EVERETT — The city may have found new space for its public works department.
The Everett City Council on Wednesday is scheduled to review a preliminary purchase agreement for the Snohomish Health District building at 3020 Rucker Ave. The city plans a $69,760 study before moving forward. The offer on the building is $8.5 million.
“We have been informed of an anticipated offer but are awaiting final documents from the city,” district spokeswoman Heather Thomas said Monday.
The city last year had talked about a $70 million upgrade of its current public works site, the Service Center building on Cedar Street. The proposed Rucker purchase could relieve some of the need for improvements at the Cedar location.
The city says the offices on Cedar are not earthquake safe, and the Rucker space has more modern safety features.
The numbers aren’t final but as many as 100 staffers in the public works offices could be moved to Rucker, as well as the permit counter, city spokeswoman Meghan Pembroke said. The maintenance crews have different space and equipment needs.
The health district has been looking to move its headquarters but hasn’t identified a new location to buy or lease, Thomas said. Its building has been on the market for months. The district doesn’t need that much space, and keeping it up cuts into the operating funds for public services, Thomas said.
The IRS leases a small portion of the building, an agreement the city could inherit depending on the sale terms.
Officials at the health district also have been in talks about merging into Snohomish County government. The board members indicated last month they want the district to remain an independent agency, Thomas said. A vote on the matter is expected soon.
The proposed sale is not the only possible change coming to the area of Rucker and Pacific avenues. The city planning commission is considering allowing a methadone clinic at the former Trask Surgery Center. A public hearing is expected but has not been scheduled.
City staff have been talking with the nonprofit that wants to run the clinic as well as the Downtown Everett Association, Pembroke said.
They need to study how “the concentration of social services in Everett relates to downtown revitalization,” she said.
Rikki King: 425-339-3449; rking@heraldnet.com; Twitter: @rikkiking.
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