Members of the Enumclaw City Council met for more than two hours Monday night and covered a broad range of items. Here’s a brief look at what was discussed. A full story will be published on this website later and will also appear in the Nov. 17 printed edition of the newspaper.
• A public hearing on the 2011 proposed budget brought nine audience members to the podium and most were there to ask council to reconsider a plan that would eliminate funding for outside agencies. The city is looking at a $600,000 gap between revenues and expenditures for the coming year and, in Mayor Liz Reynolds’ proposal, funding is entirely axed for agencies like Plateau Outreach Ministries, the King County Sexual Assault Resource Center and Enumclaw Youth and Family Services.
• The council hosted the second of three public hearings on the proposed 2011 property tax levy to be imposed by the city. It was noted the city will collect the 1 percent increase allowed by law; but when previously-banked levy capacity is added and new construction considered, the increase for next year will be 4.3 percent.
• Event planners Rene Popke and Jaclyn VanHoof updated the council on both the upcoming Festival of Crafts and last month’s Oktoberfest. The Festival of Crafts will have more than 90 vendors, VanHoof said, and is already showing a profit, even without ticket sales. Popke said Oktoberfest also turned a profit, even though attendance didn’t quite meet the 2,500 goal. Vendors did extremely well, she said.
• Council was updated on a new video surveillance system installed for the Enumclaw Police Department. The replacement system protects both officers and inmates and allows for better tracking of activities in the jail, according to Joe Nanavich, manager of information services for the city. As a bonus, he said, the cost of the upgrade was slightly less that $25,500, far less than the projected $35,500.
• The council voted to accept a grant of $100,373 from the Washington State Department of Ecology to pay for a variety of activities related to stormwater. The city is not required to put up matching funds.
• The exhibit now in Gallery 2010, which also is the City Hall council chambers, displays the photography of Bob Charlo. His work will be shown until Nov. 30.
• The council was told Jon Funfar, media services manager for the city, was an honorable mention honoree in the national Excellence in Government Programming contest.
• Council members heard from young Savannah Maddux, who told them of the season’s successes at the Pea Patch, the community garden behind the Enumclaw Public Library.
• It was noted that city offices will be closed Thursday, Nov. 11, in observance of Veterans Day.
