MUKILTEO – City hall might not be built in Old Town after all.
Those who organized a petition against the City Council’s decision earlier this year to build a new city hall on Third Avenue next to the Rosehill Community Center were at first dealt a blow on Monday.
The City Council voted 5-1 to take no action on the request from more than 2,000 petitioners to reverse the decision and put city hall next to the police station in Harbour Pointe.
But the council agreed to reconsider its decision in another way. After a late, closed-door meeting, the council told city staff to investigate three other properties as possible locations for city hall. The locations were not specified.
A scheduled vote on whether to remodel the Rosehill Community Center or build a new center was postponed at least until Sept. 6.
City Council President Cathy Reese proposed the city hall idea as a compromise with the group that directed the petition campaign. One of the chief petitioners, Kevin Stoltz, is an unopposed candidate for City Council in the fall, for the position that Reese will vacate after her third term.
With two other unopposed council candidates, Marko Liias and Randy Lord, supportive of the petition’s intent, the balance on the city hall issue could be tipped in January.
“I’m a political realist,” Reese said. While she voted with the 5-2 majority in March to build city hall in Old Town, “I know if we go forward with this, the new council will overturn our decision.”
Reese said she wanted to make sure a new building gets built soon one way or the other. The city has rented a former warehouse at 4480 Chennault Beach Road as its city hall for 13 years and the lease expires in 2007.
The petitioners had promised legal action if the council did not act on the petition. But in light of the surprise compromise proposal, they could reconsider.
“It’s under discussion,” said Terry Preshaw, one of the petitioners. “No decision has been made in light of this surprising yet welcome development.”
The council had the option of approving the request outright or putting it on the November ballot as an initiative. It did neither. The majority of council members cited advice from city attorney Jim Haney, who said the petition went beyond the scope of its authority to control how the city uses its land.
They also heard from Kirk Galatas, president of the Mukilteo Firefighters Local 3482, who spoke against building a city hall between the police station and fire station on 47th Place W.
If the petition is followed to the letter, this would be the only possible location for the building. Firefighters use the parking lot and a tower there for training, Galatas said.
“It would have a devastating effect on our fire department and our firefighters,” he said.
The properties Reese had in mind are available, she said, and are centrally located in the city, city administrator Rich Leahy said Tuesday. Reese told Leahy to “drive a very hard bargain on the price.”
Other council members who supported the original decision reluctantly agreed to Reese’s suggestion. Outgoing Mayor Don Doran, the staunchest supporter of the Old Town location, expressed his displeasure.
“I hate the idea of moving city hall from the north end of town,” he said.
Reporter Bill Sheets: 425-339-3439 or sheets@heraldnet.com.
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