MUKILTEO — With all the talk about Japanese Gulch, Mukilteo leaders have not forgotten about the other large gulch inside city limits.
The city wants to buy the last privately owned piece of land inside Big Gulch, an expanse of forest and wetlands that runs through neighborhoods before emptying into Possession Sound.
Once purchased, the city plans to preserve the 5-acre site as a freshwater estuary, Mukilteo City Councilwoman Jennifer Gregerson said.
“This plays in with the city’s priorities to preserve green spaces and parkland in the city,” Gregerson said.
The Mukilteo City Council recently gave city staff the approval to apply for a $500,000 state grant to help buy the land. The rest of the money for the property would come from mitigation fees from the Olympus Terrace Sewer District.
The district is currently repairing its 1 1/2-mile sewer line through Big Gulch. Erosion from heavy rain and water runoff have taken away the soil supporting the pipeline that carries sewage from the northern two-thirds of Mukilteo down the gulch to a treatment plant. The sewer line is exposed in several areas.
Repairs have been projected to cost up to $20 million. The work is scheduled to be done by late summer.
If the city can buy the land, a small park or a viewpoint could be developed on a piece of the property, Gregerson said. The main benefit of preserving the land would be for salmon that spawn in Big Gulch Creek and other wildlife in the gulch, she said.
“Because the sewer district has to do mitigation, it would be good to do that with a project in the same watershed, rather than somewhere far away,” Gregerson said.
Reporter Scott Pesznecker: 425-339-3436 or spesznecker@heraldnet.com.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
