Housing Hope is sponsoring two affordable housing projects in Sultan.
The Snohomish County Council recently approved two loans to the nonprofit agency, a $320,000 loan for a five-unit project and an $80,000 loan for a 10-unit project. The properties will be developed as rental homes for people with low and moderate incomes.
Councilman Jeff Sax said more low-cost housing is needed in Sultan, and mentioned the blue-tarp tent city of homeless people near the Skykomish River.
"There’s a very, very visible need out there right now. There’s people underneath those blue tarps," Sax said. "These are people that have nowhere else to go. It’s as simple as that."
For the Gipper: The County Council may proclaim Feb. 6 President Ronald Reagan Day in Snohomish County, on the former president’s 93rd birthday. A draft resolution making the rounds praises Reagan for "restoring accountability and common sense to government."
New suburbs: Fully contained communities are the subject of a public hearing at 10:30 a.m. Feb. 11 in County Council chambers.
A fully contained community is a master-planned development that includes housing, businesses and parks. The proposals have been controversial in other parts of the state, largely because they have been built in rural areas where roads and other infrastructure are lacking.
Lock and load: Earlier this week, the county’s planning commission voted to support a change in rules that would allow gun sales at shooting ranges. The issue will now go to the County Council.
Claim of the week: An Edmonds man filed a $60 claim against the county after he said his tongue ring was not returned to him when he was released from the Snohomish County Jail.
Next week: The council will hold a hearing on an emergency appropriation of $1.7 million to the solid waste division for rebuilding the southwest recycling and transfer station in Mountlake Terrace. The costs were higher than expected because of soil problems at the site and a speeded-up construction schedule. A public hearing will be 10:30 a.m. Wednesday in the Jackson Hearing Room, sixth floor, County Administration Building, 3000 Rockefeller Ave., Everett.
Reporter Brian Kelly covers county government for the Herald. He can be reached at 425-339-3422;
