Plenty to celebrate as Mill Creek turns 21

As Mill Creek wound its way through its 21st year as a city, one cohesive theme emerged – change.

From transitions on the City Council to the gradual emergence of Town Center from concept to reality, from proposed new large retailers to the possibility of the city expanding its borders, 2004 was a year of change.

Changes also took place at the Mill Creek Library, at Jackson High School and in areas surrounding the city as new housing developments continued to spring up east of 35th Avenue SE on areas that at one time were farmland. The year also saw the city of Mill Creek open its largest park, the Mill Creek Sports Park, and lose two top-level officials to larger cities.

What follows are a summary of the news and events that shaped 2004.

January

Bond replaces Hodge

Dan Hodge, who served two terms on the Mill Creek City Council, including a stint as mayor, left office. He was replaced by former Mill Creek police officer Mark Bond, who was sworn in Jan. 6. Hodge opted not to run for a third term on the Council.

Snow hits Mill Creek

A heavy snowstorm on Jan. 6 closed local schools and colleges but didn’t cause too many problems for Mill Creek police. Snohomish County Fire District 7, however, spent a lot of time sending crews to help with downed power lines.

Two reappointed

Mill Creek City Council members reappointed Terry Ryan to another two-year term as mayor and Donna Michelson to another two-year stint as mayor pro-tem on Jan. 6. Council members John “Jack” Start and Dale Hensley were sworn in for new terms that same night after winning re-election in the November, 2003 general election. Later in the month, Start was named to the Community Transit board as Mill Creek’s representative.

911 problems

Four Mill Creek residents encounter problems with 911 service after the city switched providers at the start of the year. The problems were quickly solved.

Lawsuit settled

The city of Mill Creek and a group of property owners along Ninth Avenue SE settled a lawsuit in which the property owners dug illegal drainage ditches to alleviate flooding. The dispute was settled with the property owners paying the city $38,000.

Sports park opens

FC Silver Lake Sapphire, a U-11 select soccer team, was the first team to use the Mill Creek Sports Park when it opened Jan. 5. The team held a practice in sub-freezing temperatures that night in preparation for an upcoming tournament.

The skateboard park at the Mill Creek Sports Park opened on Jan. 26.

Driver fired

A bus driver was fired Jan. 22 after telling Everett School District officials she slapped a 7-year-old Woodside Elementary student who was misbehaving on a bus. No charges were filed.

Teacher resigns

Jackson High School science teacher, Robert Vincent Beresford, said in Snohomish County Superior Court on Jan. 29 that he would not fight charges that he conducted a sexual relationship with a student. He later resigned his position and then received a 15-month jail sentence.

February

Fire talks

Snohomish County fire districts 1 and 7 were in preliminary talks about merging the two districts into one district.

35th Ave. sinking

Parts of 35th Avenue SE showed signs of sinking just a few months after completion of a major reconstruction project. County road officials vowed to monitor the road and fix the problems if they become worse.

New ATM building

Archbishop Thomas Murphy High School conducted a mass and blessing of a new campus building, Grace Hall, on Feb. 13. The new building would allow the school to increase enrollment.

25th anniversary

Rick Eastman, chief of Snohomish County Fire District 7, marked 25 years at the district’s helm on Feb. 12.

Center project dies

The Mill Creek City Council voted to kill the community center project during its annual retreat in Edmonds on Feb. 21. The Council cited various reports that showed the center would operate at a loss of approximately $300,000 a year, in addition to the multi-million dollar expense of building the center.

In addition, at the retreat, Council decides it is open to considering annexing some areas of unincorporated Snohomish County that surround the city.

Police calls rise

Mill Creek police statistics show the department’s officers responded to a record number of calls in 2003, and that most crime categories tracked by the department showed an increase from 2002 to 2003. A small percentage of crimes reported, however, were considered violent crimes. Despite the overall increase, crime was not a concern of the Mill Creek Community Association board.

School protest

Approximately 100 Jackson students walked out of class on Feb. 25 to protest an Everett School District decision to put the school on a six-period class schedule instead of a four-period schedule.

In May, a BERC Group report said people associated with Jackson High School need to begin trusting each other, and that healing rifts that exist at the school are a must.

