Snohomish County officials say permits are delaying Everett and Edmonds NewStart Center openings; Salvation Army, YWCA named as operators

Snohomish County officials told the County Council on May 7 that permitting delays in Everett and Edmonds are preventing full construction of two NewStart homeless service centers and pushing likely openings to late fall 2025.

The update, given by Kara Maine Hester, chief of the Office of Recovery and Resilience, Lance Meinhold, project manager for facilities, and Mary Jane Bravoovich, director of Human Services, described the projects’ capital budgets, recent expenditures and outstanding permitting and equipment questions. "We are still stuck somewhere in permitting," Maine Hester said, urging council help in nudging city reviewers.

The nut graf: County staff said both projects have assigned general contractors and have spent most of their contract-contingency funds; however, outstanding plan reviews in Everett and Edmonds — including a city interpretation in Edmonds that triggered electric-vehicle (EV) parking and e-bike readiness requirements — have prevented issuance of full permits and the start of full construction.

Officials said expenditures through nearly the end of April were about $13 million at Everett and $11 million at Edmonds. Meinhold said the Everett building’s plan review is approved by the building department but still awaiting a public-works review that was submitted Feb. 26; he told the council, "At this point, it's the only thing holding us up saying, go start full construction." Maine Hester said staff had asked the cities in advance and that both had been "supportive," but added that particular reviewers had slowed the process.

On site features and cost estimates, Meinhold described an Edmonds requirement for four EV chargers and 15 EV-capable parking spaces and estimated the minimum cost if done "as economically as possible" at about $60,000. He warned of practical concerns — vandalism and low utilization — but said the electrical work is the cost driver. The council discussed political and precedent risks if a city were asked to waive its code for this project.

Staff reviewed furniture, fixtures and equipment budgets. County staff said purchases for resident rooms are being sourced through state contracts: roughly $156,000 for Edmonds and $376,000 for Everett for resident-room furnishings, with common-area and laundry equipment bringing the estimated current totals to about $300,000 for Edmonds and $500,000 for Everett — approximately $700,000 below earlier estimates. "We're well within our appropriation," Maine Hester said.

On operations, Jackie Anderson, division manager in the Human Services Department, confirmed the Salvation Army will operate the Everett center and the YWCA is the prospective operator for Edmonds; staff said site-operator agreements — five-year agreements with annual performance renewals — are under negotiation with the prosecuting attorney’s office and will be brought to council before execution. Maine Hester said neighborhood notification for the YWCA in Edmonds had gone out within the previous days and that the YWCA had reviewed the facility layout positively.

Council members asked about public-safety coordination and potential referrals from law enforcement; Mary Jane Bravoovich said county policies developed with the council will guide interactions and referral protocols, and Jackie Anderson said the management plans and city coordination will cover security, hours, contact protocols and cleanliness.

Staff said there were no new change orders since the last update and that contingency adjustments so far had been moved into contracted work. Asked about a timeline, staff said if permits were received promptly, construction timelines would put openings in late fall 2025 — possibly November — but cautioned that additional change orders could add time. Council members were offered site tours; staff said tours are available with safety gear.

Ending: County staff said they will return with another monthly update and will inform council if permitting progresses; no formal council action was taken on the presentation.