2009/03/25 Council Agenda Packet

Planning Commission December 9,2008 Pg. 5 Meeting Minutes 250 feet wide and there is an agreement with Diking District#1 made over twenty years ago that the City of Everett would maintain a free water flow boundary through the area and he felt that there was an encroachment in that area. Historically, Bigelow Creek was deep and wide, and provided great salmon habitat. In the 1940's, Walton Lumber Company dumped their sawdust and scrap in the Wetland area which provided for very little plant growth. He felt it would be difficult to provide habitat for a forested wetland in that area without special help given the history. He would like to propose that the plaza be named the John Sexton plaza after an early architect in the area. He showed a picture of a flooded area and stated that is what the Simpson site will look like after the River does its job. 8:20:47 PM Jackie Minchew, 5607 S 2"d Avenue, chair of Lowell Civic Association, stated that his group met with Dongho Chang, the City's traffic engineer, on the Broadway corridor improvements and asked if any consideration had been given to peak oil and Mr. Chang responded no. He was concerned about global warming and climate change. He is not opposed to the proposal but { was concerned about the 100 million dollars that had been invested on the site and portions of the site that have been sold for only about 8 million dollars. He was concerned about growth projections and the recent reports that indicate that we may have as few as 8 years to act upon radical reductions in green house gas emissions. As for peak oil, according to projections that he has read we may have as few as three years before extreme economic and social consequences begin to arise from the energy environment. Both of these circumstances pose risks to the completion of this project. The way things are now are not the way they will be 10, 20, or 50 years from now. Changes in the cost and availability of energy resources as well as changes in climate and weather patterns will negatively impact our lives. With regard to the Riverfront Project, he would like Planning Commission to consider whether negative economic growth over a protracted period of years might limit Oliver McMillan's ability to maintain the site with regard to subsidence over a period of 50 years. Consider also whether such conditions might keep people from buying property on the site if our economy does not turn around. 8:29:45 PM Dave Mascarenas, 517 Laurel Drive, speaking on behalf of the Everett Shoreline Coalition, referred Commissioners to Page 9 of the report. The group has always been concerned about the dredging and filling of wetlands, so the Wetland C restoration proposal is a great improvement. He liked the language in goal 2 regarding modeling/engineering and third party review by local experts. He asked Commissioners to turn to page C-3, and asked if the arrow indicating tidal influences up to 1908 was Bigelow Creek? Mr. Koenig responded yes. Mr. Mascarenas then asked how the new restoration proposal was going to affect Bigelow Creek. He commented that in the June 2008 FEIS, the west ditch and middle ditch were identified; however, the addendum does not address those. He asked how those two would be affected by the Wetland C restoration. Mr. Koenig stated that in the overall EIS, the goal is to open that up so more water is flowing through that area into the Wetland C area. They also propose to enhance along the railroad tracks next to the wetland and enhance the edge of the wetland. Mr. Mascarenas asked about a timeframe. Mr. Koenig stated that there is no timeframe at this point and it will happen as Oliver McMillan develops the site, there will be mitigation as it relates to their project. The City projects will be done overtime as funding is obtained. Mr. Mascarenas asked Mr. Koenig if a meeting could be scheduled regarding changes that have been made over time on the original agreement. Mr. Koenig stated that the agreement Mr. Mascarenas is referring to is the 41st