The Sammamish City Council faces several key issues ahead this year.
Many will be discussed at the annual retreat Jan. 19-21 at the Hotel Murano in Tacoma. It’s open to the public.
Here, in alphabetical order, is a list of the major issues facing the Sammamish City Council this year. It probably isn’t a comprehensive list and events may cause new issues to emerge and some of these to drop off.
Analysis
By Scott Hamilton
The Sammamish City Council once again debated the proposed improvements to Sahalee Way before voting down a design and engineering contract 4-3, split along the long-standing divisions between the H-3 and V-3 factions.
Mayor Don Gerend was, as he often is, the swing vote. He sided this time with the V-3, Ramiro Valderrama, Christie Malchow and Tom Hornish, to oppose approved a $1.57m contract.
The H-3 faction, Kathy Huckabay, Tom Odell and Bob Keller, are strong advocates for changes to Sahalee Way. Odell lives along the corridor. Keller and Huckabay live elsewhere in the City.
The Sammamish City Council rejected a $1.57m design contract for Sahalee Way.
Voting to approve it were Tom Odell, Deputy Mayor Bob Keller and Kathy Huckabay.
Opposing were Ramiro Valderrama, Tom Hornish, Christie Malchow and Mayor Don Gerend.
A contract for the design of the controversial Sahalee Way road improvement project is up for a vote at Tuesday’s Sammamish City Council meeting.
Whether approved or rejected, the vote appears it will be a 4-3 split along the usual lines, with Mayor Don Gerend being the swing vote.
The project calls for a sidewalk along one side, bike lanes, a turning lane and additional stop lights between NE 25th and the Sammamish City Limits.
It does not extend to SR202, which is one mile beyond the City Limits. This means no improvements to Sahalee in this section, and this is one reason why three members of the City Council oppose the current plans.
Jan. 14, 2016: The Sammamish City Council approved going forward with a geo-technical feasibility study for the controversial Sahalee Way road project.
The vote was 5-2, with Deputy Mayor Ramiro Valderrama and new Council Member Christie Malchow voting no.
Valderrama said he was in favor of the study but wanted to get a formal presentation from staff on public input from a November open house first. Malchow said she has yet to be convinced the project will actually solve a problem and improve traffic flow rather than only “checking the box” for concurrency.
Sammamish Comment 