By Kevin Hanson and Daniel Nash

The Courier-Herald

On both sides of the White River, 2010 promises to be a busy year. There’s work to be done, but money is tight.

Enumclaw

There will be no shortage of projects to keep Enumclaw city officials occupied during 2010, according to Mayor Liz Reynolds.

“We really need to get hopping,” said Reynolds, who was elected in November, officially took the city helm Friday and was sworn into office Monday morning.

Asked to provide a list of items to be tackled this year, Reynolds noted “there is a lot of carryover from the past few years.”

A common complaint made during her successful run against incumbent Mayor John Wise was the city has taken on too many projects and completed too few. She complained that Enumclaw had become “a mile wide and an inch deep.”

That’s a situation that needs to be resolved, beginning this year, she said.

Among the projects Reynolds sees the city quickly addressing are:

• signage in the downtown core, letting everyone know where to find essential services and more. The city previously put out a bid for signs but wasn’t happy with the numbers that came back. The bid language has been modified and, Reynolds hopes, will lead to more attractive bids.

• signage at the city’s points of entry. Temporary signs went up last year and Reynolds has been an advocate for something permanent and attractive.

• the long-in-the-works Welcome Center, which appears destined for construction this year. The specific space requirements needed by the National Park Service and U.S. Forest Service need to be nailed down, Reynolds said, before the project can move forward.

• a change in the relationship between the city and Fire Protection District 28. The two entities provide a joint service, with the city handling administrative duties. A master plan suggested the city merge into the rural district and plans are in the works to make that happen. Such a change would require support by voters both in the city and rural areas; it is expected to be on the ballot in 2010.

“I want to hit the ground running,” Reynolds said, adding that her plan is to get members of the city council together with Enumclaw’s department heads, who will outline their top five priorities for their departments.

The goal, Reynolds said, is “to get everyone on the same page.”

Days before she took office, Reynolds admitted to being “excited, very enthused and very optimistic.

“There may be some bumps in the road,” she said. “But we’ll get through them together.”

Buckley

Buckley will be facing a balancing act in 2010 between fostering growth and, like other governments at all levels, a tight budget.

City council members Cristi Boyle-Barrett, James Montgomery, Melissa Patson and Randy Reed commented on some of the major issues the small Plateau city will face in the coming year.

“As everyone is aware, the state, and as a result cities of all sizes, face a severe budget problem this coming year,” Reed said. “If projections hold true, millions more will need to be cut and most small cities have already been running on budgets that fail to cover all the needs. This is most visible in areas funded by the General Fund, such as police, fire and administrative positions.”

The city did not eliminate any public safety positions when crafting the 2010 budget, but a few of the council members see room for improvement. Ideally, the Buckley Police Department would have two patrolling officers on duty at all times, something that is not currently possible, Boyle-Barrett said.

“This is an important thing to do, especially in mind of the police officers we’ve lost in the last few months,” she said. “Six Washington state officers have been killed in a short period of time. That makes me aware of the needs of our officers in Buckley.”

Proper police coverage is also necessary for the sake of Buckley citizens, Patson added. Council members were adamant that balancing the budget wouldn’t burden taxpayers with less police protection, she said.

The council will have opportunities to revise the city’s code and develop new policies readying Buckley for future growth. One potential area is the draft Comprehensive Stormwater Management Plan, Montgomery said.

“These items will be central to how Buckley develops in terms of ‘growth while retaining quality of life’ versus ‘growth at the expense of quality of life.’”

There will also be an opportunity to examine low-cost, green infrastructure as an option for the city, he said.

Complicating the budget issue is the need for a few high-cost investments, including a fire station and replacing parts of the city’s water system. The city purchased land for a new fire station off Ryan Road and South Division Avenue late in 2009, requiring a transfer of $130,000 to the fire station construction fund. Council will have to proceed in determining how to construct the station building itself.

Council will also have to determine how to replace its water system, which includes an 80-year-old pipeline running to South Prairie Creek. The pipeline has been repaired as needed during its long tenure, but Buckley was alerted to the need to replace the pipe when last winter’s storms knocked out a 30-foot section of pipe and obstructed the access roads for repair. Repairing the 6.5-mile pipeline could cost up to $12 million. Council may explore the option of replacing the pipeline in sections.

An additional replacement of the city’s master utilities meter, which was first reported as misreading water use last spring, could cost upward of $10,000.

But the issue perhaps receiving the most public attention is Gov. Chris Gregoire’s proposal to shut down the Rainier School by 2014. Not only would a closure affect residents of the facility, but it would negatively affect employees, more than half of whom live in Buckley and contribute to its economy and revenues, said Patson, who worked at Rainier School for more than 30 years before retiring in 2005.