UPDATED — 11:50 a.m. Dec. 16, 2010

Newcastle Golf Club Road — which closed Monday between 136th Avenue Southeast and 155th Avenue Southeast due to a landslide that extended to the road — opened to traffic in both directions Wednesday evening.

The road had been closed because a gas line runs through the area, and city maintenance workers, Puget Sound Energy workers and construction contractors dumped about 1,000 tons of rocks on the slope Tuesday to stabilize the hillside. Engineers cleared the road prior to its reopening.

The slide did not cause any injuries or property damage. The stabilization was a temporary repair, and city engineers are working to identify a long-term repair to the hillside, City Manager Rob Wyman said.

City maintenance workers are now finishing work associated with the landslide, and they will soon shift their focus to other storm damage. Trees were blown down across the city, and Southeast 89th Place and homes on the north end of Lake Boren sustained flooding.

“If you have any specific concerns or know of anyone who has any storm-related damage, please don’t hesitate to pass it along so we can respond,” Wyman wrote in a news release Tuesday evening.

Call City Hall at 649-4444 to report storm damage.

NEW — 4:15 p.m. Dec. 15, 2011

King County officials warned residents about a possible email scam Thursday, after the county received calls from people about a bogus online property tax payment.

The callers reported receiving false confirmation of online property tax payments made through the King County e-commerce system. The county did not send the emails, and the county’s e-commerce system has not been compromised.

“It appears that someone copied our standard payment confirmation email and altered the header in the email so that it appears to be from King County,” county Chief Information Officer Bill Kehoe said in a statement. “These messages did not come from King County, and the recipients have not made any payments with us.”

The county encourages residents to practice safe computing habits. If a property owner has not made a King County tax payment via the online system, but received a notification email fromKingCountyEcommerce@kingcounty.gov, he or she should delete the message and not open any attachments.

“We have robust protections on all of our information technology systems,” Kehoe said. “The email addresses did not come from our database. Residents can rest easy, knowing that their personal information is secure.”

The county released the information about the email after Puget Sound Energy alerted customers to a similar scam involving utility bills.

NEW — 4:30 p.m. Dec. 15, 2011

Puget Sound Energy warned customers to beware a fraudulent email meant to mimic a bill-payment notification. The bogus email does not affect PSE customer accounts.

The email resembles the notice PSE sends to online-billing customers when a utility bill is ready to be viewed and paid. The message contains PSE’s logo and some legitimate links to the utility’s website.

The phony email has reached some PSE customers, plus people in other states. The email is part of a nationwide phishing scam.

In email billing notifications, PSE always addresses customers by their full name rather than using “Dear Customer” — a clue of the fraudulent email. Another indication of the false email is the boldfaced message, “Refer to the attached file.”

PSE’s website advises customers to take the following steps if they receive the bogus email. Customers should not click on the link in the email or open any attachments. Then, they should delete the email notice immediately.

PSE customers should call 1-888-225-5773 if they have questions or want to learn more.

Bellevue-based PSE serves more than 1 million electric customers and almost 750,000 natural gas customers in Western Washington, including Newcastle.

Puget Sound Energy is offering simple spring-cleaning tips to help customers save money, increase recycling options and stay safe.

Bellevue-based PSE recommends for customers to:

• Ditch old bulbs. If a compact fluorescent light bulb burns out, do not toss it into the garbage or recycling bin. PSE offers free recycling at businesses in Western Washington. Find a complete list at www.pse.com/bulbrecycling. 
• Host a bulb recycle box at your workplace. Materials from compact fluorescent and incandescent bulbs — including glass, circuitry, aluminum and plastic — can all be recycled and reused. Sign up to host a recycling box at www.pse.com/bulbdrive.  
•  Dump your old fridge or freezer. Customers can sign up at www.pse.com/recycling to have the utility haul away outdated refrigerators and freezers for free. Customers receive $20 for participating in the recycling program.
•  Try LED bulbs. Though compact fluorescent bulbs offer energy efficiency and a long lifespan, the LED technology is more efficient and can last up to 25 years. PSE electric customers can receive up to a $10 rebate on Energy Star-qualified LED bulbs at participating retailers. Find a list at www.pse.com/leds. 
•  Call 811 before digging: If springtime outdoor projects include building a new fence or deck, planting trees and shrubs, or even pulling out a tree stump, please remember to contact the 811 Call Before You Dig hotline two business days prior to your project to help prevent serious injuries or potential hazards from striking or damaging underground utilities.

Puget Sound Energy is providing contractor referrals to residential electric customers interested in installing home solar-electric photovoltaic systems

Bellevue-based PSE added 14 solar installers to the Contractor Alliance Network — a group of independent contractors prescreened by the utility to perform energy-related home improvement.

Customers interested in installing a solar-power system and in need of a contractor can receive estimates from contractors when they request a referral at www.pse.com or by calling 1-800-562-1482 toll free.

In addition to installing customers’ home solar-power systems, contractors can help customers prepare interconnection and production payment documents necessary to participate in PSE’s net metering program.

Overall, more than 1,000 PSE electric customers have had solar-power systems installed and connected to the grid — up from a little more than 500 such systems in early 2010. The total generating capacity from customer-owned solar-power systems is more than 5 megawatts, compared to 2 megawatts in early 2010.

