By Dannie Oliveaux and Chaz Holmes | The Courier-Herald
In the last year of the first decade of the 21st Century, there was plenty happening in the Bonney Lake and Sumner area – from January’s flooding to December’s development agreement for the Washington State University Demonstration Forest.
The current recession remains a major contributor not just to national news, but also on the local level.
Here are The Courier-Herald’s Top 10 stories for 2009.
1. Cascadia files for bankruptcy
Cascadia Project LLC, developers of what would have been the largest planned development in Pierce County, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection Oct.15.
Cascadia filed the initial documents to prevent HomeStreet Bank from selling off the majority of the site at auction Oct. 16.
The bankruptcy could directly affect the city of Bonney Lake. Cascadia owes the city $200,000 and had agreed to pay $750,000 more, for the purpose of mitigating the expense of traffic-related construction along state Route 410.
Traffic projects include traffic lights outside schools and on the Sumner-Buckley Highway. Some of these are already under way.
With the current Chapter 11 protection, Cascadia reorganizes its company under supervision by the courts and interested creditors will vote on a plan for the company to pay off its debts, giving it a chance to emerge and reassume business as usual.
The development, as planned, would have nearly 6,500 homes, 626 acres of commercial space, a hotel, three golf courses and seven schools.
Patrick Kuo, president and CEO of Cascadia Development Corp. bought the land from the Weyerhaeuser Co. in 1991 and broke ground in 2005. Kuo estimated that the first residents and businesses would arrive in 2007.
2. Gilbert sex crimes
A Lake Tapps man accused of numerous sex crimes involving children pleaded guilty in federal court April 23 in Tacoma.
Weldon Marc Gilbert, a 48-year-old pilot, pleaded guilty to 31 counts of production of child pornography, along with two counts of transporting a minor across state lines to engage in sexual activity and two counts of obstruction of justice, according to a press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
The former pilot of United Parcel Service was arrested in November 2007 in Altanta and charged in federal court the same month.
Pierce County Sheriff’s Department detectives began investigating Gilbert after two men reported they were concerned Gilbert was molesting their two younger brothers. According to court documents, one of the brothers told investigators Gilbert had abused him since March 2001 when he was 12 years old.
Court documents said state police found more than 100 video tapes and DVDs showing Gilbert sexually abusing and torturing at least 20 boys at his Lake Tapps home. They also seized CDs, floppy disks, ropes, paddles, sex toys, blindfolds, computers, firearms and other evidence.
Gilbert is a licensed commercial transport pilot and co-owned an aviation company called Lake Tapps Flyer.
3. Church expansion
For most of 2009, Sumner City Council members debated whether they would allow Calvary Community Church to expand.
The church requested a permit to build a two-story sanctuary, increase the number of parking spaces and make improvements to utilities. Later phases of the project entailed further growth, including the addition of an education center and expansion of the administrative office.
At the initial public hearing in February the hearing examiner granted a conditional use permit and height exception.
Next, citizens had the opportunity to file appeals.
The first public appeal hearing was June 15 and City Hall was filled to capacity as residents spoke against the expansion of the church.
Only people whose appeals were accepted by the city could speak at the hearing and no new information was presented.
Council members were given the task of determining whether the hearing examiner’s decision was erroneous, meaning a mistake was clearly made.
The council did not make a decision immediately following the first appeal hearing.
This would be one of many such continuances of the proceedings throughout several months.
On Dec. 21, the council made a decision to approve Phase 1 of the project.
4. WSU Forest development agreement
The Bonney Lake City Council voted 6-1 to approve a development agreement between the city, Washington State University and Weyerhaeuser Co. for more than 150 acres of land south of state Route 410 between South Prairie Road and 214th Avenue East.
Council members voted 4-3 earlier at the Dec. 22 meeting against the agreement, but later approved the agreement after agreeiing not to have a traffic signal at 204th Avenue and 410.
Some residents voiced their opposition during a public hearing hosted by the council and Planning Commission.
Bonney Lake Mayor Neil Johnson announced June 19 the city, Washington State University and Weyerhaeuser Co. planned to develop the 150-acre property to meet a variety of community goals.
The acreage dedicated to the city would include 35 acres of trees/open space, five acres for buffer/trails, two acres for a park and five for a future YMCA with a pool.
Quadrant, on behalf of WSU and Weyerhaeuser, submitted an application to begin the process for seeking approval of a Comprehensive Plan Amendment and rezone for the former Demonstration Forest.
The university owned the property since 1941 when it was deeded to WSU by Weyerhaeuser for a Demonstration Forest. The deed included a clause that would return the property to Weyerhaeuser if WSU decided to use the land for other purposes.
WSU and Weyerhaeuser agreed to pursue the necessary land-use entitlements needed to gain project approval. When approved, certain identified lands will be dedicated to the city and the remainder of property will be offered for sale.
Quadrant Corp. served as agent for the redevelopment plan.
5. Winter storms cause flooding
After three weeks of snow, ice and freezing temperatures in January, the region was hit with a torrential rainstorm with warmer temperatures that caused flooding and property damage from the Plateau to the valley.
The storm began Jan. 6 and heavy rain continued through Jan. 8. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration recorded 1.22 inches of rain Jan. 6 and 2.29 Jan. 7 at Sea-Tac Airport.
Homes and businesses around Sumner were flooded and damaged from mud when both the Puyallup and White rivers breeched their banks and levees. The surrounding cities in the valley were hit hard by the heavy rains and flooding.
Around Bonney Lake, water ran over roads closing Sumner-Buckely Highway at the 214th Avenue intersection. Sumner-Tapps Highway and South Tapps Highway were also closed in places from water over the roadways.
