Burien council members decided on Feb. 13 the city’s top priority for federal funding is the $2 million needed for phase two of the First Avenue South Improvement Project.

The decision directed city staff to begin preparations for a visit by council members to Washington, D.C., in early March, when funding requests will be submitted to the state’s congressional delegation.

During the council’s study session, Jan Roegner, director of Community Relations, reviewed the three legislative priorities lawmakers approved last fall: funding for the second phase of First Avenue South upgrades; the Environmental Science Center; and lobbying on continuing issues.

Phase one of the First Avenue South Project is expected to begin later this year.

Since those priorities were agreed on, discussions between the city and the Science Center have revealed that less funding is needed for the building.

Burien Public Works director Stephen Clark noted that when staff met with the architect and their estimator, they identified preliminary reductions that narrowed the gap in needed funds from $400,000 to $100,000.

“Because of that, we would like to have you consider local funding for the center and emphasize federal funding for First Avenue South,” Roegner said.

Mayor Joan McGilton pointed out that the center serves about 500,000 students per year and the facility’s current funding is not long-term.

Interim City Manager David Kline said the center will still be considered for funding locally and that staff was asking the council to re-prioritize their federal requests.

During the study session, the council also discussed the final draft of the Miller/Walker Creek Basin Plan.

According to the plan, specific cleanup actions will be required as the basin jurisdictions are currently out of compliance with state and federal regulations for certain pollutants.

However, Dan Bath, a city engineer, indicated that the effects of these pollutants are not clearly understood and more monitoring will be needed.

In addition, Bath noted habitat changes that have occurred with urbanization, such as erosion of streams, may have an impact on salmon survival rates.

He said that basin plan members have expressed their desire to reduce flows and control erosion by creating detentions to release runoff in a metered fashion.

More discussion will be needed on low-impact development.

Moreover, Bath noted that the recommendation of the plan is pending the resolution of a Department of Ecology and the Association of Washington Cities debate over whether the city should take restorative or proactive measures to protect the streams.

Currently, he said, the city is taking protective measures.

“This is a point that we are going to have to follow very closely and debate it,” said Clark, who noted that the city is fully developed and restorative measures could have a significant cost on development and re-development.

The basin plan is to be discussed in detail during the Feb. 27 city council meeting.