After nearly twenty years of contracting for public works maintenance services with the City of Lake Forest Park, the two cities parted ways after Lake Forest Park gave notice in 2018. In January of 2019, Kenmore began operating its own in-house public works operations department and based its operations in two temporary locations: the backside of the US Post Office building located at 6700 NE 181^st St and the vacant lot at the northwest corner of 67th Avenue NE and Bothell Way. These locations are too small and do not adequately serve to meet the needs of the operation. The City has been in search of an adequate permanent site since Lake Forest Park gave notice in 2018.

The City began the property search for a permanent location to house the Public Works Operation Center in May of 2018. Following two unsuccessful attempts to acquire property, the City Council directed staff to go back to the drawing board and revise the site selection criteria. The City Council assisted with this task by forming a sub-committee (Councilmembers Curtis, Srebnik, and O’Cain) to review and amend the site selection criteria.  The sub-committee provided the revised site selection criteria to staff in the fall of 2020 with the intention for staff to interpret the Council sub-committee’s revised criteria and create a new process for selecting a permanent location. 

Using the Council sub-committee’s revised criteria, staff developed the Public Works Operations Center Site Selection Criteria and Process using a 5-phase approach that was approved by Council in April 2021 and the staff immediately started searching for a property using the newly approved criteria. The key elements of the search included: minimum 1.50 useable acres, search in all zoning areas (previously restricted to only allowable zones), and don’t force out businesses or residents unless they were willing sellers.  

It was during the selection process that staff discovered two adjacent properties were being offered for sale at the north end of the City.  These two properties were just slightly under the minimum 1.50-acres needed for Public Works but were close enough to warrant evaluation. At the same time, the City discovered that a third adjacent parcel was under review to develop a 6-lot short plat but hadn’t started construction yet and the developer was willing to sell the property.  After much deliberation with City Council and receiving public feedback, the City decided to move forward with purchasing all three properties (located off NE 202^nd St, adjacent to Kenmore Middle School), which provided enough area to allow for growth in the future.  The property purchases were finalized in the summer/fall of 2021.

Through a Request for Qualifications process, the City selected an architect for the project. Wagner Architects & Planners was selected to assist with conceptual design and costing of the new Public Works Operations Center.  Given the Council’s priorities that include the importance of implementing a Climate Action Plan and ongoing Environmental Stewardship, staff wanted to make sure that these concepts were heavily included in the site planning and design.

Public Works Operations Center Budget & Estimated Costs

The initial development of the Public Works Operations Center is included in the City’s Capital Improvement Plan (CIP) and has an approved budget of $22,500,000 (including property acquisition).  The funding strategy in the adopted CIP is for the $22.5 million to be funded by a combination of bonds and loans to be paid back over 20 years with an estimated annual bond payment of $1.8 million.  The revenue sources for the bond payments will be from Real Estate Excise Tax ($900,000 annually) and Surface Water Utility Fees ($900,000 annually).  Ordinance 23-0599 was adopted by the City Council on December 4, 2023, delegating authority to issue bonds for the Public Works Operations Center.  Although there is a master plan concept, there are no future projects planned or available funding to complete additional improvements.

Public Works Operations and Maintenance is one of the City’s core functions and is a critical component to the host of essential services the City provides our diverse community.  Everything the department does supports the Council’s mission, vision, and priorities.  Our staff provide services and perform work throughout the City.  The primary activities performed by staff working out of the Operations Center include:

• Landscape and irrigation maintenance in parks and rights of ways.
• Playground maintenance
• Park asset maintenance – picnic tables & benches, water fountains, garbage receptacles and park signage.
• Park restroom building maintenance and janitorial services.
• Building maintenance
• Athletic field maintenance
• Special Events support
• Vegetation/Brush management in the rights-of-ways and surface water facilities.
• Tree management
• Temporary traffic control
• City event support
• Support for volunteer programs & activities
• Street sign maintenance
• Pothole and shoulder repair
• Handrail, fence, & guardrail repair
• Public property vandalism/graffiti response
• Stormwater utility locates (call before you dig)
• Stormwater conveyance repair projects – installing/replacing catch basins, culverts, and pipes.
• Stormwater facility inspections (public and private)
• Stormwater facility maintenance (ponds, vaults, tanks, water quality structures)
• Stormwater source control inspections
• Illicit discharge and spill response
• Water quality monitoring
• Street Sweeping
• Flood and storm response
• Debris removal
• Snow and ice response

Master Plan Buildout:

Current Project Proposed Site Improvements:

Section Drawing:

Phase 1 Site Sketches:

• Obtain the Boundary Line Adjustment (merging three parcels into one). Application submitted in April 2024.

• Obtain initial permit approval including a Conditional Use Permit (CUP) to develop and operate a municipal maintenance facility within a Public/Semi-Public Zone as required by Kenmore Municipal Code, Washington State Environmental Policy Act (SEPA) review, and Commercial Site Plan (CSP) review. Applications submitted in May 2024.

• Final project design.

• Bid and construct project.