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" andimac@oz.net 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 >