Mountlake Terrace City Council approves interlocal agreement with Sno911

Recreation and Parks Director Jeff Betz gives the city council details about the Sno911 agreement. (Images courtesy of the City of Mountlake Terrace)

The Mountlake Terrace City Council unanimously voted to authorize an interlocal agreement with Sno911 and extend the organization’s use of a city-owned building in Mountlake Terrace for another five years.

Presented by Recreation and Parks Director Jeff Betz, the agreement extends Sno911’s use of the facility for five years, with one option to renew for an additional five years.

Sno911 dispatchers handle over 2,200 calls daily, with 96.1% answered within 20 seconds. The dispatchers send support services, such as police, fire and rescue, and paramedics, to various emergencies in Snohomish County.

Sno911 pays the City of Mountlake Terrace $4,000 monthly for the building rental, plus any applicable leasehold excise taxes. Sno911 pays for all utilities and splits anything metered or shared with the city, such as the fire suppression system.

Betz explained that Sno911 is responsible for repairing and maintaining the refrigeration unit for the computer servers and the parking lot fencing that encloses the facility.

“There’s an access gate into the area; it’s pretty secure,” Betz said. “We don’t want anybody else in it other than authorized personnel, so they’re responsible for maintaining it.”

The City of Mountlake Terrace is responsible for typical landlord responsibilities, including all HVAC, plumbing, structural, roof, foundation, and exterior paint.

Betz explained that the facility was built in 1983 under an agreement between the cities of Mountlake Terrace and Lynnwood to house emergency dispatchers there. In 2010, Mountlake Terrace purchased the operations facility outright from Lynnwood.

The 7,900-square-foot building has 14 outdoor parking spaces and is only used for operating a dispatch center and related activities provided by Sno911, which was called SNOCOM before a 2018 merger with SNOPAC.

Founded in 1971, SNOCOM was the first to provide emergency dispatch service to Brier, Edmonds, Mountlake Terrace, Lynnwood, Woodway, and Fire District 1 and expanded to Mill Creek and Mukilteo.

SNOPAC was founded in 1973 and provided service to 11 police departments and 24 fire departments.

According to a 2017 statement from then SNOCOM 9-1-1 Executive Director Terry Peterson, the centers’ combined call volume was 1,800 calls a day with up to 50,000 emergency call transfers between the centers yearly.

One organization depending on Sno911 is the Mountlake Terrace Police Department, which gave its 2023 year-end report during the March 21 meeting.

Police Chief Pete Caw, with Commanders Mike Haynes and Scott King, presented the 2023 year-end report for the Mountlake Terrace Police Department.

Caw told the city council that he was “happy to report that, overall, Mountlake Terrace continues to be a very safe community.”

The 2023 year-end report reviews Mountlake Terrace Police Department’s goals and analyzes progress toward achieving those goals, as well as 2023 crime statistics, calls for service, and traffic enforcement efforts.

For more details, click here.

Events Coordinator Andrew Appelwick gives the city council details of upcoming events for 2024.

In other business, Recreation and Parks Director Jeff Betz and Events Coordinator Andrew Appelwick presented the city’s 2024 community events schedule during Thursday’s meeting.

In 2023, the city hired Appelwick, who took the position after pandemic restrictions eased. The city’s event offerings grew that year with the addition of two outdoor movie nights.

Further, sponsorship opportunities have expanded to all city events with different levels of support.

The 2024 events calendar is as follows:

April 6: April Pools Day. 11 a.m. to 12 p.m.
April 20: Arbor Day cleanup, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.

May 4: Fly Fishers International Event — Ballinger Park, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Cosponsored by the City of Mountlake Terrace.

June 22: Food Truck Rodeo and Car Show — TBD

July 3: 3rd of July Family Celebration, 6-10:30 p.m.
July 11: Terrace Summer Nights: Music — Civic Campus, 4:30-7 p.m.
July 18: Terrace Summer Nights: Music — Terrace Creek Park, 4:30-7 p.m.
July 19-21: Tour de Terrace. Hosted by Tour de Terrace Organization
July 25: Terrace Summer Nights: Music — Civic Campus, 4:30-7 p.m.
July 27: Terrace Summer Nights: Movie — Terrace Creek Park, 9 p.m.

August 1: Terrace Summer Nights: Music — Terrace Creek Park, 4:30-7 p.m.
August 3: Terrace Summer Nights: Movie — Terrace Creek Park, 9 p.m.
August 6: National Night Out — Evergreen Playfield #3, 6-8:30 p.m.
August 9: Terrace Summer Nights: Movie — Terrace Creek Park, 8:45
August 16: Terrace Summer Nights: Movie — Terrace Creek Park, 8:30
August 31: Back to School event. Supplies, checkups, haircuts, school resources

September 14: National Day of Service — Location TBD, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
September 21-28: 44th Arts of the Terrace — Hosted by Friends of the Arts

October 7-13: Restaurant Week. Opt-in event for food service businesses.

November 24: Pavilion 56th Birthday — Mountlake Terrace Recreation Pavilion

December 6: 41st Tree Lighting — Civic Campus

Vice Chair of the Recreation and Parks Advisory Commission Audrey Meyer accepted Mountlake Terrace Mayor Kyoko Matsumoto Wright’s proclamation of Women’s History Month.

Also during the meeting, the city council declared a proclamation recognizing Women’s History Month, which Vice Chair of the Recreation and Parks Advisory Commission Audrey Meyer accepted.

Mayor Kyoko Matsumoto Wright said that Meyer — the primary leader of the Ivy League volunteer group in the Adopt a Park program — was involved in tree-planting planning for numerous parks.

“She has been instrumental in Mountlake Terrace becoming a Tree City USA member, assisting staff in the development of the tree ordinance update and the Trees for Terrace program,” Wright said.

Finally, Finance Director Janella Lewis reviewed the 2024 budget calendar with the city council. The full calendar can be seen here.

The council’s next meeting March 21 will start at 7 p.m. at Mountlake Terrace City Hall, 23204 58th Avenue West, 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 at cityofmlt.com/FormCenter/City-Council-17/Remote-Public-Comment-Request-Form-12.

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.

— By Rick Sinnett

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Real first and last names — as well as city of residence — are required for all commenters.
This is so we can verify your identity before approving your comment.

By commenting here you agree to abide by our Code of Conduct. Please read our code at the bottom of this page before commenting.