UW north campus plans delayed again

EVERETT — Lawmakers from Snohomish County have been unable to agree on a location for a new state college north of Seattle, effectively delaying the timeline for opening a new branch of the University of Washington.

Plans for the new campus have been delayed repeatedly, mostly because of a lack of consensus on the location. Lawmakers in the region can't agree on whether to build next to the Everett transit center or on undeveloped land near Marysville.

Nearly $2 million in tax dollars have been spent to explore the idea of a new college in Snohomish County, studying student demand, evaluating potential sites, and designing college programs and campus layouts.

The state Higher Education Coordinating Board was supposed to announce the site this week, but the decision was delayed again because of the lack of consensus, The Herald newspaper of Everett reported.

The Legislature did not approve startup money for the new college when it met earlier this year because lawmakers from the region hadn't agreed on the location. Instead, they gave $100,000 to the HEC Board to try to find consensus.

Eight weeks ago, the board hired Bill Wilkerson, a former state official who helped negotiate agreements on fishing rights and timber harvests, but Wilkerson determined the differences could not be overcome. He recommended lawmakers pursue a general legislative commitment to build a university in Snohomish County.

Lawmakers involved in the planning agreed.

"These things take time. This is a difficult and long process," Rep. Hans Dunshee, D-Snohomish, told The Herald. "Let's just do the franchise and worry about the site later."

Dunshee is leading the group in favor of a college in Everett. Sen. Margaret Haugen, D-Camano, leads the group in favor of Marysville.

The chair of the Senate budget writing committee, Margarita Prentice, D-Renton, doesn't think the upcoming legislative session will be a good time to pledge to build a new college, because of the expected budget deficit.

"The worst thing we can do is to have this promise and imply we're going to do something if we can't," she said. "We should have done it in the years when we had the money."

But Haugen is optimistic and said she and Dunshee are nearly on the same page.

"We'll get it through," she said.