Customers can receive a 30 percent federal tax credit and other financial incentives for installing a solar-power system.

The state provides another incentive, administered by PSE through Renewable Energy Advantage Program. The state incentive pays customers for every kilowatt of power produced by solar-power systems.

Puget Sound Energy has filed a request with Washington state regulators to increase natural gas rates for the upcoming winter season by an overall 1.5 percent, effective Nov. 1.

If approved by the Utilities and Transportation Commission, the proposed purchased gas adjustment will increase a typical household’s natural gas bill (based on 68 therms of average monthly usage over a 12-month period) by 1.4 percent, or $1.07, to $78.55.

That is about what PSE customers were paying in 2010. Commercial rates would increase by about 1.6 percent.

The increase reflects a reduction of a credit included in current rates for the cost of natural gas supplies PSE purchased for customers. While domestic supplies of natural gas are abundant, the wholesale price of natural gas has increased slightly in the past year.

The purchased gas adjustment is a UTC-approved mechanism that allows Washington state’s natural gas utilities to periodically adjust rates, up or down, to reflect changes in the price of the natural gas supplies that utilities purchase and deliver to customers. PSE does not financially profit or lose on the cost of natural gas purchased for customers.

NEW — 4:05 p.m. March 31, 2014

The Newcastle City Council is expecting a full house at its April 1 meeting, when it hosts representatives from Puget Sound Energy.

Puget Sound Energy will be on hand to answer questions about its Energize Eastside project. The project, in response to the region’s growing power needs, will bring new higher capacity electric transmission lines to the Eastside.

The new lines will extend from a substation in Redmond to Renton, but the exact route the lines will take is currently unknown. One of the proposed routes directly affects the Olympus neighborhood. Several residents plan on attending the April 1 meeting.

Also on the agenda is another discussion about marijuana legalization and its impact on the city of Newcastle. In December, the council decided against imposing a marijuana moratorium, electing instead to employ a wait-and-see approach when it comes to the drug.

View the full agenda here.

NEW — 3 p.m. April 2, 2014

The Newcastle City Council held its first meeting of the month April 1. Here is the Cliffs Notes version of what happened at City Hall. View the full meeting agenda online here.

Energize Eastside

In what was the most well-attended City Council meeting of the last two years, much of the time was dominated by discussion of Puget Sound Energy’s Energize Eastside project.

About 50 people packed council chambers to hear a presentation from Andy Wappler, PSE’s vice president of corporate affairs.

The project, in response to the region’s growing power needs, will bring new higher capacity electric transmission lines to the Eastside.

The new lines will extend from a substation in Redmond to Renton, but the exact route the lines will take is currently undecided. One of the proposed routes directly affects the Olympus neighborhood.

The region’s growth is straining the current transmission system, Wappler said, and by 2017 or 2018 demand for reliable power will exceed capacity, making power outages more likely.

Conservation alone is not enough to remedy the problem, Wappler said, significant infrastructure upgrades are also necessary.

PSE’s solution is to build about 18 miles of new 230 kV transmission lines from Redmond to Renton. That corridor west of Lake Sammamish is where the demands of the electric system are the heaviest, according to PSE.

There are 16 different route segments and 19 different alignments of them that the transmission lines can take, according to a PSE proposal.

Any of them that connects the north to the south, “gets the job done,” Wappler said. PSE doesn’t have a preferred route, either, he said, just a preferred outcome — one that ensures the company keeps delivering reliable power.

The one that goes through Newcastle is Route M, which is located from Southeast 95th Way to Newcastle Way. The corridor is on the westside of the Eden’s Grove subdivision and on the eastside of the Olympus and Hazelwood communities.

Newcastle residents had the opportunity to speak after Wappler’s presentation and expressed several concerns about the installation of high-voltage power lines through their community.

The main concerns were outlined in a petition, crafted by a local coalition of neighbors dubbed Citizens for Sane Eastside Energy, to the Newcastle City Council.

Health issues, loss of property values, safety and view obstruction were among the things that concerned residents.

There was debate between residents and the PSE representatives about the true nature of health concerns related to the electromagnetic fields connected to high-voltage lines.

Wappler said studies show there is no conclusive link between electromagnetic fields and health issues.

Newcastle resident Larry Johnson contested that, pointing to a 2002 California Department of Health Services study that notes electromagnetic fields could cause cancer.

“Are we going to be the guinea pigs to find out if this is true or not,” Johnson asked the PSE representatives.

Johnson also requested of the City Council to allow citizens to give their own presentation about what this project means to their community at a future meeting.

Another consideration unique to the community is the gas pipeline that sits along the corridor. According to Olympus resident Dave Edmonds, the Olympic Pipe Line Co. too has concerns about the project going along Route M, due to the potential safety issues of constructing along lines which supply jet fuel to SeaTac Airport.

One of the community’s requested alternatives is an underground power line solution. It’s a request that PSE hears often.

Underground lines limit the visual impact, but are far more costly than overhead lines, Wappler said.

PSE estimates the construction and engineering for underground lines is about $20 million to $28 million per mile, compared to $3 million to $4 million for overhead.

