MARYSVILLE — Marysville’s incoming and outgoing mayors conducted a “coffee klatsch” with citizens at ServPro’s Marysville facility July 13.

It was the last coffee klatsch Dennis Kendall will attend as mayor. He was joined by Marysville City Council member Jon Nehring, who will step into Kendall’s shoes as mayor Aug. 2.

During the informal discussion, Marysville ServPro owner Bud Summers touted the company’s new facility, where the coffee klatsch was held, as an example of how accommodating the city of Marysville is toward businesses.

“This city has been amazing,” Summers said. “They knew we were working within a tight window, and the inspectors gave us time to fix things as we went. We built what you’re standing in within 41 days, and we have about 50-ish employees working here now.”

Marysville Historical Society President and former City Council member Ken Cage, whose office is on Third Street, likewise complimented the city for its preservation of qualify of life. He also suggested that the city make formal arrangements with the adjacent Marysville Mall to allow people to use the mall’s parking lot as overflow parking for Third Street and the intersecting section of State Avenue. Kendall followed by acknowledging that State Avenue as a whole is in need of more serious repairs than it received a few years ago.

“What it got was a temporary fix,” Kendall said. “It’ll probably be another 10-15 years before we need to go to the base, and it costs about $9 million to $10 million to renovate each mile of road right now.”

When Summers asked how businesses can help the city, Kendall praised area businesses for the support they’ve already given the community, such as sponsoring movie nights and events such as the Healthy Communities Challenge Day. At the same time, he asked for more such aid from businesses, including encouraging their employees to take advantage of the city’s parks and recreation opportunities, even if they don’t live in the city.

“I’ve always had the philosophy that a city is only as good as the people who live and work there,” Kendall said.

Nehring commended Kendall for promoting measures that he believes have helped maintain Marysville’s small-town feel, from creating dog parks to focusing on revitalizing the downtown, but he acknowledged that the city has depended on its businesses community to pitch in on behalf of those efforts.

“The city alone doesn’t have the resources to raise money for its police dogs or to start up a Boys and Girls Club in town,” Nehring said. “The strength of our community is that businesses and other community members have stepped in at those times.”

An an example of his belief in customer service, Kendall recalled asking one city street worker who was standing around during his shift, “Would you pay you to do what you’re doing right now?” Dom Amor, government and community relations manager for Puget Sound Energy, responded by crediting the city with doing “a wonderful job” during their projects together.