At the May 14 Chamber of Commerce Luncheon, Sammamish City Manager Ben Yazici told community members that the state of the city is strong.
“Sammamish is kind of on a roll,” Yazici said at the Chamber luncheon.
Sammamish has 1.4 full-time employees per 1,000 people, which may seem low compared to neighboring cities, Yazici said, but the city relies heavily on contracts.
“We don’t need specialized services,” Yazici said. “If we need it, we can get it, but we don’t need it on a full-time basis.”
One area the city relies on contracting for is fire service. Yazici said that through negotiations with Eastside Fire and Rescue and partnering agencies, the city was able to lower the cost of fire services and they are happy with the end result. Sammamish’s new 7-year agreement with EFR will begin in 2015 and will save the city $400,000 per year.
However Yazici said that an area the city does need to improve in is revenue. In 2012, the city had $449 per capita in expenditures and $651 per capita in revenue. The same year, Issaquah had $942 per capita in expenditures and $999 per capita in revenues and Redmond had $1,404 per capita in expenditures and $1,540 per capita in revenues.
“Not only is it important to be efficient, we have to be efficient,” Yazici said.
Other discussion topics included the 68,000 square feet and $34.5 million Community and Aquatic Center, which will break ground in June. The Center will be operated by the YMCA.
Klahanie was also mentioned – Yazici said that while there are several important steps before actual annexation can happen, the city is hoping to put the issue on the 2015 ballot. If Klahanie residents choose to annex to Sammamish, Yazici said benefits will include better services, lower taxes, better roads and regional cooperation.
Yazici also spoke about the Town Center. Since 2006, the community has been in the process of crafting a plan for the center. The council adopted a vision statement on March 7, 2006 and also adopted a preferred alternative on April 17, 2007. These policy decisions by the council have guided the planning process to date. The Planning Commission is now undertaking its review and listening to public testimony.
Town Center is roughly bounded on the north by East Main Street, on south by Southeast Eighth Street, on the east by 233rd Avenue Southeast and on the west by 222nd Street Southeast. The area includes the 30-acre Sammamish Commons project, City Hall, the youth skate park, 20-acres of open space and a play area with trails and picnic facilities.
“We are getting some serious proposals,” Yazici said.
However, Yazici said there are still some serious issues with the project, such as property rights and environmental issues. National regulations that begin in January of 2017 will complicate project implementations, Yazici said, so they’re hoping to get everything going beforehand. These complications would require the city to establish a tight line, which is a solid pipe/wall designed to transport water, in order to bypass the wetland — a requirement that is very expensive, Yazici said.
“We’re doing it to create a sense of place,” Yazici said. “Hopefully we’ll get something started soon.”
Yazici said that he thinks the city will have something going in about six months.
At the end of his presentation, those in attendance were able to ask questions, varying from power lines inquiries to concerns over the East Lake Sammamish trail project.
“As long as we have the council we have and as long as we have the citizens we have, I am very confident we will have a great city in the decades to come,” Yazici said.
Kelly Montgomery: 425-391-0363; kmontgomery@issaquahreporter.com
