Council wants Fairwood input

The Renton City Council wants to hear from Fairwood residents Monday about their future.

That future could bring annexation to the City of Renton, if the council picks one of the scenarios it has under consideration for annexing all or part of Fairwood.

That decision likely will come at Monday’s council meeting, the last of the year. The city must initiate an annexation by year’s end to obtain a sales-tax credit that’s key to helping pay its bills to serve Fairwood.

Council member King Parker wants the whole matter to go to the voters to let them decide.

“That is the right thing to do,” he said.

Parker supports a recommendation from Mayor Denis Law that the City Council merge into one the two annexation proposals the city now has before it.

One proposal annexes just Fairwood’s commercial area, while the second one annexes the entire Fairwood area outside the commercial core.

The city’s administration is suggesting the single annexation because of the time crunch and for the sake of simplicity. However, some council members expressed concern the public might perceive the council was taking over the process since there are already two annexation proposals ready to go.

A suggestion was made to send all the possible annexation proposals to the Washington state Boundary Review Board for King County and let the agency pick one. But concern was expressed the board couldn’t pick just one in time to meet the deadline for the state sales-tax credit.

Council members at a Committee of the Whole meeting Monday also debated the timing of the annexation election. The suggestion is the primary election in August, which would mean that, if approved, annexation would become effective in mid-2011. November also was suggested.

The council will have to choose an election date Monday.

Fairwood annexation

The Renton City Council is encouraging the public to comment on Fairwood annexation scenarios at its meeting at 7 p.m. Monday at City Hall, 1055 S. Grady Way.