Everett and Tulalips shop university sites

Published 9:00 pm Tuesday, October 31, 2006

The city of Everett has been quietly showing state officials a site on its riverfront as a potential home for a new university campus in Snohomish County.

Everett Mayor Ray Stephanson said the city has shown lawmakers a 75-acre site it owns along the Snohomish River north of the U.S. 2 trestle. It bought the land for $11 million late last year from Kimberly-Clark.

The city bought the site without specific plans for its use.

“So that clearly is a potential site,” Stephanson said.

Last spring, the Tulalip Tribes said they have three possible sites on their reservation.

And individual landowners have floated property proposals east of Everett and north of Marysville.

“It’s sort of fun to talk about. Everyone wants to say, ‘Where’s it going to be?’” Stephanson said.

Earlier this month, staff from the state Higher Education Coordinating Board recommended a branch campus tied to an existing four-year university be built in the Everett or Marysville area.

“We haven’t even considered specific property yet,” said Kris Betker, a spokeswoman for the board. “There is still more study to be done.”

At the same time, a panel of regional business and elected leaders envisions a new, independent state university with a focus on science and technology, similar to California’s polytechnic universities in Pomona and San Luis Obispo.

The recommendations are part of a $500,000 study ordered by the Legislature last year to address the long-term higher education needs of north Snohomish and Island and Skagit counties.

The Higher Education Coordinating Board is expected to vote on a recommendation Nov. 16 that will be forwarded to the Legislature by Dec. 1.

Several local lawmakers say they will try to convince Gov. Chris Gregoire to include $31 million in her proposed budget to buy land and plan for a Snohomish County-based university.

The Everett site, which the city has the option of expanding by 26.5 acres nearby, impressed at least two state lawmakers who sat on the committee studying the region’s higher education needs.

“It’s my very first choice,” said Sen. Dave Schmidt, R-Mill Creek.

Schmidt likes its central location, proximity to Everett’s transit station and the fact that it could be an anchor for future riverfront development.

“I think it’s a great spot,” said Rep. Hans Dunshee, D-Snohomish, chairman of a committee that oversees state construction projects.

Stephanson said getting a four-year institution in the first place takes precedence over where it goes. All viable sites should be considered, he said.

“To focus on a site now just frankly looks too self-serving.”

The city has a creative purchase agreement on the property. It could, for example, write off Kimberly-Clark’s $1.3 million water bill each year in lieu of the annual purchase payments.

That could give the city leverage in any future site selection.

“We certainly have the ability from one public entity to another to make it attractive, financially. But we’d need to ensure we had council support, community support to do that,” Stephanson said.

In April, Tulalip tribal leaders identified three sites within the reservation as possible locations for a university. Two of the three are within Quil Ceda Village, the tribe’s 2,000-acre commercial center and home to the Seattle Premium Outlets and the Tulalip Casino.

The type of university recommended for Snohomish County will make a difference in what sorts of land offers are made, said Caldie Rogers, president of the Marysville-Tulalip Chamber of Commerce.

A state university would attract much more interest than a commuter university, she said. Traffic is a concern.

“It’s wait and see from both sides (of I-5) until you see what kind of university it will be,” she said.

Reporter Eric Stevick: 425-339-3446 or stevick@heraldnet.com.