Snohomish County Fire District 1 was honored as the winner of the national award for Excellence in Fire Service Based Emergency Medical Service in a presentation on August 1, 2013 at the Martha Lake Fire Station 21 near Mill Creek.

The Congressional Fire Services Institute and the MedicAlert Foundation present this competitive award annually to honor innovative practices which enhance the quality of emergency medical services (EMS).

The Mill Creek City Council voted unanimously to repeal an ordinance banning firearms in Mill Creek City parks at their July 23, 2013 regular meeting.

This action was taken at the advice of Shane Moloney, Mill Creek City Attorney, in order to avoid possible legal action and to better conform to Washington State law.

A previous Mill Creek City Council made it unlawful to carry a firearm in any park as an effort to increase public safety.

Bart Masterson has filed for reelection to the Mill Creek City Council. He was first elected to the City Council in 2009.

According to Masterson’s press release, “During the economic turmoil of the last four years, he has concentrated on the City’s fiscal soundness by advocating for tactical expense trimming and careful spending rather than drastic service cutting measures.  As a result, our financial reserves have remained strong and service levels high.”

From a Holtzclaw campaign news release.

Brian Holtzclaw, a 10-year Mill Creek resident, believes he can help solve our city's challenges through careful fiscal planning and cost control instead of increasing taxes.

Holtzclaw is a native Washingtonian.  He attended Whitman College in Walla Walla and graduated from University of Puget Sound School of Law. He has been a licensed attorney for almost 20 years.

His wife, Amy and their two boys live in the Brighton subdivision. They are active in Boy Scouts, Cub Scouts and Mill Creek Little League.

Polygon Northwest continues to make progress on their East Gateway Urban Village multi-used development.

On July 9, 2013, Kimberly Allen, Mill Creek’s Hearing Examiner, granted a binding site plan for the development because, “With conditions, the proposed Binding Site Plan would be consistent with the City Code, Comprehensive Plan, and other City policies, goals, and objectives.”

Allen’s 75-page decision includes a total of 73 detailed conditions to which Polygon Northwest must conform during the development. These conditions include:

In the last issue of the Mill Creek View, I indicated that subsequent columns would deal with topical and relevant issues.  The subject of the first article is “strategic planning.” 

There has already been a lot written in the Mill Creek View about the City’s Strategic Plan.  Despite that, many people still do not know what strategic planning is, or why it is important for the City to undergo a strategic planning process. 

From July 1-15, 2013 Snohomish County Fire District 7 responded to 221 calls, 65 of which were in Mill Creek.

In order to provide voters with information about Mill Creek City Council candidates, six questions were posed to each candidate in the August 6,2013 primary election. The three candidates for Mill Creek City Council seat number two are Douglas Carlson, Donna Michelson, and Jason Wingert.