[{"_1":2,"_99":-5,"_100":-5},"loaderData",{"_3":4,"_26":27},"root",{"_5":6,"_17":10,"_18":19,"_20":21,"_22":10,"_23":-5,"_24":-5,"_25":10},"user",{"_7":8,"_9":10,"_11":10,"_12":-5,"_13":-5,"_14":15,"_16":-5},"roles",[],"isAuthenticated",false,"isPremium","planName","subscriptionStatus","featureFlags",{},"insightsBudget","isDevelopmentHost","userPreferences",{},"recaptchaSiteKey","6LcvOJcUAAAAAHsB-gPGfGktcRlKpH7OTIU_dMTD","isImpersonating","impersonation","affiliateStatus","isFreedomPortal","routes/v2/article/layout",{"_28":29,"_30":31},"notFound",true,"relatedArticles",[32,75,87],{"_33":34,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":40,"_41":42,"_43":44,"_45":46,"_47":48,"_49":50,"_51":52,"_53":54,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":60,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":66,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":68,"_72":73,"_74":73},"mediaId",6227615,"mediaKeyId","3489888-ac1ff8cb6c6c86815710982a03066126","parentId",3489888,"title","Council weighs Ballinger Park viewing platform after bids exceed budget; staff recommend moving forward with reallocated funds","audioSeconds",1583,"startMs",5577000,"endMs",7160000,"viewUrl","/Search/View?dp=1&key=3489888-ac1ff8cb6c6c86815710982a03066126&start=5577&end=7160","thumbnailUrl","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/3489888-ac1ff8cb6c6c86815710982a03066126/thumbnail_5577000.jpg","articleUrl","/articles/6227615/Mountlake-Terrace/Snohomish-County/Washington/Council-weighs-Ballinger-Park-viewing-platform-after-bids-exceed-budget-staff-recommend-moving-forward-with-reallocated-funds","mediaUrl","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6227615-2268a43ecba9c185f476ff9b33887725/orig.mp4?Expires=1771170655&Signature=ZCmux8JWMFKEWFdrEQza27J9ApIvSrZtkzW9SoEU8DIy2oGm3-rtC02145sA~6OYfBIfUGN~mV6hJP0HzXK3c4ZurfbN2a7eFFp4jRKBZ4ozHLAwl4ubjtHwpagBW760Kx-msG8Wa34Zn8bd2GIHB7RGE5C6wTsBV3zZ9tIWm4sIGbtw6bWxtgbMV99k~bMVzrSapHBnpSig-EMfYIjVtDWD-hvTxy7QTpACjPoqRXJPFsE8EeayllWpVEZz~95BmN4b0Sze~DXifxLGnmXbJZ7yQebWPcT9Te~rFih5vrpK0ltWtyXpi5YsRq-P4i7qFbum3PRw2bL1ANO2Mfrl3g__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","author","Mountlake Terrace, Washington","date","2025-05-24T07:57:56.163Z","article","Parks Project Manager Danelle Dio presented the bid results and financing options for the Ballinger Park West Side Viewing Platform and Trails project, explaining that all three bids received in April exceeded the approved project budget and that staff recommended awarding the construction contract and amending the project budget to cover the shortfall.

Dio described the project as the next phase of the Ballinger Park master plan, which the city adopted in 2015 and which envisions new trails, a park portal, and a wildlife viewing platform that extends from the shoreline over shallow water toward where Hall Creek meets the lake. The design team built the plan after several public meetings and agency coordination; the project required extensive shoreline permitting from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the Washington State Department of Ecology and the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife.

Dio told council that the low, responsive construction bid came from Sunset Grill Construction at just over $2.2 million; with an 8 percent construction contingency, staff estimated total construction cost near $2.4 million. The project’s approved capital budget including design, permitting, administration and construction was about $1.5 million; staff had already spent roughly $400,000 on design. To close the gap, Dio said staff proposed reallocating more than $1.03 million from other CIP allocations and available balances to bring the project budget to approximately $2.5 million and then award the contract.

Dio warned of tradeoffs to other approaches: rebidding or splitting the project into land and water components might not produce lower prices and could force staff to renegotiate or risk losing partner funds and permits. She cited secured contributions from the Washington State Recreation and Conservation Office (RCO), Premera Blue Cross and the City of Edmonds that could be jeopardized by a significant delay or scope change. Dio recommended moving forward to preserve current grant commitments and the approvals already in hand.

