MARYSVILLE – The Marysville City Council voted Monday night to enact a six-month moratorium on supervised drug consumption facilities.
The moratorium will allow time for the Planning Commission to study and consider a permanent prohibition. The council may vote to extend the moratorium for another six months.
The resolution says neither Marysville or Snohomish County regulate such facilities, and city residents and business owners have expressed concerns about negative impacts resulting from such facilities. The law bans facilities, pending further study and public engagement on potential long-term regulatory changes. The proposed interim official control will promote public health, safety, morals and general welfare, it says.
Also at the meeting the council:
•honored Donna Wright for her 25 years on the council. She has served on numerous city, county, state and national boards. For 25 years she has been on the Snohomish Health District board and nine years on the state board of health. She has also served on a variety of public safety committees and boards. She lost in a recent election to Mark James.
“We’re going to miss Donna,” Mayor Jon Nehring said Tuesday. “She’s been an incredible public servant; you don’t see that often. Her consistency, all that history, is something you cant replace.”
He added that her leadership went beyond the city, using her position to get on panels of regional, state and national significance. “You don’t just get that overnight,” he continued. “She fought for what we need here in Marysville. She always kept the citizens at the forefront.”
Nehring said a public event for both Wright and Jeff Seibert, who served for 16 years before his defeat to Tom King, will take place Dec. 18 at the Opera House.
•extended the deadline for work being done on a Regional Fire Authority. A final decision will not be made by the end of the year. The vote will allow an extension to Dec. 31, 2018, and also amend the term, renegotiation of terms and the financial contribution, which for the city for 2018 would be almost $11.34 million.
•established its own Emergency Management Services. As a result of annexations and population growth, Marysville should provide its own emergency management services, the resolution says. The city would be able to deliver emergency management services to citizens more effectively, thereby enhancing public safety, health and welfare. Nehring said the city used to contract with the Department of Emergency Management, but, like Everett, the size of the city now demands local services. Money that used to go to the DEM will pay for the agency.
•decided for the seventh-straight year not to increase taxes.
•approved a contract for 16 citywide intersection improvement projects for almost $265,000. State grants will pay the cost.
•changed its agreement with the Marysville School District related to automated school bus safety cameras. After the first quarter of administrating the program it was determined that an adjustment for processing receipts and fees was needed. The change would provide all receipts collected by the courts to be forwarded to the school district. The citation would be $419 with about $47 going to the court and $372 to the district.
•vote on entering a cost-sharing partnership with the Tulalip Tribes for wetland monitoring on city-owned properties within the Qwuloolt Restoration Area. The Tulalip Tribes is already conducting the monitoring so the partnership prevents a duplication of effort.
