Community center bond levy increases to $9 million

Published 1:17 pm Thursday, October 2, 2008

SNOQUALMIE – The Snoqualmie City Council approved an ordinance at its Monday, Sept. 9, meeting allowing the city to issue up to $9 million in voter-approved bonds to pay for a proposed community center.

The ordinance, which passed by a 4-1 vote, is $2 million higher than supporters expected the city to pay when fund raising for the $9.7 million community center began earlier this summer.

An additional $500,000 was added as a friendly amendment to the original $8.5 million ordinance on the agenda by Councilman Greg Fullington. He suggested the council raise the amount due to concerns about fund raising.

Volunteers, who hope to eventually raise $1.5 million in donations toward construction of the center, have so far raised $145,670.

Community center supporters, however, remained optimistic about the bond levy’s chances of being passed.

A roundtable discussion earlier in the evening dealt with ways of cutting the $350,000 deficit the community center is expected to cause in maintenance and operations costs every year, caused by expenses outpacing revenues.

For the complete story, pick up a copy of this weeks Valley Record