In Sumner, residents living in Rainier Manor along 140th Street Court East, in Riverwalk and Rivergrove west of 147th Avenue East and people living in the north area of the city near 29th Street were told to evacuate by city officials and East Pierce Fire and Rescue personnel as the Puyallup and White rivers rose to flood stage.
State Route 410 had more than 2 feet of water over the road between Traffic Avenue and Valley Avenue in Sumner and was closed by noon Jan. 7.
6. Meth lab in Sumner
When Sumner Police Officer Joe Boulay was on patrol at 3:30 one morning in May, he noticed three people inside the garage of JFS Automotive, according to officer Brad Moericke. Because it seemed an unusual time to be there, Boulay made contact with the individuals, who appeared nervous, according to police.
The suspects, one of whom was an employee of the shop, told police they were working late, but when police called the owner to corroborate the story, the owner stated nobody was authorized to be working at the time.
There was an odor of ammonia, which is used in the production of methamphetamine and enough evidence was present to arrest the suspects at the scene.
A Pierce County lab crew arrived and began examining the interior of the premises, removing containers with ingredients used for making methamphetamine and documenting their finds.
Suspects were arrested at the scene and decontaminated before being booked into the Pierce County Jail.
Police said the owner was not involved in the illegal activity.
Moericke commended the vigilance and decision-making of Officer Boulay which led to the arrests.
“Hopefully it will put an end to their criminal enterprise,” Moericke said.
7. Bonney Lake residents vote down charter
Bonney Lake voters sent a clear message to keep the current form of government for their city.
Results from the Feb. 3 special election showed almost 90 percent opposed Proposition No. 1 that would have changed the city government from code form to charter-code.
Numbers posted on the Pierce County Election Web site reported 1,811 people voted against Proposition 1, while 209 favored the measure.
City Councilman Dan Decker collected signatures on a petition submitted in March 2008 and the city asked Pierce County to schedule the election date. Also included on the Feb. 3 special election ballot were 15 freeholder candidates running for 14 positions.
If the charter-code form of government had been approv-ed, commissioners would have had six months to write a charter outlining the city’s government.
About 100 Bonney Lake citizens gathered Jan. 22 for a 90-minute debate on Proposition No. 1 at the Bonney Lake High School commons.
The Courier-Herald sponsored the event and it featured two panels, one supporting the proposition and one against the measure. Panel members were Mayor Neil Johnson and Deputy Mayor Dan Swatman representing the side opposing Proposition No. 1 and Decker and citizen Lynda Dabson, a commission candidate, arguing in support of the proposition passing.
8. Sumner woman murdered
The day after a 60-year-old Sumner woman was found dead in her home, her daughter pleaded not guilty to two counts of murder in Pierce County Superior Court.
Laura Jennette Jonston, 20, was arraigned Feb. 24 and prosecutors charged her with two counts of murder in the Feb. 23 stabbing death of Shirley J. Miluk.
Jonston was charged with one court of first-degree murder and one court of second-degree murder.
According to court documents, a Sumner police officer went to Miluk’s home at 10 a.m. Feb. 23 after a woman called and reported she was unable to contact her mother by phone. The officer found the doors locked but was able to obtain a key. Once inside, officers found a heavily blood-stained blanket covering the Miluk’s body in the living room of the two-story apartment. She had multiple stab wounds, police reported.
A search of the apartment revealed two knives bundled together in a cloth under an upstairs bed. The knives were consistent with the kitchen cutlery in the apartment, court records state.
A preliminary examination showed the victim was stabbed nine times and had defensive wounds to her hands and one leg.
9. Record Sumner heat
On July 29, temperatures reach more than 100 degree and residents managed to find relief from the heat. An excessive-heat warning for the area remained in effect until 6 p.m. the next day.
According to weather.com, Bonney Lake and Sumner reported 104 degrees. The National Weather Service in Seattle recorded 103 degrees at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport.
The last time temperatures were hotter than 90 degrees for five consecutive days was 1981.
The weather drove hundreds of people of all ages to area lakes, especially Lake Tapps. As mid-morning temperatures soared into the 90s, the shore became crowded with swimmers and boaters.
The next day temperatures dropped into the low 80s and night-time temperatures dropped from the mid-70s to 60 degrees.
The next day temperatures dropped into the low 80s and the noontime crowd at Lake Tapps was less than 50, with a few boats on the water.
10.City and state elections
The Sumner mayoral race included competition from within as Councilman Matt Richardson challenged incumbent mayor Dave Enslow.
Enslow emphasized his record of accomplishment in Sumner, while Richardson made the preservation of the city’s image and lifestyle a focal point of his campaign.
The candidates sparred fiercely on matters of expansion, with Richardson vehemently opposing a plan he said would set Sumner on a track toward major development and alter its small-town appeal.
Continuing Sumner’s tradition and keeping it from becoming a large industrial area was one of Richardson’s goals.
“The only way a city like Sumner maintains quality of life is by its hard work and deliberate effort to protect it,” he said at the time.
Enslow favored a plan that he said would allow Sumner to qualify for more funding needed to improve infrastructure and would not inherently lead to a change in Sumner’s comprehensive plan.
Conflict occurred over which candidate was more suited to lead the city based on their government experience.
Enslow served as a councilmember from 1998 to 2005 and has been mayor since 2006.
Richardson said his background, which includes six years on the Sumner Planning Commission and being elected deputy mayor in 2006, along with being elected by 25 cities to be vice chair of Pierce County Regional Council, provided him with more experience.
Ed Hannus was challenged by Stuart Scheuerman for council Position No. 1 and kept his seat.
In Bonney Lake’s city election, Dan Swatman won the Ward I seat over Andy Gomen, Donn Lewis defeated incumbent David Bowen for the Ward 4 post, and Randy McKibbin defeated Lynda Dabson for the council at-large Position 1 seat held by Swatman.
