Snoqualmie set to take over 158-acre park
Published 10:55 am Thursday, October 2, 2008
The City of Snoqualmie is about to get a little roomier.
King County will hand over 158 acres of undeveloped county park property near Meadowbrook Farm.
The parcel, which was formerly a portion of the Three Forks Natural Area, is located within the city. The majority of the land is right across the street from Meadowbrook Farm and Centennial Fields Park, north of Park Street and is bisected by the King County Trail north of the Mount Si Golf Course.
Mayor Fuzzy Fletcher said the King County Council was expected to approve the interlocal transfer agreement, known as proposed substitute ordinance 2004-0462, on June 20.
Fletcher said Snoqualmie has no plans to develop the land.
“That was part of the deal between county and city, that it needs to stay the way it is. We will maintain it as they’ve maintained it,” Fletcher said.
The county hasn’t done “zip” with the land in years and basically just wanted to get rid of it, Fletcher said. A couple years back when the county was trying to rid itself of excess parks to save money, Fletcher figured this piece of land would be a good addition to the city.
“This was a King County park in the boundary of the city. I thought it would be a good addition to the other things we have. There’s no intention of the city spending any money on it,” Fletcher said.
The city is gaining the land free of charge.
Originally, King County wanted to build a trail, parking lot and restrooms – and have Snoqualmie pay for maintaining them. Fletcher wouldn’t have it.
“I said who will play for policing, picking up the parking lot, making sure sanitation cans are standing up straight after kids knock them over? They wanted us to pay for the park. I don’t think so,” Fletcher said.
In order to keep that from happening, Snoqualmie wanted to acquire the land, which it will leave open to benefit the public.
“I said hey, let’s go get it and keep King County out of here,” Fletcher said.
The transfer agreement provides for King County to transfer ownership of the facility within 30 days after the effective date of the agreement.