March

Merger talks stop

Fire District 7’s Board of Commissioners unanimously vote to halt merger talks with Fire District 1 on March 11. The decision came just two days after the boards of both districts decided to have staff look at how a merged department would look. During a joint commission meeting on March 9, District 7 expressed numerous concerns about a proposed merger, something District 1 tried to allay by suggesting a short-term trial run as a merged department to see if a merger would work.

School incident

Mill Creek police and the Everett School District began separate investigations into an alleged March 9 incident at Heatherwood Middle School where a teacher shoved a student into a locker. Mill Creek police’s investigation suffered some roadblocks because of conflicting stories from witnesses and the alleged victim, and because the teacher’s attorney advised against talking to police.

New principal

Terry Cheshire was named the new principal at Jackson High School by the Everett School District, a job he assumed full-time on July 1.

Budget concerns

On March 23, Mill Creek City Council decided to look at cuts in the city budget before going ahead with whether or not to allow voters to approve annexing the Mill Creek Library to the Sno-Isle Library District, a move that would increase city property taxes. Council also makes the decision because the city is proposing increasing the emergency medical services levy.

Annexation push

A group of Heatherwood West residents come before the Mill Creek City Council on March 23 to announce that they would like to be annexed into the city.

Edwards retires

Jeanne Edwards, who served three terms in the state House of Representatives for the 1st Legislative District south and west of Mill Creek, retired because of health issues.

Cyr passes away

Jeanine Cyr, a former Mill Creek City Council member and Rotary Club member who founded Foundation for the Arts in Mill Creek, passed away March 29 after a battle with pancreatic cancer at age 63. A celebration memorial for Cyr took place April 17 at the Mill Creek Country Club.

April

Day care opens

The YMCA of Snohomish County opened a low-income day care center at the Heatherwood Apartments on April 1.

Survey says …

A survey conducted by Friends of the Mill Creek Library show patrons enjoy a variety of programs, with children’s programming being the most popular.

Rotary auction

The annual Mill Creek Rotary Club’s auction on April 3 raised approximately $40,000 and had an attendance of 200.

ID ring busted

Snohomish County Sheriff’s Deputies and federal agents arrested three people at a Mill Creek-area apartment who were alleged ringleaders in an identity theft ring April 6.

Hope to run

Seattle police officer Michael Hope announced he would run as a Republican against Democratic incumbent Hans Dunshee for a House seat from the 44th Legislative District.

Widdis new chief

Ed Widdis was named chief of Snohomish County Fire District 1 on April 6. He had been doing the job on an interim basis.

Students help

Students at Archbishop Thomas Murphy High School raised $2,500 for support programs and to fight hunger in Western Washington during a drive that lasted the 40 days of Lent.

Candidates line up

Jamie Gravelle, a Mountlake Terrace City Council member, and Mark Ericks, Bothell’s former police chief, announce they will run for Jeanne Edwards’ state House seat out of the 1st Legislative District.

Start named

Jack Start was approved by the Snohomish County Council to represent the county on the Sound Transit Board on April 14. Start’s nomination was approved despite some controversy that arose because County Executive Aaron Reardon only interviewed Start for the position and no other applicants.

Tenants picked

Three new tenants for Mill Creek Town Center were confirmed: Jamba Juice, Cold Stone Creamery and LA Fitness. In addition, the 89-home project for Town Center received planning commission approval April 15.

Storm hits

A powerful, but brief, windstorm April 27 toppled trees and knocked out power throughout much of Snohomish County.

Council decisions

The Mill Creek City Council, during a retreat to discuss a myriad of issues, gave an informal go-ahead to putting a proposed library annexation to the Sno-Isle Library District on the ballot, increasing the Emergency Medical Services levy, and annexing the Heatherwood and Heatherwood West subdivisions northeast of the city.

May

Helping signs

To help out some of the first businesses open in Town Center, the city began work on putting in signs at the development’s entrances announcing what businesses are already open during construction. The signs went up in the fall.

Library on ballot

The Mill Creek City Council, by a 6-1 vote, OK’d putting the status of Mill Creek Library funding before voters on Sept. 14. Start was the lone opposing vote.

Ryan gets ATM job

Terry Ryan was named the capital campaign director at Archbishop Murphy High School.

More Town Center

Seattle-based University Book Store signed a deal to place a location in Mill Creek Town Center. A few days after that announcement, La Palmera Mexican restaurant opened its larger location in the development’s Park Place Center.

