Manchester Community Council www.manchesterwa.org

PO Box 173

Manchester, WA 98353-0173

“it’s a great place to live…”

Draft Minutes for MCC meeting of 8/26/08

Action Items:

1) Executive Board to forward MCAC proposal to County Commissioners

2) Add James Derry’s comments on the Perry Site project to the web-site.

3) Executive board to consider hosting a candidate’s forum for at least the Commissioner position.

Minutes:

The meeting was called to order by Chair, Carole Leininger at 6:30PM in the Manchester Library. Carole welcomed the 25 people (including 8 current members) in attendance.

Foundation Program announcements:

Manchester Community Association: Phil Paquette reminded us all that the next Manchester Street Clean-Up is scheduled for Saturday 9/27 from 9-Noon. Streets to be cleaned include Alaska, California, Beach, and Main. Colchester is currently being cleaned by the County using unpaid help.

Manchester Historical Society: No report.

Manchester Foundation: Ron Rada reported that the State license has been renewed.

Crime Prevention and Public Safety Group: Bud Larsen said the group continues to meet on Tuesday mornings at the Manchester Inn at 6:45AM. They continue to survey Port usage with about 2/3 of the boat launch users reporting to be from outside the Manchester area. The last survey will be conducted on 9/13. This group is also heavily involved with the Port Advisory Committee, dealing with issues such as Boat Launch lighting, shoreline restoration, and signage. The next Port Advisory Committee meeting will be held on Thursday 9/18 at 5:30PM in the Library (all are welcome to attend!).

Business meeting:

Review and approval of past meeting’s minutes: Minutes from the 5/27 meeting were approved as written.

Correspondence: None.

Reports:

Treasurer: The treasury balance is $595.11.

MCC Sub-Committee Reports:

-Sewers Sub-Committee: The petition for LID#9 will be presented to the County Commissioners in September.

-Downtown Design/Parking/Commitment: No report.

-Partnerships with other Agencies: No report.

-Recreational Venues/Pedestrians: No report.

-Village Commons: No report.

-Improve/Expand Parks: Survey data will be used for direction.

-Land Use: No report.

Old Business:

Ron Rada made a presentation on the formation of a Manchester Citizens’ Advisory Committee (MCAC) which would be our “Commissioner endorsed” communications link with the County. A draft of Ron’s proposal is available on the web-site. At the conclusion of his remarks, a motion was made and approved to take action on the proposal. The Executive Board will act on the proposal accordingly.

New Business:

Carole Leininger reported on the Woods View meeting which was held on 8/25. This is a development which proposes to build 78 rental units on 12 acres. One key issue is that this location has no sewer service. The developer has proposed to install an “intensive septic system” which has the acronym “LOSS” (Google says this stands for Large On-site Sewage System). The Beaver Creek Conservation Committee is opposed to the development. The next meeting by the County on this subject will be 9/27. A question from the floor asked if this is a public or private development. It is believed to be a private development.

James Derry, a Manchester resident then asked if he could take a few moments to discuss some concerns over the “Perry Site” development proposal. This is the project where several property owners have joined forces in an attempt to change the zoning contained in the Manchester Plan to allow denser housing to be built on 21 acres on the north end of Manchester near the recent Chaffey development. Mr. Derry’s complete comments will be added to our web-site and stored under minutes…from Perry site meeting 8-26-08.

Topics from the floor:

There was a suggestion that the MCC should organize a Candidates’ forum prior to the November election so we could at least see the candidates for County Commissioner. The executive board will take action on this request.

Mary Cathern Edwards presented a comment about preservation of our neighborhoods and how significant development is threatening our community.

Carrilu Thompson addressed the latest on the Tweeten project “Manchester Place” which is proposed for the area to the west of the Manchester Inn. This is proposed as a 35’ building with retail on the first floor and two stories of condos above. One key issue is traffic impact with the County proposing access/egress on Main St. The traffic study quoted in the proposal had expired in June of ’07 and there is fear that this added traffic could have significant impact on tanker traffic at that critical intersection. The SEPA review considered this project to be “non-significant”. Carrilu and Carole Leininger have filed an appeal on the project and are working to meet the County deadline on their appeal. A clarification was requested on the location of all current condo developments proposed for the commercial area of Manchester; they are “Anchors at Manchester” on the site of the old grocery and currently under construction, “Colchester Commons” on the former gas station site, “Spruce House” on the properties immediately to the south of the Post Office, and “Manchester Place”. All of these projects have been grandfathered to the 35’ height limit, which has been replaced with a 28’ height limit for all future projects which meets the intent of the original 2002 Manchester Plan.

There being no other discussion from the floor, Chairman Leininger adjourned the meeting at 7:48 PM.

Our next meeting will be Tuesday September 23rd at 6:30-8:30PM in the Manchester Library.

Carole Leininger and John Winslow will jointly develop an agenda for our next meeting for distribution with the reminder, several days before the meeting. If you have any additional items for the agenda, contact John Winslow prior to 9/12.

Respectfully submitted,

John Winslow, Acting Secretary-Manchester Community Council