Buckley residents confront council over rumors of cemetery expansion

Published 1:26 pm Thursday, December 11, 2008

By Jessica Keller, The Courier-Herald

A rumored expansion of the Buckley Cemetery to include an empty field north of the National Guard Armory brought an uproar from concerned residents of the nearby Copperwynd housing development and left city officials bewildered.

Copperwynd residents spoke at the April 27 City Council meeting about the supposed expansion, and some even sent fiery letters of disapproval to council members and city officials prior to the meeting denouncing the idea of expanding the cemetery.

The residents' concerns stemmed from an initial belief the land was intended to be used as a park and their dismay the land could be used as an extension of the cemetery.

According to the April edition of the Copperwynd newsletter, the cemetery-or-park issue arose because some homeowners were told by real estate agents the field on River Road would someday become a park; others were reportedly told the builder of the development had put $750 per house into a fund to build a park at that location.

According to the newsletter, in early April a homeowner was told by a city official no park was planned for that area, but the land would be used for an expansion of the cemetery. The homeowner apparently had inquired because the city's Parks Board will be making a recommendation to the Buckley Planning Commission May 17, updating the city's long range parks plan.

This provoked an outcry from various citizens who do not want the cemetery expanded to River Road and would prefer the land be used for a park, especially if the Foothills Trail is extended to the White River and a bridge is built.

"I think it would be a natural extension to put the park there," said Brian Pring, a Copperwynd resident opposed to the cemetery expansion.

But Copperwynd resident Rhonda Madison told the council not all Copperwynd residents feel that way. She said the decision to oppose the expansion was made without a Copperwynd Association meeting and wasn't representative of everyone in the development. Madison said she and her husband never heard of plans for a park to be built across from the development nor that money had been set aside to build a park there. She also said any impact fees the developer paid should go toward all city parks, just like the fees paid by other Buckley taxpayers, and not just toward a park to satisfy some Copperwynd residents.

Council members, however, stated definitively no formal decision has been made on how the land will be used, nor has the city even come close to deciding.

Councilman Randy Reed said during the past few years the council has discussed using the land for a variety of things, including a White River School District bus barn, a skateboard and multipurpose park, a trailhead for the Foothills Trail and as a possible expansion to the cemetery. Even if the council decides to expand the cemetery, it is likely a park will also be built because the Foothills Trail is planned to run through part of the cemetery and will likely include a park near the river.

Councilwoman Pat Johnson addressed the issue of money being set aside for a park at that location. Prior to the construction of the Copperwynd development, she said, the developer opted to pay impact fees (per house) rather than building a park within the development. That money went into the general parks fund for the city, used to pay for all the city parks, she said.

Johnson added, whatever the land is used for, the cemetery is at least five or six years away from being at capacity. If the council decides to expand the cemetery to include that land, Johnson said, the cemetery probably would not be visible from the Copperwynd development or River Road. In that event, she hopes the City Council would decide to plant trees or construct berms around the perimeter of the site.

Council members also expressed their dismay that real estate agents told homeowners the land would be used for a park because they were not speaking for or representing the city.

"I was just really angry at how things were misrepresented to the homeowners because it just puts the city into a bad light," Johnson said.

Also at the meeting the council:

€ heard a proposal from Buckley resident Mont Schroeder to install a suspension foot bridge to accommodate foot and horse traffic over the White River for the Foothills Trail project. Schroeder, a laid-off Boeing engineer, drew up preliminary designs of his vision, which he presented to the council, explaining how the suspension footbridge would attract attention and tourism to the Buckley area. Schroeder told the council he would be presenting his ideas to Enumclaw representatives this week. The council expressed interest in the idea, but took no action.

€ heard a proposal from Foothills Historical Society representative David Meshke to add a railroad track and storage shed to the city-owned property the Foothills museum uses for displays. Meshke said the old track, which the society has already received from a railroad company, would run about 250 feet in length and would be a nice addition to the rest of the display, celebrating Buckley's ties to the railroad and logging. City Council members liked the idea, but the proposal was sent to committee to discuss insurance issues.

€ passed an ordinance naming different business application fees for type A and type B home occupation businesses. At the April 13 council meeting, the City Council passed an ordinance differentiating between home businesses that have the potential to affect the surrounding neighborhood and those that don't. At the April 27 meeting, the council amended the fees for each type, stating type B home occupations, which could affect the surrounding neighborhood and must go through the conditional use process, pay a higher fee than type A home occupations, which will be subject to the standard business license fee of $50.

€ authorized applying for a grant from the state's Interagency Committee for Outdoor Recreation for the Buckley Foothills Trail extension project. The cost for the trail completion is estimated to be $248,000. If Buckley receives the grant, it would have to pay 50 percent of the cost, or $124,000.

€ authorized submitting a grant for a project that would realign the intersection of Ryan Road, state Route 410 and state Route 165. If the grant were approved, the city would have to pay $432,000 with close to $3 million coming from federal funding.

€ approved applying for a $2 million Public Works Trust Fund Construction Loan for the wastewater treatment plant project.

€ appointed Shawn Roehr, Buckley Chamber of Commerce representative, and James Montgomery, citizen representative, to the Community Development Committee.

Jessica Keller can be reached at jkeller@cmg-northwest2.go-vip.net/courierherald