Furthermore, Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission regulations require the local jurisdiction or customer group requesting underground transmission lines to pay the difference between overhead and underground costs.

PSE is in the midst of a yearlong public outreach process to solicit feedback about route options. The company is the final decision maker when it comes to the route, though. Construction is tentatively scheduled for 2016 or 2017.

The Newcastle City Council took no action or position on the matter at the informational presentation.

Learn more about Energize Eastside here, and the Citizens for Sane Eastside Energy here.

Odds and Ends

The City Council had a few other things on its agenda for the night, including a discussion about marijuana. Three of the four agenda items were postponed due to the length of the PSE discussion, however.

In the only other business of the night, the council approved 4-1 a resolution authorizing the city manager to move forward in executing a contract with a construction company for 125th Avenue Southeast sidewalk and driveway improvements.

Deputy Mayor John Drescher was not in attendance, and Councilman Gordon Bisset abstained from the vote, since his driveway is among the improvements. Councilman Rich Crispo was the lone dissent.

What’s next

The council is expected to receive the quarterly update about capital projects in the city, as well as a report about the Lake Boren water quality at the April 15 meeting.

Further down the road, City Manager Rob Wyman also noted that the council plans to hold its annual town hall meeting earlier this year, on June 3.

If you happen to catch a knight in shining armor meandering across the Lake Boren Park lawn April 19, don’t be alarmed, it’s just one of the newest attractions at the city’s sixth annual Earth Day celebration.

The medieval flare comes courtesy of the Knights of Veritas, a group of performers that call upon the code of chivalry and the values of knighthood to educate audiences.

“In our case, they’ll be teaching the importance of environmental chivalry,” event Chairwoman Grace Stiller said.

Josephine Yen, 12, of Bellevue, looks and listens as a male Pacific tree frog fills its vocalizing sack at the 2013 Newcastle Earth Day event. By Greg Farrar

The city of Newcastle and the Newcastle Weed Warriors will provide speakers, seminars and activities for Earth Day 2014 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. April 19 at Lake Boren Park.

This year’s theme is “Living in harmony with nature,” a nod to the fact that humans aren’t the only ones that call Newcastle home, Stiller said.

“That doesn’t mean that we go out and live in a tent or hug a tree, necessarily, but we provide for the wildlife in such a way that we harmonize with them,” she said.

Residents are encouraged to learn how to make their yards wildlife-friendly at the event, in a citywide effort to earn National Wildlife Federation Community Wildlife Habitat Certification.

To obtain the certification, residents must commit to providing food, water, cover and a place for wildlife to raise their offspring. A healthy habitat can be in a variety of places, including a backyard, a local city space or even an apartment balcony.

Representatives from the National Wildlife Federation will be available to register residents’ yards as a backyard wildlife habitat at the event. Children are also invited to take photos with the organization’s mascot, Ranger Rick.

“It’s just a statement that you’re aware there is a need in our growing population to provide these basic elements to help wildlife thrive,” Stiller said.

The event, as always, is free and open to the public, but this year, organizers are asking attendees to bring donations of used clothes and shoes.

“This is an opportunity for everybody to recycle and know that they’re reducing their waste by it being used by somebody else,” Stiller said.

The Hazen High School jazz band and the Boeing Employees’ Concert Band return to provide live entertainment. Many of the popular attractions from last year, such as the amphibian-toting frog lady and the live raptor house featuring birds of prey, will also return.

Puget Sound Energy, one of the event sponsors, will offer free energy-saving light bulbs, and 100 attendees will receive free native trees to plant in their yards courtesy of the National Wildlife Federation.

In addition to the Lake Boren Park festivities, HomeStreet Bank is simultaneously hosting a community shred-a-thon from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at its Newcastle branch, 6949 Coal Creek Parkway S.E.

Residents can bring their sensitive documents for safe disposal in an event made possible by the bank, city and local real estate agent Brenda Nunes. The Boy Scouts of Troop 499 will be available to assist people with large reams of paper.

“Earth Day is about celebrating what we already have,” Stiller said. “We have wonderful trails, nice parks and a savvy community that really thinks about what’s happening with the planet, but it’s also to learn more about how we can even be more sustainable.”

NEW — 2:05 p.m. March 19, 2014

The Newcastle City Council held its second meeting of the month March 18. Here is the Cliffs Notes version of what happened at City Hall. View the full meeting agenda online here.

Put up a parking lot

The City Council approved a zoning code amendment allowing offsite parking for nonresidential uses in residential areas.

Residents won’t likely see a proliferation of parking lots in their neighborhoods though, since there are some specific criteria that must be met to allow the parking lot.

The change stems from a complaint surrounding traffic congestion and pedestrian safety outside of a popular home business — Suzie’s Swim School — which has served locals for almost 20 years.

In an effort to mitigate parking impacts by clients visiting the home business, Suzie and Mike Ervin, Suzie’s Swim School business owners, leased a property north of their home to install a parking area.

According to the yet-to-be amended zoning code though, such an offsite parking area was not permitted.

Since it was an ordinance, there was an opportunity for public comments, and both the Ervins and a neighbor spoke in support of the amendment.

The zoning code amendment passed 4-3.

Council liaison expires

Councilman Rich Crispo’s time as a liaison to the Community Activities Commission came to an end, as the City Council decided against renewing the position.

