The Mountlake Terrace City Council during its March 20 business meeting reviewed the Urban Forest Management Plan (UFMP) and its four implementation options.

Stormwater Program Manager Laura Reed, who is retiring after more than seven years in Mountlake Terrace, gave her last presentations to the council, starting with the UFMP. This long-term guide to urban forestation will be updated to reflect the city’s needs.

“We need to look at our trees as assets rather than something to deal with when there’s an emergency,” Reed said.

Urban forestation promotes mental health and residents’ quality of life, helps conserve energy, protects wildlife, cools the city and mitigates climate change, Reed said. She added that 32% of the city’s current total area is tree canopy, and the city’s goal is to increase it to 37% by 2050.

Staff developed a list of four options, with a preliminary staff recommendation for option 3, which includes the following:

– Adding tree-related tasks to the city’s engineering and project management (EPM) staff and the workloads of the engineering tech, communications manager and geographic information systems specialist.

– Conducting community outreach using a nonprofit or via a consultant contract.

– Adding a minimal amount for hazard tree removal for 2025 only.

– Purchasing 137 trees per year to replace dead street trees, fill bare areas and increase the tree canopy.

– Hiring seasonal interns or seasonal laborers in summer and fall only.

– Adding money to tree removal and pruning on call each year.

– Contracting with an on-call arborist for 20 hours weekly.

The total cost is projected to be $206,550.

Reed said the UFMP team and city staff are reviewing the plan’s first draft and should provide RPAC and the Planning Commission with a finished copy later this month or early April. A review and vote by the city council is expected by early May 2025.

The presentation material is available here.

In other business, the city council reviewed and approved the interlocal agreement for Water Resource Inventory Area 8 regional salmon recovery efforts, presented by Stormwater Program Manager Reed.

The WRIA 8 interlocal agreement (ILA) between 29 local government partners expires on Dec. 31, 2025. To continue the salmon recovery effort, the agreement and the memorandum of understanding must be renewed between King County, as the WRIA 8 service provider, and the Salmon Recovery Council.

The new 2026-2036 interlocal agreement will be active on Jan. 1, 2026.

The WRIA 8 fact sheet can be seen here.

Cutline: Recreation and Parks Director Jeff Betz explains the tree planting plan.

The council also reviewed and unanimously agreed to move a contract with Atwork Commercial Enterprise LLC for the Park Tree Planting Project to the council’s next consent calendar.

Recreation and Parks Director Jeff Betz said that during the construction of the Lynnwood Link light rail extension, Sound Transit paid the City of Mountlake Terrace $256,793 in lieu of replanting trees as a part of permit conditions for the project. The city will use that money to purchase and plant trees citywide.

Of the city’s nine parks, Betz said Ballinger Park, Matt Hirvela/Bicentennial Park and Terrace Creek Park were identified as potential candidates for trees due to space availability and to meet the city’s canopy coverage goals. However, Terrace Creek Park was removed from the plan because of the challenges of reaching the planting areas.

Betz said that a row of poplar trees on the west side of Ballinger Park will be removed as they are a “riskier type of tree” and will be replaced.

“Poplar and cottonwoods tend to fall apart when you don’t expect them to,” Betz said. “Even if they are healthy.”

The presentation material can be seen here.

Deputy City Manager Carolyn Hope and City Clerk Jennifer Joki drew names for the Position 5 council seat applicants’ interview order.

These applicants will be interviewed April 2, in the following order:

Saida Najib

Otmane Riad

William Paige Jr.

Chad Watson

Theodore Moriarty

Robert Castillo

Benjamin Hou

Michelle Delpeon

Forrest Reda

These applicants will be interviewed April 3:

Brian Malen

Michelle Senechal

Philip Lewis

Julie Kimball

Daniel Luoma

April 2 is a special meeting starting at 5:30 p.m., and April 3 is a regular meeting with a 5:30 p.m. start time.

The city council will discuss the candidates during an executive session, closed to the public, at the end of the April 3 council meeting, then announce their choice in public.

Councilmember Erin Murray delivered the proclamation for Naw-Rúz, which was received by Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee member Kerem Onat on behalf of the community.

Naw Rúz (also known as No Rouz, Nowruz, or Noruz), translates to “New Day” in English is the Bahá’í and Persian New Year, which occurs on the date of the vernal equinox.

The proclamation can be seen here.

The next council meeting will start at 7 p.m., March 27, 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 also can view livestreamed meetings and past video recordings at www.youtube.com/cityofmlt.

The agenda can be viewed here.