City of Bothell

CENTENNIAL SUCCESS

In addition to a low-tax environment for businesses and outstanding educational institutions, there is one little well-known fact about this small, yet diverse city. “We have the largest Hindu Temples in the northwest. Many people from India are drawn to our community and love that cultural and religious feel here,” says Lamb. The city council is working hard to plan for the future so it will be best place in Washington State for people to work, live and start a family or business. “I think we are well on the way to reach that goal,” says the mayor. “In fact, I think in the city of Bothell we’ve done a couple of things to be financially prudent. We have a 20 percent operating reserve, which is a fifth of our budget, so we have to be prepared for times when we are in an economic downturn, or when we need to make a strategic investment,” says Lamb.

Battling a tough economy with good financial management

Bob Stowe echoes that thought. “We’re making the investments now in our economic future, with the property purchased and projects moving forward,” explains Stowe, the city manager for Bothell. The tough economy has certainly been the largest obstacle, however. “Bothell is not immune to the economic issues of our state and nation. We have a pretty diverse set of revenues,” says Stowe, referring to the creation of the reserve. “During good economic times, we took advantage of that by creating larger reserves which we could tap into if necessary to continue to provide services. Luckily, we haven’t had the need to do that yet,” says Stowe, who has been working with the city for almost five years.

Building a strategy and team to execute city plans

When Stowe first joined the city, he started building a strategy and team to execute the city’s plans. First, he started developing a comprehensive capital facilities plan with city council to determine the most important investments needed in the City. Next he created an economic development department and hired staff including assistant city managers. His major focus for the past five years has been the ambitious Downtown Revitalization Project. “We are planning an approximately $150 million investment on the downtown core alone, to activate that area and create a marketplace for private sector investment, of which our economists predict could roll in close to $650 million private sector investment as a result of the city’s planning efforts,” says Stowe, adding the ambitious plan has energized the community and created a vision, as well as believers. “There have been concepts for investments over the past several years, but the stars have aligned to create political and community support, and leadership has come up with sufficient funds, to simulate the economy, and create a plan that our community is excited about,” says Stowe. “I think that’s been the biggest change, seeing our community rally behind the investments we’re making and the great planning we’re doing,” he says. In fact, in September of 2007, the Washington State Governor recognized the significance of ongoing medical device manufacturing and ultra sound research activities in the city’s technology sector by naming the city’s corridor the Bothell Med Tech Innovation Partnership Zone (IPZ) in 2007.

Getting the stars to align

As part of an overarching economic development and capital facilities plan, Stowe and the city council implemented strategies to drive the local economy, starting with developing a Capital Facilities Plan  (CFP) in 2006. “The CFP and the related downtown investments is one of five major building blocks towards our revitalization. The other four elements include the city’s budget, its downtown vision, several regulatory guides as well as related investments. The funds for the City’s investments are the result of City’s ability to align its on-going, one-time revenues and expenses that allowed us to sustain essential services, but more importantly for investment purposes to stimulate the economy,” says Stowe. Interestingly, the city manager says council chose to use its one-time, grant dollars to invest in the community.

Building a community for the next 100 years

It’s an exciting time for City council and members of the community, as they just celebrated Bothell’s centennial anniversary. “The community has embraced the concept that now is not the time for status quo or sluggish government, but rather a time for ideas and action. Our elected officials have acted collectively and decisively to effectively manage the resources of this community,” says the city manager. “It takes a lot of courage and leadership to be able to support purchasing 25-acres of property valued over $35 million in the heart of downtown during a recession. But they made those tough decisions because we’re planning for the next 100 years of investment in our community,” says Stowe.

OVERVIEW OF CURRENT PROJECTS

1) CROSS-ROADS PROJECT. Begins in early 2010, the city-funded $65 million project is aided by a $25-million tax-increment financing (local infra­structure financing tool or LIFT) from the state.

2) DOWNTOWN REVITALIZATION PROJECT. One-time, capital funds were used with the recent purchase of the approximate 25-acres of downtown property needed to implement the community’s vision. The city’s in­vestment costs over $150-million, excluding the hu­man resources involved. “The City has been fortunate and taken some proactive and bold steps to purchase property to provide the best opportunity to imple­ment this city’s revitalization vision,” says Stowe.

3) BOULEVARD PROJECT. The state route 527 or Bou­levard Project is designed to tie the new commercial development, which will occur on the west side of the SR527, to the historical part of town on the east side,” says Stowe. In addition to two slower access lanes, both one-ways, there will also be diagonal parking, pedes­trians walk ways, planted tree line and vegetation. The $25-30 million infrastructure project has a more fluid construction schedule, depending on when the property is purchased and developed. An environmental assess­ment and clean up is already underway. It is the first one of its kind in the state and one of the few in the country.

4) CITY HALL DEVELOPMENT. A new City Hall facility is overdue and needed to combine multiple City facili­ties into one. As Stowe says, there’s no better way to promote economic development than to create a great public plaza downtown. “We’re believe the City Hall site can serve as a catalyst for other development  opportu­nities, to show the world that you can be very success­ful in Bothell with development, says Stowe. The $40 million capital project is slated to begin in 2012 and could include a mix-use development component on the same site with the City hall facility. However, they might hit ground early to stimulate the local marketplace.

5) OFF RAMP CONSTRUCTION: This road project con­necting the highway to the University of Bothell via an off-ramp was completed in partnership with the state of Washington. “It will enable the campus to grow to almost 10,000 students from its current 2500, as well as create jobs,” says mayor Lamb.

6) GREEN BUILDING: Environmental assessments to build green, energy-efficiency homes are under­way. “We’ve done it less from the stick-approach but rather the carrot approach by offering incen­tives in this economy for businesses,” tells Lamb.

7) TREATMENT OF WETLANDS: “We’re trying to take a more environmentally-cohesive approach in how we pre­serve large wetlands,” explains Lamb. Instead of preserv­ing a quarter-acre here and quarter-acre there, the City of Bothell is integrating it by looking at the ecosystems as a whole. The mayor says council is also looking at how they can leverage dollars by following environmental legisla­tion in the smartest way possible to give a good return.

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