The North Highline Unincorporated Area Council meeting Dec. 1 heard from Mike Martin, Burien City Manager regarding the annexation efforts of North Highline that have been underway. He has been in discussions with both the King County Executive's office and legislators in Olympia regarding the retention of the sales tax credit that Governor Gregoire has proposed be reduced. Martin has said previously that Burien would lose $50,000 annually under that proposal. As the law exists now it will continue for another 8 years.

"If we manage to keep it, it's not going to be enough," Martin said, "because now this cloud that would make us fear having it taken away every year has created such uncertainty that we can't just say ok...and we go ahead and annex and Olympia comes along and says no. I'm trying make that very clear to the people that make the decisions." He spoke about creating a mechanism, that would fund the annexation and city operations for the long term. "I don't buy the argument that you hear down there that you can't bind future legislators," Martin said.

"It's very unlikely we will know what the outcome of this is until after Christmas."

"We have a hearing before the Boundary Review Board on January 9th," and they have a period of time to consider that, "but we will know in February or March what they are thinking." That hearing is open to the public at Cascade Middle School.

According to the City of Burien:
The hearing will be held on Jan. 9, and if necessary, Jan. 10, 7 p.m., at Cascade Middle School, 11212 10th Ave. SW. The Boundary Review Board will determine whether to accept the proposal, modify the boundaries, or reject it. The annexation would increase the population of Burien by about 17,300 and add about 3.2 square miles to the City including the White Center area, Top Hat, Beverly Park, Glendale, and portions of Boulevard Park, Riverton Heights and Shorewood.

Martin said, "The board is going to approve the annexation. There's no reason not to."

Storefront Deputy spoke about White Center crime
B.J. Myers the new White Center Storefront Deputy spoke about crime and what has been happening on the street since he took the job in October. Captain Hodgson mentioned that the previous deputy Jeff Hancock will in fact be in a patrol car but we worked in progressively in patrolling the White Center area. "He has a lot of experience in the neighborhood and should be an asset for Deputy Myers," Hodgson said.

Myers provided a map and graph on types of crime in the area but did not address specifics on crime trends. He spoke about the "Center of Attention" operation by the DOJ and ATF that recently netted some criminals and contraband in the form of drugs and guns on Oct. 20.

"A lot of what they did has moved to the prosecution side," Myers said (...) some of the members of the task force have been back out doing other work. It's nice to see that the people who played a big role in that are still around."

Papa's Pub still has an 30 day suspension they are appealing Myers explained and "my understanding is that they were going to start that suspension this month but that their appeal period has been delayed, I think, into the next calendar year. For now they are still in operation."

He mentioned the raid on the G.A.M.E. collective marijuana dispensary and noted that they had closed. As the West Seattle Herald previously reported in an exclusive interview with Brionne Corbray, that move was already underway prior to the raid since he had been in a dispute with the landlord over no heat in the building and gas leaks.

Two noteworthy recent matters; Two officers were on patrol late at night in White Center on 17 th Ave. s.w. and found someone breaking into Sorenson Marine. He was quickly arrested and taken to jail. "There's been semi trucks parking on 4th Ave. s.w." some with refrigerators causing noise in the area. Deputies have been, "aggressively ticketing those," Myers said and taking other measures including adding new signs to prevent the practice.

Burien CIty Council Member Rose Clark on Des Moines Memorial Drive project

Rose Clark, member of the Burien City Council spoke about her efforts on the construction of the Lake-to-Sound Trail from from 156th Street to 188th Street.

The historical status of the area is a concern as she explained that the trees to be planted must be American Elms. They are still seeking funding but in the plan are lights, bollards, and the trail itself. To facilitate the funding a 501(c)(3) is being formed. Work on the trail is expected to begin in 2013.

King County Comprehensive Plan introduced

Karen Wolf from the Department of Development and Environmental Services provided information on the King County 2012 Comprehensive Plan, some of which affects the North Highline area.

The public comment period for the comprehensive plan review draft will end on December 23. If you cannot make the meeting you can review the plan here.

All public comment can be sent directly to Paul Reitenbach at: paul.reitenbach@kingcounty.gov

or by mail at:
King County Comprehensive plan 2012 Update
Department of Development and Environmental Services
900 Oaksdale Avenue, SW
Renton, WA 98057-5212
ATTN: Paul Reintenback