As I had to leave the public hearing early, I missed hearing Mayor Jim Ferrell tell the crowd that the Sept. 1 meeting was being held as a courtesy because the Council can take no action on the proposed fish processing facility. Apparently, that decision lies solely with Scott Sproul, Federal Way’s interim Community Development Director. That such an important decision should be in the hands of an unelected administrator is as appalling as the whole idea of placing a warehouse and its truck traffic in an environmental treasure like the Weyerhaeuser Campus.

Mayor Ferrell did state that it was all about bringing jobs to Federal Way, but then we learned that, other than the construction jobs, Orca Bay is moving its operation from Renton, which means relocating workers, not a lot of new jobs.

It’s not as if the southwest corner of the Weyerhaeuser Campus near State Route 18 is the only place for a frozen food warehouse in Federal Way. A drive up Weyerhaeuser Way passes at least a half-dozen commercial real estate sites that are available. If there’s one thing Federal Way seems to have in abundance, it’s vacant commercial real estate. Why not re-purpose one of those structures or build on a site already cleared rather than destroying a forest and a neighborhood?

There is something about this whole project that doesn’t smell right, and it has nothing to do with fish.

Ann Caughey, Federal Way