10 years ago 1996

Residents in Lakewood and Smokey Point made it clear they dont want to be divided by taking steps to incorporate their 3,000-member community into a city. Resident Doris York filed a notice of intent with the county Nov. 7 on behalf of the community group Save Our Community and Schools. Its just for the community to come together and talk about incorporation and to begin early dialogue with the county, said Mickie Jarvill, representing the group. The Snohomish County Boundary Review Board scheduled a public hearing Dec. 4 at the Lakewood High School. As of Dec. 5, SOCS will have 180 days to gather the signatures of 10 percent of the areas registered voters. SOCS has also hired a consulting firm to determine if the area has a large enough tax base to support a municipality, Jarvill said. The group is paying for the $10,000 study with donations from the community. The intent of SOCS is to study the [incorporation] question and ask the community what it thinks of the plan Marysville and Arlington have for the area and put it to a vote, Jarvill said. The Smokey Point Chamber of Commerce has not taken a position on the proposed incorporation, said president Don Laufenberg. The board will be discussing the incorporation and may survey businesses in the area before establishing a position, he said. We have an obligation to go with the wishes of our members, Laufenberg said. One concern is what will happen to the tax levels, he said, whether they will increase, decrease or remain the same. One of the main questions that is out there for forming a city rests largely on local control and keeping the community together. Is there another way [besides incorporation] to do it? Laufenberg said. The plans for a new city contradict the cities of Marysville and Arlingtons recent division of the Smokey Point area, not yet approved by the Boundary Review Board. The annexation agreement between Marysville and Arlington has been finalized only by the two cities, not the Boundary Review board, said Bonnie Collins, chief clerk of the BRB. The proposed Smokey Point annexation is still an approved annexation in appeal, she said. The two cities agreement must be remanded to the review board and neither city has done that. The incorporation process cant be finalized or appear on the ballot until the annexation is settled, Collins said. SOCS will take the petitions right away to determine whether or not there is support, Jarvill said. The proposed boundaries can be changed until Dec. 5. The proposed incorporation boundaries follow Lakewood School District boundaries on the east side of the freeway and the urban growth boundaries on the west side, Jarvill said.

25 years ago 1981

Allen Creek is becoming revitalized and the community has some concerned citizens to thank. The Everett Chapter of the Northwest Steelhead and Salmon Council of Trout Unlimited has set a goal to improve the streams environment to the point where it can be a viable source for salmonoid reproduction. The chapter became involved in the salmon enhancement project after attending a meeting given by the Snohomish County Planning Department to promote interest among individuals and groups in becoming involved in saving some of the lowland creeks. The council has attempted to work with the Washington State Game Department for several years with the lowland creeks. After inviting Tom Murdock from the Snohomish County Planning Department to speak at the meeting, the chapter voted to attempt an enhancement project in the upper reaches of Allen Creek with the county and the Department of Fisheries. The fishing group began conducting surveys in January and February this year and realized the upper tributaries flow mainly through cow pastures. Chapter member Dave Ross said the tributaries have channelized and the cattle were roaming freely in the streams which caused bank erosion and shoreline instability. Since then the stream has been rechanneled in a meandering fashion like most natural streams. Our object here was to create a pool ripple effect, an essential to good spawning habitat, said Pete Hylback, chapter member and worker on the project. We fenced the stream and provided watering troughs for the cattle The troughs will have water piped to them. Without that, Ross explained, the creek would cave in again. The council began its work in July. In addition to the fence and troughs, the men distributed gravel throughout the new streambed to remedy the situation occurring over the years. Hylback noted the situation was a result of timber and in the Getchell Hill and Whiskey Ridge areas being developed, logged and cleared. Cobble rock was procured to help stabilize the stream banks. A second tributary, out of the six, was rechanneled with gravel being added. Hylback said the streambed was raised by creating terraced ponds, making it correspond with an existing culvert that prevented upstream migration. While pleased with the amount of work done already, Hylback noted there is still a lot of work to be done. He said while Allen Creek appears to be a stream of very high production potential for Coho salmon, it also appears to be dying. The Department of Fisheries has estimated that perhaps as many as 2,000 or more Coho could spawn in Allen Creek. Over the next couple of months the group will be planting vegetation along the tributaries and posting signs to let the public know Allen Creek is a salmon spawning stream and a valuable community asset, Hylback said. Though their survey the men have found shallow, wide water with little protection, a tributary with a dam on it which is occasionally flushed resulting in scouring and siltation downstream and which prevents the fish from going to the prime spawning site and one running through a dairy cattle feed lot with the substrata consisting mostly of cow manure. But Hylback noted one piece of good news as a result of the survey. Most of the tributaries last year had spawning salmon or carcasses in them. Ross said there were 20 salmon coming up the tributary flowing by his property. Hylback said this is the type of thing which provided the group with some hope that if the proper steps are taken the entire system can be revived. The council has received $2,300 from the county with the remaining funding being supplied by the Everett chapter.

55 years ago 1951

A call for bids was issued by the state highway department this week for construction of the overpass structure of reinforced concrete girder construction as part of the project with which highway 99 travel will eventually by-pass Marysville. First bids for this overpass were called previously but rejected when it was found necessary to revise length of pilings for the crossing of Ebey Slough. The overpass is part of an overall improvement of Hsighway 99 to provide from crossing the slough with a fixed span that will cross the present highway and the Great Northern railroad then follow the west limits of Marysville northward.

Marysville schools started the week with a still-increasing enrollment as school administrators puzzle over the problem of finding space for their growing group of students. At Liberty School, new pupils were Billy Brown, Anthony Jonegan and Lester and Melvin Holmes. At Intermediate School, Joy Montgomery and Katherine Guss enrolled. In the high school new students were Jerry Overlin, Donna Yankie and Laverne Dotson. Since the schools application for federal aid, 14 addition students have arrived.