City Hits Snag with Library Annexation Process

The Enumclaw City Council suspended its meeting Monday night and plans to resume at 7 p.m. on March 7 to continue discussions over a building ownership issue with regards to a potential annexation of the city library into the King County Library System (KCLS).

On February 22, the King County Council already passed its ordinance to put the issue on the April 26 ballot, according to city administrator Mike Thomas.

However, with less than 10 days before the public annexation , a transfer agreement still does not exist, and a new kink in the process has surfaced: while the city proceeded with annexation discussions under the assumption that it would retain ownership of the library building while leasing it back to KCLS, the county has different ideas.

KCLS "doesn't like having a landlord," Thomas said during Monday night's meeting. They want to own the building and possibly the library grounds as well. "It's fundamental from their standpoint in that it gives them a sense of certainty" in their monetary investments in the building, he said.

However, Thomas pointed out, the citizens of Enumclaw essentially paid for the library building through a 1998 bond issue that was just paid off in 2009.

The question he put to council was how to deal with this: is it a dealbreaker or would council be willing to entertain transferring ownership?

KCLS isn't looking to pay for ownership of the building, Thomas said, when asked about how a potential sale would work. Instead, they look at it as providing library services in exchange for the city putting up this capital asset.

Councilmembers were concerned about what might happen if KCLS later decided it no longer wanted to use the building to house the city library. Could the city get the building back?

Thomas provided an example of how is putting both the KCLS 50 cents per $1,000 levy and existing city levies to residents where the extra generated funds would help build new new libraries, but KCLS has followed various models throughout the county regarding how building ownership is managed, so it's hard to say without further discussion, he said.

Enumclaw city attorney Mike Reynolds offered his opinion that giving up the building would be liquidating an asset that taxpayers paid for and he would prefer that the city retain that asset.

Councilman Sean Krebs was not in attendance Monday but the remaining six members were not comfortable with KCLS's ownership terms. Consequently, they tasked Thomas and city administration to go back to KCLS for further discussion and clarification in hopes that by next Monday, March 7 when this meeting reconvenes, there will be more answers, including a transfer agreement and more information about what happens to the library employees.

"Council has taken a black eye for not having a transfer agreement," Councilman Jim Hogan said. 

If on March 7 the council decides the annexation vote cannot proceed, the city has until March 11 to notify King County to pull the item from the ballot, Thomas said. 

That would save the city $20,000 in the cost for this election, according to Reynolds.

At that point, discussions and negotiations could continue with KCLS but the next special election that Enumclaw could put the issue on would occur in August; and if approved then, KCLS would not be able to have their levy set and take over management, probably until 2012, said Thomas.

Tentatively, the open house scheduled for March 10 at Thunder Mountain Middle School remains on the calendar.

No Park & Ride with Welcome Center

The council Monday also voted to reject a $1,425,000 federal grant to build a transit facility (park & ride) as part of the Enumclaw Welcome Center that would have provided parking for visitors and shuttle services to the nearby recreational destinations including Mt. Rainier, Crystal Mountain Ski Resort and other points of interest along State Route 410. The grant was part of U.S. Sen. Patty Murray's (D-WA) efforts back in February 2009 to provide millions of dollars in funding for a variety of King County projects as part of the 2009 Omnibus Appropriations Bill.

Accepting the grant would have included a $285,000 match from the city, and the city simply didn't have those funds at the moment, said Thomas. Public Works Director Chris Searcy indicated that the park & ride was explored as a potential second phase to the Enumclaw Welcome Center. However, it was determined after an environmental review that the location the city had designated for this would have been unacceptable by federal guidelines as the land could not be altered. Consequently, with no alternative site, the staff recommended rejecting the funds.

Beckwith asked if this would discourage those from the National Park Service and National Forest Service from working with the city to get the Welcome Center up and running. Thomas indicated they were committed to the center and the lack of a park & ride doesn't necessarily kill the whole project.

"It would have been nice to have this," Thomas said, "but ... I'd be pleased just to have the [Welcome Center] building completed."

Murray's office could not be reached for comment at this time.

In other news:

• Kristen Damazio, the marketing and events manager at the Expo Center, reported that February's Wine & Chocolate Festival was a great success. More than 2,400 people attended the event over the course of two days, and the city netted $14,000 in revenue; the Enumclaw Chamber of Commerce also raised $6,000.
• The council voted to adopt two ordinances with regards to cable master franchise and Comcast franchise agreement.
• The council confirmed Meredith Shirey, formerly the clerk and treasurer for Wilkeson, Wash., as the new City Clerk.
• Community Development Director Erika Shook updated council on the status of the YEAS stadium project, which currently has received two grants: a $300,000 grant from the state Recreation and Conservation Office, and a $75,000 grant from King County Youth Sports Facilities. The former grant is somewhat uncertain, based on actions by the state legislature. The city has until April to accept the King County grant. There is the possibility that the school district may be able to take over management of the grants as well, in exchange for leasing the field.