Next week, the Lynnwood City Council is set to decide if it wants to reevaluate how curbside waste management is handled in the city.

At Monday’s city council work session, councilmembers were briefed on Lynnwood’s current waste hauling contract with the state, and what it would look like if the city were to take the matter into its own hands.

Also on Monday, the council received an update on what’s happening at the federal level, and how the new administration could influence city projects and operations. This includes potentially adjusting the way Lynnwood presents its projects to the federal government when seeking funding, using language closer aligned to the priorities of President Donald Trump.

2025 federal priorities

Mark Dedrick of Summit Strategies – who has been Lynnwood’s Washington, D.C. lobbyist since 2018 – briefed the council Monday on government activities at the federal level. Summit Strategies is a government consulting firm hired by the city to represent and lobby on federal issues.

Despite changes in the federal government, Dedrick said key state lawmakers held their positions. U.S. Sen. Patty Murray is still the top Democrat on the Senate Appropriations Committee, Sen. Maria Cantwell is still the top Democrat on the Senate Commerce Committee and Rep. Rick Larsen remains the ranking member on the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure.

Dedrick said there was a lot of “outcry and hubbub last week” when Trump announced a freeze on federal spending. Although a federal judge blocked the freeze, staff at Summit Strategies are working to make sure that federal funding for Lynnwood isn’t “held up,” he said.

In particular, Dedrick mentioned the $25 million federal grant the city secured in 2022 for construction of the Poplar Bridge project.

“There is a fully signed grant agreement with USDOT [U.S. Department of Transportation] for that grant, which should mean that it’s obligated by USDOT, which should make it mean it’s kind of outside the bounds of any of the freeze that comes on federal money,” Dedrick said. “That’s the type of thing we’re trying to stay on top of.”

Dedrick said he was confident Lynnwood could continue to secure federal funding under the new presidential administration. However, he said the city may need to reframe the language of its priorities to do so.

“We’ll need to stay on top of what this administration is looking for… maybe changing the way that we frame some of the city’s priorities and use the right words and terminologies this administration is looking for rather than what the previous administration is looking for,” Dedrick told the council.

Dedrick said the city may need to “play defense” when there are efforts to cut spending programs vital to the city and to make sure Lynnwood “has the ammunition that they need in order to protect those programs and make sure that money continues to come towards the City of Lynnwood.”

Dedrick said that city and Summit Strategies staff may need to work harder to convince lawmakers that Lynnwood is seeking funding for the “right projects.”

For example the city may have to reword the language in some of its projects seeking federal funding. “…Using terms like LGBTQ or using DEI” in the names of projects could “bring attention” to a project, Dedrick said.

“When talking about equity, we’ve been talking about connecting disadvantaged communities, but we’re not including, we’re never including some of those words or phrases or acronyms that often bring attention onto projects,” he said. “With regard to grants, again, it’s meeting them where they are. And that’s a lot of my job is trying to help make sure that I work with all of you to figure out what the city’s priorities are and then go meet the federal government and administration and your congressional delegation on what their priorities are.”

Another example Dedrick gave was instead of using language prioritizing public transportation and improving bicycle and pedestrian access, the city could instead focus the language on “eliminating congestion and traffic and talking about…taking traffic off I-5 and improving movement of freight,” he said.

“And we’re still talking about the same project as we do this,” Dedrick said. “We’re just kind of framing and highlighting different elements of the project and kind of what we’re accomplishing.”

Garbage hauling contracts

Lynnwood doesn’t manage its curbside garbage hauling services, and hasn’t since the city was annexed into the Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission (WUTC) in 1959, city documents say.

After a rough winter season in 2022, snow and icy roads made curbside trash pickup unavailable for several days. Responding to residents’ concerns and complaints, the city council at the time began looking into its decades-old trash hauling contract with the state and whether it was still a good fit for the city. Now, the council is taking another look at the situation.

The city in 2023 surveyed residents about their waste management services. Around 500 people responded, accounting for about 5% of waste management customers in the city.

The survey results were on the positive side. Most residents reported feeling satisfied or very satisfied with how their trash was handled. These results recently prompted city staff to revisit the council’s 2022 decision to look into changing Lynnwood’s solid waste management and present the matter to the council once again.

Waste management in Lynnwood is run on a tariff system managed by the WUTC. Trash service in the city is split into two zones: Republic Services serves residents living west of Highway 99 and Waste Management serves residents east of the highway, Lynnwood Interim Public Works Director Marcie MacQuarrie told the council Monday.

The option to change how the city handles its trash has always been there, MacQuarrie said. If the council wishes to do so, it could direct the city to start the process of taking over its own waste management. This move could potentially allow for lower rates for residents, and the city could offer discounts to low-income residents, people with disabilities and seniors, MacQuarrie said. This would allow the city to operate under just one waste management contract instead of two.

A city-run waste management program could give Lynnwood more flexibility to address residents’ concerns, removing the state as the middle man. The city could also expand service and bring in new programs and events, focusing on waste reduction and proper recycling and trash sorting practices.

This option would “require a lot more work” on city staff’s part, MacQuarrie said. The city would have to hire waste management staff, and that would be covered by resident’s trash rates. The process would be lengthy, as it would take around seven to 10 years for the city to come up with a new contract and procure the staff and equipment it needs.

Remaining in the current contract, however, would require less time and resources from the city, with no need to hire additional personnel and avoid the need to form new waste management processes.

On the downside, MacQuarrie said, keeping the WUTC contract limits the city’s ability to address residents’ issues and complaints, as customer service goes through the WUTC.

The council is not obligated to hold an official vote to halt the process of changing its waste management contract – but if the council did so it would have to take an official vote before starting that process again.

Regardless, Councilmember George Hurst motioned to place the issue on next week’s agenda. That means the council is scheduled to vote on whether it wants to continue looking into ending its WUTC contract.

Councilmember eligibility

In other business, Councilmember Patrick Decker motioned that the council not go forward with its executive sessions on Monday’s agenda, or make any decisions as a council while the eligibility of a councilmember is in question.

This follows an investigation from the Lynnwood Times alleging that Council Vice President Josh Binda doesn’t live in Lynnwood. A Lynnwood Today investigation into the matter is set to be published soon.

Decker’s motion failed, as none of the councilmembers seconded.

“Given that I have concerns that not everybody participating in the meetings this evening is warranted to be involved in executive session or even council business, that is why I’m simply stating that I have raised that concern publicly and to the council,” Decker said. “But if the council president chooses to say we’re still going to meet, then it’s on public record that it was his decision that required councilmembers to participate in that activity.”

In response, Council President Nick Coelho said: “At this moment, I am satisfied with the residency of my colleague, and so I would like to continue as usual.”

Mayor Christine Frizell, Council President Coelho and Councilmember Binda met for an emergency meeting Jan. 27 after the allegations were published. At that meeting, Councilmember Binda provided his current address to the others in attendance. That address matched Binda’s address on Snohomish County voter registration records, city spokesperson Nathan MacDonald told Lynnwood Today.

That doesn’t mean it was the end of the discussion, MacDonald said. The city is currently in the process of reviewing its role in such an unprecedented situation, but there is ultimately nothing the city can do without council permission. At this time, the matter is not scheduled for a future council agendas, but that could change as agendas are published.

A recording of Monday’s meeting can be found on the city’s website.

— By Ashley Nash. ashley@myedmondsnews.com