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The Lynnwood City Council voted at its business meeting Monday night to move forward with annexation of the old Alderwood Middle School property as Edmonds School District plans to build a new middle school on the site.
Before the vote, the meeting began with two proclamations; one for National Volunteer week (April 20-26) and another for Arbor Day (April 25).
Councilmember David Parshall read the Volunteer Week proclamation. He was joined by department staff Alice Hanh and Nic Li, and Laura Siemion and Cheryl Surridge –volunteers from the Lynnwood Police Department who help residents install children’s car seats, free of cost.
Members of the city’s Parks and Recreation Board joined Councilmember Robert Leutwyler for the Arbor Day Proclamation.
The council voted 6-1 to pass the resolution recognizing the district’s petition to annex into Lynnwood, with Councilmember Patrick Decker voting against. Next, the district’s petition is set to go before the Snohomish County Boundary Review Board, City Planning Manager Karl Almgren told the council earlier this month. If the board approves the annexation petition, the city will hold a public hearing on the matter before the council votes on whether to officially annex the property.
In February 2024, voters in Edmonds School District passed a measure to bring sixth graders up to the middle school level, joining seventh and eighth graders. To accommodate for the anticipated influx of middle school students, the district is building a new middle school on the old middle school site.
The construction site is located on unincorporated county land. Lynnwood’s permitting processes allow the district to complete construction faster, which is why district staff say it is in the project’s best interest for Lynnwood to annex the property. The district plans to have the new school open and ready for students for the 2028-29 school year, the timeline promised to voters when they also passed a bond in 2024 to pay for construction.
Councilmember Decker said he was “not convinced that there’s value to Lynnwood” in the annexation.
“The city does take on additional cost burdens from the annexation, and I’m just not convinced that it’s the city’s responsibility to pick up where the school district has failed to meet their commitments to the community in terms of a timeline for completing this project,” Decker said.
Councilmember Derica Escamilla offered a different view, stating that she and other Lynnwood taxpayers were in favor of the annexation.
“…All of us parents whose kids would go to these schools, as of right now in these boundaries, do pay City of Lynnwood tax dollars,” she said. “So it makes sense that our kids go where our tax dollars are being served. I fully support this.”
In other business, after meeting in an executive session the council unanimously voted to designate its “Precision Tune” property at 19610 444th Ave. W. as surplus and sell it.
The city spent $1.4 million on the property in 2020 for “right-of-way purposes” for its 196th Street improvement project, but didn’t end up using the land.
The soil on the property is contaminated, according to city documents, as the parcel was home to an auto shop, Precision Tune Auto Care, for over 40 years, and a gas station before that. Clean-up efforts would be extensive and expensive if the city wanted to use the land for development, so city staff recommended Lynnwood sell the property as surplus.
Last week, Economic Development Manager Ben Wolters said city staff approached the owners of Northline Village Apartments to see if they would be interested in purchasing the land to expand their development. Wolters said the owners were considering the offer, but no concrete plans have been made public at this time.
In other business, the council voted to confirm Kresha Green to the city’s Human Services Commission. Green works for YWCA Seattle and helps provide resources for people experiencing homelessness in Snohomish and King counties.
A public hearing on updates to Lynnwood’s Commute Trip Reduction Plan also took place Monday, but no one commented on the matter.
A recording of the meeting is available on the city’s website.
— Contact Ashley at ashley@myedmondsnews.com.
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