By a unanimous vote and following weeks of discussion and amendments, the Edmonds City Council approved a 2019 city budget that includes $1.3. million to fund Edmonds Marsh restoration efforts.
The marsh money approved Tuesday night was $300,000 more than what had been discussed at last week’s council meeting, when Edmonds Mayor Dave Earling pledged to find $1 million for the project. Councilmember Diane Buckshnis, who has been advocating for years that the city make a strong commitment to marsh funding, proposed that the $1 million contribution be in addition to $300,000 already in the council’s current 2018 budget for marsh restoration, for a total of $1.3 million.
With that amount, the city could present to potential grant funders that it has already made a 10 percent commitment toward the estimated $13 million restoration project, Buckshnis added.
“There’s a lot of money out there and this is showing all the grant people that we are interested and we want to make change for our environment now,” she said.
Councilmember Dave Teitzel — stating he was supportive of efforts to restore the marsh but also wanted to “be a good steward of taxpayer resources” — proposed an amendment to Buckshnis’ motion that would have maintained the $1 million total. There was a lengthy discussion about that amendment, with some councilmembers suggesting that it was a matter of priorities as to whether the city could find an extra $300,000 for the marsh.
“We seem to be able to spend money pretty clearly and pretty freely when there’s special projects to be done,” said Councilmember Adrienne Fraley-Monillas. “I’m not sure what the apprehension is.”
Teitzel’s amendment was defeated on a 2-5 vote, with Councilmember Neil Tibbott joining him in support.
Prior to the vote on Buckshnis’ motion, Mayor Earling made a lengthy statement regarding the council’s approach to the 2019 budget process. The mayor said he was hopeful of a streamlined process this year when the council held a budget retreat aimed at identifying the top 14 budget priorities, which his staff considered in preparing the 2019 budget. As a result, Earling said, the council received $1.1 million for those priorities.
But despite the council’s retreat work, this year’s budget process has seen “an even more exacting series of confusing and costly mostly late-term amendments,” Earling said. Of even greater concern is the fiscal impact of council amendments from both 2018 and 2019, the mayor said. In 2018, Earling set aside $760,000 in additional reserves, but the added council priorities and projects “virtually stripped away that entire reserve,” the mayor said.
This year, council amendments added $865,000 to the $1.1 million budgeted for council’s priorities. The addition $700,00 for marsh restoration brought that amount to $2.6 million above the amount budgeted, Earling said.
“Folks, we need to stop the spending spree,” Earlling said. “The economy is softening and we hear news of lowering stock values, higher interest rates, lower house values and factory layoffs every other day. While I’m not crying recession on the horizon, it’s time to be cautious in light of these trends.”
Responding to the mayor, Council President Mike Nelson replied that “it takes two to tango,” noting that the council didn’t learn about the mayor’s funding priorities until the budget was released in October. “Here we are, is where we are,” Nelson added. “I would love to hear what the administration’s funding priorities are well before October. Then maybe we could figure out how we are going to spend it all.
“Where we are at is what is a priority,” Nelson said, “and I think you’ve heard tonight what people’s priorities are. And I believe prioritizing the marsh should be funded to the fullest that we can.”
Following the mayor’s remarks, the council voted 5-2 to support the $1.3 million marsh funding amount proposed by Buckshnis, with Councilmembers Teitzel and Tibbott opposed.
Then came the task of finding funds to cover the full $1.3. million amount. After much debate, the council approved a mix of general fund dollars, stormwater funds and land acquisition money, plus $200,000 — suggested by Teitzel — from the council’s 2018 opioid response fund, which so far has not been used.
The council also had to address another unfunded amendment from last week: $200,000 to begin the process of making Edmonds’ playgrounds more accessible by providing rubberized pathways. The council agreed to draw $100,000 from each of the city’s two real estate excise tax funds to cover that amount.
Also during its meeting, which was the final of 2018, the council elected Adrienne Fraley-Monillas as 2019 council president and Diane Buckshnis as president pro tem. Each was approved on a 4-3 vote.
In other action, the council:
- Agreed to place on the city’s Comprehensive Plan docket for discussion next year two possible amendments for consideration: Removing the language regarding creation of a draft housing strategy altogether, or extending the 2019 deadline to complete the housing strategy “to a subsequent year agreed upon by the council.”
- Heard a presentation from the Edmonds Downtown Alliance (ED!) and approved its 2019 work plan and budget.
- Approved city’s 2019-2024 Capital Facilities Plan/Capital Improvement Program.
— By Teresa Wippel
Thank you Edmonds City Council for doing the ‘right thing’ for our beautiful marsh. With our South Sound Orcas in such dire straights, anything we can do to restore healthy tidelands to the Sound are going to be a big win now and into the future. Are there other salmon spawning streams flowing into the Sound in this area that need to be restored? Can this be a community activity?
Urgent Opportunity to Restore the Marsh
It is worth noting that the Marsh “spending spree” was added late to the City Council budget because of the unprecedented and recently available opportunity to begin the necessary land acquisition for the Daylighting project which was made possible when WSDOT made clear that they no longer wanted a ferry terminal at the Point Edwards location. This was revealed in October this year. So of course it was a late amendment. The Council and Mayor acted wisely and proactively to allow the city to promptly take advantage of this situation.
It is refreshing to know that the vision for the Marsh that the Council has had for some time will finally and actually happen. Prior to this, the Marsh restoration was mostly just a vision, based on the hope that UNOCAL would finish their toxic waste cleanup sometime in the next several years. Because of the the Council’s timely action, we can begin to address the damage that has been done to our marsh and environment. We can make it into the dynamic ecosystem it should be so that wildlife can flourish. That is a legacy worthy of our city government.
Now that the City of Edmonds has fully committed to move forward on this important project, people in Edmonds might be more enthusiastic about helping out. Protecting our environment is a valuable thing we can do in our lifetimes. Tax deductible contributions may be made to:
Edmonds Marsh Restoration and Preservation Fund
Edmonds Parks Department
700 Main Street
Edmonds, WA 98020
I thank the Mayor and Council for fully funding a 10% matching fund. This is an important step in contributing to the restoration and maintenance of Puget Sound and environs. Perhaps this will inspire other municipalities, counties and the state to contribute more to the restoration of our wild lands. At a time when our whole planet is under threat we need to do what we can to save small and large habitats in the hopes that we will be eventually at least mitigate the environmental problems that currently confront us. The Council’s vote shows that we in Edmonds take the issue seriously and that we are willing to take a leadership role in the necessary task before us. .