Everett council approves Forest Park driveway, Lowell Park playground and parks restroom access-control projects

The Everett City Council on March 12 adopted three ordinances creating special improvement projects to fund Forest Park driveway design ($50,000), the Lowell Park playground replacement ($575,000) and a parks-and-downtown-restrooms access-control project. Each measure passed on unanimous roll calls.

The three ordinances were introduced as Council Bill 2502-14 (Forest Park entry driveway repay project), Council Bill 2502-15 (Lowell Park playground replacement) and Council Bill 2502-16 (Parks and Downtown Restrooms Access Control Project). Council members voted in favor of all three measures during the meeting’s action-items segment. The Forest Park project will accumulate design and permitting costs; the Lowell Park project will accumulate project costs of $575,000; and the restrooms project will cover access-control work and related costs across park facilities and some downtown restrooms.

Council members briefly discussed the restroom access-control project after the motion. Council Member Drake asked which restrooms are included. Bob Leonard, parks and facilities, replied that the program "involves most all of the restrooms," while noting some exceptions: certain athletic-field restrooms that are not regularly used, a vault toilet at Rotary Park and the main restroom at Howarth Park (which lacks electrical and other amenities) are not part of the current scope and would be addressed separately if and when upgrades occur. Leonard said athletic fields would likely receive a different treatment, such as locks distributed to user groups.

Roll-call votes recorded "yes" from Vice President Zorlingo, Council Member Bader, Council Member Ryan, Council Member Voguely, Council Member Tuohy and President Schwab for each of the three ordinances (six yes votes). No no-votes, abstentions or recusals were recorded in the roll calls for these items.

The council also placed other park-related business on the schedule: an earlier first reading announced an amendment to a prior ordinance for Thornton A. Sullivan Park floating-dock repairs with a third and final reading set for March 26.

Votes at a glance: - Council Bill 2502-14 (Forest Park entry driveway repay project): motion adopted; design/permitting allocation $50,000; roll call: Zorlingo, Bader, Ryan, Voguely, Tuohy, Schwab — yes (6-0-0). Outcome: approved. - Council Bill 2502-15 (Lowell Park playground replacement): motion adopted; project allocation $575,000; roll call: Zorlingo, Bader, Ryan, Voguely, Tuohy, Schwab — yes (6-0-0). Outcome: approved. - Council Bill 2502-16 (Parks and Downtown Restrooms Access Control Project): motion adopted; scope covers most park restrooms with documented exceptions; roll call: Zorlingo, Bader, Ryan, Voguely, Tuohy, Schwab — yes (6-0-0). Outcome: approved.

Why it matters: The projects fund maintenance and upgrades to public park infrastructure used by residents citywide. The restroom access-control measure is intended to balance public access and facility management by deploying locks or access systems for the majority of park restrooms while excluding certain low-use or infrastructure-limited facilities.

Implementation notes: Council and parks staff described follow-up steps for sites excluded from the current restroom project (athletic-field restrooms, Rotary Park vault toilet and Howarth Park main restroom). The council did not specify funding sources beyond the creation of the special improvement projects; the ordinances were described as vehicles to accumulate project costs.

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