Drafter
Clerk 10/01/2026
Title
AN ORDINANCE to reactivate the operations of Drainage District 5 & 5A in accordance with state law.
Body
STATEMENT OF FACTS:
1. Drainage District 5 ("the district") was formed in 1916. However, over the past century, territory within the district that used to be located in unincorporated King County has been absorbed by the city of Enumclaw. Before 2026, of the approximate 1,300 acres that made up the district's service area, over sixty percent were located in Enumclaw.
2. Enumclaw maintains and operates a stormwater utility within its incorporated city limits.
3. At least since 2024, the then district's three-member board ("the board") began exploring how to reconfigure the district to carve out the properties located in Enumclaw from those in unincorporated King County.
4. The three board members all resided within the city limits.
5. By way of a May 1, 2025, notice, the board notified all parcel owners within the district of the board’s proposed action to adjust the district's boundaries so that its service area within the city limits and a limited strip of adjacent unincorporated properties ("the withdrawn area"), together with district capital facilities located within the withdrawn area, would be transferred to Enumclaw. The notice invited the public to give comment at a public hearing held on June 9, 2025. The district received no comments against the proposed action.
6. On May 27, 2025, the Enumclaw City Council passed Resolution No. 1843, expressing Enumclaw's support of the board's proposed action to withdraw the identified territory and Enumclaw's agreement to incorporate the district's capital facilities into its system and serve the properties in the withdrawn area then currently served by the district.
7. In January 2026, the board submitted its proposed withdrawal proposition to the Boundary Review Board ("the BRB"). No one invoked the BRB's jurisdiction. By a March 10, 2026, letter the BRB notified interested parties that the BRB received no request for a public hearing and therefore by operation of law, the BRB approved the proposed withdrawal. Final approval was contingent only on the district filing with the clerk of the council a resolution "accomplishing this proposed action," together with a copy of the BRB’s March 10, 2026, letter.
8. On May 11, 2026, the board adopted Resolution 2026-01 that withdrew the withdrawn area from the district's territory.
9. With Resolution 2026-01, the three board members were no longer qualified to serve on the board, as they no longer resided in the district. Therefore, since May 11, 2026, the district has not had a board.
10. With no board of the district and the county's immediate need to do work on district property, on September 8, 2026, the council adopted emergency Ordinance 20134, which suspended operations of the district and gave the county responsibility for the operation and maintenance of the district's improvements in accordance with RCW 85.38.220.
11. Three qualified district voters have volunteered to serve on a reconstituted board and the council intends to appoint these three individuals by motion.
12. This ordinance reactivates the operations of the district, returns control of the district to the board of commissioners, and relieves the county of any responsibility for the operation and maintenance of the district's improvements.
BE IT ORDAINED BY THE COUNCIL OF KING COUNTY:
SECTION 1. Findings:
A. In accordance with RCW 85.38.220, the King County council held a public hearing on the proposed action to reactivate the operations of Drainage District 5 & 5A.
B. After hearing from the public and deliberating the matter, the council finds that it is in the public interest to reactivate the operations of Drainage District 5 & 5A.
SECTION 2. Operations of Drainage District 5 & 5A are hereby reactivated.
SECTION 3. After enactment of this ordinance, the clerk of the council shall provide a copy of this ordinance to the county treasurer.
SECTION 4. This ordinance takes effect ten days after enactment, contingent on
the council having passed at least two of the motions that appoint members to the Drainage District 5 & 5A board of commissioners.