The City of Everett's engineering director told the council committee June 3 that the department needs higher-level project management capacity and described steps to ease permit backlogs that have frustrated homeowners and developers.

The director said a junior-engineer slot budgeted in FY25 could not be filled and that for FY26 he plans to request a more senior project-manager-level engineer to lead major infrastructure efforts. "To alleviate the manpower crunch we shuffled responsibilities and also added a more senior engineer position," he said, citing large projects in the Commercial Triangle and Highland End District as examples of work requiring additional oversight.

To reduce inspection and permitting delays, the director said he will work with the building and planning departments to shift private-development inspection costs into developer-funded accounts (53G-style revolving accounts) so the city can assign inspectors without drawing on the public payroll. He also said that smaller homeowner projects require more casework because the city often has to help applicants comply with ordinances.

On stormwater, the director said roughly $85,000 of previously budgeted funds were encumbered and remain available and that the department expects to spend the remainder to address smaller stormwater projects and permit obligations this year.

The committee approved the engineering division budget and asked the director to continue efforts to document permit processing timelines and to coordinate with other departments so applicants know earlier what engineering requirements will apply.

What comes next: The director will seek to fill or reclassify an engineering position and will provide follow-up on stormwater encumbrances and permit processing improvements to the committee.