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Snowqualami sets aside $450,000 for legal and technical review of proposed Cascadia Ridge battery project; schedules moratorium hearing
Summary
Council voted to appropriate $450,000 to fund outside counsel and technical subject-matter experts to analyze a proposed battery energy storage project in the city's urban growth area and set a public hearing on the council's moratorium for July 13 (with July 15 held as a fallback). Jensen Hughes and other consultants were authorized to review fire protection, dispersion modeling and water/storm analyses.
The Snowqualami City Council approved a $450,000 appropriation on June 22 to fund legal and technical reviews of the Cascadia Ridge Resiliency Energy Storage Project proposed to King County within Snowqualami's urban growth area.
City staff said the extra funding will cover work by specialized outside counsel (the council previously authorized $50,000 and staff asked for an additional $150,000 for outside legal services) and several technical consultants. The contracted scopes include a third-party plan review of fire protection and emergency response, dispersion modeling for toxic and flammable gas hazards, a wildland-urban-interface assessment and storm-water and noise analyses. Staff identified Jensen Hughes for the fire, dispersion and wildfire assessment work (contract request ~ $91,500) as well as Lando Associates and RH2 for stormwater/noise and water-resource analyses.
Jesse Scarupa, director of Snowqualami Valley for Responsible Energy (SVRE), addressed the council during public comment and praised the city's collaborative working group approach: "This working group is exactly the kind of collaborative transparent process that builds trust," he said, thanking council members who participated.
Council adopted a moratorium ordinance earlier; under state law the council must hold a public hearing within 60 days of moratorium adoption. City attorney told council the hearing must occur on or before July 25; staff proposed noticing the hearing for the regular July 13 council meeting and holding July 15 as a potential fallback date to accommodate agenda load and the publication schedule. The council agreed to notice the July 13 meeting and hold the 15th if needed.
Council members debated the size of the appropriation and whether to provide headroom for further contracts; after several amendments and votes the council approved the $450,000 appropriation on first reading and waived a second reading to expedite the city's ability to contract technical work. Council retained control over contract approvals: individual consultant agreements above the mayor's signing threshold will be returned to council as required.
Next steps: staff will execute or negotiate consultant agreements within the authorized appropriations and prepare the public hearing notice and materials for the moratorium hearing scheduled for July 13, 2026.
