up for their annual rivalry games. The Sunset Bowl is at 7 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 2 at the Sunset Chevy stadium, and the Battle of the Bridge is the same night at the Enumclaw Expo Center. Read more on pages 11 - 14. • Tunes @ Tapps is wrapping up on Aug. 31 with The Great Pretenders, who will be taking the stage from 6:30 to 8 p.m. at Allan Yorke Park. The boat launch will be closed all day.
Weather Rain is the word of the week, with Wednesday expecting showers in the morning and at night, with highs around 68 and lows around 53. Thursday and Friday see much of the same with highs in the high 60s and lows in the low 50s. Saturday and Sunday call for clouds and maybe some rain with highs in the high 60s and lows in the low 50s.
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Bonney Lake council votes down impact fee program
Ropin’ and wrestlin’
By Kevin Hanson
Decision could put city at odds with developers, state
Senior Writer
SEE WARRIOR, PAGE 9
By Ray Still Assistant Editor
Scotti Erickson, top, from Portland, Ore. compete in the breakaway roping event Saturday during the Enumclaw Pro Rodeo at the Expo Center. Left, Orting resident Kevin Lusk rides bareback. Top right, Jason Minor from Ellensburg ties up his calf in 9 seconds. Bottom right, Jimmy and Trevor Williams from Enumclaw work together to rope a calf.
The Bonney Lake City Council has voted down an impact fee deferral program that was mandated by the state for the city to enact. The ordinance for the deferral program, Ordinance D16-28, was originally on the council’s Aug. 23 consent agenda, but was pulled off by Councilman Dan Swatman to be discussed later in the meeting. “I do have a question about this,” Swatman said when the ordinance came back up for discussion. “I believe that this particular piece of legislation written by the state Legislature that requires cities to do an action… is unconstitutional under the Washington Sate Constitution.” In April 2015, the state legislature
Photos by Ray Still
SEE IMPACT FEES, PAGE 8
Enumclaw updates economic plan, sets goals through 2021 By Kevin Hanson Senior Writer
Embracing a handful of success stories while amending certain tactics and eliminating others, the city of Enumclaw has revised its roadmap for economic prosperity. The city – like all entities, big and small – recognizes the role economic development plays in maintaining a community’s quality of life. With that in mind, a strategic plan is always on the table that guides decisions related to creating
FALL SPORTS Featuring Plateau Area High Schools
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Local VFW a stop for Warrior Hikers A quartet of Warrior Hikers will be hosted by local veterans Thursday night, adding another special moment to their Pacific Coast Trail trek. A 2,600-mile expedition, all on foot, is undertaken each year by military veterans seeking spiritual healing of their wartime wounds. The journey begins at the Mexico border and has hikers traveling north until reaching their goal in Canada. This year’s participants – Joseph Jamison of Colorado, Dan Janes of Iowa, Ruben Munoz of Florida and Jimmy Sellers
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jobs and helping businesses succeed in a still-rural environment. It was 2012 when an Economic Development Task Force was first conceived. A group of local business owners and industry representatives spent two years coming up with a vision for the city, a document that received City Council blessing. The formal Strategic Plan for Economic Development was never intended to be a one-time, onesize-fits-all guidebook. Rather, it was billed as “living document”
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that should be amended yearly as situations, circumstances and opportunities evolve. While things were discussed in 2015, changes didn’t come until this year. As part of the once-adecade amendment to the city’s comprehensive plan, the Strategic Plan received an official update. Those changes were adopted by the City Council earlier this month. Among the success of the past two years, a council memo noted the establishment of a “buy local” campaign, amendments to the
city’s commercial and industrial zoning code and a deferral program aimed at benefiting those who would develop housing for senior citizens. Additionally, the council formed a new Food, Beverage and Agriculture Committee. A key element deleted from the economic strategy was the longsuffering Welcome Center. Plans for a multi-use facility dragged for more than a decade and progressed as far as the design phase before
SEE GOALS, PAGE 10
KICKOFF See Pp. 11-15