Covington/Maple Valley Reporter, March 27, 2015

Page 1

REPORTER

COVINGTON | MAPLE VALLEY | BLACK DIAMOND

NEWSLINE 425-432-1209

GARDENING | Planting in the shade [page 6]

SECOND PLACE | Benjamin Brady won second place at the national orienteering FRIDAY, MARCH 27, 2015 championship in Pennsylvania [9]

WEBSITE | Check the website for breaking news, sports and weather stories.

Rehabilitated bald eagle takes flight

Russell Ridge Center may close doors

A DIVISION OF SOUND PUBLISHING

BY DENNIS BOX Editor

A

rehabilitated female bald eagle flew to freedom March 20 on a section of the Green River west of Flaming Geyser State Park. Dr. Jan White, a veterinarian and founder of South Sound Critter Care, and Lisa Horn, executive director of West Sound Wildlife Shelter, met at Coates Christmas Tree Farm east of Auburn to release the eagle. White said the bird had been injured a few months earlier near the spot she was release back into the wild. The eagle was taken in by South Sound Critter Care and later transferred to West Sound Wildlife Shelter on Bainbridge Island. South Sound Critter Care is located at 28727 216th Ave. SE near Lake Sawyer and south of Covington. The facility is a licensed general wildlife center principally serving King and Pierce counties. It is dedicated to the care, rehabilitation and release of orphaned and injured wildlife. White and Tigger Birch, a licensed veterinarian technician, opened critter care in 2009 and it has consistently grown since. Mammals, reptiles and birds are cared for at the facility. Critter care’s website estimates 4,000 animals are taken in during the course of a year. Much of the work is done by volunteers, and [ more EAGLE page 11 ]

maplevalleyreporter.com or covingtonreporter.com

Tahoma School Board to schedule time for community statements BY REBECCA GOURLEY Reporter

A bald eagle quickly jumps out of the carrier she was transported in and took flight March 20 on the Green River after a period of rehabilitated from an injury by South Sound Critter Care and West Sound Wildlife Shelter. DENNIS BOX, The Reporter

the go-ahead to dig deeper into exactly how much each of these projects will cost so that a more definitive number can be reached. Parks and Recreation Director Greg Brown said he and his staff will immediately start the process to redo the master plan of Summit Park, which will include soliciting input from the public and the A $20 million bond would result in an increase to property taxes of about $182 for school district. The master plan for Summit Park has to the year on a home with an assessed value be reconfigured because in October of last of $385,000 – the average for the city. year, the city sold about 8 acres of the The projects in the commission’s recpark property to the school district ommended bond include $5 million for them to build an additional in improvements to Lake WilderMAPLE parking lot and a bus route for the ness Park, $10 million to develop VALLEY new high school that will be conSummit Park, $5 million for land structed east of Summit Park. acquisition and park development, In addition, vice chair of the comand $1 million for improvements and mission, Dave Sanderson, has indicated on maintenance to the Lake Wilderness Golf Course. That total equals about $21 milseveral occasions his desire to put a dog lion, but some of those numbers are rough park on the lower two acres of the property, estimations, the commission said. or what is referred to as “the handle” or The City Council gave the commission “the peninsula” of the property.

City Council to consider a park bond for 2016 special election BY REBECCA GOURLEY Reporter

The city of Maple Valley is aiming to put a parks and recreation bond measure out to voters on the April 2016 special election ballot. It would be the first voter-approved bond the city has put on a ballot in its 18-year history. A definite bond amount hasn’t been officially set, but the City Council reached consensus Monday that the $20 million mark the Parks and Recreation Commission recommended is a good amount to stay around.

In a letter to parents dated March 13, the Tahoma School District announced it would be closing the Russell Ridge Center at the end of this school year. But numerous parents expressed their concern the district didn’t go through the proper legal channels before making the decision to close the school. According to RCW 28A.335.020, school boards must adopt a policy that allows for public involvement before a decision is made to close a school. After the initial letter was sent to parents, a second one signed by Tahoma School District Superintendent Rob Morrow was sent out on March 19. In it, Morrow stated the school board is going to provide the community with “a minimum of two opportunities” to address the board with their concerns over the center’s possible closure. [ more CLOSe page 5 ]

Something else that will be started immediately is the process for a feasibility study on a potential recreation center. That cost, about $60,000, is already included in this year’s budget and won’t need to be included on the bond. The land acquisition part of the bond could include purchasing approximately 15 acres of the back nine of the former Elk Run Golf Course for a park. Alternatively, Brown said, the owners have indicated they might be interested in providing an easement throughout the property to allow for public use on the already-existing cart paths. This would help fill a gap in park services on the southwest end of town, Brown said. A different funding source the commission talked about was potentially selling one of the city’s six undeveloped park properties to pay for other, more easily developable land within the city, like a portion of Elk Run.


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