City News

• Pilchuck Park (169 Cypress Ave) will close this spring through the summer of 2023 for construction and maintenance. All baseball fields, sports courts, and the access road will be closed during this time. The Pilchuck Park access road will be relocated away from the Pilchuck River due to riverbank erosion. During the access road closure, City Parks staff will complete multiple park maintenance projects, including irrigation pump replacement, irrigation system repairs, and sports courts surface improvements. Detailed information about the project, including specific closure dates, will be available on the City’s website once finalized: www.snohomishwa.gov

• Congratulations to Brooke Eidem, who was appointed and confirmed as Planning Director last December. Brooke has been with the City for 15 years, working initially as a permit technician before taking on duties as a planner in 2014. She also worked as the City’s GIS technician during the last decade. She has been involved in many improvements to the land use development code, including an overhaul of the definitions, dimensional standards, land use tables, a new archaeological resources code, and many other minor changes and rezones. Brooke worked with the Design Review Board to draft the new Historic District Design Standards in 2017 and the General Design Standards in 2021. She has also worked to streamline permit review processes, and she implemented the new paperless permitting system during the pandemic to maintain the flow of permits without interruption. Brooke assumed the position which was previously held by Glen Pickus, who retired last December after working for the City for more than six years (Congratulations, Glen!)

• Congratulations also to Koi Simpson, who was selected as the City’s Building Official starting in February. He has been with the City since 2013, starting out as a Maintenance Worker and then moving into the Sr. Engineering Technician position in our Engineering Department. Koi’s background includes 29 years experience in various aspects of the construction industry with knowledge of the latest technologies in the construction and inspection fields while recently obtaining his Residential Building Inspector Certificate from the International Code Council. Koi assumes the position held by Sharon Petit, who served as the City’s Building/ Fire Official for 23 years and will retire this spring (Congratulations, Sharon!)

• We welcomed Kathy Caldwell, the City’s new Water Quality Specialist last December. Kathy started reading meters at a very young age, beginning her career through locating, ditch work, and equipment operation. She has spent the last 22 years at the City of Redmond, where she specialized in the Cross Connection Program and water quality analysis. She is happy to be serving the City of Snohomish, which she finds to be a refreshing challenge.

• The City also welcomed Renato Mendes to the Finance Department as a Financial Analyst last December. His primary responsibilities include project reporting and accounting, monitoring City contracts, and grant management and reporting. He has worked for small businesses to large corporations such as Bank of America and the Seminole Tribe. Renato comes to the Finance Department with an MBA from Florida International University and 20 years of finance, project, and accounting experience.