Mayor Proposes Quicker Action on
Creek and Shoreline Restoration
Measure Would Enhance and Protect Aquatic Habitat Throughout City
December 16th, 2002 - Mayor Greg Nickels today presented a plan to move ahead more quickly on creek and shoreline restoration throughout the city to boost the city's efforts to improve habitat for salmon and other aquatic life.
The measure provides for protection and enhancement of in-city fresh water and marine shorelines, neighborhood creeks and in-land lakes, including areas that are used as habitat for threatened Chinook salmon. It offers an alternative to Initiative 80, a proposed creeks initiative that was presented to the City Council earlier this month.
"I fully support the goals of creek restoration," said Mayor Nickels. "I am proposing a more balanced approach that moves us toward those goals more quickly by listing some early action projects, identifying a funding source and providing for better citizen oversight."
The Mayor's proposal establishes a new aquatic habitat enhancement fund and a funding mechanism that targets money for the highest priority projects. A total of $6.4 million per year would be provided for such projects, adding $2.4 million per year to the current funding through a 1 percent water, drainage and wastewater utility tax.
The measure would create a Citizens Oversight Committee consisting of scientific, environmental, business, and community interests. The committee would play a crucial role in developing and recommending project selection criteria based on sound science and other critical objectives.
The measure would impose no new requirements on private development and it provides for City matching funds and other incentives to encourage private property owners to undertake voluntary restoration projects with public benefits.
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