The King County Public Hospital District No. 4 board of commissioners approved the use of the Snoqualmie Valley Hospital’s East Campus for the annual Night on a Dark Trail fundraising event. The board also officially changed the location and dates of future board meetings.

The non-profit organization Night on a Dark Trail has requested the use of the hospital’s east campus property for Oct. 14, 15, 20, 21 and 22. As part of the approval process, the non-profit provided the district with a certificate of liability insurance. The board approved the property use request unanimously.

To improve the quality of the meetings and to use the hospital facilities, the board also approved a resolution to move the monthly meeting dates and location. The meetings were previously held on the first Thursday of each month at Snoqualmie City Hall. The new location will be at the Snoqualmie Valley Hospital on the second Thursday of the month.

The motivation behind this change was mostly due to the timing of the finance committee meetings, which are usually held at the beginning of every month after the previous month’s accounting has been finalized, giving staff very little time to prepare the proper documents for the commissioners before the board meeting.

Commissioner David Speikers explained this has been an issue in the past and this resolution would give the finance committee and the board of commissioners more time to collect and read the information before their meetings.

“I would like to get this little more time so we actually have time to look at the notes and the minutes from the finance meetings, get them approved and send them out to the rest of the board members ahead of time, not just one day or on the day of,” Speikers said. “I think that’s just a courtesy that should be done as well as for the public to have them to look at and ask meaningful questions at the board meeting.”

Commissioner Gene Pollard liked the idea as well, stating that improved communication will be important to the future of the hospital.

“It’s impossible to come up with a good set of minutes in two days, even less than that, and time to distribute to the board and the public,” he said. “This will allow that to happen, this will improve communications with our finance committee and that’s so critical.”

With the resolution approved, the next board meeting is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. on Oct. 13, at the Snoqualmie Valley Hospital.