It’s official: The City of Mountlake Terrace will sponsor a 3rd of July fireworks event in Ballinger Park this summer.

The Mountlake Terrace City Council voted unanimously at its April 18 regular business meeting to move forward with plans for holding the event.

The city will sponsor a scaled-down event this year consisting of onsite food trucks and fireworks. The community event, which was canceled the past two years due to the COVID-19 pandemic, will begin at 6 p.m. Sunday, July 3 and end approximately four hours later at the conclusion of the fireworks show.

Western Display has been contracted for the pyrotechnic display over Lake Ballinger. City staff has reached out to potential food vendors to gauge their interest and availability for participating. It’s possible that Calvary Fellowship Church will provide live music at the event via a DJ.

Recreation and Parks Director Jeff Betz said that to prepare for the celebration, “staff are anticipating that special event activities will be able to proceed with no limitations. But we’re also cautious in preparing for the possibility that restrictions may be imposed at any time due to the up and down nature of the COVID-19 pandemic.” That possibility led to the proposal for a more “scaled-back version” of this year’s event, Betz said.

The 3rd of July celebration was initiated and presented for several years by the nonprofit Cheeseburger Babies Foundation, which had raised more than $15,000 annually for the event through donations and support from local businesses, organizations and individuals. In years past, the event typically drew approximately 3,000 people — with more in the surrounding area also watching the fireworks display.

“But with this kind of condensed, scaled-back version, they (the sponsors) elected not to participate at this time,” Betz said.

However, he added, the fireworks show itself “could be much larger than in years past, and larger than many area shows, due to the value of hosting that on the 3rd of July instead of the 4th — it does allow us to get more fireworks for our price point.”

Betz told the council that staff is expecting there to be a larger demand for this and other special events scheduled this summer since they had been canceled during the poor two years. In addition, the Edmonds Chamber of Commerce announced last week there won’t be a fireworks show launched over Edmonds this year as the event’s regular location at Civic Field is still under construction. As a result, the chamber decided to instead sponsor and support the City of Mountlake Terrace’s 3rd of July fireworks show.

Councilmembers said they were supportive of the plan and were excited about the community celebration returning. Some councilmembers did expressed concerns associated with providing adequate staffing needed for the event, which also included traffic control and security measures.

Betz replied that in previous years, Mountlake Terrace police have coordinated with Edmonds police because the event draws a large number Edmonds residents since Ballinger Park borders both cities. “We would want to coordinate with them a little bit and make sure that they’re handling any traffic issues,” he added, “especially along the Interurban Trail and that side of the park as well.”

The newly renovated waterfront area at Lake Ballinger where the fishing pier and dock are located will be closed off for the event due to the required safety radius around the fireworks show, he said.

City costs associated with holding the celebration will likely include having to pay some staff overtime.

In other business, the council voted 5-2, with Mayor Kyoko Matsumoto Wright and Mayor Pro Tem Bryan Wahl dissenting, to adopt an ordinance formally denying a proposed site-specific zoning map amendment of three properties in the 5400 block of 240th Street Southwest.

Following a public hearing March 21, the council had previously adopted a motion directing staff to prepare an ordinance outlining findings of facts and conclusions of law denying the rezone. The proposed map amendment would have changed the zoning of three adjacent parcels — with a combined area of 0.92 acres –from their existing designation as Single-Household Residential, with an 8,400 square feet minimum lot area (RS 8400), to Single-Household Residential-Transitional (RS-T), which allows for the construction of townhomes.

Each of the three Gateway neighborhood properties currently has a single-family residence located on them. The proposal was only for a rezone of those three properties and did not include any development applications to build housing.

After the proposed zoning map amendment was first put forth last summer, many residents in the neighborhood had submitted comments, including a petition signed by more than 60 people, opposing the site’s zoning change because they feel the area’s quality of life and public safety would be negatively impacted.

Several councilmembers had also expressed their concerns, during the public hearing, about future effects on nearby neighborhoods since the proposal could eventually have led to townhome development on the properties, and it was rejected at that time by the same 5-2 vote.

The council also adopted a resolution Monday night authorizing staff to apply for the Washington State Recreation and Conservation Office’s Youth Athletic Facilities grant that would be used to support lighting improvements at Evergreen Playfield #5.

The proposed project would use grant funds to help install LED light fixtures on three new metal poles at the playfield and the existing metal poles would be retrofitted. The current lighting system was constructed in the mid-1990s and uses metal halide bulbs that are considered outdated technology.

Director Betz said the proposed upgrades “will reduce maintenance costs, it will reduce the light spillage in the community and it will also improve greatly the quality of the field lighting.”

He noted replacing metal halide bulbs that have burned out is increasingly expensive as they typically have a lifespan of approximately three years. In addition, the playfield’s two 90-foot-tall poles require renting a 120-foot lift to replace those bulbs when they burn out and the costs of doing so, along with contracting for an electrician, exceed $5,000 annually.

The proposed LED lighting systems have a warranty guaranteeing they will last for 25 years and the relevant equipment is located low on the pole, which makes maintenance easier. The new systems would increase the amount of lighting aimed at the field’s playing surface and also allow for the remote programming of lights, along with the ability to turn them on or off as needed.

The total project cost is estimated to be $475,000. If the application is approved, the state grant would cover half of those costs and the city would use park-related revenues for its matching portion of the funding. Recreation and Conservation Office grants will be awarded in July 2023.

The grant proposal would also require extending the current interlocal agreement with the Edmonds School District for using the facilities, and Betz indicated the district is amenable to doing so.

The eastern portion of Playfield #5 is owned by the City of Mountlake Terrace and the area west of that is owned by the school district. The interlocal agreement designates the city’s responsibilities for maintaining and renting the field out.

— By Nathan Blackwell