1/17/08

Editorial:

Fate of north county campus could be in our hands

The state legislature went back to work January 14 and Snohomish County residents may be watching the proceedings more closely than usual this session.

The governing body is expected to forward a recommendation to Gov. Gregoire before summer for the location of a new 4-year university in Snohomish County. Representatives will review the report prepared by NBBJ Consultants that listed the Everett Station site as the number one choice with the Marysville/Smokey Point acreage in second place.

We can only hope the august body will avail itself of information that has since been disclosed which contradicts some of the findings of that report. It would be nice if we could also count on the exercise of common sense among legislators.

Apparently the City of Everett does not own or control a 4.1-acre parcel of land near the Everett Station, even though it was included in its siting proposal. Sound Transit owns the property and has no plans to sell the acreage to the city. The elimination of that area means the total acreage at the Smith Avenue site is just 26.9 acres, barely over the minimum of 25 acres required for consideration.

A business owner whose property is adjacent to the acreage, located on a street that bisects the proposed campus, has stated his unwillingness to sell his building to the city, partly because he felt left out of the planning process.

The area around the station has also been designated a high crime area by the Everett City Council. The increase of prostitution and narcotics arrests has resulted in the area being classified a “no-go” zone, allowing police to arrest specific individuals who’ve been banned from entering the zone because of connections to illegal activity.

What’s more, significant levels of industrial contamination have landed the Everett Station site on the state Department of Ecology's Toxic Cleanup Program list of “Confirmed and Suspected Contaminated Sites.” Costs for the necessary cleanup are unknown and the extent of toxins in the soils has yet to be determined.

In the NBBJ report, the Marysville site (350-plus acres of wide open land) is said to have groundwater issues but Mary Swenson, the city chief administrative officer, denies the problem. Swenson contends the city has already invested heavily in the property to mitigate groundwater problems, and has plans in place to accommodate development needs. She added that information to that effect was left out of NBBJ’s report even though data was provided to the firm in advance of its release.

While bickering between city administrations certainly won’t play well in Olympia, it’s critical that the state’s legislators have all the facts at their disposal when this important decision is being discussed. As with most issues, the voice of the electorate, rising above the strident voices of paid lobbyists and consultants, can be a powerful force.

For contact information for your legislator, visit http://www.leg.wa.gov/legislature or leave a message for your representative at (800) 562-6000.