Mukilteo Mayor Don Doran has taken matters into his own hands, saying that Snohomish County Executive Aaron Reardon isn’t moving fast enough to study expansion at the county airport, which Doran hopes to eventually prevent.
Doran, who opposes commercial jet service at Paine Field, has written a document he hopes to have signed by all cities surrounding the airport. It would legally formalize the county’s position of discouraging expansion of commercial service.
“There’s got to be a starting point” to the discussion, Doran said.
The county has operated under an agreement signed in 1978 that discourages commercial air service from coming to Paine Field.
A contentious debate continues, however, about what that agreement, called a mediated role determination, means for Paine Field. But one thing is clear: Under federal law, the county can’t ban commercial service at the airport.
When Reardon met with opponents of expansion in Mukilteo on May 5, he said he would consider an agreement to permanently seal the county’s position against airport expansion.
Doran presented his version of such an inter-local agreement to the Mukilteo City Council last week. If the council approves the document on Monday, Doran plans to forward it to the county and the other cities surrounding the airport.
Reardon spokesman Mark Funk said it may turn out that an inter-local agreement is appropriate after further study. “We certainly haven’t seen a copy of what the mayor’s doing,” Funk said, adding that the county will review it when it arrives.
Doran has grown impatient because Reardon at the May 5 meeting agreed to create a committee to review the 1978 agreement. Reardon said he would appoint Doran and Everett Mayor Ray Stephanson as co-chairmen of the committee.
So far, there have been no meetings, and Doran said Reardon has not officially asked him to sit on the committee. Reardon did call Stephanson.
Doran also said he’s running out of time to deal with the issue of commercial service at Paine Field because his term as mayor ends at the end of the year.
Funk said Reardon would likely meet with both mayors within the next two weeks. He said Doran would be invited to stay on as co-chairman even after he steps down as mayor. He said both mayors will have a significant role in shaping the committee.
“The mediated role has not been reviewed for 27 years,” Funk said. “This is an important issue for Snohomish County. It’s not one we should be rushing into.”
Reardon said in an earlier interview that he hopes the review panel will assess all the arguments surrounding commercial flights at Paine Field, including potential economic benefits as well as fears that expansion would destroy communities and lower home values.
County Council President Gary Nelson said the council is waiting for airport director Dave Waggoner to report on the feasibility of building a terminal for commercial jet service before the council takes a position on such service.
The report will be finished in one to two weeks, Waggoner said. He previously announced some details of the study, including that a terminal that could accommodate two 70-seat jets at once would cost $3.2 million.
The mediated role, as written in 1978, encouraged air taxi and commuter service, but strongly discouraged expanding supplemental and charter air passenger service.
Herald writer Jeff Switzer contributed to this report.
Reporter Lukas Velush: 425-339-3449 or lvelush@heraldnet.com.
Talk to us
- You can tell us about news and ask us about our journalism by emailing newstips@heraldnet.com or by calling 425-339-3428.
- If you have an opinion you wish to share for publication, send a letter to the editor to letters@heraldnet.com or by regular mail to The Daily Herald, Letters, P.O. Box 930, Everett, WA 98206.
- More contact information is here.
