10 years ago 1998
n On Wall Street near downtown Everett, the gray seven-story Snohomish County Jail sits like an unfinished slab of sculpting clay, the only decoration a small section of glass along the street entrance. Inside the drab reception area, lawyers bark orders into cell phones while waiting to see their clients. Correction officials whisk in and out of doors locked with numbered keypads. All visitors must pass through a metal detector planted on the plain white floor before reaching the elevators which take them to inmates in the sky. Those staying in the prison, currently about 477, stay locked behind bars in five of the seven stories. The jail has been at capacity since 1988. While the Snohomish County Correction Siting Committee doesnt yet know where the new jail will be, the three-year process has narrowed possible sites down to three two in Smokey Point and one in Arlington they do know how it will be different from the Everett jail. Most noticeable and most important to the siting process: the jail will not be a high-rise building. This required possible sites to be at least six acres for the building to spread out, not up. A parcel of 12 acres or more was better because it allowed for jail expansion in the future. If you dont have a lot of elevators, its easier for staff to work in the facility, said Kathie Deviny, corrections manager. In 1995 the Snohomish County Corrections Siting Committee, made up of county officials and citizen representatives from all five county districts, began the three-year process of finding a site for a new county 500-bed jail. The original 14 sites were rated on technical and community requirements. Technical issues included land size, shape of land, zoning, availability and adequacy of water and sewer, access to telecommunication system and roads, availability of emergency services and public transportation. Those that didnt meet the basic need of at least six acres were dropped; the remaining were rated. Community concerns included nearness to schools (ranked as less than one-quarter of a mile, less than one-half mile and more than one-half mile), daycare centers, homes and other sensitive uses including churches, medical buildings and senior centers. The committee also considered if physical barriers, such as freeway, overpass or cliff, separated the site from sensitive uses. A sensitive use located at or less than one-quarter of a mile was considered a fatal flaw, resulting in removal from the list. The next stage in the process is to prepare a draft environmental impact statement as required by the Washington State Environmental Policy Act. Citizens can certainly give input at the EIS stage, Deviny said. But what we are looking for is comments on what is in the EIS itself. The EIS will include not only the publics concerns on safety, but physical uses such as soil erosion water runoff and air quality. After the final EIS is prepared, County Executive Bob Drewel will review and make a final decision.

50 years ago 1958
n Marysville property owners will have the dubious honor of paying the countys highest tax rate for 1958, according to figures compiled by Snohomish County Assessor Carrol Barlow. The levy totals 73.18 mills, or $73.18 on each $1,000 of assessed valuation. The 1957 levy was $10.08 less on each $1,000. All but eight cents of the increase is the result of the School Districts continuing growth in enrollment and the need for additional facilities. The 1958 building levy is 23.20 mills as compared with the 1957 levy of 14.40 mills. With bond interest and retirement rising from last years nine mills to a present 10.20 mills, building costs actually account for the big increase. That other eight cents is in the State Public Assistance tax and is the result of the equalization figure established by the state tax and is to assure that property in all parts of the state shares equally in the tax. The county, town and fire district tax remain as in 1957. Actually, the 1958 levy is not the highest rate which Marysville property owners have paid since the increasing birth rate began to effect the schools. Back in 1959, the levy was nearly $10 more $83.10 per $1,000 of assessed valuation. Over that past 10 years, the average levy has been $59.29, according to Barlows figure. The range is from a low of $41.60 in 1949 to a high of $83 in 1950. The assessed valuation of property within the school district is up too up nearly $600,000 from 1957 to $6,492,667 for 1958. The bulk of the increase is the result of new construction within the district.