MARYSVILLE – John and Jill Edgar moved to their house on First Street 14 years ago.

You may not know the house, but you certainly know the “Gaudy Castle” in their front yard, Jill said.

It was supposed to be a “starter home,” but life happened. “It was our first house. It was so affordable we could do other things,” Jill said.

They raised their daughter, Lauren, there, since she was 2. She’s now a senior at Marysville-Pilchuck High School. A music lover, she has learned to play piano, guitar and trombone there.

The shag carpet is long gone; John has remodeled most of the house. A new roof was put on just two years ago.

The Edgars were excited about the future of downtown Marysville. They looked forward to using the newly paved Qwuloolt Estuary trails and the expansion of Ebey Waterfront Park.

“Right when everything’s coming together, we’re being pushed out,” Jill said.

Longtime neighbors told them for up to 30 years the city has been talking about a First Street Bypass.

“There’s always been rumblings,” John said.

But now it’s happening.

City didn’t tell them

John said the first time he realized it really was going to happen was a year ago August. Craig A. Fullerton of Fullerton and Associates came to their house and said he was hired by the city to purchase homes on First Street. They were skeptical because they hadn’t been told by the city that this was going to happen.

Jill said they know some people on 51st who did receive a letter in advance of city purchases there.

“We didn’t get that courtesy,” she said.

Fullerton came back later with an offer on the house. When they said, “No,” Fuller copped an “attitude, and we asked him to leave.”

Nothing then happened until June, when residents of First Street were given a timetable for the project from the city.

The Edgars said the route had changed. The original plan was for the bypass to go all along First Street to 47th Avenue. Now, the bypass will be built to the south right after their house. They wonder why the entire bypass couldn’t have been built on that path. That would have saved the city money, and they could have stayed.

They don’t think the bypass will work anyway.

“It’s just going to take the bottleneck down to another part of the neighborhood,” John said, adding a roundabout at 47th will only clog traffic there.

Why can’t they stay?

The Edgars want to know why they have to sell now.

They understand the street needs to be widened to five lanes and 35 miles per hour because it is going to become a major route to the east once the Highway 529 offramp is built off Interstate 5 in a few years.

“We’re not trying to fight it,” John said at Monday night’s City Council meeting. “It’s only a few houses, and it’s for the betterment of the city.”

The thing is, they don’t want to leave now. They want to stay in their home until their daughter graduates in June.

John said he knows the city already has purchased some homes surrounding them and is using them for Marysville Extended Shelter Housing. The people being helped there have been told they will be able to stay about 1 1/2 years.

So, if they can stay that long, why can’t the Edgars?

“Nobody seems to want to talk to us,” John said at the meeting.

John said the car lot on First and State is going to be able to stay until April of 2018, so that’s when they will leave.

“That works for us. It gives us 1 1/2 years to plan.”

Jill had another issue with the city. Since it had been working on the project for about a year, why didn’t it let the homeowners know about it?

“There’s a lack of communication with the city,” she said. “We’ve lived here fourteen years, and we don’t feel cared about.”

The city’s chief administrative officer, Gloria Hirashima, said at the Sept. 26 meeting that negotiations for the properties have been taking longer than anticipated. They had to develop a new timeline for the project.

“It’s a difficult project for many of the property owners,” she said. “They want more time.”

Along with widening the street, she said there will be bike lanes, landscaping, storm drainage and off-street parking.

Hirashima said the city will continue to try to work with the property owners.

“The first step is voluntary; we pay fair-market value,” she said, adding sellers can actually save money that way, avoiding condemnation.

Edgars won’t stay in town

When they first moved there, Jill wanted to get rid of the “Castle Birdbrain.”

“I hoped it was on the other property,” she said. “I wanted to tear it down.”

The castle is built over a tree stump and includes cemented Folgers coffee cans.

The family has learned to embrace the uniqueness of the 8-foot-tall lawn ornament. At Christmas time they put lights on it and a star on top. On St. Patrick’s Day it is spray-painted green and white. At Halloween, it’s black and orange.

The Edgars love their home, even the quirky castle.

It saddens them to see a home a few houses down being demolished. It reminds them of the fate their home faces.

“We will be the last people to live in this house,” a melancholy Jill said.

As for what they will do next, the Edgars said the negotiations with the city have left a bad taste in their mouths.

“They’ve been disrespectful. We don’t want to stay in this town,” Jill said.