North Highline South annexation countdown: 2 items from Burien
These are excerpts from this week’s e-newsletter from the City of Burien:
City Census Under Way in N. Highline Annexation Area
The City currently is conducting a house-to-house census in the North Highline annexation area. Households are being visited by a census worker wearing a City of Burien identification badge between March 12 and April 25. Information from the special census will ensure that the City receives a full share of state funds for essential public services. Households are only asked to provide the number of people living there and their names. The southern segment of North Highline officially becomes part of the City of Burien on April 1. This special annexation census is in addition to the U.S. Census being conducted by the federal Census Bureau this spring.…City Reaches Out to North Highline Businesses
The City recently sent a letter to approximately 1,250 business entities located or working in the North Highline annexation area to provide the newly annexed businesses with an overview of some of the opportunities available in Burien, such as the Taking Aim at Graffiti (TAG) program or the “pre-submittal meetings” offered by Community Development. The letter also provided businesses with notice of some of their responsibilities, such as getting a business license and updating their tax code on Department of Revenue forms.NOTE: Comcast subscribers in the annexation area should be able to view Burien Channel 21 and Puget Sound Access on Channel 77.
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Tags: burien, north highline annexation
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March 18th, 2010 at 8:43 pm
How come no mention of the vote Monday by the Burien City Council on annexing the North part of North Highline?
March 19th, 2010 at 2:48 pm
I am NOT in the area which is going to become a part of the City of Burien on April 1st.
So, why has Comcast removed the Seattle Channel and Seattle’s SCANtv channel from my cable system? Those two
channels have been replaced with the Burien Channel and
something called PSA77 on my Comcast service.
I had viewed the Seattle Channel and SCANtv for many
years. What I now see on the Burien Channel and the PSA
channel are no where as good as what the Seattle Channel
and Seattle’s SCANtv had presented.
Looks like Burien is trying to ram themselves down our throats any way they can, even though we do NOT live in their city!
March 19th, 2010 at 6:31 pm
FYI, just read in the Seattle Times, that Seattle will not be taking any action on the remaining unincorporated area this year. Here is the link to the article: http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2011392453_highline20m.html
And here is a link to the City of Seattle Mayors office, which is a transcript (I think) of the presentation: http://mayormcginn.seattle.gov/acting-city-budget-director-beth-goldberg-gave-a-statement-before-the-city-council-today-on-a-possible-north-highline-annexation/
What now? Can Burien move in now?
March 19th, 2010 at 10:30 pm
Yup, just caught that, linking to the top of the page.
March 19th, 2010 at 11:55 pm
Well folks, we heard it straight from Seattle and it’s even in writing. Less services. Barebone even. Not would I would vote for. Amazing how we’ve all heard here how Seattle could provide us with more services. Seattle could not, do to timing, even get to how they could or would support human services. Well George and AJ, what do you have to say about this? You both have been telling us all a different story. And by the way, this has nothing to do with NHUAC.
March 21st, 2010 at 4:18 pm
To Howard’s complaint about TV switch-over – you need to take your problem to Comcast. We live in Boulevard Park & will remain Unincorporated after April 1st and our Comcast service still gives us Seattle’s Channel – not Burien. Burien did not make this change, Comcast did, and Comcast was good enough to get it accomplished earlier than April 1st for the Area to be newly Annexed. Perhaps you live in some small pocket area that was incorrectly handled by Comcast ? That is where your problem, & potential solution exists.
March 22nd, 2010 at 11:45 am
Actually, Seattle is not out of the game. We attended the Seattle committee meeting last Friday and Seattle is evaluating the costs of increasing our public safety services. the low end estimate will add 7 additional police officers, three burglary/juvenile officers,a 5-person gang unit just for our area, and a Medic One Heart Attack unit in White Center. These are the bare bones improvements to bring our service level up to the rest of Seattle. The high range is even more significant. Seattle annexation will substantially improve our public safety resources and at the same propoty tax level as Burien. And what does Burien offer; “nothing will change” which of course is part of the problem we have here in White Center. Goot the facts folks. Seattle is an exceptional opportunity for our future.
MarkUfkes@comcast.net
March 22nd, 2010 at 11:47 am
Sorry about the misspellings, sometimes I move to fast. Get the facts folks, and you will make the right decision for our future. All we want is a Seattle vote.
March 22nd, 2010 at 1:49 pm
According to Seattle’s proposed resolution, they are considering a vote in November of 2011 that would not take place until 2013! How can that sort of delay result in an informed electorate? Why the delay, Mark?
March 22nd, 2010 at 5:02 pm
Mark, glad to know that, we know it takes time for these things and it will be interesting too see what Seattle comes up with as far as committment to service levels they would provide for us. Did they mention anything about Boulevard Park? It’s important to know how they would provide services there too as we have the free way there and access from WC is limited to BP by few roads.
March 22nd, 2010 at 10:21 pm
“Medic One Heart Attack Unit”??? Boy, I’ve never heard it called that before.
Not to be be too particular, but the unit Mark is referring to, is a paramedic unit–which is also known as a ALS (Advanced Life Support) resource. The EMS “system” in Seattle (and in the great King County region) is called the “Medic One” system.
These ALS Paramedic units are strategically located throughout Seattle and King County. The “system” is made up of six ALS sub-systems, which are managed by: King County EMS, Seattle Fire, Bellevue Fire, Redmond Fire, Shoreline Fire and Vashon Island Fire and Rescue.
The addition of one of these resources that Mark is eluding to may have been added (probably needed) IF Seattle would’ve annexed that area. This is because the current paramedic unit in West Seattle (located on SW Alaska St.) is already traveling a great distance to get to the very SW end of W. Seattle.
Further, when this resource is already tied-up on another call, the next closest paramedic unit would come from either the Rainer Valley or from Harborview Medical Center. Yeah, that’s right. From that far away. And if those units are also unavailable? Well, Seattle will simply keep dispatching paramedic units from other parts of their city, like from Green Lake, Ballard, and Northgate.
What about a King County paramedic unit? Why not ask for assistance from a county unit that could get into W. Seattle faster than say a unit from Ballard or Greenlake? Or what if the same scenario happend in the north or eastern boundaries of Seattle? Why not call for a Shoreline or Bellevue unit?
The short answer is: Seattle simply doesn’t play that way.
They would ONLY request assitance, IF they exhausted all other resources within Seattle first.
This is a historical, on-going and fundemental flaw in Seattle’s EMS system.
This means that if your house is located on Marine View Drive Drive SW and 35th Ave SW, and the main paramedic unit is unavailable while you’re having a critical medical event (like a heart attack or major life-threatening trauma), you will be waiting a very extended time for the highly-trained paramedics to arrive.
This is not the case elsewhere in King County, as these types of resources pass seemlessly across jurisdictional boundaries without any issues. If Bellevue needs a unit from Renton–they go. And vise versa. Same holds true for north King County.
The “Dead Zone” in the Southwest ends of Seattle have been discussed before, and have been the subject of newspaper articles and even a TV spot, disussing the deficiencies in coverage.
This is one reason why the annexation boundary was drawn the way it was between Seattle and Burien, as Seattle needed to have the North Highline Fire Station that was located on SW 112th St. to help solve this long-standing coverage problem.
So if you’ve been thinking that the “Medic One” system is this seemless system across King County (as often touted when it’s time to renew the county EMS levy)–it’s not. It’s only seemless everywhere except in the City of Seattle.