EMS levy set

Snohomish County Fire District 7’s Board of Commissioners voted to send an emergency medical services levy at 25 cents per $1,000 of assessed value to voters on Nov. 2. The figure represented a renewal of the rate the district was charging.

Complex sold

The Jefferson at Mill Creek apartment complex was sold for $51.4 million to Chicago-based Equity Residential.

June

Wal-Mart?

John Graham, a managing member of Lynnwood-based Gramor Development Washington, LLC, tells the Mill Creek City Council that his company plans to build a large retail development on the site of the old buffalo farm on 132nd Street SE east of Mill Creek. While Graham doesn’t name names, he infers the store would be a Wal-Mart. He also hints that a Home Depot could locate next to the possible Wal-Mart.

Because of projected revenues, Council members began debate on whether or not to annex the area the proposed store would sit into the city. Graham tells the Council that he would lead a push to get the area annexed into the city.

City sets EMS levy

The City Council followed the lead of Fire District 7 and set its emergency medical services levy at 25 cents per $1,000 of assessed value, keeping the rate the same to send to voters in November.

Library fund-raiser

A group calling itself Yes for Libraries held its first fund-raiser, part of an effort to get voters in the city of Mill Creek to approve annexing the city’s library to the Sno-Isle Library District.

Clinic opens

On June 14, a Stevens Hospital-affiliated obstetrics clinic opened in Mill Creek at 15808 Mill Creek Blvd.

Park plan OK’d

The Mill Creek Planning Commission approved the design plan for Cougar Park on June 17.

Cerier honored

Bernie Cerier of Mill Creek received the American Red Cross’ highest honor, the Glassberg Award, during the Snohomish County chapter’s annual volunteer recognition dinner June 22.

July

Train enthusiasts

Mill Creek residents Didrik Voss and Walt Barnum showcased their home model train layouts to attendees of the National Model Railroad Convention during the July 4 weekend. Numerous other locals served as tour guides and volunteers for the event.

Man pleads guilty

Mill Creek resident Douglas Leroy Kiesz, 60, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder charges in the slaying of his estranged wife, Letta Kay Kiesz, 44, of Covington. The murder took place in November, 2003 in Kent.

Rain hits festival

The Mill Creek festival took place on July 10 and featured booths and entertainment in Mill Creek Town Center for the first time. The festival was cut short by a heavy rain shower late in the afternoon. Earlier that day, the annual Run of the Mill race attracted close to 200 runners.

Road work

Work on the southern connection for Main Street began on July 12, around the same time that work on the Bothell-Everett Highway widening project was winding down.

Petition to Council

The Mill Creek City Council on July 27 voted 6-1 to accept the annexation petition of the Heatherwood and Heatherwood West neighborhoods northeast of the city, and approved waiving the annexation fee. Meanwhile, Dennis Carpenter, a resident of the Silver Crest neighborhood, told the Council that he opposes being part of the annexation because he feared being forced to conform to city codes stating where residents can park vehicles and recreational vehicles.

Plans OK’d

The city’s Design Review Board approved the buildings, landscaping and lighting for Creekside Village, a Town Center development by Jacobson Development, which built Town Center’s Park Place Center building.

Candidates file

As filing for elected office ended July 30, 44th District state reps Hans Dunshee (D-Snohomish) and John Lovick (D-Mill Creek) each only had one person file to run against them. Snohomish resident and Seattle police officer Mike Hope filed against Dunshee, while Stephen West of Marysville filed to run against Lovick.

August

A night out

Mill Creek Police, the Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office and other public agencies held the second annual South Snohomish County National Night Out at McCollum Park on Aug. 3. New displays included a remote-controlled robot the sheriff’s office uses during bomb threats.

Man found guilty

Mill Creek resident Harold Glen Brown, 41, was found guilty Aug. 4 on seven counts of possessing child pornography while he was being supervised for child rape in the 1990s.

Library info

Approximately 20 people attended two information meetings about the library annexation issue Aug. 16 at Mill Creek City Hall. The sessions featured city officials giving a report on the state of city finances, Sno-Isle Library District officials talking about the benefits of annexation, and a question-and-answer session where people could ask whatever they wanted about library annexation.

