The Mountlake Terrace City Council reviewed the Lodging Tax Advisory Committee (LTAC) recommendations during its April 24 meeting and moved them to the consent calendar.

The allocation of lodging tax funds will be voted on during the May 1 council meeting. The two applicants for the remaining $20,000 are Forest Property PNW for the Lowell Shields Disc Golf Tournament at Terrace Creek and MLT Cares for the MLT Festival.

The full amount of the remaining funds were originally to go to the non defunct Tour de Terrace, which was retired in January. A second round of applications was held to distribute the unexpected tax dollars.

Recreation and Parks Director Jeff Betz said that LTAC believes both applicants meet the criteria for generating overnight stays and creating an economic or other community benefit. The amounts suggested were $19,500 for MLT Cares and $500 for Forest Property PNW.

In other business, the Council reviewed and moved to its May 1 consent calendar amendments to the Mountlake Terrace Municipal Codes (MTMC) 1.15.130 and 2.85.010 regarding receiving appeals.

City Manager Jeff Niten said the way the current code reads, “It means [City Clerk] Jennifer [Joki] can never take a vacation day.”

The proposed amendments allow the city clerk to designate alternates to receive legal notices, such as appeals and summonses, or other time-sensitive legal documents, such as notice of civil violation responses.

The City Council reviewed three presentations: the 2024 Mountlake Terrace Police Department year-end report, middle housing code amendments and sewer system asset management practices.

Community and Economic Development Director Christie Osborn – along with consultants ECOnorthwest Project Manager Mackenzie Visser and Mithun partner Heidi Oien – explained the middle housing amendments and how they relate to parking standards, residential affordability, residential design standards and residential districts.

Visser explained that the city held a community workshop in March to get feedback from residents, with approximately 40 participants attending. Residents expressed a desire for housing variety, affordability and accessibility, with strong support for increasing housing density. They also indicated a strong interest in removing barriers to building ADUs and improving walkability and design.

The updates are primarily focused on what fits, not only physically, but financially. Oien said that increasing the city’s building scale by zone and density would make a wider variety of middle housing types available and more affordable.

One way space can be utilized differently is by increasing the lot coverage of a land parcel. Other options include changing building design standards, requiring at least 50% of the primary building facade to be habitable, and reducing parking counts and garage widths.

Visser said that more focus group discussions will be held and the council will receiveh a final draft at its June 5 work session.

The middle housing code presentation can be seen here.

Public Works Director Gary Schimek and Maintenance Worker Rex Fischbach made a presentation on the city’s wastewater system asset management practices.

The public works team reviewed 3,249 inspections, then identified, located and assigned each inspection a map number. With that information, staff divided the city map into 20 quadrants and rated the sections into three grades: good, fair or poor.

The city used a sewer line rapid assessment tool (SL-RAT) to find blockages and materials that could lead to blockages. By cleaning only the problematic sewer lines, they saved the city between $669,000 and $1 million.

The sewer asset management presentation can be seen here.

The council also reviewed the city’s performance measures with Deputy City Manager Carolyn Hope. The performance measures, which were discussed during last week’s council retreat, are tied to the council’s strategic plan and adopted budget for 2025-26. They use specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time-bound (SMART) goals to measure regulatory compliance and progress toward operational goals or level of service standards.

The performance measures can be seen here.

The review of the code amendment for 2.10.020 regarding council public postings was stricken from the April 24 agenda.

“We have some dueling opinions going back and forth, and I want to make sure it’s right before I bring it back to the council,” Niten said.

The proposed municipal code amendment would change the Council Protocol Manual requirements for meeting notices for all council agendas, cancellations, special meetings and public hearing notices.

The changes reflect how the residents receive news and information from the city, with many people turning more to online and social media outlets to stay informed.

Public hearing notices are published in the Everett Daily Herald, the city’s newspaper of record. The current protocol requires physical postings of meeting notices at four locations; the new proposal would limit physical posting to just the kiosk at City Hall.

The next city council meeting will start at 7 p.m., May 1, at Mountlake Terrace City Hall, 23204 58th Ave. W., Mountlake Terrace. To attend the meeting online, visit. zoom.us/join and enter meeting ID 810 1113 9518; no passcode is needed.

To make a public comment remotely, complete the registration form within 24 hours of the meeting’s start.

To listen via telephone, call 1-253-215-8782 and enter the same meeting ID.

You can also view livestreamed meetings and past video recordings at www.youtube.com/cityofmlt.

The agenda can be viewed here.

– By Rick Sinnett