Our guest speaker last Friday was Lake Stevens City Councilman Kim Daughtry talking about what's happening in the City and share his views of where we're headed. Kim started off talking about the Youth Advisory Council which is reported below.
The downtown core area is undergoing a massive change, Hwy. 9 south of Market Place lane improvements are underway, which is Phase 2 and Soper Hill and Hwy 9 project is underway with many unknowns. Senator Steve Hobbs took a break from his Military Training School to provide input on the Hwy 9 and 204 project. Steve has been a long time member of our Club.
The Soper Hill project will include a 55+ age complex but AM/PM is denying they are going to build a Convenience Store and car wash on the south side of Soper Hill. No idea what is going on the southside of the property. Update may come at the Council retreat.
Parks are really important to the City and they are looking for more parks, BMX biking and Pump Track, Power Line Trail, Frontier Heights renovation is underway.
Youth Advisory Council has been established in Lake Stevens. For the past ten years, Kim has been working on getting a Youth Advisory Council. Councilman Steve Ewing brought the program to the city. The young group is awesome. The Youth Advisory Council wanted to be a council and is off and running. They will be coming to the City Council with some recommendations in the near future. Projects included weeding on 91st Street and helping at the Food Bank. The group isn't shy about asking how individual members voted on topics during the past year. Councilman Shawn Fredericks, a Club member shared his views on the group. The Youth Advisory Council sends a couple of members to each City Council meeting.
There is a group in the community looking at starting a Sea Scout group which is part of the Scouts organization. That wasn't always the case. They were competitors to the Boy Scouts of America. Kim was involved in Sea Scouts in his early life in Tacoma. Working on sponsors for the Sea Scout group. Working on various boats of other Sea Scout organizations. Kim is hoping that Rotary will be a sponsor. Kim thinks he has found a building for the Sea Scouts that is owned by the City.
Kim thanked our Club for making him the Rotary Citizen of the Year. Rotary is a big part of the City. On August 25th, the Council will be on retreat and will discuss the options on the Civic Center and the Library. Some want to split the bonds between the Civic Center and the Library. The City hasn't given up on the projects.
A brief discussion transpired about the selection of Deputy Chief Jeff Beazizo as the new Chief of the Lake Stevens Police Department replacing the retired Chief John Dyer.
Other topics included the Mill Spur and Festival Street which will be set up to include festivals without closing down Main Street except for AquaFest. Great meeting with lots of community information.