Building delayed

A building that would have added 12 new classrooms to Jackson High School was not going to be ready for the school year because the Everett School District had fired the contractor, StoneRidge Development Corp., of Spokane.

Opening date set

Town &Country Markets, Inc. of Bainbridge Island announced it was pushing back the opening date of Mill Creek Central Market in Town Center back two weeks to Sept. 29.

Man sentenced

Stephen Scott Lowber of Mill Creek was sentenced to three months in prison for his role in a multimillion dollar accounting fraud scheme at Cutter &Buck.

Burglaries

Four Mill Creek businesses were burglarized during the early morning hours of Aug. 31.

Collard injured

Bob Collard, co-owner of Comfort Keepers and chair of the Mill Creek Planning Commission, was hospitalized following an Aug. 31 auto accident in Lynnwood along Highway 99. Collard was in and out of a coma for several days, but came out of the coma during the Labor Day weekend and was moved out of Harborview Medical Center’s intensive care unit. He was eventually released from Harborview in October and returned to work on a part-time basis in December.

September

Sparks fetes 100

Merrill Gardens at Mill Creek resident Gertrude Sparks celebrated her 100th birthday Sept. 3. More than 50 residents of the retirement community visited with Sparks during a brief birthday celebration that afternoon.

Scooter ordinance

The Mill Creek City Council during its Sept. 7 meeting settled on an outline of a proposed ordinance to regulate motorized scooters in the city limits. A similar ordinance was introduced to the Snohomish County Council on Sept. 20.

Library passes

The measure to annex the Mill Creek Library to the Sno-Isle Library district easily passed despite a last-minute opposition campaign mounted by those were against the impact on local taxes. Initial election night returns Sept. 14 showed the measure passing with more than 76 percent approval, but the yes vote percentage dropped significantly (67.1 percent yes) by the time all ballots were counted Sept. 23.

Senior push

Members of the Greater Mill Creek Senior Program decided on Sept. 13 to begin pursuing a building to serve as a senior center for the area, and also to make a push to increase membership.

35th closed

After months of observing the condition of 35th Avenue SE deteriorate, Snohomish County Public Works closed a portion of the road to all traffic in late September and into early October so crews could replace a culvert over Penny Creek and repair roadway settlement.

Market opened

Central Market became the largest tenant in Mill Creek Town Center when it opened its doors on Sept. 29. The store is the first Snohomish County location for its parent company, Bainbridge Island-based Town &Country Markets.

October

City job changes

Lynn Devoir, the city of Mill Creek’s recreation supervisor, resigned her post Oct. 11 to return to the city of Shoreline in a similar capacity. Devoir had been with Mill Creek for more than three-and-a-half years. Pam Olson, who had been Devoir’s assistant, took over the program and was named to Devoir’s position in December.

In related city employee news, police detective Chris White was named the Mill Creek Police Department’s officer of the year and engineering technician Marci Chew was named the city of Mill Creek’s employee of the year.

Police officer Fred Havener, a 13-year veteran of the Mill Creek Police Department, resigned to take a job as a patrol sergeant with the city of Snohomish Police Department.

Scooters hit bump

The Mill Creek City Council unanimously approved an ordinance regulating motorized scooter usage Oct. 12 in the wake of citizen concerns and complaints. At a public hearing Oct. 12, all four residents who spoke about the proposed ordinance favored it and urged the Council to pass it.

High-speed chase

Two thieves who stole a car out of Mill Creek on Oct. 19 led police from several south Snohomish County agencies on a high-speed pursuit that ended in Mukilteo when authorities deemed the pursuit unsafe. The thieves reached speeds of close to 100 mph in the stolen Honda Accord.

Budget presented

The city of Mill Creek presented the City Council on Oct. 26 with a budget that was balanced, cut nothing, and only used $15,000 of the city’s reserves.

More burglaries

Three businesses in Mill Creek were burglarized during the early morning hours of Oct. 24 and Oct. 25.

9/11 controversy

Jackson High School teacher Judy Baker created some controversy among local Republicans by showing Michael Moore’s film “Fahrenheit 9/11” as part of an Oct. 28 class lesson on propaganda.

November

General election

In the general election on Nov. 2, four incumbent state legislators from the Mill Creek area won re-election, as state Reps John Lovick and Hans Dunshee retained their House seats from the 44th District, and state Sen. Rosemary McAuliffe and state Rep. Al O’Brien retained their seats in the 1st District.

