Where do you work? Where do you go to fill your prescriptions, or

buy clothing or buy bulk foods? It is not in Carnation, and has not been for at

least 10 years. Not because of any lack of sewers, and therefore lack of

businesses, as the council would tell us. But because the majority of us

commute outside of our rural valley to places that are more populated

and have services that often are attached to large chain stores, and so, are

often less expensive. The majority of the residents of our town take full

advantage of the QFC, Ho Won, Blakes and Starbucks, all within a mall that

has its own sewer system. Will their rents go up, as the city declares that

since they are part of the city, they must contribute to the new system?

And Remlinger Farms. It is now almost a travesty to call it a

“farm.” What is the new moniker attached

to it? “Family Fun Park”? It is very convenient to be part of the city’s

footprint for police protection (and traffic control at Pumpkin Season). It is

very convenient to be part of the city, to be hooked up to sewer that we will all

pay for. And yet, we know that sewer services to the “Family Fun Park”

will daily get more use than any single-family residence would use in a

six-month period of time. What will their cost be?

When at one of the local sewer forums, I asked the county

representative if he had any documented proof of septic-system failure in town,

he hesitated and then said no.

We have no tax base and can barely support our schools and police

department. By further taxing the residents of town by adding a sewer

connection fee and monthly service fees, what is the expected gain? I cannot

imagine this town, due to flood-plain restrictions, growing with businesses.

Can you imagine another Duvall, sprawling over the hills and replacing

open territory with Safeway compounds? Is this why you live in Carnation?

Many, many residents understand the need for the downtown corridor

to be provided with a sewer system that will afford more growth, if it will

indeed come. But that consideration has never been considered. Mouthed

platitudes about it is only affordable if the whole city is involved (and we

should want it!).

Again, remember that no matter what your involvement has been

to date, you really do not have a voice to stand up against what has already

been decided by our city elders. When and if this comes to a vote, it will only

be a vote on how we will pay for it _ what bonds we approve. It is only

through your pocketbook that you might get the chance to oppose this

grandiose scheme coming to your town. The impact to environment, the impact

of the physical plant for the sewer placed on the flood plain, have all been

explained away. Sure, we can believe that swimming in the Snoqualmie River

is still safe and that the effluent discharged into the river has been

adequately treated. No thanks!

And the idea of affordable housing being a by-product of the

sewer installation makes me laugh. There are no cheap houses in Carnation

right now. If you tax the existing residents to the point of breaking, who is

going to pay for improvements? New people moving into the Valley to live. So

I remain your neighbor, for now, until the taxes take me away from this

one-time quiet, farm community.

Mitchell Zimmerman

Carnation