SNOHOMISH — The city has suspended a $1.2 million project to build a new park, as the slow economy is expected to reduce its revenue next year.
The City Council on Tuesday night voted 4-3 to wait on making decisions on Harryman’s Farm Park, a 7.4-acre undeveloped lot north of Blackmans Lake. City council members Dean Randall, Karen Guzak and Melody Clemans dissented.
A preliminary plan aimed to preserve 7 acres of the lot as wetlands and develop the remaining space with a play structure, a picnic shelter, a loop trail and a grassy expanse.
“My personal feeling was that there is a better place to spend $1.2 million for a park,” City Councilman R.C. “Swede” Johnson said.
The project is too expensive when the city is facing a tight budget next year, Johnson said.
“We are the gatekeepers of taxpayers’ money,” he said.
The city expects to see a 14 percent drop in its general fund revenue in 2009, city officials said. The general fund that pays for basic services such as police is expected to get about $8.2 million next year. That would be down from $9.5 million this year.
The city had already spent about $30,000 studying how to develop Harryman’s Farm Park, Randall said. He wanted the city to finish the design of the park and wait on its construction until the economy gets better.
“The majority (of the City Council) has spoken,” he said. “They want to wait.”
City leaders want to see the park built eventually, but it shouldn’t be a priority next year, City Councilman Doug Thorndike said.
“That part of the city is not expected to have population growth over the next few years because it doesn’t have a sewer,” Thorndike said.
Reporter Yoshiaki Nohara: 425-339-3029 or ynohara@heraldnet.com.
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