The Mountlake Terrace City Council received a presentation on the Port of Everett expansion from Port Government Affairs Manager Adam LeMieux during its July 11 meeting.

Resolution 1220 proposes new boundaries that would include all of Snohomish County, except for the City of Edmonds, Port of Edmonds, Town of Woodway, Point Wells and Esperance. The resulting taxes would be $0.188 per $1,000, which LeMieux said was about $100 per year on a $500,000 property value and is not collected from tribal trust lands.

“The port is run like a business,” LeMieux said. “It must be self-sustaining.”

He explained that the port’s operations, including all staff salaries and benefits, are funded by its revenue. All public investment collected from property tax is reinvested into the Port District community for capital projects, public access and environmental cleanups.

LeMieux explained that all ports in Washington state are countywide except Everett, adding that if the port were to be built today, it would be a county port.

The Port District Act of 1911 allowed citizens of any Washington county to create a port district. A vote to create a countywide port district on June 8, 1918, fell short by about 20 votes.

The Port of Everett was created by a special election on July 13, 1918, to attract industries supporting the WWI war effort. The boundaries covered most of Everett, parts of Mukilteo, and unincorporated Snohomish County — excluding areas against the June vote.

Those boundary lines have not changed in 106 years and prevent the Port of Everett from undertaking more projects and giving more grants to cities in the rest of Snohomish County. They also limit the port’s financial growth.

Port of Everett CEO Lisa Lefeber said at an April 16 Snohomish City Council meeting that the port could not receive large loans unless they had a more extensive tax area.

“Because our boundaries are so small, our bonding capacities are artificially limited based on the assessed value of our district,” Lefeber said.

She said that if the Port of Everett built a road and opened a plot of land for economic development, it would need to partner and borrow bonding capacity from Snohomish County. The larger revenue district removes the need to borrow from the county. With larger bonds, they can make projects site-ready.

LeMieux said that the Port of Everett has purchased and redeveloped properties and can work to move in the kinds of businesses cities were looking for to fill those spots.

He said the port also helps with environmental restoration, similar to the work done on the creek extension at Lake Ballinger.

The council had several questions on taxes, grants, return on investment and direct benefits to Mountlake Terrace, which LeMieux will research and answer for the council at a future date.

The resolution will be placed on the primary ballot due Aug. 6. For more information on the Port of Everett expansion measure, click here.

In other business, the council recognized Eagle Scouts Owen Davis and Theo Cooksey of Troop 60 for their dedication by achieving the rank and helping the local community.

Recreation and Parks Director Jeff Betz, Recreation and Park Advisory Commission (RPAC) chair Forrest Reda and Regent of the Lady Stirling Chapter of the National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution Sally Buckingham presented the recognitions.

Former Mountlake Terrace Park Services and Property Management Superintendent Ken Courtmanch, who retired this past May, was also in attendance. Terrace Creek Overlook was a stop on his last tour for the Neighborhood Parks Improvement Subcommittee.

Davis replaced the split-rail fence, which Betz said was the original fence when the trail was built.

“It was not so much a fence anymore as it was just wood on the ground,” Betz said.

Cooksey’s project was to resurface the trail, replace the woodchips, and install a bench as the south entrance.

The Eagle Scouts raised all the funds and recruited volunteers for their projects. The city provided no assistance, materials or labor in completing their projects.

Buckingham worked with Congresswoman Suzan DelBene and presented the Eagle Scouts with U.S. flags flown at the state capitol in their honor.

Betz said that due to Davis and Cooksey’s hard work, Troop 60 has officially turned in its application to adopt Terrace Creek Overlook.

The city council reviewed and passed the following items for the July 25 consent calendar:

• A resolution to apply for a Washington State Recreation Conservation Office (RSO) Community Outdoor Athletic Facilities (COAF) grant for Evergreen Playfield #4 and #5. 

This one-time program was created over 20 years ago with excess revenues from the Seattle Seahawks stadium (now named Lumen Field) bonds. Funding for the top-scoring projects will be released in 2024 and 2025. The amount requested cannot exceed $1.2 million, and no matching funds from the city are required.

The project will replace the existing playfield infrastructure, such as new irrigation, drainage, fencing, dugouts, backstops and an accessible pathway from the parking lot.

The furthest field is partially owned by the school district and the city, with a joint-use agreement to manage the site.

The total cost is estimated at $1.383 million. The city would request $1.2 million and utilize capital improvement funds to cover the $183,000 excess.

• A professional services agreement for construction management and administration with Exeltech Consulting, Inc.

To prepare for the Link light rail, the city is upgrading pedestrian access with paved and illuminated pathways, connecting 58th Avenue West, 60th Avenue West, the Civic Campus and the Mountlake Terrace Transit Center.

This contract, funded with local dollars and approved in the 2023-2024 budget, includes a new pedestrian bridge and improvements to the park’s frontage.

Consultant construction management and administration services total $244,086.41 for inspection, coordination, administration, management and testing services, which includes a $25,000 management reserve fund.

Construction of the Veterans Memorial Park Trails project is scheduled to start this summer.

• The resolution for an interlocal agreement to accept grant funding from Snohomish County for HVAC improvements at the Mickey Corso Clubhouse. 

The City of Mountlake Terrace received a grant from Snohomish County to improve the clubhouse HVAC system, which dates to the early 1990s and has surpassed its intended lifespan. 

The city was notified April 30 that the application was successful. The grant award is $49,999. The grant condition is that the building be publicly accessible for a warming or cooling center and that the city hire an HVAC contractor by September 2024.

Total project costs are currently unknown. A consultant has been asked to develop a scope of work to begin an assessment to replace the clubhouse’s heating and cooling systems.

The July 18 city council meeting has been canceled due to an off-site event. The next meeting will start at 7 p.m., July 25, 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 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.

Livestreamed meetings and past video recordings can be viewed at www.youtube.com/cityofmlt. 

The agenda can be viewed here.

— By Rick Sinnett