10 years ago 1998
Two sites in north Marysville are finalists in a county search for a new 500-bed, minimum-security jail. A commission charged with finding somewhere to house Snohomish County prisoners has narrowed a list of 20 sites to three, all in north county and two in Marysvilles urban growth boundary. Marysville Mayor David Weiser was not adverse to the Marysville sites. We will work with them as best we can. We have all these new laws to put more and more criminals in jail and we have to house them somewhere, he said. All three final sites are near the Smokey Point area, including one area just north of Arlington Airport, near a mobile home park. The two on the Marysville side of Smokey Point are close to each other and Smokey Point Boulevard. Both sites are zoned for commercial use and there are no schools or churches nearby. However, the northern site is not far from a new development housing Navy families on 164th Drive NE. The proposed Snohomish site was withdrawn after heated public opposition. Additionally, the citys zoning would have required a City Council vote to change it something unlikely, according to Snohomish mayor Jeff Soth. No such opposition emerged in Marysville or Arlington. Very few people attended meetings held last summer to discuss the Arlington site, according to mayor Bob Kraski. The little public outcry so far doesnt mean the neighbors will welcome the jail. Kraski is concerned the opposition wont come out until the facility is under construction, he said. At his level, however, he expects to be able to take the Arlington site off the list. The chances of it coming here are slim and none, he said, explaining the city will hand a long list of demands to the county, including putting a police precinct office at the jail. City officials in Marysville have yet to discuss the issue, City Administrator Dave Zabell said. The city of Marysville will participate in the public comment period which will open when the country releases the impact study. City officials are considering a public meeting to help the mayor and City Council respond. It is rare for a community to welcome a jail and prisoners without at least some concern if not outright opposition, corrections manager Kathie Deviny said. However, public response to the search isnt overwhelmingly negative, she added. No one had disputed the need for the jail. The Everett jail is full and the county pays $50 per prisoner, per day to keep an average of 25 inmates at the Yakima County Jail. The county corrections department also keeps prisoners at the county fairgrounds in Monroe. We are maxed out here in Everett, Deviny said. Weiser sympathized with the countys plight. I think it is unfair for Everett to take any more [prisoners]. A county commission three years ago projected the county would need at least 500 prison beds in the next 20 years, based on population growth and sentencing trends, Deviny said. The prisoners housed in the new facility would be those the county considers minimum security. County corrections officials also hope to move the Cascade District Court and a new county sheriffs office to the new jail. After a 30-day period in which the county asks the public to comment on the impact study, a final study will be completed by the end of spring. After that County Executive Bob Drewel will choose a home for the new jail this summer. The county corrections department expects construction to begin next year.

25 years ago 1983
Deebe Anderson looked like a mother with a migraine. For two hours, Anderson listened faithfully to the words of people speaking against the proposed Downtown Redevelopment Project plan Monday night and didnt say a word. But, when mayor Daryl Brennick adjourned Monday nights City Council work session and downtown public hearing with a deft crack of the gavel, it was the starting gun for Anderson member of the downtown redevelopment commission and owner of Deebes Department Store just east of the 33-acre proposed downtown redevelopment area. Ive listened all my life to whats wrong, not whats right, she began. Not one who spoke against the plan offered any constructive criticism. If the future were left up to them it would go to We have the poorest laid-out business district I know of. Its like Lynnwood. Its frightening. Ive heard all along that Marysville is a bedroom community and thats the way many people want it to stay. But a bedroom community doesnt support a city, unless its a red-light district. Twenty-five thousand people shop here. If we had 5,000 people come here against downtown redevelopment, then Id sat drop it. John Millenaar, of the Marysville architectural firm of Millenaar/Wicks and Tracy, spent a half hour warning the city about legal wording in proposed ordinances for adoption of the plan which could end up taking away flexibility. Dont lock yourself in. Millenaar, in previous testimony, said he thought the plan should be used as a guide for revitalizing the area, but said private enterprise in the long run should be the one to determine what will go into the area. Millenaar, who said he favors revitalizing the downtown, cautioned too many restrictions may turn potential investors away. He also stated prospective developers shouldnt have to provide a market study. There supposedly already is a market study for the area. Millenaar agreed the waterfront on the south end of the proposed downtown redevelopment area has to be an important consideration, but cost effectiveness will determine how this will develop. The way its proposed, the downtown redevelopment concept shouldnt rely on the waterfront to the extent it does. Anderson feels the waterfront should also be a part of the plan, but earlier pointed out that the waterfront wouldnt necessarily have to follow the same time schedule as the shopping district. As long as it is realized the downtown zone is planned to promote redevelopment and this is foremost in the ordinance then its beneficial to everyone, Millenaar concluded. Arnold Garka of the Garka Mill on Ebey Slough said he feels the wording of the project makes it sound like the city and the people are locked in. Is this plan implemented? Is it fact already? I hope not. Dorothy Thornton, a part owner and one of only five from the audience to speak at Mondays portion of the hearing, said in her 25 years of working in the downtown area this area has deteriorated rapidly. Im 100 percent in favor of redevelopment maybe not 100 percent as written. Walt Crane, a Marysville resident, spent considerable time disputing the benefits of the downtown project plans as proposed but in the end agreed the old downtown needs attention. Im sick and tired of the half-truths and misrepresentations, complained Crane. I think something should be done there, but I think the plan is too grandiose. That area needs help, but lets come up with a new plan that will work. Crane disputed the findings of blight and also took issue with a survey of 27 cities contained in the downtown commissions thick study book titled: Downtown Marysville Redevelopment Plan, Implementation Program and Draft Environmental Impact Statement. Why was it in a survey of 27 cities in Washington, covering most of the geographical area of the state, the city of Everett, only six miles away, was not included? Was it because the survey takers did not want to hear a lot of bad news about downtown redevelopment: about the problems of trees, brick and tile walkways and many others. The city of Everett now had a new downtown development group attempting to straighten out their first attempt.

50 years ago 1958
Discovery of a human skeleton near the north city limits of Marysville last weekend presented city and county officials a mystery which may remain unsolved. While excavating for the new LeRoy Weiser home at the north end of Beach Street the skeleton was apparently unearthed by the bulldozer whose operator didnt see the bones. Shortly after noon Sunday, two boys discovered the skeleton as they were walking in the area. They reported their grim find to Jailer Henry Balam who went to the scene and brought the skeleton to police headquarters assisted by Reserve officer John Falkner who came to Marysville and examined the site carefully. They were reported to have been unable to find any trace of other bones or evidence pointing to the persons identity while living. Opinion was expressed by the coroner that the skeleton was that of a young man or woman between 20 and 30 years old with sound teeth in the upper jaw. The lower jaw was missing. Cause of death may have been a blow to the side of the head where the skull still shows the imprint. According to Balam, there is some rumor that at one time an old cemetery was located where the skeleton was found, but as yet there is not confirmation. The skeleton will be kept at police headquarters a few days, it is reported, and then will probably be sent to Seattle for analysis.