A council liaison was appointed last year to help the advisory board as it transitioned from the Parks Commission to the Community Activities Commission.

Crispo, who led the changes to the commission, was chosen to serve as the liaison. The council representative, which acted as a nonvoting member of the advisory board, was set to expire at the end of March.

Community Activities Commissioner Linda Newing spoke on behalf of the board at the beginning of the meeting, asking the City Council to keep the position.

Councilman Gordon Bisset made a motion to keep the liaison through the end of the year. It failed 4-3, effectively terminating the position.

The decision to let the position expire was due in large part to newly-hired staff member Wendy Kirchner, the city’s community activities liaison. One of Kirchner’s responsibilities is to work alongside the Community Activities Commission.

With Kirchner on board, and the commission’s transition to a body focused more on community events complete, the majority of the council members decided to let the council liaison position run its course.

City manager gets a raise

After evaluating City Manager Rob Wyman’s performance in several closed executive sessions, the Newcastle City Council approved a $10,000 raise for the position.

The raise, retroactive to Jan. 1, increases Wyman’s annual salary from $120,000 to $130,000. The council also granted Wyman two days of merit leave.

Wyman was hired as interim city manager in January 2010, and the council selected him as the permanent city manager that August. This is the third consecutive year that the council awarded him a raise.

With four years of experience under his belt as a city manager, City Council members felt it necessary to award Wyman’s performance and have his salary reflect what some of his peers are making.

The raise was approved by a 6-1 vote of the council. Deputy Mayor John Drescher was the lone dissent. Drescher said he had no qualms about the city manager’s performance, but he couldn’t in good conscience approve the raise due to concerns “about the costs we’re burdened by.”

Odds and ends

The evening began with a brief presentation from Waste Management about its work in the city and its means of outreach and education to residents.

The Newcastle City Council also approved a social media policy for the city. Adoption of the policy was seen as a proactive measure to provide the city with a level of protection in the event that abuses of social media by the public occur.

Many cities already have social media policies, and Newcastle, with its Facebook and Twitter account, did not have one prior to the March 18 meeting.

What’s next

The Newcastle City Council is expecting a full house at its next meeting, when it hosts representatives from Puget Sound Energy April 1.

Puget Sound Energy will be on hand to answer questions about its Energize Eastside project. The project, in response to the region’s growing power needs, will bring new higher capacity electric transmission lines to the Eastside.

The new lines will extend from a substation in Redmond to Renton, but the exact route the lines will take is currently unknown. One of the proposed routes directly affects the Olympus neighborhood.

Learn more about Energize Eastside at http://www.energizeeastside.com.

NEW — 2:15 p.m. March 25, 2014

Puget Sound Energy invites the community to the first in a series of workshops, as part of the company’s Energize Eastside project.

The project, in response to the region’s growing power needs, will bring new higher capacity electric transmission lines to the Eastside.

The new lines will extend from a substation in Redmond to Renton, but the exact route the lines will take is currently unknown. One of the proposed routes directly affects the Olympus neighborhood.

Puget Sound Energy has formed sub-area committees to delve further into three geographic sub-areas on the Eastside. At the workshop, these committees will work side-by-side with community members to learn more about the project, understand local area issues and assess potential route segments against community values.

The first workshop will take place from 6:30-9 p.m. March 27 at Renton Technical College, 3000 N.E. Fourth St., Renton. For more information, visit the project web page at energizeeastside.com. Questions should be directed to the project team at energizeeastside@pse.com or leave a voicemail at 1-800-548-2614.

NEW — 11:05 a.m. April 11, 2014

It was a request heard loud and clear at the most recent Energize Eastside workshop. Residents wanted a forum dedicated to solely asking questions of the Puget Sound Energy representatives.

They are now getting that opportunity, as PSE has scheduled a question-and-answer session for April 21 in the Renton Technical College cafeteria, 3000 NE Fourth St.

The Energize Eastside project, in response to the region’s growing power needs, will bring new higher capacity electric transmission lines to the Eastside.

The new lines will extend from a substation in Redmond to Renton, but the exact route the lines will take is currently undecided. One of the proposed routes directly affects the Olympus neighborhood, and many residents attended the April 1 Newcastle City Council meeting to voice their concerns about the project.

Residents will get the chance to directly ask or write down questions to share with a panel that includes a representative from PSE and national experts. The April 21 event is scheduled to go from 6-9 p.m.

Questions can be submitted online in advance of the forum at www.energizeeastside.com/question-and-answer-session.

Those submitted online will be presented to the panel during the meeting and similar questions may be combined by the moderator. The panel will prioritize providing answers to questions asked during the meeting, but will address online questions as time permits.

NEW — 2:55 p.m. April 16, 2014

The Newcastle City Council held its last meeting of the month April 15. Here is the Cliffs Notes version of what happened at City Hall. View the full meeting agenda online here.

Impact fees

Prior to the regular meeting, council members reviewed an analysis of the city’s traffic and parks impact fee rates.

Impact fees are a comprehensive grouping of charges based on new development within a local municipality. These fees are assessed to pay for capital facility improvement projects necessitated by new development.

Transportation impact fees are collected to fund improvements that add capacity to the transportation system, accommodating the travel demand created by new development.

