Mukilteo continues Rosehill discussion

Published 9:46 pm Sunday, March 2, 2008

MUKILTEO — Discussion about whether to renovate or replace the aging Rosehill Community Center is expected to resume at today’s Mukilteo City Council meeting.

Mukilteo Mayor Joe Marine said he’s hoping for the City Council to declare its support for either renovating the former school in Old Town or replacing it with a new community center.

“It had better be (to build) new, considering we spent over $10,000 getting a vote of the people,” Marine said.

In February, the city held an advisory vote to gauge the public’s opinion about what to do with the aging community center. Nearly 55 percent of ballots counted favored building a new center.

After the election, a majority of council members said they planned to vote in favor of tearing down Rosehill, even though some of those council members said they personally believe the community center should be renovated.

Also on Monday, Marine wants council members to discuss how to finance work at the community center, which could cost $13 million to $16.2 million.

The city has $5 million in its capital improvement fund for the project, but the city must find a way to come up with the rest of the money. Council members have discussed selling bonds to pay the difference, then repaying the bonds using real-estate excise taxes, which are revenues from fees when properties are bought and sold.

Reporter Scott Pesznecker: 425-339-3436 or spesznecker@heraldnet.com.

Mukilteo City Council meeting

What: Mukilteo City Council

When: 7 p.m. today

Where: Mukilteo City Hall, 4480 Chennault Beach Road