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FRIDAY, FEB. 22, 2013
Where have the birds gone? Since the installation of smart water meters last month, the birds have disappeared from the Rolling Hills neighborhood
Library debate heats up again as plans emerge By TRACEY COMPTON
By Brian Beckley
tcompton@rentonreporter.com
bbeckley@rentonreporter.com
Paul Ouellette has lived in the Rolling Hills neighborhood for decades and since his retirement he has spent a lot of time in his backyard, which contains several bird feeders. “Normally you walk Normally at this into a neighborhood time of year, his and hear birds. Here backyard is filled there’s nothing. And with birds; finches, this time of year it chickadees and should be getting even hummingnoisier.” Bruce Chase, birds. Rolling Hills “It’s very nice to see them flying around the yard all the time,” he said. But this year is different. This year an eerie silence has settled over Ouellette’s yard - and his entire neighborhood. “The birds are gone,” he said this past week. “Our feeders are still full.” Ouellette said some people tell him it’s the hawks or that this winter has been foggy and that’s thrown off the birds. But Ouellette, a retired civil engineer, isn’t buying it. He’s seen winters like this before and there have been birds.
four times a day to help monitor water usage without having to send workers to check individual meters. By mid-January, the entire Rolling Hills North neighborhood had been equipped with the new meters.
The debate got heated again during discussions on the Cedar River library renovations at an open house meeting Tuesday night. Audience members interjected and expressed frustration as City of Renton officials tried to explain information collected for the pre-application process for land use and environmental permits for the library over the Cedar River. Many said they felt slighted by what the city was presenting and questioned whether the public’s input was truly being considered. Chip Vincent and Peter Renner updated the medium-sized crowd in City Council chambers on the latest developments on the downtown Renton library and the Highlands library that’s part of the Sunset Boulevard redevelopment project. Vincent is the city’s community and economic development director and Renner is the facilities director. The majority of the meeting was focused on the public’s concern for the downtown library over the Cedar River. Frustrations are tied to a conceptual floor plan the city released in which the footprint of the building is smaller and the main entry has been
[ more Birds page 8 ]
[ more library page 10 ]
Paul Ouellette has been feeding birds in the Rolling Hills neighborhood for several years and said since the city has installed smart water meters, he has not had to buy bird feed for the multiple feeders in his backyard. Brian Beckley, Renton Reporter “If you feed the birds, you know when they’re (usually around),” he said. But there is a difference in the neighborhood this winter. Beginning in mid-December, the city began installing new smart-water meters on homes all throughout Rolling Hills. The meters send information to the city
SPEEA splits contract vote SPEEA member Dennis Davaz separates union ballots for processing Tuesday at SPEEA headquarters in Tukwila. Brian Beckley, Renton Reporter
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The union representing Boeing’s professional and technical workers was handed in a split decision on the company’s most recent contract offer. The engineers have accepted the contract while the technical workers rejected the offer. In addition, the technical workers gave the bargaining unit the authorization to strike if they
felt necessary. According to SPEEA, the numbers shook out like this: The Professional Unit representing engineers accepted the contract 6,483 to 5,514, but also authorized a strike 6,727 to 5,249, just in case. “They have locked in a contract that provides 5 percent raise pools for its duration and no increases in medical,” said SPEEA spokesperson Bill Dugovich.
The Technical Unit representing technical workers voted to reject the contract by a margin of 3,203 to 2,868 and authorized a strike 3,903 to 2,165. With rejection of Boeing’s contract offer by members of the Technical Bargaining Unit, the union notified the federal mediator Wednesday to schedule the resumption of negotiations, according to a Wednesday press release from SPEEA, The Society of [ more SPEEA page 8
206-949-1696 info@marciemaxwell.com 721674
By Brian Beckley bbeckley@rentonreporter.com