Parks and trails impact fees are collected to fund improvements that add availability of parks and trails throughout the city, accommodating the increased demand created by new residential developments.

It was one of the initial steps as the council looks to update its impact fee programs. View the full analysis beginning on page two of the agenda packet.

Odds and ends

Newcastle Surface Water Engineer Laura Frolich presented a report about the Lake Boren water quality. View that report and past ones here.

Volunteer lake monitors through King County’s Lake Stewardship Program make the reports possible. Residents can learn how to get involved at an April 26 volunteer training workshop in Preston. It goes from 9:30 a.m. to noon at the Preston Community Center, 8625 310th Ave. S.E. Learn more here.

The council passed two ordinances and held two resulting public hearings.

The first ordinance, passed 5-1, allows developers to pay a fee in lieu of retaining or replacing significant trees. The city had been accepting mitigation in the form of a fee for several years. The ordinance essentially codified the fee-in-lieu option.

The other ordinance, passed unanimously, amended the zoning code to revise the development regulations which can be modified by development agreements.

Mayor Steve Buri was absent, so Deputy Mayor John Drescher had his first opportunity to lead the council through the meeting.

What’s next

At the April 1 meeting dominated by discussion of Puget Sound Energy’s Energize Eastside project, resident Larry Johnson asked the council for time to give a citizen’s presentation about the project.

It appears they’ll get that chance at the next meeting, May 6.

Also, a reminder that the council plans to hold its annual town hall June 3. It normally holds the meeting in the fall.

NEW — 1 p.m. April 19, 2014

It was a request heard loud and clear at the most recent Energize Eastside workshop. Residents wanted a forum dedicated to solely asking questions of the Puget Sound Energy representatives.

They are now getting that opportunity, as PSE has scheduled a question-and-answer session for April 21 in the Renton Technical College cafeteria, 3000 N.E. Fourth St.

The Energize Eastside project, in response to the region’s growing power needs, will bring new higher capacity electric transmission lines to the Eastside.

The new lines will extend from a substation in Redmond to Renton, but the exact route the lines will take is currently undecided. One of the proposed routes directly affects the Olympus neighborhood, and many residents attended the April 1 Newcastle City Council meeting to voice their concerns about the project.

The segment of concern for Newcastle is Route M, which is located from Southeast 95th Way to Newcastle Way. The corridor is on the westside of the Eden’s Grove subdivision and on the eastside of the Olympus and Hazelwood communities.

Residents will get the chance to directly ask or write down questions to share with a panel that includes a representative from PSE and national experts. The April 21 event is scheduled to go from 6-9 p.m.

Questions can be submitted online in advance of the forum at www.energizeeastside.com/question-and-answer-session.

Those submitted online will be presented to the panel during the meeting and similar questions may be combined by the moderator. The panel will prioritize providing answers to questions asked during the meeting, but will address online questions as time permits.

PSE will also host its second sub-area committee workshop April 24.

The company has formed sub-area committees to delve further into three geographic sub-areas on the Eastside. At the workshop, the committees will work side-by-side with community members to learn more about the project, understand local area issues and assess potential route segments against community values.

The workshop is from 6:30-9 p.m. April 24 at Renton Technical College, 3000 N.E. Fourth St., Renton. Learn more about the project at www.energizeeastside.com. Questions should be directed to the project team at energizeeastside@pse.com or leave a voicemail at 1-800-548-2614 toll free.

Learn more about Energize Eastside at www.energizeeastside.com, and learn more about the local coalition against the project at sane-eastside-energy.org.

For once, I’m not the only one at meeting

I’m used to being the only one at Newcastle City Council meetings.

I sit there, alone, as the council conducts its business in front of an audience of one.

Christina Corrales-Toy

It can get lonely, I’ll admit, watching council members deliberate as I sit surrounded by a sea of empty chairs.

Imagine what a thrill it was for me, then, when City Hall was packed for the April 1 City Council meeting. There must have been about 50 residents there, mostly from the Olympus neighborhood, to hear what Puget Sound Energy representatives had to say about its Energize Eastside project.

It was the most well-attended council meeting I have ever been to in my nearly two years with the paper. It was so packed that reinforcements were brought in, in the form of extra chairs I had never seen before.

There was also a buzz and anticipation in the room I had never encountered. It was refreshing to see neighbors interact before the meeting and exciting, for me, to have someone to strike up a conversation with as I sat in the audience.

I understand that hot-button topics, such as the one that night, naturally attract more of a crowd, but it’s a shame that a constituent-packed council chamber doesn’t occur more often.

I’ll be the first one to admit that council meetings aren’t the most exciting affairs, especially at 7 on a weeknight. They’re not all bad, though. The council deals with important business, and along the way, you get to learn a thing or two about the people you elected.

For example, did you know that Councilman Gordon Bisset and his wife Diane recently celebrated their 52nd wedding anniversary? You would if you went to a meeting.

So, come out to a meeting and see council members Lisa Jensen, Carol Simpson, John Drescher, Steve Buri, John Dulcich, Rich Crispo and Bisset in action. They meet at 7 p.m. the first and third Tuesday of every month at City Hall.

While you’re there, say hi to this lonely reporter, too!

