The Issaquah City Council recently voted unanimously to annex Bellevue Utilities Island, a 1.87 acre parcel of land, according to an article in the Issaquah/Sammamish Reporter.
The word “island” is misleading—the area is surrounded not by water, but by the City of Issaquah. Currently, the City of Bellevue owns the island, which holds Lake Sammamish Reservoir.
In August 2015, Issaquah and Bellevue entered into an interlocal agreement by which Issaquah would assume Bellevue's sewer and water utilities. The agreement was executed January 1, 2017. Issaquah's planning manager, Trish Heinonen, said that since Issaquah now has jurisdiction over Bellevue's water and sewer, the next logical step is to annex the island, then “clean it up and make it part of the city.”
There are several steps in the annexation process. In July, the bill will go before the Council Land and Shore Committee, and then it will be returned to the Issaquah City Council. After that, Issaquah will send a notice of its intent to annex the property to King County's Washington State Boundary Review Board. Members of the public will be able to hear about the issue at the council meetings on July 17 and September 5, after which the council can decide on the annexation.
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