Numerous projects have either been started, stalled, or completed these last few weeks in the city of Enumclaw, from small ones like replacing the flooring in City Hall to large ones like awarding a bid to replace a 3,200-foot section of sewer near state Route 410.
Here are some of the highlights from the last city council meetings, from April 25 to May 23.
GOLF COURSE UPDATE
Bill Jensen with J&H Golf, which began to operate the Enumclaw Golf Course in 2020 after the lease with Swiftwater Golf expired, updated the city council with the improvements being made to the course and the challenges they’ve faced over the last two years.
“It’s been an interesting learning curve,” Jensen told the council during the April 25 meeting.
In general, J&H’s goals was to improve the quality and presentation of the course, “and that’s the course that we are on,” Jenson continued.
Of course, the pandemic threw a wrench in their plans, closing the course for several weeks. On top of that, beavers flooded a couple holes; some dams the city removed, but the cost of others were saddled with J&H Golf.
The disrupted supply chain also affected when the course received new golf carts — some came months after they were supposed to arrive, and others up to a year.
On the bright side of things, “our experience with the city has been above and beyond what we’d hoped for at that time,” Jensen said, noting the city’s help with several projects, like building a cart barn.
Other updates include painting the pro shop, restaurant, and utilities building, leveled the 18th green, “which was too severe” and the practice putting green, put up new fencing, built new tee-boxes, bout 50 new carts, and buy a new a aerator to improve the fairways.
“We’ve done more things than that, but ultimately, the play at the golf course is — I was just checking the other day to see where we were last year, which was the best year I think the course had in a long time — and we were up about 8 percent,” Jensen said. “We’re getting a lot of positive comments, but we’ve got a long ways to go.”
But these projects are small potatoes compared to what’s coming up in the future — restoring Boise Creek.
The city of Enumclaw, in partnership with Puyallup Tribe, is looking to divert the creek from its current course through the golf course, occasionally flooding the venue to the point where you can’t play, to skirt along the edge of the forest at the western edge of the course. Total cost of the project has been estimated to exceed $2 million.
It’s unclear how the creek diversion construction will affect play at the golf course at this time, as the project hasn’t been fully designed.
“There will be definitely be times that play on holes 1, 8, 10, and 11 will not be possible,” said City Administrator Chris Searcy. “I can’t see any reason that the remaining holes would be closed to play.”
While bids were expected to go out in 2021 and construction to start this year, due dates have been pushed back due to permit changes, Search added; construction bids are now expected to go out in November 2023, and construction to begin March 2024, with the project to be completed that year.
NO PICKLEBALL COURT
Enumclaw’s Parks Director Michelle Larson has been working for several years on getting a concrete pickleball court built at McFarland Park, replacing the “ugly” asphalt basketball court.
But, like before, it looks like the project is being put on the back burner.
According to May 9 city documents, bids from five companies well exceeded the city engineer’s estimated cost of $85,000: from least to most expensive, Southworth & Sons came in at $117,000; Asphalt Patch Systems and RWS Construction, $120,00; NW Cascade, $185,000; and finally, Iron Creek Construction at $198,000.
The city of Enumclaw is allowed to reject bids that exceed the fair-cost estimate by more than 15 percent.
The move to reject the bids was part of the council’s consent agenda, and was not addressed individually; the consent agenda was passed unanimously.
Documents note that the city would like to reopen bids for the project at a later time.
COMMUNITY CENTER BOND COMMITTEE
The Enumclaw City Council is looking to form a new ad hoc committee to inform the public about any possible bond measure the council may approve to fund a new community center.
For those not in the know, city officials have been looking at building a community center since they learned the local Senior Center needed major upgrades or to simply be replaced with a new building; the conversation grew to encompass the possibility of building a space where the senior center, Arts Alive!, the Enumclaw Chamber of Commerce, the Youth Center, and even a few of the more public-facing city employees, could operate out of.
To figure out what direction this project may go in, surveys were sent out to the Senior Center, Arts Alive!, and the Chamber. The surveys will be provided to Cornerstone, who is helping design the project.
Conversation about the committee was held on May 9; ultimately, the issue was tabled until at least the last meeting in June, when the council expects to have more concrete information about the community center by then.
But it seems decided that the committee’s focus will be on the bond that the city will have to pass in order to fund such an undertaking, different from the ad hoc committee that is overseeing the design of the community center.
“The message has to be on point. The message has to be transparent,” said Council member Anthony Wright. “We have to make sure that we’re, you know, when we say we guarantee something to the voter that we’re actually going to guarantee it.”
Wright noted that the city needs to fulfill two requirements if any bond measure is to pass.
The first is to reach the voter turnout necessary to pass the bond measure; a minimum of 40 percent of voters who cast ballots in the last general election in Enumclaw must submit vote on the bond to certify the results. This could be difficult to achieve in an off-election year, he said.
And, of those voters, 60 percent (a supermajority) of city residents will have to approve the bond measure for it to pass (residents who live outside city limits will not be affected by the bond).
The last bond passed in Enumclaw was put on the ballot by the Enumclaw School District in 2015 for $65.5 million; it passed by only four votes.
Mayor Jan Molinaro indicated a bond measure could be put on the February or May 2023 special election ballots, but that’s only if the council approves of one, and that’s not a given; at least one council member, Bobby Martinez, indicated he’s “pretty opposed” to a bond, but he also volunteered to be on the ad hoc committee in order to offer different opinions.
Design of the project is not yet finalized, and a final estimated cost hasn’t been made. And, when a design is submitted to the council by Cornerstone, it may still be changed in order to drive down the bond and reduce the pressure on local taxpayers.
SEWER LINE REPLACEMENT
The city has awarded a bid to SCI Infrastructure for replacing about 3,200 feet of sewer main that runs along state Route 410 between Roosevelt Avenue and Warner Avenue on May 23.
According to city documents, the sewer main is in “poor condition and beyond its useful life.”
SCI’s bid was the lowest of five submitted at $2.3 million, roughly $900,000 more than what the city budgeted for the project. However, the city will be budgeting $2.8 million for any unforeseen costs.
“This will significantly deplete sewer utility reserves,” city documents read, and will force Enumclaw to defer other capital improvement projects and use the utility’s existing fund balance to afford the sewer main replacement.
The city will determine which projects to put off during the 2023 budget cycle, but could include constructing a water lift system on 248th Avenue or upgrades to the wastewater treatment plant, said Enumclaw Public Works Director Ed Hawthorne.
Construction isn’t expected to affect traffic much for SR 410 commuters.
“There will be some minor traffic disruptions on Warner Avenue during the crossing of Warner Avenue and while equipment enters and exits the site,” Hawthorne said. “The project is expected to begin in early August and be completed by the end of September.”
BURWELL RETIRES
Last, but certainly not least, long-time City Clerk Maureen Burwell announced she will be retiring, with her last day being June 3.
Burwell worked in the city for 15 years, and was city clerk since 2015; taking her place will be Jessica Rose.
“You’ve done the position so gracefully. You’re assertive, you keep us all on-task, on our deadlines, but you do it in such a kind way, and I’ll definitely miss that,” said City Administrator Chris Searcy, who was followed by other staff members and elected officials that echoed his sentiment.
As a farewell gift, more than $750 was donated in her name to Redemption Rock Ministries, a local nonprofit rehabilitation program.
“I am going to miss all of you, but I am so blessed that I get to spend with the people I love most in the world,” Burwell said during her farewell speech on May 23. “I leave the city in good hands.”
