County Council Hear Public Testimony On Eastside Rail Corridor Purchase Agreement

The Metropolitan King County Council will take public testimony on the proposed purchase of a portion of the Eastside Rail Corridor (ERC)—the potential backbone of a regional corridor that could support trails, Eastside commuter rail, and an array of utility services—at its Monday, December 3, meeting at 1:30 p.m. in the Council Chambers on the 10th floor of the King County Courthouse, located at 516 Third Ave. in Seattle.

The Council meeting and public hearing will be shown live on King County TV on Comcast and Broadstripe Cable Channel 22, and online at: www.kingcounty.gov/KCTV.

The public will have the opportunity to offer comments to the Council on the four pieces of legislation that are part of the proposed ERC agreement:

• An ordinance approving and authorizing the County Executive to acquire portions of the ERC from the Port of Seattle (Ordinance 2012-0353),

• An ordinance approving and authorizing the County Executive to enter into a reciprocal coordination and cooperation agreement with Puget Sound Energy (Ordinance 2012-0354),  

• An ordinance approving and authorizing the County Executive to enter into an intergovernmental land transfer agreement with the city of Redmond (Ordinance 2012-0382),
• A motion establishing the Eastside Rail Corridor as a corridor of regional significance and establishing the Eastside Rail Corridor regional advisory council to initiate a regional planning process (Motion 2012-0452). 

The proposed legislation is the final step in the effort to maintain the 42-mile corridor that extends from Renton to Snohomish and prevent the corridor from being broken up and sold for private development. The Council is scheduled to act on the ERC legislation at its December 10 meeting. 

Read the legislation and to find out more about the ERC, go to: http://kingcounty.gov/council/issues/corridor.aspx

*Editor's Note: Information provided by King County.