The Snohomish City Council decided to move forward with a concept for new council chambers/community meeting room that would cost city property taxpayers at least an additional $2 million.
How can they justify that kind of money for a meeting room for two nights a month of council meetings? Snohomish already has large community meeting rooms located at the library at 4th and Maple and across the street, the Snohomish Senior Center — all built with taxpayer dollars. Fire District 4 has large meeting rooms at 16th and Avenue D.
The city’s scheme involves destroying the 5,000-square-foot annex built onto the Carnegie Library in 1968 and create a 1,440-square-foot city meeting room. In other words, destroying a perfectly good, sturdy 5,000-square-foot building and replacing it with with a 1,440-square-foot council chambers — all in the name of “aesthetics.”
Not one city councilmember offered the obvious alternative: upgrade and renovate the annex building for city uses, including council chambers — all for about $300,000 or $60 per square foot versus the city’s proposal costing up to $1,736 per square foot.
The Taj Mahal mausoleum cost less to build than the $2-$2.5 million that the city wants to spend.
It appears the Snohomish city government can’t differentiate their wants from the citizens’ needs.
Morgan Davis
Snohomish
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