Year in Review 2015: October to December
Published 1:27 pm Tuesday, December 29, 2015
A new year will be upon us Friday, and the Reporter is taking the last four days of 2015 to look back on the past year. Here are the top stories that came out of Issaquah and Sammamish from October to December:
Council approves comp plan, tree ordinance
In early October, after months of deliberation and several seven-hour council meetings, the Sammamish City Council approved the 2035 Sammamish Comprehensive Plan months after the state June 30 deadline. It also approved one of the most restrictive tree ordinances in the state.
Bellevue gives Issaquah South Cove and Greenwood Point utilities
On Oct. 19, the Bellevue City Council voted to transfer responsibility for utilities in South Cove and Greenwood Point to the city of Issaquah. Issaquah had annexed the two neighborhoods in 2006, but Bellevue retained control of utilities for eight years. Issaquah will not assume responsibility for water and sewer service until Jan. 1, 2017.
Irish president visits Plateau for Gaelic football match
On Oct. 22, Irish President Michael Higgins and his wife attended a Gaelic football match at Skyline High School.
Sammamish driver who killed 2 family members gets 6 years
On Oct. 30, a King County judge sentenced Sammamish resident Carol Fedigan, 69, to six years and one month for two counts of vehicular homicide, and one count each of vehicular assault, driving under the influence and reckless endangerment for a 2014 accident in which, while holding her 3-year-old grandson on her lap, she drove through her Lake Sammamish property killing her husband and son-in-law and severely injuring her daughter.
Mysterious powder closes Issaquah District Court
On Nov. 2, the Issaquah King County District Courthouse received mail containing a suspicious white powder and “eccentric” writing on the envelope, according to Postal Inspector Jeremy Leder. The Redmond district court received a similar delivery. The powders turned out to be nonhazardous, but nevertheless shut down the Issaquah and Redmond courthouses for the day and kicked off a postal investigation.
Chipotle voluntarily closes doors due to E. coli outbreak
All Washington branches of the fast food restaurant Chipotle voluntarily closed their doors in October as health officials investigated an E. coli outbreak linked to the Mexican chain.
Election results are in
Sammamish Mayor Tom Vance was not re-elected for another term. Tom Hornish, Vance’s opponent for the open seat, not the mayorship, gained the majority votes. Councilmember Ramiro Valderrama-Aramayo will return to the 2016 council. Outgoing councilor Nancy Whitten, who sat on the council for 12 years, did not run for re-election. Resident Christie Malchow gain majority support and will fill Whitten’s seat next year.
Talus landslide
On Nov. 13, construction work on a future site of 90 homes in Issaquah’s Talus community stopped after workers realized the earth on the hillside was moving. The landslide occurred slowly, but with enough force to buckle Northwest Talus Drive near Shangri-La Way. Crews immediately began installing monitoring devices and dewatering wells to track and stop the movement, respectively. Meanwhile, the city rerouted gas and water utilities around the site. In response to criticisms that they were not sharing enough with Talus residents, city officials engaged in an aggressive public communications campaign that included a dedicated website, public meetings and daily email updates.
Sammamish Symphony director retires
Longtime Sammamish Symphony Orchestra director R. Joseph Scott announced his retirement in December. He was the orchestra’s conductor and music director for more than 15 years. Adam Stern was named Scott’s replacement.
Sammamish council to reconsider funding to ARCH, SE 4th Street
The Sammamish City Council unanimously voted to reconsider the $100,000 donation to A Regional Coalition for Housing and the awarded $4.5 million to Southeast Fourth Street at the Dec. 8 meeting. Both were approved earlier in the year and part of the $220.5 million 2015-2016 budget approved Dec. 1. The incoming council will revisit the matters next year.
Kirkland-to-Issaquah light rail line given $3.3 billion price tag
The Sound Transit board had already been introduced in August to a proposed light rail line extending from Totem Lake to Issaquah via Bellevue. But the project wouldn’t be attached to a cost — potentially more than $3.3 billion — until December, when the board held its first workshop to begin crafting ST3, a voter package to expand regional light rail and rapid bus systems beyond the light rail projects currently scheduled for completion in 2023. The Sound Transit Board is currently on a path to complete ST3 by June in order to put it before voters in November.
Longtime EF&R chief signs off
Eastside Fire & Rescue Fire Chief Lee Soptich retires after a 15-year career as the organization’s chief. His last day was Nov. 30. Eastside Fire named Greg Tryon as the interim chief.
Sammamish solid waste contract on hold
An alleged math error and the alteration of city forms ruling out Waste Management’s solid waste contract for the city of Sammamish led the trash and recycling hauler to take legal action against the city Dec. 1. The city’s waste 2017-2025 contract is on hold.
LWSD fourth largest in the state
The Lake Washington School District was named the fourth largest in Washington state. Enrollment grew by more than 1,100 students in 2015; as of October, there were 27,830 students enrolled.
42nd Street barricade fails to open
The barricade that separates the Timberline and Hidden Ridge neighborhoods failed to open for a Redmond aid unit Nov. 25. The Opticom gate, installed as a temporary measure before the city incorporated, has been the subject of neighborhood tensions for years.
EF&R taps Arizona man for next fire chief
The Eastside Fire & Rescue board has made an offer in early December to Fire Chief Jeff Clark of the Chandler Fire, Health & Medical Department in Chandler, Arizona, to fill the open Eastside Fire chief position as soon as Feb. 1, 2016.
