Valley Record SNOQUALMIE
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Sunny days
Solar power finding its way to Snoqualmie homes and beyond By EVAN PAPPAS
SCHOOLS
SPORTS
Staff Writer
Local golfers win medals at Special Olympics events Page 7
Schools welcome students back from summer Page 10
INDEX Calendar 3 4 Opinion 6 Puzzles On the Scanner 11 Classifieds 12-14
Vol. 102, No. 16
Now, more than any other time, might be the best opportunity for Snoqualmie residents to install solar panels on their homes. The city of Snoqualmie is partnering with Northwest Wind and Solar and Northwest SEED (Sustainable Energy for Economic Development) to bring affordable installations of solar energy systems to the community. Multiple incentive programs are currently running, which add up to approximately a 50-percent discount after the first year. Nicole Sanders, Associate Planner for the city of Snoqualmie, said that the limited availability of these incentives are getting people to look into solar more actively than ever before.
Evan Pappas/Staff Photo
Snoqualmie Mayor Matt Larson welcomes participants to the city’s first in a series of “Solarize Snoqualmie” workshops, Aug. 18, to familiarize residents with incentives now available for installing solar panels on their homes or businesses. “I think what’s really bubbling up right now is a sense of urgency because the federal tax credit expires next year, in December of 2016, and so it’s really your last, best chance to get a huge discount on solar,” Sanders said. “So there’s that and the state production incentive, plus no sales tax, plus net meter-
ing and the (Solarize WA) discount which is embedded in the pricing.” The way each incentive has stacked on the other has made this an enticing opportunity for many community members. “Fifty percent at once is a huge deal and it’s an estimated four-anda-half to five-year payback if you
Leadership change
Hospital board selects new president in unexpected vote By CAROL LADWIG Editor
Members of the Snoqualmie Valley Hospital Board of Commissioners were divided on one of the first orders of business when the group met Sept. 3. The issue, approved in a 3-1 vote with one abstention, removed Joan Young from the role of commission president, and replaced her with Dariel Norris, who had been the commission vice-president. Speikers, who moved for both the leadership change and the action immediately before it, to amend the commission’s bylaws to allow
JOAN YOUNG Former Snoqualmie Valley Hospital Commission President
DARIEL NORRIS Current Snoqualmire Valley Hospital Commission President
them to dismiss the president of the commission without cause, explained his actions in a Friday phone call with the Record. First, he said Young was a valued colleague. “Joan is a great commissioner, I’ve known her for a long time. She’s a great person. Unfortunately she’s not as effective in a leadership role as (I) would like,” he said.
use Washington-made components,” Sanders said. “There’s almost no investment that I know of that has that quick of a payoff.” After receiving a grant for this project from the Washington State Department of Commerce, the city SEE SOLAR, 2
Norris, elected to the board in 2013, echoed Speikers’ comments, about needing a transition. “I think we just needed a change to get us through the next couple of months,” she said. She added that she hadn’t been prepared for the changes to happen Sept. 3, and that she appreciated all of Young’s work and dedication on the hospital commission. “I think everyone should appreciate her, and appreciate her efforts for good health care for the Valley,” Norris said. Young, the longest-standing member of the commission, declined to comment on the transition. She cast the only vote in opposition to her dismissal as president. Commissioner Ryan Roberts, appointed to the board in March 2014, abstained from voting. Speikers, Norris and Gene Pollard all voted in favor. The next regular meeting of the hospital commission is 6:30 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 1, at Snoqualmie City Hall. A strategic planning meeting is also being planned for Wednesday, Sept. 30, tenativly scheduled for 1 to 5 p.m. in the hospital conference room.
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