Public comment and council discussion focused on site character, public access and cost. Resident Dale Jeremiah, who signed up earlier to speak, urged the council to inspect the site before approving the project. Jeremiah had earlier commented during public comment that the proposed viewing platform location “looks secluded” and warned of trash and late‑night use; at the presentation he told council, “don’t put this on the consent calendar for next week. Go out there and look at this and say, you know, what’s this place gonna be like at midnight on a Saturday night out there?”

Councilmembers asked detailed questions about the design and permitting. Dio described the construction materials and path types included in the design: asphalt approaches at the park portal, a series of boardwalk segments that connect the inner urban trail and the bridge to the viewing platform, gravel and mulch pathways around the ponds, and the curved viewing platform that will launch from shore and extend over shallow lake water to provide wildlife viewing opportunities. She noted that the West Side area includes wetlands that require elevated boardwalk elements in places, which increases cost.

Several councilmembers asked whether alternative funding or rebidding had been considered; Dio said staff evaluated alternatives but found three practical risks to delaying: contractor pricing trends (costs may rise further), the potential loss or reduction of partner grant funds, and the need to revisit Army Corps permitting (the project uses a nationwide permit that carries time‑limited validity). Councilmembers also discussed Evergreen playfield projects and other planned CIP items that provided possible sources of reallocated park impact fees.

On the staff recommendation to amend the budget and award the contract to Sunset Grill LLC, several councilmembers asked for more public discussion and a site visit. Councilmember Murray asked that the item be available for council discussion rather than passed on the consent calendar; council voted to remove the award from the consent calendar and schedule it for a council hearing on June 5. Councilmembers asked staff to provide the CIP priority list, clarify exactly which projects would be deferred or backfilled by the reallocation, and to offer a site visit opportunity before the June 5 discussion.

Dio summarized the proposed timeline if the council approves the award on June 5: execute a contract in June, issue notice to proceed in summer and begin construction in summer/fall. She said the bid and permit environment — and the fact that about $400,000 has already been spent on design and permitting — informed staff’s recommendation to move forward with reallocated funds to avoid losing grant commitments and additional cost escalation.

Council members who supported moving ahead said the project has long been a community priority in the Ballinger Park master plan and that delaying could jeopardize grant funding and increase costs; others pressed for on‑site review and additional public outreach before authorizing the contract. The council scheduled the item for discussion at the June 5 meeting.","mediaType","Video","parentTitle","Mountlake Terrace City Council Work/Study Session - May 22, 2025","oneSentenceSummary","Parks staff told the Mountlake Terrace City Council that bids for the Ballinger Park West Side Viewing Platform and Trails project exceeded the approved budget and recommended awarding the lowest responsible bid while amending the project budget with reallocated CIP funds and balances.","taxTitle","Mountlake Terrace, Snohomish County, Washington","taxId",70959,"location","headline","","shortSummary",{"_33":76,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":77,"_41":78,"_43":79,"_45":80,"_47":81,"_49":82,"_51":83,"_53":84,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":85,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":86,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":68,"_72":73,"_74":73},6227618,"Mountlake Terrace traffic report: volumes rebounded after 2020; several intersections identified as collision hot spots",4353,327000,4680000,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=3489888-ac1ff8cb6c6c86815710982a03066126&start=327&end=4680","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/3489888-ac1ff8cb6c6c86815710982a03066126/thumbnail_327000.jpg","/articles/6227618/Mountlake-Terrace/Snohomish-County/Washington/Mountlake-Terrace-traffic-report-volumes-rebounded-after-2020-several-intersections-identified-as-collision-hot-spots","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6227618-b2d310ca0f95f3a933f9010f77bc5377/orig.mp4?Expires=1771170655&Signature=Pml0HDAOCCrDWm1A9axvb0YdGymgXa7xZftC2gRYIoX~F466xKwFXcECIz4p11MVoT-1x7WRoS3-fOoWfJqG8do9jq3TITLYSTrRnUwDDr7FvQwbM6DIbdgm4-mr9-oketjL4-etBKWVWF5kdaW4pPV4ERmaqWYUHL0dWWZcZVmoBmMARR7bVYOVEZJA5Uj-S35~9hpSG5c4jtH8RyOJukAibeVZehBf4Zfb1~rsN2vd6htQURPdP~oyatHVFAQNcGcjcQVKyeGf1hwz0HTompvxz6LyWmFUKEmgcl9H9tiSE6Zs6EbDjpaLWIJq-5qThrrpbpifiScX9gZSjWCCaw__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","City Traffic Engineer John Merrick presented the city’s 2024 annual traffic report to the Mountlake Terrace City Council, outlining traffic volumes, speeds and collision patterns and identifying specific corridors and intersections for follow-up work.

