To the Editor:
On Jan. 21st, the Snohomish City Council approved a schematic design for its proposed new campus with a cost estimate at $72.7 million to serve its 10,000 or so residents. The design puts the police dept. on the first floor, the planning dept. on the second floor, the public works dept. on the third floor, and adds space for council chambers instead of the original plan to share the adjacent FD4’s board room for public meetings.
The schematic also includes the relocated city shop pole buildings for vehicle maintenance and storage, mandated by the hearing examiner to protect Chinook salmon. However, the current City Hall facility at 116 Union Avenue is adequate for the foreseeable future, having been extensively remodeled just a few years ago.
The City of only 10,000 doesn’t need to borrow $72.7 million for a fancy 3-story City Hall with 60 parking stalls without any compelling reason.
This request by the council for $72.7 million from the taxpayers reminds me of when two county executives originally wanted to spend $160 million for a brand new, stand-alone, county courthouse. Public opinion resulted in a scaled-down remodeled version at half the cost.
Boeing and high-tech companies are laying off workers; the new president and governor are cutting back on government spending. Now is not the time for city residents to commit to going into debt, especially when city water bills will almost double in just five years, 2024-2029.
Morgan Davis
Snohomish