UPDATED — 9:45 p.m. May 1, 2014

*This story has been updated to reflect the following change: The initial version, and the one seen in the May 2 print edition, stated that Larry Johnson and the Olympus Homeowners Association would get a chance to give their own presentation about Energize Eastside at the May 6 Newcastle City Council. That has now been rescheduled for a later date to be determined*

Upgrades to infrastructure needed

When Newcastle neighbors Larry Johnson and Dave Edmonds peer into the backyards of their Olympus homes, transmission lines and power poles greet them.

It’s not the best view, but residents have learned to live with the 60-foot beams that carry 115 kilovolt power lines. The infrastructure has been there since long before the city was incorporated 20 years ago.

Those poles could get a lot taller, with lines that carry even more power, if Puget Sound Energy upgrades that corridor as part of its Energize Eastside project.

Courtesy Puget Sound Energy
At left, a growing Eastside, especially the area west of Lake Sammamish, is putting a strain on the region’s electric system, as seen in this future growth map. Above, PSE’s solution to the region’s growing power demand is to build about 18 miles of 230 kilovolt transmission lines from Redmond to Renton.

“What we have now is not great,” Edmonds said. “We’ve got power line poles 30 feet from people’s homes. We want something better than what we have, not worse.”

Energize Eastside

The project will bring higher capacity electric transmission lines to the Eastside, Andy Wappler, PSE’s vice president of corporate affairs, explained in an April 1 presentation to the Newcastle City Council.

The exact route the lines will take is yet undecided. Proposed path Route M goes through Newcastle.

The region’s growth is straining the transmission system, Wappler said; by 2017 or 2018, demand for power will exceed capacity, making power outages more likely.

“It’s really like any kind of machine — if you’re running it past its capacity, if you’re running it hard day after day, it begins to have problems,” he said.

Newcastle is expected to grow by about 2,500 people within the next few decades, essentially doubling its population at incorporation, Wappler said.

Conservation is not enough of a remedy; significant infrastructure upgrades to a system that hasn’t been enhanced since the 1960s are also necessary, he said.

PSE’s solution is building about 18 miles of 230 kilovolt transmission lines from Redmond to Renton. That corridor west of Lake Sammamish is where the demands of the electric system are heaviest, according to PSE.

There are 16 route segments that can be configured in 19 ways.

Any that connect the north to the south “gets the job done,” Wappler said, adding that PSE doesn’t have a preferred route, just a preferred outcome — that the company keeps delivering reliable power.

Route M through Newcastle is from Southeast 95th Way to Newcastle Way, west of the Eden’s Grove subdivision and east of the Olympus and Hazelwood communities.

Route concerns

In the most well-attended Newcastle City Council meeting in the past two years, about 50 neighbors packed City Hall to voice their concerns about the project April 1.

They asked questions and many expressed misgivings about high-voltage power lines through their community.

A petition to the council, by a local coalition of neighbors dubbed Citizens for Sane Eastside Energy, outlined their main concerns, among them health issues, property values, safety and view obstruction.

There was debate at the meeting between residents and PSE representatives about the true nature of health concerns related to the electromagnetic fields connected to high-voltage lines.

Wappler said nearly 3,000 studies show no conclusive link between electromagnetic fields and health issues.

But Johnson pointed to a 2002 California Department of Health Services study that notes electromagnetic fields could cause cancer.

“Are we going to be the guinea pigs to find out if this is true or not?” Johnson asked.

Neighbors are also concerned about the affect the lines will have on property values and aesthetics.

“I really take offense when people say, ‘Oh it’s just because you don’t want it in your backyard,’” Johnson said in an April 13 interview. “I think that’s a legitimate thing. No one wants it in their backyard.”

A consideration unique to Newcastle residents is the gas pipeline along the corridor.

Edmonds, who represents the Olympus neighborhood on PSE’s Community Advisory Group about the project, said the Olympic Pipe Line Co., based on his correspondence with the company, also has concerns about Route M, regarding building along lines that supply jet fuel to SeaTac Airport.

Wappler said PSE has worked with Olympic, and understands the concerns, given that PSE had the same worries as construction along the Alaskan Way viaduct occurs along its own pipeline.

Alternatives

One of the community’s requested alternatives is underground power lines.

Underground lines limit the visual impact, but are far more costly than overhead lines, Wappler said.

PSE estimates the construction and engineering for underground lines is about $20 million to $28 million per mile, compared to $3 million to $4 million per mile for overhead lines.

Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission regulations require the local jurisdiction or customer group requesting underground transmission lines to pay the difference between overhead and underground costs.

“At a minimum of $22 million a mile, that’s just not possible,” Edmonds said.

Citizens for Sane Eastside Energy is looking into challenging the regulation.

Residents also wonder why PSE can’t just use an existing Seattle City Light corridor from Redmond to Renton. Rebuilt, it could accommodate the Eastside’s growing power needs. But PSE doesn’t own the corridor, and Seattle City Light has told the company it is not available for its use.

However, neighbors are skeptical, Johnson said, because PSE cannot provide written documentation from Seattle City Light. The Seattle company has declined to do so when asked, Wappler said at an April 21 public forum.

Rallying neighbors

Not all of the estimated 50 Olympus homes affected are united in opposing the project, Edmonds said.