Merrick said the city’s analysis used traditional pneumatic tube counts, contracted field turning-movement studies and a new subscription service that aggregates anonymized smartphone and connected-vehicle data, allowing staff to look back to 2017 for street-level trends. He told council the data helped staff focus limited resources on corridors with the highest collision rates and potential for mitigation.

Merrick and Public Works Director Gary Schmick described three headline findings: traffic volumes fell sharply in 2020 and have been trending back up since; the portion of drivers traveling faster than most others rose during the low-volume pandemic period and has declined as volumes returned; and collisions remain concentrated on a few corridors. “We saw a pretty sharp reduction in volumes in 2020,” Merrick said, and added the new data source “lets us get traffic speed and volumes for any street in the city, going back to 2017.”

Key statistics Merrick cited from the report: 200 total recorded collisions in the city in the most recent 12‑month period; 60 injury collisions in 2024, up slightly from 58 the previous year; pedestrian collisions were low in recent years (two in the last year cited); bicycle collisions averaged roughly two to three per year; and historic peaks were higher — for example, 2015 recorded about 250 collisions. Merrick emphasized that fatal collisions remain rare (about one every other year) but that low counts make trend detection difficult.

The report maps and heat‑map analysis identified concentrated collision activity on the 200th Avenue corridor and at the 200th/12th/40th intersection complex. Merrick said the two 200th corridor segments together account for “a little over a third of all collisions in the city.” He also called out 40th Avenue near the high school as having high 85th‑percentile travel speeds on a posted 30‑mph segment, and noted that some arterials have 85th‑percentile speeds roughly 5 mph over posted limits.

Merrick described typical collision types and contributing conditions: angle collisions (turning) and rear‑end collisions make up more than half of crashes; collisions were more common on dry pavement and during daylight hours (when more people travel); and weekday afternoons and the 5–6 p.m. commute had the highest shares of collisions. He also presented a ten‑year breakdown showing years with lower volumes (2020) had higher measured speeds and, in at least one year, a higher count of injuries — a pattern Merrick said could reflect the relationship between speed and injury risk.

Council members pressed for details and next steps. Councilmember Woodard and others asked for a more granular look at 40th Avenue near the high school; Merrick agreed and said he would “take a closer look at to see what we, see if we can find some trends and things” for that corridor. Merrick also recommended a combined approach — engineering, enforcement and education — rather than relying on a single tactic.

On corridor interventions Merrick proposed several near‑term and longer‑term items the department will pursue or study: swapping some signal left‑turn indications to flashing yellow arrow operation to clarify yield behavior at left turns; striping left‑turn pockets on parts of 200th; continuing adaptive signal timing on the corridor between I‑5 and Aurora; and a detailed study of the multiway stop at 50th/220th to consider a roundabout or traffic circle. He noted that the 200th/12th/40th signal is operated by the City of Lynnwood and that coordination would be required for signal changes there.

Councilmembers also urged the department to map the delta between posted speed and measured travel speed across the entire city, to produce origin‑destination flow maps if budget permits, and to make pedestrian and bicycle collision locations more visible on a separate map for grant‑making and infrastructure prioritization. Merrick said staff will follow up with more location‑specific analysis and will bring recommendations and potential low‑cost measures back to council for funding consideration.

The presentation and council discussion also touched on regional work: Councilmember Murray noted the Puget Sound Regional Council’s recently adopted Regional Safety Action Plan and asked staff to align local analytics and local grant applications with regional funding opportunities. Merrick and staff said the new data tools and the report will help the city prepare competitive grant applications.

Staff framed the report as an information and prioritization tool rather than a directive for immediate construction; Merrick said the report will inform the six‑year CIP and staffing requests, and that specific capital improvements will return to council as formal project proposals and funding actions.

