Sammamish certified as a community wildlife habitat
March 27, 2011
New: March 27, 1:24 p.m.
Sammamish has become one of a handful of communities nationally recognized as being ideal habitat for wildlife.
The Community Wildlife Habitat certification came after a two-year effort by Sammamish residents Hank Klein, Pauline Cantor, Dawn Sanders, Jan Bird, Stan Wood, Katja May and Elaine McEnery. The certification, given by the National Wildlife Federation, recognizes efforts by the city and private residents to preserve the area’s natural habitat. Read more
Lake Washington School District equipment is for sale April 16
March 26, 2011
New: March 26, 2:17 p.m.
The Lake Washington School District will be holding an equipment surplus sale April 16.
The Surplus Material and Equipment Sale will offer various electronics, appliances and school equipment to the public from 8 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. at the district’s warehouse annex, 15130 N.E. 95th St. in Redmond, according to a district press release.
The School Board declared the items surplus at its Feb. 28 meeting. The items for sale are either damaged or dated, or in some cases they are unusable or cannot be supported by district staff. Much of the surplus includes furniture replaced during ongoing modernizations and computers replaced due to regular scheduled upgrades. Read more
Leaky pipe costs city almost $25,000
March 25, 2011
New: March 25, 1:30 p.m.
Unexpected settling underneath underground storm drainage pipes will cost the city up to $25,000 to fix.
The storm pipes, which runs under a road in the Crossings at Pine Lake neighborhood, recently failed, causing the nearby earth to erode, leaving a void underneath asphalt in the neighborhood, City Manager Ben Yazici said.
Yazici briefed the City Council on the incident at their March 21 meeting, explaining that he had authorized the work to be done without council approval because it was potentially dangerous for residents who were driving over the failed pipes. Public Works Director Laura Philpot said the lack of support for the roadway above could have led to a passing car falling into a sinkhole.
The pipes have been replaced and crews will soon repave the area, Yazici said.
Sammamish to re-pave neighborhood, again
March 24, 2011
New: March 24, 1:55 p.m.
Sammamish will “fix its mistake” by repaving a Sammamish neighborhood for a second time, despite the protestations of council members who believe the city should save that pavement for more well-used roads.
The Tree Farm neighborhood – home to 93 households off Northeast 8th Street – will get approximately $140,000 worth of new pavement to replace the chip seal road surface that the city installed in 2009. Faced with complaints from residents of the neighborhood about the state of their 30-year-old roads but lacking the money to give the neighborhood completely new pavement, the council at the time elected to install the cheaper chip seal – essentially a mix of asphalt and gravel that is used most often in rural areas. Read more
Man sentenced for theft from Sammamish baseball league
March 23, 2011
A Sammamish man has been sentenced to 15 days of community service and ordered to pay back more than $18,500 in money he stole from a local select baseball league.
Charles Leinas, 45, was the treasurer of the Spartan Baseball Club when club officials uncovered evidence that Leinas had been writing checks to himself and using the club debit card to make purchases that included personal cell phones, an internet psychic and pornographic web sites. Read more
10th SAMMI awards celebrate city’s spirit
March 22, 2011
To some, after 10 years of recognizing Sammamish’s most treasured residents, the city might finally feel like one big family. And that’s exactly what the organizers of the 2011 SAMMI Awards ceremony drove home March 18 at Eastridge Church.
Not only did they go all out with more performances and entertainment this year, but the nighttime ceremony kicked off with a specially made video, “The SAMMI Bunch,” which featured prominent city leaders and residents looking around at each other from their respective square.
Laura Walker raises her hands in celebration while accepting the Spirit of Sammamish award. Photo by Christopher Huber
Mid-year cuts force school districts to tap reserve funds
March 22, 2011
Issaquah District out $1.45 million
State lawmakers have approved a second supplemental budget that will cut another $450,000 from the Issaquah School District’s operations budget.
The cuts are in addition to other cuts the state Legislature has already made to the district. In December, the state Legislature approved mid-year cuts that took away $1 million from Issaquah schools for 2010-11. When those cuts were not enough to balance the budget, legislators made further reductions Feb. 18.
