On Tuesday, Mayor Tolbert had the privilege of sharing her annual State of the City presentation with the Stilly Valley Chamber. A record number of business and community leaders were on hand to hear about the accomplishments of the City in 2017 and look ahead to the work in 2018.

In 2017, the City's  primary focal points have been on public safety, economic vitality, and fiscal sustainability. Our efforts in these areas have not been restricted to our public safety, economic development or finance departments. The accomplishments we have achieved are the direct result of the combined efforts of our entire city staff and our forward thinking City Council.

On the public safety front, our team has been focused on increasing our community outreach, partnering with local businesses and social service organizations, and implementing new legislation to address illicit drug activity. In 2018, we will be focusing on developing and adopting a sustainable financial plan for public safety, police, fire and EMS, implementing the embedded social worker pilot program with the City of Marysville and Snohomish County, and expanding staffing to provide more officers and code enforcement professionals on the street.

Our efforts in economic vitality have resulted in a 10.6% growth in sales tax over 2016 collections, a job growth of 23% since 2011, and the addition of 55 new businesses in 2017. Our Planning Commission and City Council updated our Comprehensive Plan and adopted Horizontal Mixed Use regulations to creatively absorb the increase in population Arlington is expected to experience by 2025. In 2018, we will continue our Arlington Awaits branding and marketing campaign to share what Arlington has to offer to retail businesses. We will also be investing in infrastructure in 2018, including the construction of the highly anticipated Haller Splash Pad and Arlington Valley Road.

Our focus for fiscal sustainability is always stewardship of public funds and transparency in our process. We received a clean audit from the State Auditor's Office for 2016. We also garnered $941,148 in grants in 2017, bringing our total grant receipts to $54.3 million in the last six years.

The 2017 State of the City annual report presentation will be available in next Friday's e-newsletter.

On Monday, City crews excavated the location of the stage project at Legion Park. This project is paid for in part by a City of Arlington tourism grant, which will be used to purchase building materials.

 

Volunteers led by Johnny Green will start on Saturday, March 17 forming and pouring the concrete. The stage itself will be built by volunteers. Many community members have donated or promised money toward the project, which is expected to be completed in time for the summer. The stage will give us a permanent location to host music and other events at Legion Park.

 

If you have questions regarding this project, please contact Community Revitalization Project Manager, Sarah Lopez.

T he City of Arlington will be hiring for a number of positions in the coming weeks.

The City's Maintenance and Operations team has two full time job openings and up to 10 seasonal openings to keep our City parks, facilities, and streets looking their best . These positions require applicants to be at least 18 years old. The positions are open until filled.

Visit our  website for more information about our open jobs.

Effective April 2, 2018, the passport execution fee will increase from $25 to $35.  The $10 execution fee increase only applies to first-time U.S. passport applicants over 16, passport applications for children under 16, and applicants who re-apply after reporting their previous passport lost or stolen.

Customers applying for new passports pay two separate fees: an application fee to the U.S. Department of State and the execution fee to the passport acceptance facility. Passport acceptance facilities like the one at the City of Arlington are designated to accept passport applications on behalf of the U.S. Department of State. 

The Department of State generally sets fees at an amount calculated to achieve recovery of the costs to the agency providing the service. The latest analysis conducted by the Department of State showed that the costs associated with passport execution were higher than the current fee.

The City of Arlington is open to process passport applications during the following hours: Monday and Tuesday from 10 a.m. - 4 p.m. and Thursday-Friday 12:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m. The last application will be accepted at 3:45 p.m. to meet US Post Office schedules for mailing. We are closed to passport applications on Wednesdays.

For more information on passport applications and processing, please visit the P assports page on our website.

Arlington's annual Easter Egg Hunt brings d ifferent areas for different age groups. The hunt starts at 11:00 a.m. so make sure you arrive early!

Prizes include gift cards and art supplies from Arlington Arts Council. Arlington United Church provides hot chocolate and cookies. Bring your camera for photos with the Easter Bunny. Arlington Fire and Police Department are onsite for visits. Sponsored by the City of Arlington and the Cascade Valley Health Foundation.