I’ve been a member of the Snoqualmie community since

1924 and am very proud of it. After World War II I came back to Snoqualmie

to live because I’d always liked it here and knew I could earn a living

here because Weyerhaeuser had a large mill here and I could always survive. I

have owned property and worked here and made a decent living. I’d like to

see this area be something more than a bedroom town and a play area

for Bellevue and Seattle. Meadowbrook is a very likely spot for small

business to survive and earn a modest living for people who like the area and want

to work, sleep and raise their families here.

This area could well support several small, independent industries

and contribute to our local community in value and character, but our Big

Brothers, who can’t earn a living here, want to crowd us out and sleep here

and work elsewhere and receive government grants at taxpayers’

expense. They use the U.S. government and flood control as their excuse.

Meadowbrook does have some high water at times, but to my

knowledge we haven’t lost a life, and my property in Meadowbrook has

been used for over 100 years for farming and commercial use and has

never been residential. It has never been damaged by the water and yet

our short term city executives would rather buy it from me at low value for a

public park and play field and remove it from the tax rolls than allow a

few small businesses to survive so people could work near home and enjoy

our area here, pay taxes here, work here and live here. We already have the

largest park area per capita of any area that I know of.

I think it is inexcusable that the town council would rather

accept grants from the government for a bedroom community than to support

local people and help them to create a self-supporting area that can pay

taxes, B&O taxes and provide jobs for local people who want to live and

work here. Meadowbrook is in need of local help, not vacant buildings and

vacant ground for parks and recreation. This used to be a thriving

community and high water was not the reason it has fallen into decay.

We need support from our elected officials and local people for local

development, not criticism and roadblocks and stupid reasons for not

allowing small businesses to co-exist with the modern world. Our local

officials would allow me a travel agency, barbershop, doctor’s office or

seasonal plant sales, all of which we now have in abundant supply.

Neil Dubey

Snoqualmie