Former Bothell police chief Mark Ericks made it a Democratic sweep of the greater Mill Creek area by narrowly defeating Republican Joshua Freed to win the state House seat that was vacated by Jeanne Edwards.

In addition, emergency medical services levies for the city of Mill Creek and Snohomish County Fire District 7 both passed.

Budget debates

Mill Creek City Council budget debates heated up as some Council members favored foregoing a 1 percent property tax increase for 2005. Those who favored it did so in part because city voters approved annexing the city library to the Sno-Isle Library District, a move that came with a property tax increase. In addition, other Council members wanted to look closer at the proposed budget and make cuts to save money.

At its Nov. 23 meeting, the Mill Creek City Council voted 6-1 to not increase local property taxes by 1 percent for 2005. That resulted in a budget shortfall of $23,000 that the Council decided to close by funding the Greater Mill Creek Senior Program out of the Community Support Fund ($15,000) and cover the remaining $8,000 shortfall out of the city’s reserve fund.

Attorney arrested

Mill Creek resident and private practice attorney William Joice was arrested Nov. 8 and charged with first degree attempted murder after he allegedly shot Bellevue attorney Kevin Jung.

Stowe resigns

Bob Stowe, who had been Mill Creek’s city manager since 1995, resigned Nov. 16 to accept the same position in Bothell.

Open books

University Book Store announced that its Mill Creek Town Center location would open Dec. 3. A group of seven people waited outside the doors of the store when it opened at 9 a.m. Dec. 3.

Giant roll

Dozens of people visited House of Bread in Mill Creek Town Center on Nov. 20 to have a free piece of a giant cinnamon roll baked by the store’s staff for its grand opening. When completed, the roll had a diameter of 5 feet 2 inches, and weighed between 75 and 90 pounds.

Tree lighting

Dozens of Mill Creek area residents attended the city’s tree-lighting ceremony on Nov. 30. The event included an appearance by Santa Claus, crafts, hot cider and music by the Jackson High School Jazz Band and Penny Creek Elementary School’s first-graders.

December

More scooter rules

The Snohomish County Council followed the lead of many area cities and passed regulations addressing motorized scooters on Dec. 1.

Teachers honored

Two Cedar Wood Elementary School teachers, Dianne Lundberg and Linda Adams, received National Board Certification. In addition, Jackson High School teacher Britt Barer and Penny Creek Elementary School teacher Kristina Kee also earned certification.

Praying for peace

Approximately 30 people came together at Advent Lutheran Church in Mill Creek on Dec. 4 for a service to respond to a recent hate crime in the Silver Firs area. Two area teenage boys were charged with felonies on Dec. 3 in the October incident.

Friend fund-raiser

Staff of Salon Vici raised close to $5,000 on Dec. 5 for the care of 5-year-old Cormac Swensen, whose mother Shawn, a stylist, died of a seizure Nov. 13.

Seniors sign up

A resource fair at the Mill Creek Country Club presented by the Greater Mill Creek Senior Program on Dec. 6 resulted in the program registering 38 new members. The move was part of the program’s goal to become more visible in the community.

Committee chairs

State Sen. Rosemary McAullife, D-Bothell, was named chair of the Senate’s Early Learning, K-12 and Higher Education Committee. In addition, state Reps. John Lovick, D-Mill Creek, Hans Dunshee, D-Snohomish and Al O’Brien, D-Mountlake Terrace, retained their chairmanships for the 2005 legislative session. Lovick is speaker pro-tem of the House, Dunshee chairs the capital budget committee, and O’Brien chairs the criminal justice and corrections committee.

Dumas work

Work on improvements to Dumas Road began Dec. 6. Initial work included removing trees along the side of the road, which necessitated daytime closures of the street.

Interim manager

Michael Caldwell, a retired Lynnwood administrator, was named interim Mill Creek city manager in a unanimous vote of the City Council on Dec. 14. Caldwell will replace longtime city manager Bob Stowe in January on an interim basis until a permanent one is hired.

Budget passes

At its Dec. 14 meeting, the Council unanimously approved the city’s two-year budget after making some amendments. Michelson asked that the city’s contribution to the Northshore Senior Center be increased, and Ryan asked that a deficit be funded out of the city’s community support fund rather than reserves.