Funding to open Cama Beach State Park, build a training center for Boeing’s 7E7 workers and establish a memorial for the late Willy O’Neil Jr. survived a final legislative threat last week.
Also preserved in the state construction budget that Gov. Gary Locke signed Thursday were funds for a gymnasium at the Lake Stevens Boys and Girls Club and a new offramp for Highway 522 in Bothell.
Locke’s signature also makes official an accelerated transfer of the former Monroe Honor Farm from the state to the Tulalip Tribes for development of a power plant that will use the methane from cow manure to produce electricity.
In total, the budget contains $200 million for new statewide projects, of which $111 million is earmarked for college and university facilities.
"Everything proposed for Snohomish County is there," Rep. Hans Dunshee, D-Snohomish, said Friday.
Dunshee sponsored the bill, guiding it from inception through the Legislature. It was not a smooth path, he said, because the version passed by the Senate did not include funds for any of the county projects.
Dunshee ceded ground on metal detectors. He opposed spending money to install them at the main entrance of the state Capitol. Senators wanted them. In the end, the budget allocates $300,000 to lease the equipment for one year.
The budget includes:
$6 million for a center in which Boeing will train workers for 7E7 assembly. Support for the center was a piece of the incentive package offered to Boeing to build the planes in Everett.
$2.4 million for a Highway 522 offramp to improve the flow of traffic to Bothell’s University of Washington and Cascadia Community College campuses. Last year, Locke vetoed funding for the project.
$2 million for road and campsite improvements to ensure that Cama Beach State Park on Camano Island opens in 2005.
$350,000 for the at the Lake Stevens youth center now under construction.
$100,000 to improve access to hunting and fishing areas in Snohomish Diking District No. 6 and to rename a portion of the region the William O’Neil Jr. Wildlife Area. O’Neil, a wildlife enthusiast and respected lobbyist, died while duck hunting Jan. 4.
Reporter Jerry Cornfield: 360-352-8623 or jcornfield@heraldnet.com.
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