Busy night for Buckley City Council

Buckley City Council spent a busy 90 minutes at the city's Multi-Purpose Center Wednesday night.

Buckley Fire Chief Alan Predmore was authorized to continue his department's agreement for fire protection and medical emergency services with the small communities of Greenwater and Carbonado. The new contract extends the existing agreement for three more years, on the heels of a successful run from July 1, 2007 to July 1, 2009. The Crystal Mountain Ski Resort was added to the equation as well.

Predmore said the department's medical aid unit had performed nearly 1,000 medical transports during the past year.

"We wanted to make sure we got Crystal Mountain on board and a party to the program this time around, because you'd be surprised how many calls we get from them with injured skiers and what not," he said.

In other action, the Buckley council:

• gave unanimous approval to reimbursing the Buckley Police Department's reserve equipment fund the $30,000 for license plate recognition technology that was awarded to the police force in the form of a state grant. Police Chief Jim Arsanto said the technology may eventually dovetail nicely with such programs as the state's AMBER Alert system.

• learned that the city was awarded a $172,620 Washington State Department of Transportation grant to install a pedestrian crossing across state Route 410 at Mason Avenue. The crossing will include a flashing beacon and flashing lights on the asphalt and will be activated by pedestrians.

"Receiving that grant money was actually a pleasant, yet surprising bit of news," City Adminstrator David Schmidt said. "We submitted the paperwork for that grant so long ago and suspected with the amount of time that had passed, that we had slipped through the cracks and some other city had won the grant. As it turns out Buckley and Bonney Lake were two of the 16 grant winners out of 92 applicants across the state of Washington."

• heard an update of the possibility that United States Congressman Dave Reichert could establish an office in Buckley, so he could have a presence in Pierce County instead of having to continuously work out of his office on Mercer Island.

Mayor Pat Johnson said the city will do its best to accommodate Reichert's request, but the deciding factor will be whether Reichert's aides find space suitable for the congressman's needs.

*** Look for a more detailed account of the June 10 City Council meeting in the June 17 issue of the Enumclaw Courier-Herald.