SNOHOMISH — City Project Manager Ann Stanton is retiring after 24 years.
During her tenure, Stanton left her mark on Snohomish, improving parks and leading projects to increase local recreational opportunities, City Manager Larry Bauman said.
He credits Stanton with bringing both the Centennial and Riverfront trails to Snohomish. She led the effort to design and build those trails, which have improved walking and biking in the city.
Since then, the city has seen an increase in organized cycling events in the past several years, Bauman said. The extra traffic has also benefited local businesses.
“It really has helped attract people to the community who maybe haven’t spent any time here,” Bauman said. “They have a lot of reasons to come back.”
Stanton presented the parks, recreation and open space plan, which includes four new trails, to the City Council before she left.
There’s a public hearing for that plan scheduled at 7 p.m. on Feb. 17.
Stanton successfully negotiated a $500,000 deal for the city to buy 20 acres of farmland along the Snohomish River from the Ed and Edith Stocker family in December.
“That took a lot of patience and perseverance,” Bauman said. “It would have been challenging to complete that without her.”
Snohomish had been eyeing the property for more than two decades. The space is expected to be used to build a new boat launch, help restore the salmon habitat, preserve open space and expand the regional trail system.
Stanton wore many hats in her role as city project manager. She managed the city’s portion of the Eastside Rail Corridor and worked with Snohomish County on its track purchase. She was instrumental in getting the skate park built in 2002 and oversaw improvements at Claytown Kids and Morgantown parks.
Stanton found the location on Maple Avenue for the Sno-Isle Library when it moved from the Carnegie Library building in 2003. She later helped the city get a $1 million federal grant to upgrade the Carnegie building. She managed the project to complete a seismic retrofit of the building in 2013.
She also helped create bird and wildlife refuge in the city’s former sewage lagoon area along the Snohomish River.
“It’s just amazing what this one employee has done,” said Bill Fulton, a Snohomish accountant who worked on the refuge with Stanton.
Fulton said he met Stanton when she started at the city in 1990. They had a disagreement about the trees at his business, the Inn at Snohomish.
“There we were, two tree-huggers arguing about trees,” he recalled. “She didn’t budge an inch. I had to change my trees.”
For her retirement gift, he gave her a western red cedar.
The city is recruiting applicants to fill Stanton’s position.
“Replacing her is going to be a challenge,” Bauman said. “She’s left an incredible impact on this community.”
Meanwhile, Stanton said, she plans to do all of the things she’s had on her list for years but hasn’t had time for, such as learning to play drums, writing stories and exploring an idea for an invention.
Stanton, 58, hopes her successor will continue her work. She’d like to see Snohomish buy the last two riverfront properties that are in the city limits but are not publicly owned. Stanton hopes the Interurban Trail will be expanded. She also wants the city to build a park north of Blackmans Lake and another for off-leash dogs.
“There are a lot of park opportunities in Snohomish,” she said. “It was an extraordinary honor and privilege to be part of the community.”
Amy Nile: 425-339-3192; anile@heraldnet.com. Twitter: @AmyNileReports
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