REPORTER
COVINGTON | MAPLE VALLEY | BLACK DIAMOND FRIDAY, JULY 24, 2015
A DIVISION OF SOUND PUBLISHING
NEWSLINE 425-432-1209
MAKAILA HEIFNER | Tahoma High students fights to cure Type 1 diabetes [4]
FALCON WINS | Kentlake graduate Katie Habryle’s team wins national softball tournament [9]
WEBSITE | Check the website for breaking news, sports and weather stories. maplevalleyreporter.com or covingtonreporter.com
New chief joins Covington Police Department City Council to put Andrew McCurdy will lead the force following the retirement of Kevin Klason BY SARAH BRENDEN Reporter
T
he Covington Police Department has a new chief heading the force. Andrew McCurdy started July 1 as
the police chief after former chief Kevin Klason retired June 30. McCurdy still works for the King County Sheriff ’s Office but has been assigned as the chief of Covington under a contract between the sheriff ’s office and the city, McCurdy wrote in an email. McCurdy is originally from the San Francisco Bay Area but has been living in the Puget Sound area since 1996. He comes from a family of police. McCurdy said both his father and
mother were police officers in California and his brother is a sergeant with the King County Sheriff ’s Office. His career in law enforcement started in 1991 where he was a community service officer in San Francisco. Five years later, in 1996, McCurdy was hired as a police officer in Washington. He said after two years he was transferred to the King County Sheriff ’s Office and was assigned to the Maple [ more CHIEF page 5 ]
$22 million park bond on April ballot BY REBECCA GOURLEY Reporter
The Maple Valley City Council is aiming to put a $22 million general obligation bond on the April 2016 special election ballot. The money would be used for park projects throughout the city including developing the rest of Summit Park, doing maintenance and repairs at Lake Wilderness Park and golf course and developing a 15-20 acre park on the Legacy site. In March, the council asked the Parks and Recreation Commission to fine tune a list of priority projects and their associated costs to later put into a bond proposal. At the July 13 meeting, the commission and council met MAPLE to discuss the projects and the VALLEY bond proposal and terms.
LAKE WILDERNESS PARK A master plan of the park was created in 2007. The plan was cut into 10 phases. Some of the items on the list of projects that would be funded by the April bond, if it passes, would be reconfiguring the entrance to the lodge and arboretum, establishing a more permanent storage facility for Parks and Recreation staff and constructing additional parking in the park.
LAKE WILDERNESS GOLF COURSE
Face Full Of Watermelon
Morgan Martinsons, 9, chows down on a slab of watermelon during the watermelon-eating contest at Covington Days Saturday. The two-day festival featured a wide array of activities for all ages. More photos on page 8. DENNIS BOX, The Reporter
Maple Valley approves ILA with school district BY REBECCA GOURLEY Reporter
At the July 13 meeting, the Maple Valley City Council unanimously voted to approve an interlocal agreement between the city and the Tahoma School District. The ILA encompasses all city and district facilities, from sports fields to meeting rooms. The agreement has been in negotiations between city and district officials since October 2014 when the city approved the sale of about 8 acres of the Summit Park property to the district for additional parking. There was no exchange of money for that property transfer, only an understanding that an ILA
The club house, which was originally built several decades ago, according to Greg Brown, Parks and Recreation director for the city, is in need of a few repairs including a potential new roof. Included in the bond project would be paving the remaining unpaved cart paths, which are riddled with pot holes, said Brown. In total, the repairs and maintenance costs associated with the club house would be about $1.4 million. Brown told the council July 13 the projects listed can be considered à la carte, [ more BOND page 6 ]
would be worked out and the city would be allowed access to the new road off of state Route 169 and the new parking stalls. The City Council is also discussing the future of the remaining acreage on the city’s land on Summit Park. That story can be found to the right of this one. If the city builds a new park on the remaining acreage, the district would be granted use of those facilities. In addition, the city will be granted access to use all of the new district facilities it is building along with the new high school. In the agreement it states the district and city will meet to develop a master schedule of all facilities. Priority of use for facilities will go to the entity that owns the facility. The agreement has a two-year term on it. Meaning, after two years the terms of the agreement can be renegotiated if desired. In two years, the new high school will be built and potentially Summit Park (pending a bond approval by the residents of Maple Valley).
The Parks and Recreation Department currently relies on these storage buildings for their equipment. Courtesy Photo