“In total, we will receive $1.45 million less this school year than the state promised us in August, when we set our operations budget and signed all of our annual contracts,” Jake Kuper, District Chief of Finance and Operations, said in a news release. “A mid-year reduction like this is unprecedented and particularly damaging because we can’t back out of our set obligations, even though the state is backing out of its” obligations.
The district will have to dig deeper into its reserve fund to finance the remaining school year, diverting money that had been set aside for material adoptions. The district will have to rely on its community partners, such as the Issaquah Schools Foundation, to update its curricula, school district spokeswoman Sara Niegowski said.
In August, the district had $14.5 million in its reserves, amounting to about 9 percent of its total general fund budget. About $1.45 million, or about 10 percent, has been taken out of the district’s reserves because of mid-year reductions from the state, Kuper said.
Even with those cuts, the Legislature has a growing budget gap to fill this fiscal year. Districts across the state will absorb more budget cuts as lawmakers balance the 2011-13 budget, which has a $5.1 billion deficit.
District administrators are working closely with representatives to stay updated and provide information about budget proposals and bills that will impact student learning, Niegowski said.
Gov. Chris Gregoire’s biennial budget would cut funding to the district by $3.17 million next year. Both houses of the Legislature are crafting proposals. The end result is typically a blend of the proposals.
Lake Washington district losing $2.26 million
By Caleb Heeringa
For every cut state legislators make to the current budget, Lake Washington School District has to dip into their reserve funds to keep their schools running smoothly.
And while the cuts are significant, they may not be quite as painful as administrators originally feared, Deputy Superintendent Janene Fogard said.
According to documents supplied by the district, Governor Chris Gregoire’s original budget proposal called for just over $3 million in cuts to state funding to the district for the 2010-2011 school year. As that proposal went through the House and Senate, legislators trimmed down the cuts, specifically to funding that reduces class sizes for grades K through 4. The district now expects to lose about $2.26 million in state funding this year.
Fogard said the district’s hands are tied as far as reducing expenses in the middle of a budget year, meaning any shortfalls have to be covered by reserve funds.
“We have contracts with our teachers,” Fogard said. “We can’t just unilaterally lay people off in the middle of the year.”
Rather than cut across the board, the Senate agreed to cut only half of the K-4 class size funding in half for the first half of the 2010-2011 year, while cutting all of the funding for the second half of the year.
Gregoire’s initial plan called for a cut in funding for gifted students, though the legislature chose to retain that funding. They did, however, add in a cut in reimbursements for students on free or reduced lunches,
The real question for district officials and the school board will be the 2011-2012 budget. Fogard said the district normally knows what state funding levels will be by March so that they can begin planning.
On March 17, state economists announced that revenues are projected to be $698 million less than previously thought. That puts the deficit for the upcoming 2011-2013 budget close to $5.1 billion.
Whether or not the next year’s school district budget calls for teacher layoffs may depend on whether or not the state cuts are across-the-board or targeted to specific programs, Fogard said.
It’s time for candidates
March 22, 2011
Campaign season for City Council seats should be off and running. Already? Yes, already.
Now is the time for people considering public office in the community to start raising the possibility to family and potential supporters. Now, most importantly, is also the time to start engaging residents about the issues facing Sammamish in the next election. Read more
Sammamish Forum March 23
March 22, 2011
On open letter to John Curley
I moved to the plateau from Kirkland four years ago, but I have been an advocate of the value of living in this area for sometime.
I had hoped, when you came on the Sammamish City Council, you would bring a breath of fresh air, to what I consider a very non-visual group of people who are in charge of one of the most exciting areas on the Eastside.
Deputy City Manager Pete Butkus to retire
March 22, 2011
Pete Butkus will be retiring next month after serving as deputy city manager for most of the city’s existence.
Butkus, who has worked for the city since 2001, plans to retire on Harstine Island, near Olympia. He said he plans to fish, tend an orchard and volunteer his time reading books to elementary school children. Read more
