10 years ago 1996

Those who want the Lakewood/Smokey Point area to be its own city rather than part of Arlington or Marysville are circulating petitions which may take incorporation to a vote. One of the main catalysts for the incorporation is the Lakewood School District, which residents fear will lose part of its tax base if Lakewood property is annexed into Arlington. While Arlington city officials have publicly expressed support for the Lakewood School District, Arlington City Attorney Steve Peiffle said his city cant take a stand on incorporation until Lakewood residents can answer questions about utility service, budgets, and police and fire protection. Little concrete information was presented at the Dec. 4 community meeting since the consulting firm hired by the community group Save Our Community and Schools to research the feasibility of incorporation could not attend. The study will be complete in January, said Mickie Jarvill, attorney for SOCS. The study area stretches from the Lakewood School District boundary on the east side of I-5 north to 188th and on the west side to the countys urban growth boundary. The firm will study a larger area including Island Crossing and the area south of the Arlington Airport, Jarvill said. The study will look at revenues as well as the cost of providing necessary services. Several citizens expressed concerns that a careful study be made, before a vote is cast. Jarvill cited three major advantages of incorporation: stronger community identity, more involvement in law enforcement and land-use control. The disadvantage of incorporations in general, she said, is another layer of government. Remaining in the county is not a viable option since the area is in the countys urban growth area. Its either incorporation or being part of Marysville or Arlington, Jarvill said. The issue of the Lakewood School District being usurped by the Arlington School District in the case of annexation was discussed. The superintendents of the two districts are working with legislators to change the state law which says school districts on one site bust be absorbed by the annexing citys school district. Jarvill spoke of negotiating an agreement with Marysville for water and sewer services. Marysville City Administrator Dave Zabell said that if property owners signed the incorporation petition, they would not be eligible to sign Marysvilles annexation petition and, therefore, under city ordinance, would not be eligible for services. We are not in the business of providing services to areas outside of Marysvilles urban growth area, he said. While current state law does not allow incorporation of cities within five miles of an adjacent city with a population of 15,000, said Jarvill, there are exceptions in cases where the population exceeds 3,000.

25 years ago 1981

Locked away in the Arlington United Church are shelves of canned goods, two refrigerators filled with perishable goods and a freezer preserving other foods. Being December, the shelves are well stocked. The large supply of items began accumulating in November before the Thanksgiving Day celebration. The food items are donations to the Arlington Food Bank from local residents and are distributed to area residents in financial distress. Food bank workers are happy with the response this year because todays economy has put many area residents out of work. The forest industries, Boeing and Scott Paper have all been forced to lay off workers. The food banks busiest time of year is the November-December period. This conclusion doesnt come from several years of service, instead from the food banks one-year experience as a non-profit organization. The Arlington Food Bank came into existence a year ago last November and its November distribution has already doubled. In November of 1980, the food bank distributed 17 Thanksgiving Day baskets and four three-day food supplies. This equaled 81 people served at a $344 value. In November 1981, 33 Thanksgiving Day baskets were distributed and nine three-day supplies were handed out. This increased the number of persons served to 156 at a value of $1,011. The December of 1980 totals were 32 Christmas baskets and nine three-day supplies. That totals 129 persons fed at a value of $812. This December the food bank is expecting to distribute 50-55 Christmas baskets, said Kathy Weeks, who coordinates the pickup of donated food at churches. Local churches are the backbone of the food bank. A system, designed so two churches each month are collecting food from their congregation, was organized by the food bank. Eight churches are involved in the program: Arlington United Church, Peace Lutheran Church, Free Methodist Church, Immaculate Conception Church, Assembly of God Church, Our Saviours Lutheran Church, the Arlington Baptist Church and Smokey Point Community Church. Currently the Arlington Christian School and the local public schools are concluding food drives. Also, several local businesses have placed food bank donation boxes in their buildings, including Safeway, Thrifty, Bills Superette, Johnnys at Smokey Point and Seattle First National Bank. The Arlington Food Bank is also helped by the Seattle and Everett food drives advertised on television, said Anna Mae Osborn, a food bank board member. An Arlington United Church study group investigating the world hunger problem initiated the setup of an Arlington food bank. The group learned that hunger wasnt just found in third world countries, hunger was also in Arlington. Four couples were involved in the study group: Frances and Marie Beaster, Duane and AnnaMarie Weston, Mike and Linda Wiggins and Darwin and Vally Hennings. The became aware of the hunger problem through Bertha Patapoff, Arlington, who is the director of the Volunteer of America Food Bank in Everett. Before the Arlington Food Bank was established 30 to 40 local families a month came to the Everett facility for food, Patapoff said. Many had no income and some were forced to hitchhike to Everett, she said. The four couples contacted other Arlington residents they believed would be interested in forming an Arlington food bank and then founded a five-member board of directors to organize the project. The board members are Patapoff, Osborn, Duane Weston, Jim Beter and Myron Thomas. The food bank was set up to help meet emergency needs of those who have lost a home due to fire, flood and other catastrophes, to help between applying for and receiving public assistance, and assisting those where welfare grants do not meet needs.

50 years ago 1956

Letters are going out this week to all the bond subscribers with instructions on how to complete their bond purchase. Subscriptions can be paid either by mail or in person by Jan. 15, 1957, at the Citizens State Bank, Arlington, or at the hospital. The architect and engineers are rapidly completing the specifications. They expect to have them ready by the first of the month so that bids can be advertised the first week of January. An independent cost analysis has been completed, and it has been found that there has been an increase in costs of approximately $6,500, namely due to the steel price increase. The increase in building costs together with some cancellations in bond subscriptions makes it necessary to sell an additional $9,600 in bonds. It is felt that this can be done without too much trouble.