Snohomish mayor highlights city partnerships in annual address

SNOHOMISH — Snohomish mayor Linda Redmon focused on collaborative efforts between the city and local partners during her annual State of the City address on Saturday.

She also highlighted major upcoming infrastructure projects set to take place in the coming years for the small town of just over 10,000 residents a few miles east of Everett.

During her address, Redmon pointed to partnerships the city has made with local businesses and nonprofits to provide additional services to its residents. The Snohomish Food Bank and Volunteers of America, for example, help residents access food, housing, health care and other needs, she said.

She also highlighted local businesses and organizations that help put on local events throughout the year, driving tourism to the town.

“Since becoming mayor, I made it a priority to better support our community partners,” Redmon said. “Most of the things that excite people about Snohomish are a result of these partnerships.”

Redmon was elected as mayor in 2021. She previously served on the Snohomish City Council.

Saturday’s event also served as a food drive for the Snohomish Food Bank. It was one of many food banks throughout Snohomish County impacted by federal funding cuts in March.

“When I think of Snohomish, I think of a community that is collaborative and supportive,” the food bank’s executive director, Megan Kemmett, said before Redmon’s address.

The mayor also highlighted upcoming construction projects that address critical infrastructure needs.

“These projects scare people, which is perhaps why they have not been worked on before,” Redmon said. “But the need for these two projects in particular has been known about for the last few decades, and I wasn’t going to ignore the city’s responsibility to address them any longer.”

The first is a new Public Safety and City Services Campus, which is set to become the new home for city administrative offices, the police department and the fire department.

The project is expected to cost about $42.7 million, Redmon said, a significant investment for a city whose 2025 general fund budget totals about $15 million. Initially, the cost was expected to be higher, according to a city website, to the tune of $60-70 million.

But the project is necessary, she said, because of aging city facilities which are spread throughout Snohomish, creating inefficiencies. City administration staff and equipment are scattered across six different locations in buildings that, in some cases, are more than a century old, according to the city. Moving administrative staff, the police department and the fire department onto a single campus will save money in the long run, Redmon said.

That facility is set to be completed by 2027. But Redmon did say in her address that work on the project has “slowed down” due to the current unpredictability of federal funding and the bond market.

Another upcoming infrastructure project is a major utility repair project along First Street, in the center of the city’s historic downtown. Aging sewer pipes underneath the First Street sidewalks need to be replaced, Redmon said, but doing so requires bringing that infrastructure into compliance with modern regulations, including the Americans with Disabilities Act.

The city has begun work on a First Street Master Plan which will guide how the infrastructure improvements will be made. It will likely be presented to the City Council by late 2025 or early 2026, but it will take several more years before the design and construction of the project is complete.

“Although we are continuing the planning process on these two large projects in these uncertain financial times, we are carefully looking at the long-range financial picture to and ensuring financial stability before moving forward on larger capital projects,” Redmon said.

Will Geschke: 425-339-3443; william.geschke@heraldnet.com; X: @willgeschke.