The Greater Maple Valley Unincorporated Area Council’s regular monthly meeting was May 3. Three major topics were discussed, the proposed Covington Multi-Care hospital, the proposed master planned developments in Black Diamond and rural area impacts from urban development.
Covington Multi-Care Hospital
Hugh Kodama, administrator of the Covington MultiCare Urgent Care clinic, discussed the proposed expansion of the Multi-Care Clinic in Covington into a hospital. The MultiCare Health System has filed a certificate of need with the state Department of Health to build a 58-bed hospital with a 24-hour emergency department.
Kodama stated the new hospital will expand the services available and provide better access for residents in southeast King County. These new services will include a women’s and children’s center, childbirth services and expanded surgical services. New technologies will be employed including robotic-assisted surgeries and telemedicine.
The MultiCare plan provides for medical center expansion over the next five years with the emergency department by the end of 2011, a first phase of the new hospital with 34 beds by 2014 and a second phase with additional 24 beds by the end of 2015.
Kodama stated other facilities in SE King County also have notified DOH of their intentions to add additional beds. It will be up to DOH to make the final decision on where those added beds go.
The estimated cost of the project is $178.5 million. Kodama was asked about the source for those funds and stated MultiCare is a non-profit and intends to use private bonds and some of its own reserves to fund the expansion.
The DOH will be holding public hearings on the hospital needs for southeast King County later this year. More information can be found at: www.covingtonmedicalcenter.org.
Proposed Master-Planned Developments in Black Diamond
The hearing examiner released his recommendations on the YarrowBay-proposed Master Planned Development (MPD) applications in Black Diamond. Those recommendations will now go to the Black Diamond City Council, which will make the final decision to accept, modify or reject them. Area council chair, Steve Hiester, and several members attended the hearings, as well as offered public testimony. Specific concerns remain the impacts of urban development both directly and indirectly on the rural area and its citizens.
The Black Diamond City Council will hold closed record (no new information allowed) hearings on the MPD applications. The hearings will be open to the public. Only those who testified at the recently completed MPD hearings will be able to address the City Council at the closed record hearings. The schedule for these hearings will be established at the Thursday, May 20, City Council meeting.
Once the Black Diamond City Council makes a decision on the MPD applications, work will begin on the development agreement. Here, Yarrow Bay will prepare their plan to meet any conditions placed on the MPD Applications by the City Council. This plan will be negotiated with city staff. Once the development agreement is complete, open record hearings will be held. These will be open to the public and testimony will be taken from any members of the public who wish to speak.
The timing on the development agreement is somewhat dependent on the breadth of the conditions placed on the MPD applications. Members of the public can check the city of Black Diamond
website for hearing dates at.
• Rural area impacts
The council’s Growth Management Committee Chair Peter Rimbos and Transportation Committee Chair Gordon Moorman described their committees’ joint effort to review King County Code to address potential rural area impacts from large urban developments. This was precipitated by the recently completed set of hearings on the YarrowBay-proposed 6,000-home master planned developments in Black Diamond.
The objective of the effort is to provide specific code change recommendations to the King County executive and King County Council to protect the rural area from massive urban development and its overflow” (intentional or not). This effort, by necessity, also will review applicable county comprehensive plan provisions and the state’s Revised Codes of Washington (RCWs).
The committees have already met jointly twice and have begun their review of county code Titles 7 – parks and recreation; 9 – surface water management; 10 – solid waste; 13 – water and sewer systems; 14 – roads and bridges; 16 – building and construction standards; 17 – fire code; 20 – planning; 21A – zoning and 26 – agricultural and open-space lands. Three subcommittees have been created and each are working on specific county code titles.
The joint committees’ effort is planned to be completed in July. Final recommendations and supporting rationale will be reviewed by the full Area Council at its July 12 monthly meeting. Area Council recommendations will be presented to the King County executive and King County Council later in the summer to coincide with the county’s annual budget cycle.
• The next regular monthly meeting is 7-9 p.m. Monday June 7 at the King County Sheriff’s precinct No. 3, 231st Street and state Route 169, across from the fire station.
The council meets on the first Monday of each month (except on legal holidays) at the sheriff’s precinct. Each meeting begins with a public comment period to provide local citizens with the opportunity to voice issues of concern to council members and King County or state officials in attendance.
Comments on the council business may be submitted to gmvac_chair@hotmail.com or GMVAC, P.O. Box 101, Maple Valley, WA 98038. Visit the
