WATHURST-L Archives

Archiver > WATHURST > 1999-07 > 0931968059


From: "Peter M. & Andrea D. MacDonald" <>
Subject: [WATHURST-L] Public hearing slated for Snohomish Cemetery, Snohomish, Washington
Date: Wed, 14 Jul 1999 09:00:59 -0700


Hello all,

Over the last year, many of you have heard about the
Snohomish Pioneer Cemetery; some of you have even gone so
far as to write criticisms on maillists. But, for the most
part, those who did "complain" merely voiced criticisms via
email to each other and on this maillist. Only three
persons attended court regularly -- I only attended once.

When Judge French made his decision in October (it may be
found at http://www.rootsweb.com/~wapsgs/WSCA/snocem.html ),
it was clear what he wanted to happen. Yet, it doesn't
appear to be happening. Unless we do something, the judge
may say, "let it go." If that happens, all the bodies may
be left where they are and not moved, just covered over by
buildings and asphalt. This goes against state law.

The City of Snohomish is holding a public hearing July 23,
1999 at 1:30 p.m. at the George Gilbertson board room 1601
Avenue D, Snohomish School Administration Building.
Everyone who cares about the future of cemeteries within
Washington should attend. Whining is not going to solve
this dilemma -- physical attendance is.

Washington State Cemetery Association began specifically
because of the Snohomish Cemetery. We saw that valuable
records had been destroyed and that descendants were
devestated by had been happening at the cemetery. We vowed
we would do all we could to keep other cemeteries from
falling into the same disrepair the Snohomish Cemetery had.
Snohomish Cemetery's disrepair is what led Superior Court
Judge French to his decision. Should the City of Snohomish
be allowed to disregard the orders of the judge, or be
allowed to push the envelope on this, then others will
follow suit. This cemetery trial is to become the state's
role model for all future trials.

Below is the letter from Carolynn Crawford, the person who
spent $100,000 of her own money fighting the City over the
cemetery.

Hope to see you all at the hearing.

--------------
Andrea D. MacDonald "Andi"


Washington State Cemetery Association
http://www.rootsweb.com/~wapsgs/

Carolynn Crawford wrote:
> The latest salvo in this disgusting affair came
in the mail
> this Saturday. In order to understand the significance of
this you need
> to know that the court order from last October's trial,
says the city
> must put together a plan for removing the bodies from the
cemetery. In
> order to do this, they must first remove at least 2 feet
of soil from
> the entire piece of property and identify all burial pits.
In order to
> remove this soil they must remove the asphalt parking lot
belonging to
> the senoir center. They are not required to remove the
bodies under the
> Senior Center. The law says all bodies must be removed
but the judge
> obviously can't read. A request for proposal must be
issued to
> archaeologists in order to get an idea of all the
requirements for
> removing the bodies and identifying their race. This all
must comply
> with the agreement as signed by the City of Snohomish with
the Tulalip
> Indian Tribe. This is an ancient Indian burial area plus
a pioneer
> cemetery. The agreement with the Indians says they must
identify all of
> the bodies and return the Indian ones to the tribe and pay
for all the
> expenses of reburial on the reservation. The agreement
with the Indians
> also calls for a specified monument to be built to honor
the Indians.
> Nothing is said about the bodies which are part Indian of
which there
> are a few. There is also one Japanese man who was buried
there also.
> In order to separate out all of the different races they
are going to
> need DNA done on all of the skeletons because the records
for the
> cemetery have disappeared along with the monuments. Sixty
seven
> monuments disappeared in the 1970's.
> Our lawyer has been sending the City attorney a
letter each month
> warning the City that we want to be notified of any
discussing, business
> etc. regarding the Cemetery.and we require copies of all
documents to be
> sent in a timely manner. Technically we don't need to
remind then all
> the time because the court order says they are to keep us
informed.
> On Saturday July 10, 1999 there appeared in my mail
box a notice
> of development application and open record public hearing
from the City
> of Snohomish. The notice said that a development
application had been
> filed by the Snohomish Valley Activities Center to build a
Youth Center
> on the Cemetery. The application had been filed on May
20, 1999. A
> letter of completeness had been sent by the City on May
28, 1999. They
> had also requested special exceptions for steep slopes,
shoreline
> substantial development permit and site development plan.
The steep
> slope exception allows them to build this two story
building closer to a
> 40 foot drop off at the edge of a bluff in an earthquake
zone then would
> normally be allowed. The notice goes on to say that there
will be a
> public comment period for this application starting on
June 3, 1999
> which will expire on June 14, 1999 and that there will be
a public
> hearing on the application scheduled for June 25, 1999.
> The next part of the notice says that there will be
an optional
> determination of non significance threshold in regards to
the State
> Environmental Impact Statement. Then they say there are
no conditions
> being considered that require mitigation.
> A second sheet of paper was in the envelope. That
second sheet
> said that the public hearing for the Snohomish Valley
Activites Council
> Youth Center has been continued to July 23, 1999 at 1:30
p.m. at the
> George Gilbertson board room 1601 Avenue D, Snohomish
School
> Administration Building. I would say they don't
anticipate a crowd and
> have been ever so careful to hide what they are doing.
> It appears that the City of Snohomish plans to
violate the
> Snohomish Superior Court orders. They are also lying on
the State
> application. They have failed to give timely notice to
our family and
> the Snohomish Tribe of Indians as required by the court
order and their
> lawyer has lied repeatedly to our lawyer over the course
of eight
> months. The question now revolves around what happens
next?
> The building they are planning has 7000 square feet
of space and
> 48 parking spaces.
> It will share the Cemetery with the Senior Center. As an
architect, I
> will tell you that even if there was no cemetery there,
this is a
> dangerous project. First, you must never put a youth
center next to a
> senior center because of the danger posed to the elderly
by fast moving
> children who are there for recreation purposes. Secondly,
sharing a
> parking lot is the height of stupidity. Elderly people
frequently have
> trouble moving their automobiles around in cramped spaces
and backing
> out of parking areas is often the most danderous move of
all. Children
> who have recently received driving priviledges are ofter
not as skilled
> as the public would like them to be. They usually lack
the best
> judgment especially when rattled by other children in an
exciteable
> situation. Thirdly, children who are in the midst of
recreation and not
> known to be quiet. Elderly people generally do not like
loud noises and
> boisterous conduct. But the single most important thing
to note is
> that the building is slated to be built 8 feet from a 40
foot drop off.
> The bottom of this bluff has a fast moving river that
regularly floods
> and has killed numerous people over the years. This year
the bluff gave
> way and three trees went over the edge. One must always
remember that
> this is an earthquake zone. There was one just two weeks
ago. Here is
> a City which hates its elderly ignores its dead and would
prefer to
> dispose of its youth. What a lovely place to live!
> I couldn't begin to guess what the City will do next.
I do know my
> family and our lawyer will be there.
> Carolynn Crawford
>

This thread: