March

Mountlake Terrace City Councilmember Seaun Richards announced at the March 4 city council business meeting that he is not seeking re-election to his Position 7 seat this fall. The two-term councilmember said he won’t be running to retain his seat, with the goal of encouraging “new blood” on the council.

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Work started March 4 on the Main Street Revitalization Project.  Phase 1 of the project will rebuild the deteriorating pavement along 236th Street Southwest. Once completed, the roadway will provide one travel lane in each direction, a two-way center turn lane, and bike lanes. The improvements will also include wider sidewalks decorated with trees, decorative LED pedestrian and street lighting consistent with Town Center standards, and relocating existing overhead utilities underground. The project will also upgrade the 236th/56th traffic signal, and will include installation of a new signal at Gateway Boulevard and underground facilities for the future traffic signal at the intersection of 236th Street and 58th Avenue.

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The City of Mountlake Terrace has received the WellCity Award from the Association of Washington Cities (AWC) in honor of its dedication to promoting employee health. In addition to the added benefits of a healthier workplace, the city will receive a 2 percent discount on medical premiums in 2019. The lower premiums translate into a substantial cost savings in the city’s budget that benefits both the employees and taxpayers.

MLTnews was recognized March 9 during the Mountlake Terrace High School Sports Booster Club’s March 9l Building Bridges Gala and Auction. Publisher Teresa Wippel accepted the Outstanding Community Partner award for the website’s work to support sports, journalism and music at the high school. The annual auction raised $52,000 for MTHS programs.

A sewer backup at King County’s Lake Ballinger pump station caused the discharge of an unknown amount of untreated sewage into the lake’s south end March 14. The lake is closed to all recreational uses until the water has tested at safe bacterial levels for two consecutive days. Testing the samples takes a day, so park users should assume that the boat launch and beach will be closed through the weekend of March 16-17, King County’s Wastewater Treatment Division said in an announcement.

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Mountlake Terrace High School senior Sophie Burbank, a candidate in the 2019 U.S. Presidential Scholar Program, was the student speaker at the annual Foundation for Edmonds School District fundraising breakfast March 15. To accommodate the growing number of supporters, the foundation this year sponsored two fundraising events  — a breakfast and a lunch — at the Lynnwood Embassy Suites. The two events raised $146,000, which will support a wide range of foundation initiatives, including a summer meal program for students who received free/reduced-price lunches during the school year, post-secondary scholarships, music enrichment and school-wide classroom grants.

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Demolition began early March 18 on Mountlake Terrace’s landmark Roger’s Market Place, 23120 56th Ave. W., a community fixture for decades and one of the last representatives of the vanishing breed of local, independently-owned supermarkets. A few local residents gathered to witness the show, with several kids (accompanied by parents) allowed to skip school for the day to view the event. They were joined by MLT City Councilmembers Seaun Richards and Steve Woodard, and Daniel Chun, representing Bellevue-based 21320 56th Ave LLC, the current property owners.

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King County said March 18 that testing indicates water quality has returned to normal in Lake Ballinger after a March 14 sewer backup caused approximately 236,000 gallons of sewage overflow into the lake and onto nearby properties. The lake, which has been closed for recreational use since late last week, is now open. The cause of the wastewater backup at the Lake Ballinger Pump Station, which affected the 30-inch Edmonds sewer line along the south side of Lake Ballinger, is under investigation, said King County Wastewater Division spokesman Norm Mah. The backup caused sewage to overflow along approximately 12 properties, he said.

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To accommodate anticipated future growth at the new city hall building, the Mountlake Terrace City Council at its March 18 business meeting unanimously approved a plan to add a 500-square-foot basement for the mechanical/electrical room to the existing city hall design. Moving the mechanical/electrical room from its current first-floor location to a new basement would open up 500 square feet that could accommodate four to six new employees in the future, Assistant City Manager Stephen Clifton said. The basement addition would be connected to the first floor by an elevator and a stairwell.

The Reading Racers from Brier Elementary finished second in the “Sno-Isle Libraries Mega-Fun, Biblio-Trivia, Rockem-Sock-em Third Grade Reading Challenge” finals at the Edmonds Center for the Arts March 25. The literary trivia contest includes three rounds of eight questions each, and the Reading Racers team was correct on 23 questions.The Read Hawks team from Hillcrest Elementary in the Lake Stevens School District won the contest.

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More than 100 science, technology, engineering and mathematics students from Mountlake Terrace High School and Brier-Terrace Middle School participated in the Washington Technology Student Association State Conference March 28-30 and brought home a number of top honors from the event. The MTHS TSA chapter was recognized for having the largest high school chapter in the state at this year’s conference; likewise, the BTMS TSA chapter was honored as the largest middle school chapter in the state.

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The Washington State Senate in late March recognized with a resolution the lifetime achievements of late Mountlake Terrace Mayor Jerry Smith. Current Mountlake Terrace Mayor Kyoko Matsumoto Wright, Councilmember Laura Sonmore and City Manager Scott Hugill attended the recognition along with Jerry Smith’s wife Judi and son Scott. The 77-year-old Smith died Dec. 14, 2018. He had served as the city’s mayor since 2004.

April

The Mountlake Terrace City Council April 1 recognized retiring Mountlake Terrace Police Commander Doug Hansen for his 38 years of service to the city. Hansen started his career with Mountlake Terrace in July 1981 as an animal control officer and served as a reserve police officer from January through July 1981. He was hired as a patrol officer in July 1981 and rose through the ranks, and was promoted to police commander in January 2010. Hansen’s last day in Mountlake Terrace was April 5.

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Crystal Gamon announced April 2 that she is running for Position 7 on the Mountlake Terrace City Council. A property manager at Wright Runstad & Company, Gamon is a long-time community volunteer who has lived in Mountlake Terrace for six years.

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While the intersection at 56th Avenue West and 236th Street Southwest reopened to traffic April 3, the City of Mountlake Terrace said drivers should still anticipate some detours and delays. The traffic disruptions are related to construction on the city’s Main Street Revitalization Project, which includes installation of larger sewer lines on 56th Avenue West.

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Among the items presented to the Mountlake Terrace City Council at its April 11 work/study session was an update on the planning process for Town Center. The 11-member Economic Vitality and Town Center Task Force presented its recommended Town Center Subarea Plan during a Dec. 17 special joint meeting that included the city council and planning commission. Since that time, the planning commission has been reviewing the plan, and has met six times, and has been looking at the current Town Center boundaries and districts, Assistant City Manager Stephen Clifton said

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The commercial space in Building 1 of the Terrace Station project has been pre-leased to a fitness operator and a child care facility, according to Rainier Pacific Properties, a partner on the project.  A report in NextMLT.com said that the names of the companies have not been publicly released. Terrace Station is the private development project located on the former Edmonds School district property located south of the planned Mountlake Terrace Light Rail station.

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The Mountlake Terrace City Council at its April 15 meeting watched as Pat Lowe was sworn in as the police department’s new commander, replacing the just-retired Commander Doug Hansen. Justin Mettler was also promoted to sergeant.

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After being away for four years, Tony Umayam is returning to Mountlake Terrace High School to lead the Hawks’ football program. Umayam, a 1990 graduate of MTHS, had served as the Hawks’ head coach for 11 years before resigning from the post in March 2015, citing increasing demands from his day job and wanting to spend time with his family.

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More than 100 interested citizens gathered at the Nile Country Club in Mountlake Terrace April 18 to hear the latest from Sound Transit officials about what’s in store for the 8.5-mile, four-station Lynnwood Link extension. The project will connect Northgate to the Lynnwood City Center. Trains are scheduled to start running in 2024.

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The sun was shining April 22 as Mountlake Terrace city staff and elected officials officially broke ground on the Main Street Revitalization Project. The ceremony took place at 236th Street Southwest and Gateway Boulevard, where Phase 1 of construction has been underway since the beginning of March.  U.S. Rep. Rick Larsen said the Main Street project has been a long time coming. It will not only accommodate new residential, office and retail opportunities, but will provide a critical connection to the Link Light Rail Expansion Project, he said.

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A male pedestrian was “significantly injured” after he was hit by a vehicle near the 56th Avenue West and 234th Street Southwest intersection April 26, Mountlake Terrace police said. According to the Police Commander Mike Haynes, a 72-year-old man was crossing 56th Avenue West when the driver of a 2018 Chevy Colorado — who was waiting in a line of cars to turn north on 56th Avenue West — bypassed the cars waiting in front of him. The 56-year-old male driver drove into oncoming traffic to make the illegal turn. The pedestrian was in the crosswalk and had the right of way at the time he was crossing, Haynes said. The pedestrian was taken to the hospital. The driver was issued a citation.