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Wednesday, March 1, 2017 | 75 cents www.courierherald.com

Whats Inside District, parents meet

over Sumner pool closing
Views...................................Page 6
Plateau History................Page 7
Obituaries.........................Page 8
Sports.................................Page 15
Classified...........................Page 17
Officials say solutions arent perfect, but doing the best
Coming up... they can; parents start petition to save pool
Enumclaw High
School is hosting its By Ray Still bers appeared to leave the meeting
annual Empty Bowls Assistant Editor even more concerned that the swim
event Friday, March 3 program will weaken, or even stop,
from 4 to 7 p.m. Tickets With the Sumner High School after the pool closes.
cost $20 each, and pool expected to close in the next According to Thomsen and Chief
provide attendees with a year, the district held a community Financial Officer Debbie Campbell,
handmade ceramic bowl meeting last week to address the closing the pool has been a district
with which to use with concerns of students, parents and plan for years, only to finally hap-
community members who are wor-
a hot meal. Proceeds are
donated to Plateau Out-
Bodacious birds The
Enumclaw ried about the districts two swim
pen now that Sumner High School
is going through a major renova-
reach Ministries and the flock to Garden teams.
The message the district wanted
tion.
Enumclaw Food Bank.
Bonney Lake High
Enumclaw Club held
its annual to deliver was clear.
There are many reasons the pool
has to close, they said.
Breakfast We are going to keep all of our First, in order for the school to be
School is hosting a swim teams, District Athletic
5K fun run at 9 a.m. for the Birds event Feb. 22, which included remodeled, more space is needed
food, a silent auction, door prizes and a Director Tim Thomsen said Feb. 23, for parking in order for the school
Saturday, March 11 adding that the district has never
to raise money for the spectacular hat parade, all themed around to stay compliant with the city of
considered ending the swim pro- Sumners code.
upcoming Senior Night birds (except for the food). This years event
gram. Thomsen pointed out that
for the 2017 graduating included a presentation by Featherhaven, But the meeting seemed to do
class. Register at www. a local songbird sanctuary, about the Sumner High School serves 1,800
little to mollify the public, and
databarevents.com/ organization and what you can do to keep local instead, many community mem-
flashbackfunrun. birds safe and healthy. Photos by Ray Still SEE POOL, PAGE 3

Weather
Rain, rain and
more rain Six years for East Pierce seeks grant to hire 9 firefighters
fatal DUI crash
this week.
Wednesday has an 80 percent
chance of precipitation with By Ray Still fighters on its own. is not consistent with National Fire
a high of 45 and low of 36. Assistant Editor Currently, East Pierce employs 43 Protection Association guidelines,
Thursday expects to also be By Kevin Hanson East Pierce Fire and Rescue is career firefighter-paramedics and 62 Backer said, which recommends that
wet with a high of 47 and Senior Writer looking to hire nine new firefighters, firefighter-EMTs, as well as 27 vol- fire departments have at four fire-
low of 36. Friday, Saturday and is turning to the federal govern- unteers, who cover East Pierces 153 fighters to a fire engine or ladder
A plea arrangement has square-mile area from the edges of truck and two EMTs per medic unit.
and Sunday dont expect the been reached in the case of ment for help.
liquid sunshine to let up, with Last month, the department Buckley, past Sumner and up into According to Backer, none of East
an intoxicated teenage driver Edgewood and Milton. Pierces engines are staffed with four
highs in the low 40s and lows who crashed into a tree east of applied for a federal grant that would
around freezing. allow East Pierce to hire nine entry- Fire Chief Bud Backer said theres firefighters, and at the moment, only
Enumclaw, an accident result- a difference between the total num- the departments ladder truck has a
level firefighters to help address
Contact Us! ing in the death of a passenger.
Friday, the Pierce County staffing shortfalls. ber of career firefighters employed crew of three.
If the grant known as the Staffing and whats needed to be properly Because most of East Pierces
Main Desk Prosecutors Office accepted a
for Adequate Fire and Emergency staffed. engines only have two firefighters
360-825-2555 plea agreement from Bryson East Pierce operates three eight- per engine, they run the risk of com-
A. Stubbles, 19. Stubbles was Response grant (SAFER) is award-
Circulation ....................Press 1 ed to the department, it would cover hour shifts every 24 hours. Currently, ing up against the states two-in, two-
Classifieds......................Press 2 charged with one count of minimum staffing is 22 firefighters, out rule.
vehicular homicide for the 75 percent of the cost of hiring those
All others ......................Press 0 new firefighters in the first year. meaning there are, at the very least, The rule mandates that there
death of Paco Frees, 18, and 22 firefighters staffing the six fire must be four firefighters on scene
three counts of vehicular The grant would reduce over the
next two years, and by the fourth stations in the district. before firefighters can enter a burn-
assault. Frees was a passen- Those stations have either three or ing building two to go in and
year, East Pierce would be expected
to cover the cost of those nine fire- four career firefighters/EMTs there
SEE DUI, PAGE 21 at a time, and that few firefighters SEE EAST PIERCE, PAGE 4