It’s a stark contrast to those along Route L, a segment along Lake Washington, who have been very vocal in their opposition.

“If people in M don’t oppose it, whereas people in L are throwing every piece of garbage they have, we are going to get it by default, because they’ll say, ‘Well, Olympus doesn’t care,’” Johnson said.

The Olympus Homeowners Association board recently expressed its worry, saying the “Olympus neighborhood is very concerned over the potential expansion of PSE capacity through Newcastle without better understanding the alternatives.”

Edmonds thinks PSE will choose Route M. Johnson said he isn’t ready to surrender.

“When I talk to people from L and Somerset, and I hear what they say, they’re almost totally convinced that it’s going to happen through their neighborhoods,” Johnson said.

What’s next?

PSE is using this year to gather public comment about the project, while its Community Advisory Group, made up of citizens and civic groups, collects information to recommend a route.

PSE doesn’t anticipate filing for any permits until early 2015.

“We want to work with the community and get as much input as we can, but ultimately, in terms of choosing the route, we have the responsibility to deliver the energy, so we will ultimately have to choose where that route goes,” Wappler said at the council meeting.

After Wappler gave his presentation April 1, Johnson asked the council if he could give one of his own about citizen concerns over the project.

*Johnson and the Olympus Homeowners Association will get that opportunity at a yet-to-be-determined Newcastle City Council meeting. The group was set to present at the May 6 meeting, but the homeowners group requested to delay the presentation in order to continue their due diligence in collecting information about the Energize Eastside project, Newcastle Public Works Director Mark Rigos said in an email.

“My chief goal for May 6 is to pry loose any notion among City Council members and our neighbors that they simply can take PSE’s word for things,” Johnson said prior to the date change.

PSE power lines will lower property values

Puget Sound Energy plans to more than double the power lines in height and in voltage will not only increase the potential ills effects on our health in Olympus, but will destroy the natural beauty of our area.

Our skyline will be blocked by these ugly structures, and the property values will impact not only the homes by the power lines, but for the entire area. Keep in mind that property values are not isolated, but reflect the demand for housing and the prices that future homeowners will be willing to pay.

PSE’s unattractive power lines will deter many from buying homes in our area, so it behooves us all to get involved and fight their intrusion in our lives.

Carmen Cieslar

Olympus, Newcastle

Power-line project is just all-wrong for Olympus

In the 27 years I have lived in Olympus, I’ve known seven people with cancer — and five lived along the 115kV power lines we have currently — my own electromagnetic fields study. We have paid property taxes since 1929 on their easements without compensation. HUD and some will not loan or provide mortgages to homes with high-voltage power poles nearby that could fall over and hit them. Ninety-five-foot to 125-foot poles will hit a home in Olympus if they fall.

Crazy that they design to wind and ice conditions and not as concerned with earthquake damage — especially along a gas pipeline and along a major earthquake fault line. Of course, PSE says it will be around for years — does it matter to any of us when dead if PSE is around? They will spread the cost of any catastrophic compensation they have to pay to all their ratepayers — because they can.

People have no voice. PSE is like running into a brick wall. If you aren’t a bird, fish or tree — you don’t count. PSE holds all the cards — they can do what they want and will — and we have to all pay the price for their profit. They never compensate — unless they condemn your property — which they keep reminding us!

They are almighty, can do no wrong, they are a large business and get a free pass. People can’t oppose them; the cities won’t stand up to them or the state. They are a privately owned Australian company profiting from us.

If they don’t condemn my house for this project — I should just feel blessed to stay in my home that I have spent 27 years making it me. They could never pay enough for my upgrades — roofing, siding, deck, kitchen, bathroom remodeling, carpeting, yard, natural habitat and beautiful view of Mount Rainier, and all the wonderful neighbors I have had over the years. It makes safety, health, views, quality of life seem insignificant just to be able to continue to live here. So, is this where PSE wants us to get in the process? The wearing down of human beings.

Sue Stronk

Newcastle

Guest column

After having lived in Newcastle for the past 10 years next to the Puget Sound Energy power lines and the Olympic gas pipelines, my wife and I first gave little thought to PSE’s proposed “Energize Eastside” project that contemplates Olympus as part of one of two pre-selected routes an upgrade in PSE’s equipment might take. After all, these “H” poles date back to the 1960s and need to be replaced or removed at some point, we figured.

But then we learned things. The proposed new poles would be twice the height of the current ones, as high as 12-story buildings, and the increase in voltage from 115,000 volts to 230,000 volts would quadruple the power flowing through the lines and add to dangerous EMFs (electromagnetic fields). In addition, the new poles would require much bigger cement foundations that would require heavy equipment and massive vibrations to settle them into the soil, all within narrow 100-foot easements and over and near gas pipelines that are 50-plus years old.

In 1999, this was the same Olympic gas pipeline that was ruptured in Bellingham by a mere backhoe. This rupture allowed jet fuel under pressure to escape, causing an explosion and fires that killed three youths and resulted in massive property damage.

Is there really no alternative to PSE’s risking our lives? Is that sane? Can PSE guarantee our safety?

“We have done this before,” they say. “We have a good relationship with the Olympic Pipeline Co., and we are a gas company, too.” In other words, “Trust us,” PSE says.

