A Dec. 1 letter from the City of Sammamish is stirring the pot again over the possible annexation of Klahanie.

Passing out copies to the public at a Dec. 8 Land Use Committee meeting, several Issaquah city councilmembers expressed their intentions to either carve up the unincorporated community or completely remove it from the city’s long range plans.

The latest development in the on-again off-again relationship with Klahanie and the cities of Issaquah and Sammamish began this fall when interim King County Executive Kurt Triplett proposed cutting funding to 39 parks in unincorporated areas, including Klahanie Park. The measure was turned back by the King County Council, but fears of future moves by the county to jettison the parks, and the money needed to maintain them, have sent officials from Issaquah and Sammamish back to the bargaining table.

Addressed to Issaquah Mayor Ava Frisinger, a letter from Sammamish City Manager Ben Yazici confirmed talks with Issaquah are moving ahead on the steps needed to annex Klahanie Park, and Issaquah School District’s Beaver Lake and Challenger elementary schools.

In it, Yazici lays out the steps needed for the transfer of municipal rights to the land through the King County Growth Management Planning Council (GMPC).

Klahanie, an upscale unincorporated area and home to about 11,000 residents, lies along the eastern borders of both Issaquah and Sammamish.

It was built in the mid-1980’s and 90’s. Following Growth Management Act guidelines to control growth, Issaquah adopted Klahanie as a potential annexation area (PAA) in the city’s comprehensive plan.

It welcomed an annexation vote in 2005 — which passed with 67 percent approval — but a measure to accept Issaquah’s bonded indebtedness failed and the City Council voted against it, 4-3.

Council President Maureen McCarry wasn’t on the city council then (she advised the neighborhoods to petition for annexation in 2005 instead), but said Klahanie made things difficult when it voted against assuming debt, while Greenwood Point and South Cove — other annexation areas — voted for it.

“The feeling was, ‘You don’t want to pay your fair share’,” she said. “The amount of debt was very low, but they said no.”

With the 2011 update of the city’s comprehensive plan quickly approaching, McCarry and councilmembers John Rittenhouse and John Traeger expressed support for sending a letter from the council to the City of Sammamish, exploring either partial or complete transfer of PAA rights.

She expected a draft agenda bill on the proposed letter by January of February.

Mayor Ava Frisinger, when asked about other cities such as Kirkland moving forward on annexation without debt acceptance, said the primary reason was most likely money.

“In our instance, there would be a cost,” she said. “To provide an equal level of service there would have been a cost to the city.”

She specifically cited repairs and upgrades needed for Klahanie’s stretch of Issaquah-Fall City Road, which is expected to cost approximately $20 million.

Rick Moulton, a Klahanie resident attending the meeting, said he was baffled by the “nebulous” process of annexation and encouraged the Land Use Committee councilmembers to reconsider their positions.

“The vote in the community was for annexation, not against it,” he said.

Another resident, Barbara Justice, pleaded with the councilmembers to not break apart the PAA.

“That park is our park,” she said. “The county required that green space be set aside for our benefit.”

The City of Sammamish has already scheduled hearings in April, 2010, on how they would zone the land.