City engineer Emily Flanagan gave Council an overview of the Evans Creek Relocation project November 9th 2021. She quoted a total cost of the project at $18,450,000. Grants totaled $850,000. In 2013, $910,868 was approved for a relocation consultant at a Council regular meeting
Thus, the total price tag for relocation, including grants is 18,510,868 (not counting legal fees from lawsuits with "Union Shares." The $910,868 was paid for a preliminary design and to secure permits to relocate 3500 feet of Evans Creek channel out of SE Redmond Industrial area into adjacent open space to the north and east.
BENEFIT: Redevelopment of some aspects of SE Redmond Industrial will be economically feasible with removal of the stream and buffer from it's present location. In addition, passive recreation along the Bear-Evans Creek trail to Perrigo Park will be enhanced since the new channel will share the same open space with the trail.
BENEFIT: Evans Creek is a Class One salmon bearing stream but is impacted by adjacent industrial development with untreated run-off and untreed, paved buffers less than 50 feet wide in some places. Class One stream buffers are supposed to be 200 feet wide but 50 foot buffers have been grandfathered in SE Industrial Redmond. Evans Creek Relocation is listed as a priority in the WRIA 8 Chinook Conservation Plan owing to the wealth of habitat in the upper reaches of Evans Creek. With the relocation Chinook and Coho will be able to swim from the confluence of Bear-Evans Creeks to the upper reaches of the watershed.
According to Ms. Flanagan, the project will take two summers to complete. Expected completion time is 2024.
In 2013 it was estimated the total cost for the relocation is $7.6 Million and is funded by City of Redmond Capital Improvement Projects fund. That's a far cry from $18M. CM David Carson didn't give the source of the funds.
-- Bob Yoder, 2013 Council memo, 11/9/2021, Council Committee meeting.
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| It's about time (2021) Evans is relocated away from this industrial mess! |
Years past, I was obsessed by the filth draining into Evans Creek. It's one of the reasons I decided to blog. Years ago, I arranged a tour of the site for KCC Kathy Lambert, CM David Carson, and CM Hank Myers. Jon Spangler, the City Natural Resources Manager gave the tour. I thought they were interested in the pollution but it was more than that. Myers and Carson left the tour early when we got close to the All Wood Recycling office. B.Y.
"adjacent industrial development with untreated run-off"
ReplyDeleteHow is this allowed???
And now Redmond taxpayers are on the hook for $18MM+ to move a stream away from pollution. What does the polluter pay? Do they have to clean up their act?
Evans Creek is not being relocated into Open Space. It is being relocated on to private land which the City of Redmond sued my family to take possession of that land to relocate Evans Creek away from the Industrial properties. The Open Space is an EASEMENT the City of Redmond sued to take ownership of where now the private land owner has not access to that 10.2 acres but we still do own it and we still do pay taxes on the land and we still have no say in how the Creek is being designed to further flood the remainder of our property.
ReplyDeleteThought a little bit of fact should be injected into the story Of Evans Creek Relocation in Redmond Washington. By the way the land the Creek is being relocated on to is not City of Redmond land (not inside the city limits) It is Unincorporated King County zoned land that the City has taken into its fold to design however it chooses to change the topography of that land still privately owned.
The City Code Enforcement Officer was notified of the truck dripping oil 5 feet from the creek and several agencies came in to clean up some of the damage. A big problem is the "50 foot" buffer that was grandfathered in. The buffer should have been 200 feet. All Wood Recycling was dumping concrete waste in or near the creek. R.I.C.E. was organized by the industries to lobby for City favors.
ReplyDeleteI phoned and emailed a City official to confirm my 2013 report of economic redevelopment feasibilities. He didn't respond. The statement below is from a "geocacher" (of all people) which sounds plausible. I'm not going to edit this article until I hear from the official.
ReplyDelete"The City of Redmond hopes to one day relocate that stream away from the industrial area within the City and into the natural wetland area that you see before you. This wetland area is outside of the City limits in unincorporated King County and **King County environmental regulations protect this natural area from development,** so it makes for an ideal location for the stream. The proposed project would improve the stream habitat and at the same time improve the wetland habitat that is currently a monoculture of reed canary grass."
One question I expect the consultant to address is whether the altered route will have sufficient slope to maintain stream flow in the summer, and support returning salmon runs in the fall. When the route is lengthened with the same net drop in elevation, flow can be reduced. Bear Creek is not a very fast flowing creek now.
ReplyDelete