But what PSE will never tell you in their multimillion-dollar PR blitz is that in 2008 PSE was fined a record $1.25 million by the Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission for having falsified gas pipeline safety inspection records over a span of four years! And we are to trust them to care about our safety?

PSE is a private for-profit utility owned by Australians and Canadians who don’t have to live daily with the consequences of running 18 miles of industrial blight through our Eastside cities. We do.

This is not a case of NIMBY (Not In My Back Yard). This project should be built in nobody’s back yard. To learn more and add your voice to oppose PSE’s ill-considered project, go to www.sane-eastside-energy.org, www.CENSE.org and www.lakecorridor.org.

Larry Johnson is an Olympus resident.

Mark Rigos and his positive impact will truly be missed

Thanks for your first-rate coverage of the departure of Mark Rigos, Newcastle’s Public Works director. Mark is an extraordinary individual who made a huge positive impact on the city and its residents, especially in expanding and improving Newcastle’s trail system, as members of Newcastle Trails can attest.

Projects that had been deferred for years were completed during Mark’s three-year tenure, often on his initiative (without prodding from Newcastle Trails). These included easements for the Horse Trail, drainage on the Highlands Trail, and surveys that helped prevent encroachment on our parks and trails.

Mark played a major role in the completion of the May Creek Trail, and cooperated effectively with the city of Renton in planning a May Creek Greenway from Lake Washington to Cougar Mountain Regional Wildland Park. His efforts have ensured the near-term completion of Newcastle’s part of the Greenway from Renton to Cougar Mountain. His support — with negotiations, logistics and materials — has been vital to our 2014 work in extending the CrossTown Trail Southeast from Newcastle Vista.

Mark accelerated trail construction and improvement by making effective use of city staff and outside agencies (like the Washington Conservation Corps) and working closely with Newcastle Trails and other trail supporters (including the Boy Scouts and Weed Warriors). He provided material support to volunteer work parties, and applied his engineering skills to construction problems on the May Creek Trail and elsewhere.

Mark is a great communicator, sometimes beyond any reasonable expectation. An email sent to him at 6 p.m. on a Friday might well get a clear, detailed reply a short time later. And be followed up by action. He was proactive: If something of interest to Newcastle Trails reached him, he’d send a message right away, with relevant documents attached.

Mark is a nice guy who finishes first, with a great work ethic and exceptional gifts in people skills, management ability and engineering expertise. We wish him well in his new job. The city hit a home run when they hired him: We hope our heavy hitters can score again with his successor.

Garry Kampen

President, Newcastle Trails

Other Energy Eastside options need to be studied independently

Puget Sound Energy’s Energize Eastside Community Advisory Group process is deeply flawed and does not represent the preferences of the neighborhoods. It is now well-acknowledged that the data collected is statistically invalid, as even PSE’s own CAG representative said it is “meaningless to the process of scoring neighborhood values for the purposes of determining a preferred route.”

PSE unilaterally eliminated several viable alternative solutions to support growth on the Eastside before it began the CAG process.

The neighborhood members of the CAG respectfully ask all five cities to formally notify PSE that the CAG process does not represent the will of the neighborhoods, that this project would significantly violate neighborhood character, and to either stop wasting time on it or restart it with other options for the CAG to consider.

There are too many non-neighborhood stakeholders on the CAG and not enough of the affected neighborhoods are represented, thus PSE stacked the deck against the neighborhoods. PSE and its consultant Enviroissues have purposely manipulated a process that is not fair, accurate, thorough or transparent.

The neighborhoods need the city of Bellevue (the lead agency) to have several other options independently studied prior to the Environmental Impact Statement and State Environmental Policy Act review process commencing.

The PSE Community Advisory Group Members and/or Alternates signed below:

Steve O’Donnell, Somerset, Ruth Marsh, Somerset, John Merrill, Somerset, Norm Hansen, Bridle Trails, Warren Halverson, Bridle Trails, Lindy Bruce, Sunset Hills, Dick Morris, Sunset Hills, David T. Edmonds, Olympus, Sean McNamara, Olympus, Larry Johnson, Olympus, Jeff Dubois, Greenwich Crest, Scott Kaseburg, Lake Lanes, Donald Miller, Lake Lanes, Sally McCray, Lake Lanes, Dr. Richard Kaner, Lake Lanes, Darius Richards, Kennydale, Mark Hancock, Kennydale

Andy Wappler, Puget Sound Energy’s vice president of corporate affairs, spoke about the company’s Energize Eastside project at the April 1 Newcastle City Council meeting.

Now, it’s the citizens’ turn to give their own presentations about the project. Newcastle resident Keith Hargis and the Olympus Homeowners Association offered their thoughts at the July 1 meeting.

Another resident, Larry Johnson, who has been vocal about his skepticism of the project, will offer his presentation at the 7 p.m. July 15 Newcastle City Council meeting. Johnson’s presentation will include a panel from the Coalition of Eastside Neighborhoods for Sensible Energy, an all-volunteer coalition of residents concerned about many aspects of the Energize Eastside project.

Energize Eastside, in response to the region’s growing power needs, will bring new higher capacity electric transmission lines to the Eastside.