City Council settles on consultant for environmental regulation update
February 12, 2012
By Caleb Heeringa
New: Feb. 12, 11:16 a.m.
At their Feb. 7 meeting the City Council approved a contract for a consultant to review environmentally sensitive areas in the city, passing the first hurdle in the upcoming review of its critical areas ordinance.
The council approved spending up to $97,000 to contract with AMEC Environment and Infrastructure for a review of “best available science” relating to Sammamish’s streams, wetlands and other environmentally sensitive areas. The contract was approved by a 6-0 vote, with Councilwoman Nancy Whitten abstaining.
The multinational company, which has an office in Seattle, will be tasked with gathering information on the state of scientific research regarding critical areas. The Planning Commission and council will use the information as they grapple with finding development policies that protect the city’s streams and wetlands without stepping on the feet of property owners. The commission is scheduled to consider the ordinance update through the spring and summer, with the council making final decisions in the fall.
Picking the consultant had been important to a handful of property owners who have had their development plans stymied by the current regulations. City Manager Ben Yazici invited one of that group, Linda Eastlick, as well as Shawna Blyth, a former volunteer wetland surveyor and former Beaver Lake Management District board member, to sit in on the interview process. Yazici said AMEC was the consensus pick of the group.
“I wanted to make sure we had property rights folks and environmental folks there and I wanted to make sure they were both comfortable with the selection,” Yazici said.
Whitten said in a later interview that she abstained from the vote out of concerns about the city’s lack of options of consultants and the limited scope of the work they’d be doing. The city only had two consultants respond to their request, though they advertised in newspapers around the area twice and contacted a total of 16 firms about the project.
Yazici theorized the lack of interest may have been due to the tight timeline for doing the work – the city wants to finish the review by the end of the year – as well as recession-induced layoffs in the consultant world. Either way, Yazici said the interview panel had two good options to choose from – AMEC and Grette Associates.
“Yes only two applied, but I don’t need 10 (consultants) … I don’t need more than one to do the job and both consultant teams are qualified,” Yazici said.
But with the CAO update operating in the shadow of the recently completed and often-contentious Shoreline Master Plan process, Whitten said she has concerns that the small pool of applicants could leave the process open to criticism later on when advocates on one side of the issue don’t like the outcome of the consultant’s study. In the aftermath of the city’s shoreline process, homeowners accused the consultant and city staff of being biased and influencing the process.
In the interest of avoiding a repeat of that, the city has asked AMEC to keep a narrow focus during this review – only collecting the “best available science” about critical areas. Policy questions, such as the ideal size of buffers around streams or steep slopes, are to be left up to the city’s elected and appointed officials, Yazici said.
Though she said she feels AMEC is perfectly qualified to do the work, Whitten said she feels asking the environmental consultant not to share their professional expertise when it comes to policy is a mistake.
“Typically they help guide policy,” Whitten said. “It’s sort of like going to the doctor and getting test results back. I don’t care if my levels of potassium are A, B or C – I’m not a doctor, I don’t know what that means.”
Sammamish resident Jim Osgood, who has had building plans on his property handcuffed by steep slopes in the area, commended the city for moving quickly on the policy review.
“I know a lot of work has been put in by the city to get a qualified consultant,” Osgood said during public comment. “This is a major step towards meeting the goal of being able to get changes made in the CAO within the very near future for those of us that have been waiting for three or four years for even longer for this to come about.”
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