Merrick closed by proposing staff follow‑up actions and requesting council direction on any high‑priority locations. Councilmembers encouraged immediate follow up on 40th Avenue near the high school and the 200th corridor locations shown in the heat map.","City Traffic Engineer John Merrick presented the city’s 2024 annual traffic report to the Mountlake Terrace City Council, describing how volumes, speeds and collision patterns have changed since 2017 and identifying several corridor hot spots for follow‑up.",{"_33":88,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":89,"_41":90,"_43":91,"_45":92,"_47":93,"_49":94,"_51":95,"_53":96,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":97,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":98,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":68,"_72":73,"_74":73},6227611,"Council to add parametric engineering support, and staff seek to fund water‑tank recoating after 2024 study",503,5118000,5621000,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=3489888-ac1ff8cb6c6c86815710982a03066126&start=5118&end=5621","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/3489888-ac1ff8cb6c6c86815710982a03066126/thumbnail_5118000.jpg","/articles/6227611/Mountlake-Terrace/Snohomish-County/Washington/Council-to-add-parametric-engineering-support-and-staff-seek-to-fund-watertank-recoating-after-2024-study","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6227611-0b045bfa3022fc7015e37f5f9a5d6757/orig.mp4?Expires=1771170655&Signature=cYABqq3ugvfvjFsnV2UjZJKYZ8pWSP8e0LrdUsAiAT9NaDYkXUgMLAnc3DO0~MtxeEYFzcKIAOCul~KnUO890roT5zTG8YWN0XtGdmFHPchII9taX7OtFU--J63qDa1RqKDcCqQIborZ-xZZQRA3jENkGI01PHO4YC~z3kVjGysSnLV55zxaBeaStHR6CNZXoYpX4~D5fUbzsD-vJo6eBNPpJAGbM5qp38yyL0fNWlSSpyHCW2c~v-lbyR4~PEDuiP33e7oICKRzFsYtlfyqIfj5c7JSmjQSFieDzFAwKehon2M9yWkMjAdmFomVO-rEOkmEpdMJLNKUlI604W3~kg__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","Public Works Director Gary Schmick asked the Mountlake Terrace City Council to approve two staff requests tied to the city’s large potable water storage tank: increase the city’s on‑call engineering support contract limit with the consultant from $100,000 to $200,000, and authorize a roughly $83,000 work assignment for project management and engineering support to plan and manage a recoating of the 2,500,000‑gallon tank.

Schmick said a 2024 condition study identified extensive exterior paint delamination and organic growth on the tank exterior. He told council staff found an intact corrosion‑protective base layer but recommended immediate pressure‑blast surface preparation and recoating rather than a simple wash and repaint to prevent future metal corrosion. That recoating is budgeted as a capital project; Schmick said the estimated cost for the actual recoating work will depend on required lead‑paint abatement and other conditions identified during procurement, but staff currently estimate the recoating construction cost near $500,000.

Schmick explained why staff requested the on‑call contract increase: the city uses on‑call engineering contracts for staff augmentation and access to expertise the city does not maintain in‑house. He said the proposed $83,000 Parametrics work assignment would provide project management and engineering oversight for the recoating procurement and construction; increasing the on‑call cap to $200,000 would leave about $66,000 of capacity for additional assignments under the same contract.

Council members asked questions about lead‑paint removal and color choices for the tank finish. Schmick said the smaller tanks had lead paint removed in the past but the large tank will likely need abatement work as part of recoating; he characterized lead abatement as a specialized and necessary cost. On color he said the technical requirement was corrosion protection and that color choices could be discussed when the construction contract is brought forward.

The council expressed support for placing the requested contract increase and work assignment on the consent calendar so staff could proceed; staff said they would return with the formal contract amendment and the specific construction bid package. No formal roll call vote was recorded at the meeting; council agreed by consensus to place the item on the consent calendar for the next meeting.

Schmick closed by noting the city will address the seismic retrofit recommendations separately and that interior coating work can be scheduled at a later date if needed.","Public Works reported that a 2024 condition assessment found exterior paint delamination and organic growth on the city’s 2.5‑million‑gallon water storage tank; staff asked to increase the on‑call engineering contract limit and approve a new work assignment for design and project management ahead of a planned pressure‑blast recoating.","actionData","errors"]

Article not found

Council weighs Ballinger Park viewing platform after bids exceed budget; staff recommend moving forward with reallocated funds

Mountlake Terrace traffic report: volumes rebounded after 2020; several intersections identified as collision hot spots

Council to add parametric engineering support, and staff seek to fund water‑tank recoating after 2024 study