2017 CAR & TRUCK GUIDE

MAR. 15

UPCOMING IN
MAR. 8

MARCH Spring Sports Preview To Advertise, call for

details: 360-825-2555 2017
www.courierherald.com Wednesday, March 1, 2017 THE COURIER-HERALD Page 3

POOL FROM 1 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. to 3:45

p.m., and three lanes from
district closing the Sumner
High School pool.
all except for the least pop-
ular or least feasible times.
3:45 p.m. to 4:15 free of Several expressed con- Even if we find a pool that
students on a 25 acre cam- charge. cern that swimmers will lets our kids practice during
pus, which may be the Thats potentially more leave the team if they have a viable time, our kids will
smallest 4A high school time than swimmers get now to be bussed to and from a end up being bussed, pos-
campus in the state, he said (practices run from 2:45 to 5 busy pool outside city lim- sibly long distances in com-
in an earlier interview. p.m.) but parents noted the its, because it would cut into muter traffic. Well certainly
To make room for park- YMCA doesnt have starting their academic and personal lose swimmers, either due to
ing, he continued, some blocks or a dive tank, essen- lives. inconvenience, lack of sleep
things like the pool tial materials for swimmers Some expressed doubts or plummeting grade point
have to go. and divers to practice with that a Bonney Lake pool averages.
The pool is also extremely for meets. would become a reality, Instead of sending swim-
old and running on its last To that effect, Thomsen despite reassurances from mers out, Terrell said Sumner
legs, Thomsen said. said he has contacted eight Many parents addressed their questions and concerns about the Campbell that she is as con- Bonney Lake Aquatics, who
Honestly, the boiler can different pools in neighbor- Sumner pool closing to Athletic Director Tim Thomsen at a meeting last fident as this pool being built has been partnering with
blow up tomorrow, and were ing school districts and com- Thursday. Photo by Ray Still as I am anything else that we the district in keeping the
done, he said at the meet- munities about using their do with public money. pool operational for the last
ing. The mechanics of that and the school board has discussions will take at least
pools, which come better Emily Terrell, the mother several years, has proposed
building theyre not the given the district permis- 6-9 months or so, at which
equipped for competitive of a Spartan freshman swim- providing temporary pool
kind of thing we can main- sion to talk to Bonney Lake point we should have a better
swimming. mer and one of the leaders of space out of existing vacant
tain much longer. about what the district can idea of what the plan looks
However, he was unable to the group resisting the pool warehouse space.
Campbell estimated it do financially to help speed like, costs and timelines.
give a definitive answer as to closure, expressed disap- On top of being a Spartan
would cost the district $15 up the process of building Johnson added that if the
whether these pools would pointment and skepticism parent, Terrell is also
to $20 million to build a new that pool. city has the funds to con-
be able to host Sumner of both the districts short the principal for Sound
pool, money the district did We are getting ready to struct the pool, he is willing
School District swimmers. term and long term plans for Municipal Consultants,
not ask voters for when it put formalize and finalize a very to slot pool construction as
The problem with being the swim teams during last which helps cities plan parks,
a $164 million bond issue on large financial commitment one of the first projects the
17 months out is that they weeks meeting. transportation and housing
the ballot in 2016. from Sumner School District city tackles at the park.
cant make a commitment, The district says theyve developments, according
Furthermore, she said to spearhead the building Currently, we have no
other than to say theyre spoken with eight other to her Linkedin account.
the district does not want to of a new pool at Midtown funds for a pool. Anything
willing to help us out, until pools this month to try to Additionally, she works as a
keep a pool at Sumner High Park, Campbell said, add- from the city would need to
they get a little bit closer, find space for our aquat- land use specialist and is a
School. ing that the district plans to come from a bond measure
to the pool closing deadline, ics program. They claim hearing examiner.
If we had the money to donate some of the $164 mil- of some kind, he wrote. It
Thomsen said, saying the they cant make real plans Based on this experience,
build a pool that the school lion bond money to the city. is possible a ballot measure
district should have a more because no one knows what Terrell said at the public
district owned and ran in Campbell wasnt specif- could be ready for Feb. 2018
specific plan by this fall. theyll be doing in 17 months meeting that she believes it
the future, it would not be ic as to how much money or April 2018, if the coun-
As for transportation, the when we need the pool for will take years for a pool to
at Sumner High School, the district would give to cil approves the master plan
district will do whatever the new swim season. That be built.
she said at the meeting. It Bonney Lake. and wants to move forward
it takes to get swimmers seems unlikely to me, she I know how long even a
would be on the hill, some- Johnson confirmed in an with a bond measure.
to and from practices and wrote in an email inter- fast tracked planning pro-
email interview that an ad
where around/with/ includ-
ed/part of Bonney Lake
meets, Thomsen said.
hoc committee will being STUDENT, PARENT view, addressing Sumners
plan to send swimmers to
cess takes For the initial
planning component, we can
High Schools campus or A FUTURE BONNEY meeting in March to put
together a plan for a pool at
RESISTANCE other pools for practices expect to take 18-24 months
that area.
Other reasons Campbell
LAKE POOL? Midtown Park.
Many of the students and
parents at last weeks meet-
and meets. The real issue is
probably the simple fact that
As for a long-term solu- The property is zoned for SEE POOL, PAGE 24
and Thomsen gave were ing were opposed to the these venues are already full,
tion for the districts swim public facilities and the city
that the swim teams use the
program, Thomsen and owns it. We have no ren-
pool for practice only 11 per-
Campbell announced that derings since we have yet to
cent of the time and that its
Bonney Lake Mayor Neil meet as an ad hoc committee
financially irresponsible to
Johnson has renewed his to discuss the WSU mas-
operate a pool with a YMCA
commitment to building a ter plan, he wrote. As for Prestige Senior Living Auburn Meadows
pool just down the street.
municipal pool in his city, a timeline, the master plan
Campbell said final design

