Councilman Nehring's August Newsletter

Dear North County Neighbors,

I hope you all had a wonderful Independence Day celebrating our freedom with family and friends. In my August newsletter, I will highlight the PUD’s Microgrid Project in Arlington, AWB Housing Forum, Sievers Plaza Dedication, and a tour of some of our farms in North Snohomish County. 

On July 3rd, I toured Snohomish PUD’s Microgrid Project just east of the Arlington Airport. A microgrid is an energy generating and storage facility that is connected to the grid but can be disconnected for special uses. The microgrid can be used in emergency situations to keep essential functions of PUD’s operation running while responding to recovery efforts. It can also be used for renewable energy integration and other technological innovation efforts by PUD. Part of the microgrid includes the community solar field and Clean Energy Technology Center. This project was made possible in part by a $3.5 million grant from the Washington State Department of Commerce. The design work for the project began in 2018 and construction is currently underway. The microgrid project is unique in our area and shows the ongoing innovation and exciting developments at Snohomish PUD. I am grateful opportunity to have toured the project with Mayor Barb Tolbert and PUD Commissioner Sid Logan and appreciate Brenda White with PUD for her work and outreach.  

I always appreciate the opportunity to speak to groups regarding our work on the Snohomish County Council. I had one of these opportunities on July 8th at the Association of Washington Businesses’ Housing Forum in Bellevue. I spoke at the forum about housing affordability issues and the challenges of providing affordable housing for all income ranges. I shared some of the steps that Snohomish County has taken to relieve the pressure on housing including streamlining permitting application and processing, regulatory changes to allow more flexibility in housing, and avoiding tax increases to reduce the burden of home ownership. While I am proud of the work that we have done, there is much more that we need to do to address the housing shortfall that we are facing in Snohomish County and throughout the region. I appreciate the Association of Washington Business for hosting the forum and inviting me to participate.  

If you are interested in learning more about land use and housing issues, I encourage you to read my column that the Marysville Globe published talking about the Vision 2050 plan and its potential impact on housing affordability. You can read it here. 

It is always a pleasure to honor dedicated public servants who have served Snohomish County. On July 9th, we had the opportunity to do just that for Verne and Kirke Sievers. The plaza at the Snohomish County Campus is now officially known as Sievers Plaza. Kirke Sievers is currently our County Treasurer and is closing in on 45 years of service to Snohomish County as Treasurer and County Councilman. His father, Verne, was County Auditor and Treasurer and served for close to 40 years. The dedication ceremony earlier this month was a great way to honor their service and unveil the monument memorializing their time in office. (Photo credit: Everett Herald) 

Agriculture is a significant part of our economy in North Snohomish County. I had the opportunity to tour some of our great local farms with Snohomish County Agriculture Coordinator Linda Neunzig on July 10th. We started the trip visiting Linda’s fifty acre farm in Arlington. At her farm, called Ninety Farms, Linda raises lamb and beef for meat and also raises breeding stock for other sheep farmers. The breeding stock that they sell are sent all over the world to other farms and the meat is sold to individuals as well as many high end restaurants in and around Seattle. Our next stop was to one of Brian Bookey’s facilities near Stanwood where he raises cage-free chickens for egg production. I was very impressed at the cleanliness of the facilities and welfare of the animals at Brian’s farm. The eggs produced there are used for general consumption as well as specialized products for commercial restaurants and operations.

We ended our trip with a stop at Sildahl Farms, a dairy operation south of Stanwood. Originally purchased by the family in 1972, Fred and Tammi Schoenbachler run the dairy milking 120 cows a day. Three generations of the family currently work on the 120  acre farm. While it isn’t easy to continue operating family farms, Sildahl Farms has shown that it is possible with a lot of dedication and love for the work they do. 

I send out newsletters on a monthly basis to keep you informed about what I am working on and how I am representing the residents of North Snohomish County on the County Council. Please feel free to reach out to me at 425-388-3494 or Nate.Nehring@snoco.org.

Sincerely,

Nate Nehring
Councilman, District 1

Snohomish County Council 3000 Rockefeller Ave., M/S 609 Everett, Washington 98201   8th floor, Robert J. Drewel Building  Phone: 425-388-3494 E-Mail: Nate.Nehring@snoco.org   Russell Wiita, Legislative Aide