OLYMPIA – Shortly before 5 p.m. Thursday, a frustrated Hans Dunshee sunk into a chair outside the chambers of the House of Representatives.
Two days earlier, the Snohomish Democratic lawmaker helped broker a deal for a new statewide construction plan. But now it seemed mired in a muck of legislative concern. Passage would come, he surmised, but at what cost to the list of projects, including several in Snohomish County.
His answer came four hours later, near the final hour for the 2004 session.
First the Senate, then his House colleagues overwhelmingly approved the bill containing $350,000 for a gym to serve the Boys &Girls Club in Lake Stevens, $6 million to develop a training center for Boeing workers and $100,000 for a memorial to the late Willy O’Neil Jr.
"That makes the session," said Dunshee, who cited the gym as the pearl in the plan. "I’ll be able to walk up and knock on the walls for years. I’ll be able to see the boys and girls staying out of trouble, playing basketball and enjoying it."
The budget also pays to install metal detectors in the Capitol for one year, construct a new off-ramp on Highway 522 in Bothell to serve the University of Washington and Cascadia Community College campuses and spend $6 million for improvements that ensure Cama Beach State Park on Camano Island opens next year.
"I feel real good," said state Sen. Mary Margaret Haugen, D-Camano Beach. "It is one of the highlights of my legislative career."
Gov. Gary Locke is expected to sign the bill that supplements the two-year budget adopted last year.
Controversy still shadows the decision for Rep. Kirk Pearson, R-Monroe. The budget includes language that accelerates the transfer of the former Monroe Honor Farm from the state to the Tulalip Tribes for development into a bio-gas plant.
The 2,500 cows on four dairy farms located near the prison farm produce enough manure to run a half-megawatt generator. More waste would have to be brought in from other dairies to build a 1-megawatt generator, which would need 8,000 to 9,000 cows to support it.
In spring 2003, the tribes received a $250,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Energy to study building the manure-to-power operation. That study is due out in the coming months.
The tribes also have received $500,000 from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to help build the digester, a device that would help the manure decompose and catch the methane given off during the breakdown. Estimates are that it will cost $2 million to build a digester.
The tribes hope that many of the area’s dairy cows could eventually be moved to the site, cutting the cost of hauling the waste, which could be expensive. If the cows are moved, then the hope is the tribes will get the chance to restore salmon streams near old dairy farms.
Pearson opposed inclusion of the land swap in the capital budget because it is a policy issue. He called it an "honorable proposition" but sought more assurances that residents can voice concerns about the project.
Dunshee said language was added to ensure environmental review — which is public — is done. Still, Pearson voted against the project.
One item that didn’t stir conflict is renaming a portion of the Snohomish Diking District No. 6 the "William E. O’Neil Jr. Wildlife Area."
O’Neil, a tireless advocate and respected lobbyist, died Jan. 4 while duck hunting in Eastern Washington. Lawmakers earmarked $100,000 to improve access to hunting and fishing areas in the northeast corner of the district north of Snohomish near Fobes Hill Road.
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