LYNNWOOD—The Lynnwood City Council unanimously appointed Kresha Green to position 7 of the Human Services Commission and discussed annexation of the old Alderwood Middle School on 28th Avenue West, at its Business Meeting Monday, April 14.
“I think [Green] is an amazing asset,” said Councilwoman Derica Escamilla, the council liaison for the Human Services Commission. “She’s right up there, involved with the community, involved with Lynnwood. I’m excited for her to join us and I think this is a great opportunity for all of us.”
Green was unavailable to attend Monday’s meeting.
As far as the annexation of the Old Alderwood Middle School, the proposal refers to a 19.76-acre parcel on 28th Avenue West, near Alderwood Mall Parkway, which the Edmonds School District submitted a petition to annex with intention to build a new middle school. The proposal also includes improving the intersection for better signaling and to better connect to the Lynnwood Right-of-Way (ROW).
The two main concerns, when reviewing the annexation proposal, were an increase to calls of service (CFS) and issues regarding stormwater infrastructure on site.
The city anticipates the annex would increase CFS by 50, going off of averages.
Regarding the stormwater improvements, this would require additional easements which, by extension, require additional permitting.
The council was presented with a draft motion Monday that will need to be approved at a Public Hearing. An ordinance would then have to be adopted to approve the annex request.
Council did not have any questions and approved the resolution, which was simply a notice of intention for now, with all but Councilman Patrick Decker voting in favor.
Decker noted that he doesn’t “see the value,” in the annex and it appeared, to him, that the Edmonds School District “got behind on what they needed to do in order to meet their commitments to the community.”
“The City does take upon additional cost burdens for the annexation,” said Decker. “I’m just not convinced that it’s the City’s responsibility to pick up where the school district has failed to meet their commitments to the community in terms of their timeline for this project.”
Public Hearing
The singular agenda item during the council’s Public Hearing was a presentation by Zack Spencer, Community Planning Manager, regarding commute trip reduction.
The Washington Commute Trip Reduction Act was passed in 1991 and requires employers, with more than 100 employees, to encourage staff to utilize carpooling, public transportation, biking, or walking to promote greener commuting for a more sustainable environment.
The City of Lynnwood is required, per the CTRA, to update its Commute Trip Reduction Plan every four years.
Lynnwood’s plan involves adhering to its current Comprehensive Plan, and partnering with Community Transit to track jurisdictions to meet their goals, and coordinating with major worksites within the city.
The proposed changes to Lynnwood’s existing plan include reorganizing language found in the Lynnwood Municipal Code chapter 11.14 so that it “flows better,” Spencer said, as well as restructuring strategies and services available.
The council was presented with a draft motion to accept these changes two weeks from now. They had no comments save for a few clarifying questions.
Unanimous Consent Agenda
During the unanimous consent agenda the City of Lynnwood approved finance vouchers and also approved that Premier Golf Centers, who manage the municipal golf courses, change their credit card processing provider to ProphetPay.
Executive Session
Council broke away for an executive session for 10-minutes to discuss a potential real estate transaction but Executive Sessions are not made public so no information was readily available.
When council returned from the session they approved the transaction unanimously.
Public Comments
The one and only public comment was 14-year-old Ruby Creighton of the Pacific Little League discussing her team’s upcoming celebration, Little League Day at the Lynndale Park ballfields on Saturday, April 29, from 9 a.m. until 2 p.m. The event will feature games and activities, special guests, a barbecue lunch, and a coaches home run derby.
Other Business
The City Council also signed two proclamations – one honoring Arbor Day, which will be celebrated in Lynnwood on April 25 when Lynnwood Elementary School students will gather with members of the Snohomish Tribe of Indians at South Lynnwood Park to plant native trees and learn about urban forests.
The second proclamation honors Volunteer Week, which spans from April 20 through April 26, and honors the millions of volunteers who willingly give their time to serving their community.
Author: Kienan Briscoe
One Response
If you do a little digging into “Commute Trip Reduction” I think most tax payers would be shocked to learn, or perhaps not, Inslee recently before he left office doubled their budget from $25 million to $50 million. They are a group of public employees that are advocating for transit. Payed for by your tax dollars, to provide transit options, training, and support to the largest employers. These are also the “policy” people the legislators listen to for some of the more asinine ideas about transit. Please look into the program for yourselves.