10 years ago 1996

Those who want the Lakewood/Smokey Point area to be its own city rather than part of Arlington or Marysville are circulating petitions which may take incorporation to a vote. One of the main catalysts for the incorporation is the Lakewood School District, which residents fear will lose part of its tax base if Lakewood property is annexed into Arlington. While Arlington city officials have publicly expressed support for the Lakewood School District, Arlington City Attorney Steve Peiffle said his city cant take a stand on incorporation until Lakewood residents can answer questions about utility service, budgets, and police and fire protection. Little concrete information was presented at the Dec. 4 community meeting since the consulting firm hired by the community group Save Our Community and Schools to research the feasibility of incorporation could not attend. The study will be complete in January, said Mickie Jarvill, attorney for SOCS. The study area stretches from the Lakewood School District boundary on the east side of I-5 north to 188th and on the west side to the countys urban growth boundary. The firm will study a larger area including Island Crossing and the area south of the Arlington Airport, Jarvill said. The study will look at revenues as well as the cost of providing necessary services. Several citizens expressed concerns that a careful study be made, before a vote is cast. Jarvill cited three major advantages of incorporation: stronger community identity, more involvement in law enforcement and land-use control. The disadvantage of incorporations in general, she said, is another layer of government. Remaining in the county is not a viable option since the area is in the countys urban growth area. Its either incorporation or being part of Marysville or Arlington, Jarvill said. The issue of the Lakewood School District being usurped by the Arlington School District in the case of annexation was discussed. The superintendents of the two districts are working with legislators to change the state law which says school districts on one site bust be absorbed by the annexing citys school district. Jarvill spoke of negotiating an agreement with Marysville for water and sewer services. Marysville City Administrator Dave Zabell said that if property owners signed the incorporation petition, they would not be eligible to sign Marysvilles annexation petition and, therefore, under city ordinance, would not be eligible for services. We are not in the business of providing services to areas outside of Marysvilles urban growth area, he said. While current state law does not allow incorporation of cities within five miles of an adjacent city with a population of 15,000, said Jarvill, there are exceptions in cases where the population exceeds 3,000.

25 years ago 1981

In the wake of discussions by city officials about ending a franchise allowing trains to pass through city limits, Burlington Northern has begun work on bumpy crossings at 12 Marysville intersections. BN crews started repair work in October replacing ties and rails at the Eighth Street crossing. The crews completed work at 88th Street recently. The railroad was contacted more than a year ago by City Council about the crossings, but had to wait for materials to be shipped for the repair work, Jerry Weathered, BN roadmaster said. It takes a year to manufacture specially welded rails and to dry the hardwood ties used to replace the old wood, Weathered said. Council member Don Foxe was unhappy with the postponement of services by BN, suggesting at a September Council meeting they city revoke the railroads right to pass through Marysville. Sometimes I wonder if they know they have a franchise with the city (that dates to 1890), Foxe said in a recent telephone interview. The terminal agent at the Everett BN office said although Marysville is an important community, other areas had repair work that required immediate attention at the time of the citys first request for service. Every area of the railroad is put on a priority basis and we need to know 15 to 16 months in advance to program repairs, the agent said. The Everett BN repair crews work on main lines from the city of Everett to just north of Marysville, east to Lowell and south to Mukilteo, he added. When materials and workers were available at the beginning of October, BN officials agreed with the city to repair two crossing each month until work was completed. The city agreed to blacktop the intersections once the materials had been replaced. For the amount of squawking we had done, we were glad to do it, City Administrator Rick Deming said in referring to the cost of paving the crossings. Crossings slated for repair are downtown streets First through Eighth, Grove Street, 80th Street NE and 116th Street. Tore Olsen, foreman for the 12-man crew working at the 88th Street crossing, said it takes about a week to rehabilitate the crossings. After old ties have been replaced and new rails installed, Olsen said his crew would return to work in the railroad yard for a week, allowing regular scheduled train traffic to run over the new tracks. The crew will then return to check their work, he said. Wheathered said the order in which the crossings are repaired is determined by the volume of both train and street traffic at the site. He said he met with Mayor Daryl Brennick to choose the Eighth Street crossing as a starting point. Wheathered said the crews then moved to the 88th Street crossing because it was the worst for train traffic. He admitted the downtown crossing at Fourth Street may be holding up traffic, but said the 88th Street site was more dangerous to the railroad. BN officials expect their work to be done by January 1982.

55 years ago 1951

Mr. and Mrs. Pat Powers moved into the Penthouse apartment of the city hall building Saturday as they took over the duties included with the position of custodian of the building. Taking office Dec. 1, Powers succeeds Sam Mulholland who has served since the new city hall was put into service. Powers will handle fire and police calls, janitor work for the building and act as jailor. Pioneers of the community, the Powers first came here in 1902. He has served as mayor of Marysville, councilman, and as marshal. In the latter capacity Powers received gunshot wounds in 1938 while trying to apprehend prowlers in the alley back of the McCann building. Both Mr. and Mrs. Powers have been identified with Marysvilles civic and social life continuously through the years of their residence.

John Cramer, for 34 years a bridge tender for Great Northern, is taking a bit of vacation while he recuperates from an illness. Mr. Cramer was a farmer before coming to Marysville in 1903 from Fargo, N.D. He helped build roads, streets and sidewalks that made a town out of the wilderness site. He started as a bridge tender on the Snohomish River Bridge, and in 1917 was transferred to the Ebey Bridge. He and Mrs. Cramer were married 28 years ago in the bridge house which then became their home. They now live on First Street where Mr. Cramer is resting and planning to be back on his job about the first of the year, operating the mechanism of the bridge span which opens for marine traffic on Ebey Slough. Tugboats with long tows, and pleasure or fishing craft ply the slough frequently enough to keep a man on the alert.