Shoreline Council elects mayor

The Shoreline City Council elected council member Ron Hansen to be the city’s mayor for the next two years, at the Jan. 5 meeting. Former mayor and current council member Scott Jepsen was elected mayor pro-tem.

Newly appointed Shoreline City Council member Paul Grace and newly elected member Maggie Fimia were sworn in as council members at the meeting as were council members Rich Gustafson and Bob Ransom.

Robinson Water Tower

The Council discussed the future of the Robinson Water Tower. The 1910 structure, located at 224 NW 195th St. has been declared hazardous. The roof has collapsed and dry rot has set in. An architectural firm hired by the city found that preservation and restoration is not feasible because the tower had deteriorated beyond salvage. According to the Shoreline Historical Museum, a 1996 historical survey by King County determined the tower was not eligible to be designated as a landmark.

The city could opt to demolish the structure then reconstruct it, at a cost of about $117,000. If the city chose to simply demolish the structure, eliminating the hazard, the cost would be about $17,000.

Council gave staff direction to move forward with demolition, but to look into whether any community groups or neighbors would be interested in working toward rebuilding the structure.

Hazard Mitigation Plan

Should a major disaster occur such as an earthquake, landslide, flooding, or volcano eruption, the city of Shoreline must have a mitigation plan approved by FEMA in order to receive federal assistance. The deadline for this plan is November 2004.

The city has contracted with the University of Washington Institute for Hazard Mitigation to help prepare the plan. The plan will analyzes primary and secondary hazards and how the city might work to reduce the risks these might have on the city.

UW officials determined that the city’s three primary hazards include earthquake, landslides and flooding.

UW officials found that earthquakes are a primary hazard for the city because many single-family homes were built before 1972 on unreinforced masonry and on soil that is less stable. Also, five overpasses on I-5 are not up to current seismic design. Utilities such as water, power and natural gas as well as hazardous materials that could be released from trains passing through the city are of concern during an earthquake.

Landslides and sinkholes are another major hazard for the city since single-family homes are located largely in the city’s landslide areas by the Sound. The railway line is also of concern because if a train is carrying hazardous materials, and a landslide tumbles it off the track, that would be a major hazard for the city, UW officials said.

Finally, flooding is also in the top three hazards for Shoreline. UW officials found that urban flooding after heavy rain, and the large amounts of impervious surfaces in the city create run-off, flooding yards, driveways, structures and roadways.

The next step in the project is to look at mitigation.

The Shoreline City Council is gathering public comment on the city’s draft Hazard Mitigation Plan. The draft plan is available at City Hall, the Police Station and both neighborhood centers, the Shoreline and Richmond Beach libraries and at the city of Shoreline’s website: www.cityofshoreline.com.