Drug Numbers Stun Enumclaw Council; Community Help Sought

“This number kills me,” Aaron Stanton of the Enumclaw School District said. “It’s quite a shock.”

He was referring to a drug study taken this year locally. It shows that more 8th- and 10-graders use methamphetamines than those in the 12th grade.

“Are these numbers acceptable?”

If not, Stanton, director of Student Support Services, wants local organizations to participate in a Regional Healthcare Summit Sept. 1.

“We’re asking groups to partner with us to see what you can do to help,” he said at Monday night’s City Council meeting.

Groups will pull their resources and go after grant money to try to curb the problem.

Stanton puts a lot of stock in the survey, given to 6th, 8th, 10th and 12th graders, because the answers are candid and anonymous.

An example of the statistics shows that in the 12th grade 49 percent had used alcohol the previous month, up from 39 percent last year. The figure for marijuana was 22 percent. When asked if they used the drug heavily, 12 percent said yes for alcohol and 16 percent said yes for pot.

The survey also discussed community attitudes toward drinking. Almost all 6th-graders, 97 percent, felt it was wrong for them to drink, but by 12th grade only 61 percent felt it wasn’t OK for them to drink.

City Attorney Mike Reynolds noted that some of the figures had shown improvement over the past two years. He said that could be partly attributed to the fact that rather than focusing on punishment the trend is toward treatment. He said having students caught drinking attend victims’ panels had been especially effective.

The council also had a public hearing on the city’s Six-Year Transportation Improvement Plan from 2012 to 2017. Public Works Director Chris Searcy explained how because of declining revenue sources the city must look for grants and other funding sources to make progress on its priorities. He stressed how more money, up to $600,000, should be spent on making the city more compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act.

He said there are a lack of ramps and others that don’t be standards.

“This is just to tread water and not degrade any further,” he said.

Searcy said the plan has been trimmed back to reflect funding that will be more realistic. It includes 18 capital improvement projects. Because of rising costs, the city share for the projects has risen from $4.5 million to $6.2 million. The plan does not commit the city to any of the projects, but it does help it remain eligible for state and federal funding.

No. 1 on the list is Garrett Street, scheduled to be done in 2012 at a cost of $1.365 million. The most costly project on the list is No. 7, the State Route 410 Welcome Center, set to be done in 2013 at a cost of almost $4.56 million. Federal funds are paying for about 80 percent of that project. Pavement maintenance is the next most-costly item, set to cost $3.3 million over the next six years.

In other council news:

-Expo Center Manager Kristin Damazio said the King County Fair drew 11,500 paid patrons, 14,000 people total, close to double last year, “a marked improvement.” Having the carnival rides return was a big draw. She said Universal Fairs was happy and wants to return next year. “They knew it wasn’t going to be a huge moneymaker and that we have to rebuild.”

-City Attorney Mike Reynolds said Northwest Kidney Center wants to use the old Forest Service building for a regional healthcare facility for kidney dialysis, with about 25 employees.

-The council will have a meeting on the comprehensive plan Thursday from 6:30 to 8 p.m. at the library, and it will have a budget workshop Aug. 15 at 7 p.m. at City Hall.