The giant sandbags along the Green River trail in Kent are coming down.
That’s one of the messages Kent Mayor Suzette Cooke delivered during her seventh annual State of the City address Wednesday at the Kent Chamber of Commerce monthly membership luncheon at the ShoWare Center.
“We know the giant sandbags will come down this summer,” Cooke said.
Cooke admitted, however, that the city still needs to figure out how it’s going to pay for the estimated $3 million project to remove the sandbags.
“We can all celebrate that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers announced it can operate Howard Hanson at full capacity,” she said. “But we do have work to do to find $3 million to take the sandbags down and open up the Green River trail.”
King County paid for the installation of the sandbags in the fall of 2009 through its King County Flood Control District. Kent received $2.59 million from the county to place nearly 17,000 sandbags along 12 miles of levees to heighten the levees and help protect the city from flooding in case the then-damaged Hanson Dam could not hold back enough water.
No heavy rainstorms struck since the January 2009 storm that damaged an abutment next to the dam, so the bags were never tested.
But while King County paid for the placing of the sandbags, part of its agreement with the cities was the cities would have to pay for the removal of the bags.
Cooke hopes the flood district board, which is composed of the members of the King County Council, reconsiders that stand and votes to fund removal of the sandbags.
The mayor even joked that Kent City Council President Dennis Higgins should pass around a bowl at the Chamber luncheon to collect money to get rid of the sandbags.
Cooke later took on a topic that had many of the Chamber members shaking in their seats. She said the city needs new revenue sources to maintain infrastructure. She tossed out possibilities of a business and occupation tax, transportation benefit district tax and a business head tax. She asked the audience to respond to the suggestions.
Based on crowd reaction, Cooke determined the business and occupation tax is out but the other two taxes might be ones the city should consider for adoption by the council.
“You’ve got to work with us,” Cooke said to the Chamber members about finding ways to raise more revenue. “You cannot just pay your dues, sit back and then moan if things do not go your way.
“This is your city,” she said. “If you don’t want responsibility of your city don’t email me with gripes but be part of the solution or I guarantee you, you will pay.”
Cooke called up several community leaders to the podium near the end of her speech in an effort to emphasize cooperation among all to do what’s best for Kent.
Cooke said she looks forward to downtown construction in the fall by Seattle-based Goodman Real Estate of a five-story, mixed-use development with as many as 164 apartments where the half-built parking garage used to stand at the corner of West Smith Street and Fourth Avenue.
She also hopes the city is successful in its pursuit of the Federal Aviation Administration’s new West Coast headquarters. The FAA delayed its initial decision, but will receive proposals this month and is expected to choose a site later this year for offices for about 2,000 employees.
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