By Casey Steiner

The Courier-Herald

Residents of Buckley have a lot to look forward to in 2005.

"It's going to be an exciting, big, big year for Buckley," City Administrator David Schmidt said. "We have a number of very big projects to be completed in 2005."

Highlighting a long list for the coming year are the Main Street improvement project and wastewater treatment plant improvements.

"Those are two major projects for a city of this size and we're doing them both in the same year," Schmidt said.

The Main Street project calls for complete reconstruction of the street, sidewalk and landscape. Once the final design is agreed upon, the city hopes to break ground and complete the project this summer.

There are a few unknowns remaining for the upgrade in the treatment plant. The city has yet to complete agreements or confirm all funding partners. Potential funding sources or partnerships include the Rainier School, the city of Enumclaw, state of Washington, the Department of Energy and future developers. Once completed, the city hopes the upgrade will not only benefit current residents, but will help the city financially by drawing new development to the area.

Mayor John Blanusa has a list of 25 projects to begin or complete in 2005. Besides the Main Street project and the treatment plant, the other big budget items to be completed are construction of the new youth center, extension of the Foothills Trail, reconstruction of Ryan Road and a new roof and fence at the water storage reservoir.

The city hopes to receive grant funding from the Department of Housing and Urban Development for the construction of the youth center which will be placed next to the multi-use skate park currently under construction.

A potential grant from the state's Interagency Committee for Outdoor Recreation for the extension of the Foothills Trail to the White River looks promising; however, the awarding of the grant depends primarily on legislative appropriation in the next year's state budget. The city has received a high-ranking for the IAC grant, but a couple of the cities believed to have received a higher ranking for their projects are asking for large sums of money. This means the number of grants might decrease from prior years as a few grants eat up the bulk of the money available.

The city has been awarded $500,000 in grant money from the Transportation Improvement Board to complete the reconstruction of Ryan Road from the Willow Glen Apartments to Spiketon Road.

"I believe that this budget, as in years past, demonstrates our commitment to accountable and responsible governance," Blanusa said in his 2005 budget message. "We continue to operate in a spirit of cooperation and openness that we hope develops trust and respect from those we serve."

The mayor's entire 2005 budget message can be read on the home page of the city's Web site at www.cityofbuckley.com.

Casey Steiner can be reached at csteiner@courierherald.com.