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Page 24 THE COURIER-HERALD Wednesday, March 1, 2017 www.courierherald.com

POOL FROM 3 is that even if the project is success-

ful, it wont be available to any kid
out, a city survey showed that an
indoor swimming pool was the
The most deeply concerning
aspect of the districts long term EAST PIERCE FROM 4
currently attending middle school second-most popular item ranked plan is its high risk of failure, Terrell
or high school. Its possible their in the survey, and captured 50 per- wrote. The district has stated there
with consultant selection, design, than 1 percent, the fire levy
youngest siblings might get a chance cent of the No. 1 ranking votes in is no Plan B. Well, there is a Plan B.
public process and approval, she depreciated to $1.38 per
to use the new pool. the water features category of the Its simply failure.
wrote, adding that the funding pro- $1,000 in assessed value this
But its also possible that Bonney survey. Terrell has created a petition to
cess which includes seeking grants year.
Lake will be unable to fund a pool, That being said, given that an save the Sumner pool on thepe-
and levy preparation and con- Backer originally thought
she wrote, pointing to the metro- indoor swimming pool will be con- titionsite.com, and more than
struction could add four more years hed have to ask voters for a
politan parks district proposal vot- structed as part of the new Sumner 830 people have signed since last
to the process. At best, with the levy lid lift every two years,
ers voted down in 2009. YMCA and the high maintenance Monday.
stars aligned, our kids are looking but with the fire levy being
That was during the recession, cost of swimming pools, the city has There is also a Facebook page,
at a gap of at least five years before hit that hard, he expects to
and the economy has changed, she no capital plans to develop a stand- Sumners School Planners, for par-
a new, permanent aquatics facility ask voters for a fire lid lift this
added, and as the Bonney Lakes alone indoor or outdoor swimming ents and students to follow pool
is available to them. The likelihood year, and potentially another
2015 Comprehensive Plan points pool, chapter six, page 22 reads. updates.
lid lift in the third year of the
grant, if its awarded.
If East Pierce can collect
the full $2 in levies, and con-
struction growth is factored
in, Backer wrote the depart-
present ment can afford to cover the
costs of those nine new fire-
fighters by year four.
Im not going to do what
some departments have done
in the past, and hire folks
that I cant afford to keep
after the grant funding has
expired, he continued. If
were not collecting at that
rate, or near it, we should still
be able to keep the people, but
may slide back in the number
of firefighters on duty as we
wouldnt fill vacancies cre-
ated by retirements, which
we anticipate several in the
next five to seven years. That
would allow us to avoid lay-
offs, but at the cost of lower
service levels and decreased
safety.
However, district voters
may still see a Maintenance
and Operations levy or a Fire
Benefit Charge find their
way to an election ballot.
We dont have many
choices for seeking funds
due to statutory limitations,
Backer wrote. Honestly,
with rising need for more
units on the road, and the
potential of two or three new
stations in the next 10 or so
years, well probably have to
do that anyway.

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