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Vol. 13 No. 41 n January 13, 2021 - January 19, 2021
MARYSVILLE • ARLINGTON • SMOKEY POINT • LAKEWOOD • TULALIP • QUIL CEDA VILLAGE
Gov. Inslee announces new 'Roadmap to Recovery'
By Christopher Andersson christopher@northcountyoutlook.com
Washington state Gov. Jay Inslee announced changes to how the state will handle business regulations and reopening related to the pandemic on Jan. 6. The new "Healthy Washington - Roadmap to Recovery" plan arranges the state into eight regions, provides benchmarks for each region to meet to move to the next phase and provides new phases for reopening. Snohomish County is in the Puget Sound region with King and Pierce counties. State officials say the goal of business restrictions continues to be to reduce the spread of COVID-19 so that hospitals do not run out of capacity to care for individuals. See ROADMAP on page 2
PHOTO BY CHRISTOPHER ANDERSSON
Volunteer Cathy Rosine moves some cardboard to a community member’s truck during a cardboard and Styrofoam recycling event in Marysville held on Jan. 9.
M'ville residents recycle Styrofoam By Christopher Andersson christopher@northcountyoutlook.com
PHOTO BY CHRISTOPHER ANDERSSON
Stilly Diner employee Katie Rivera puts one of the to-go containers into a bag while preparing an order on Jan. 8.
Community groups gathered on Jan. 9 to help Marysville recycle some of their leftover holiday cardboard and Styrofoam. This is the first time this group has put together this kind of post-holiday recycling event, which was originally scheduled to run from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. but had to stop taking mate-
rial about halfway through because too much came in from the community. “I appreciate everyone coming out here rather than trying to throw it in the dump, which is the whole purpose here,” said Glenn Smith, a member of the Marysville Sunrise Rotary Club and one of the main organizers of the event. Smith has helped with
See RECYCLE on page 7
Nehring discusses Marysville's plans for 2021 By Christopher Andersson christopher@northcountyoutlook.com Marysville residents and businesses had a challenging year in 2020 and the city hopes to strengthen recovery through 2021. Marysville Mayor Jon Nehring talked about the challenges of 2020 and what to expect going forward as the city plans for the new year. “It’s probably no surprise but COVID was definitely the biggest challenge of getting our city business done,” said Nehring. Many of the city’s programs were delayed or paused for the year. “We pretty much cut out all non-essential programs and services but we kept going on with our big projects,” said Nehring. The biggest construction projects con-
tinued for the city, including the First Street bypass, the expansion of State Avenue from 100th Street to 104th Street and the new Civic Campus. “Those were already funded and we didn’t want those to fall behind schedule,” said Nehring. Project delays could mean increased costs as construction prices tend to rise, so the city did not want to pause them, he said. The First Street bypass, which extends First Street and provides a major east-west route for downtown Marysville, was completed this year. The expansion of State Avenue and the new Civic Campus, which would provide a main administrative building for the city, continue construction.
Those projects are currently on budget and on schedule, said Nehring. In the Sunnyside neighborhood, Olympic View Park continues construction as well, and is expected to be finished in the next two to three months. For the city the biggest project was COVID response throughout the year. “We were really quick out of the chute in early March to put safety protocols in with our workforce to allow our business to continue,” said Nehring. Using federal funds the city also began the distribution of money to businesses and funding rent and mortgage relief programs as well. “We tried to be proactive with communicating with the community about what
we were doing and what has been going on. Obviously, it was bigger than Marysville as you have a lot of decisions being made at the state and national level,” said Nehring. Nehring said he has worked to advocate on behalf of businesses. “I think local businesses throughout the county have done a really great job putting safety measures in place,” he said. “I don’t see data coming my way that shows that the business community is the source of outbreaks." With continuing safety measures and a vaccine now available, Nehring said he believes the pandemic will begin to “turn the corner.”
See NEHRING on page 5