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Key takeaways:
- Staff and a branding company review proposed updates to the City’s branding.
- Public works director and city staff update Council on several street and construction projects.
- The City’s finance director and senior accountant report on the first-quarter budget.
A front yard where neighbors can mingle? Storytelling murals that reflect the history and people of Mountlake Terrace? A rubber ducky mascot? These are some of the rebranding ideas that the Mountlake Terrace City Council reviewed with city staff and the Chicago-based consulting firm All Together during a Thursday night meeting at City Hall.
All Together first met with Council in September 2025 when a consultant explained that the goal is to enhance Mountlake Terrace’s image, attract investors and boost economic development.
In February 2026, the City and All Together held an open house where residents were able to examine different branding designs and messages and speak with staff. The next day, All Together Principal Rachael Aziz and Visual Designer Robyn Marquand presented options to the Council based on community and city staff feedback.
During Thursday’s meeting, Aziz said Mountlake Terrace’s core story is “a place where everyday people build extraordinary things, where you’re connected to everywhere, but rooted right here.” Citywide messaging has two key taglines: “Connected to everywhere. Rooted right here.” The economic development message is “Become part of our story.”
Aziz also shared a logo, which she said is a refinement of what was proposed in February. The design team removed the 2000s-era gradient, “balanced the shapes of it so that they held more equal weight” and “rounded some of the edges” so the base of the mountain fits into the waves and feels “a bit more timeless” and more human. In addition, Aziz proposed secondary brand marks that wouldn’t replace the City seal on formal items but would give the City more options to use in flyers and postcards to build community pride through the brand.
For the City’s subareas, she shared six simple brand marks that live within the broader City brand. Each has its own tagline and visual icon but uses the same typeface and color system. For example, Town Center was positioned as “the heart of the City with transformation underway,” where “people, parks, and play are at the center of everything.”
Meanwhile, Melody Hill was framed as “MLT’s employment engine with evolving identity,” an “innovation district” and “workshop for ideas.” Aziz said these district marks are meant for street banners, development recruitment and maps but aren’t designed to replace the main city identity.
She tied the district branding with physical design, such as wayfinding signs, murals, Indigenous totems and crosswalk art that use the same colors and forms to inform people that they have arrived at a destination.
Aziz gave more specific examples of branding ideas the City could implement:
- The “light rail welcome”: A landmark, such as a pillar, that has a poem or residents’ stories near the entrance to the Mountlake Terrace light rail station, similar to multi-lingual light rail columns in the Canadian cities of Toronto and Vancouver.
- “A thousand blooms”: Plant some native plants along Veterans Memorial Parkway path leading into Town Center, similar to the cherry blossoms at the University of Washington.
- Murals that tell a story about the City’s residents and history, similar to the mural project in Long Beach, California, that has been around for more than 10 years.
- The rubber ducky: Based on the Recreation Pavilion’s tradition of giving out rubber duckies, Aziz pitched the duck as “the perfect symbol for Mountlake Terrace,” noting it sits at the intersection of “land, water and sky,” echoes the city logo, and feels “unpretentious and cheerful.” Rather than a formal mascot, she framed the duck as a playful “Easter egg” that could show up on stickers or swag, or “just the occasional duck in the planter.” She added event ideas like having a giant duck at National Night Out, a duck race in Lyon Creek and “Hunger Duck Games” at city events.
- A “yard that says hello” concept to make neighborhood front yards more welcoming and social. Drawing on a Minneapolis model called “Friendly Front,” Aziz described giving residents a simple “kit” so they can add things like movable seating, a little free library and yard games to encourage casual interaction among neighbors.
She said the City could provide a playbook and supplies, and then people can do what they want. This concept fits Mountlake Terrace’s identity as a place where “you know your neighbors,” she added.
Mayor Pro Tem Bryan Wahl said All Together’s work was “more than I was hoping for.” He tied branding and placemaking to economic development, which is a top community priority based on the City’s last community survey. He said the new framework will help “move the needle” with investors, businesses and visitors.
Wahl also said he liked the storytelling murals.
“There’s a lot of blank walls in this community, and there’s an opportunity to fill those blank walls with murals,” he said, noting the murals and street art in Aswan, Egypt.
Councilmember Erin Murray said she prefers a signage design that is more durable as long as it’s not 10 times more expensive and has a 20-year waitlist compared to a cheaper version. She suggested a gateway sign at Interstate 5 and 220th Street Southwest.
“I think it’s important for people to know that they’re driving through Mountlake Terrace, and they don’t just think they got off the freeway and they’re in Edmonds,” Murray said.
Councilmember Kyoko Matsumoto Wright said she has wanted a totem pole in the City for a long time. “We are on Salish land. We should be honoring our Native American heritage here, and we don’t have any Native American art in the City,” she said.
Matsumoto Wright also liked the rubber ducky idea and mentioned an earlier concept of bear paw prints set in sidewalks where sponsors’ names could be attached as a walking trail.
Councilmember Laura Sonmore quoted her mother, who had told her that art “is not free,” and people spend their lives making art. Therefore, she said the City should focus on “something that’s permanent, maybe more of an investment piece, like the signs.”
“I don’t like Mountlake Terrace being portrayed as cartoonish because we spent so many years trying to dig out of that,” Sonmore said, referring to the new badges and rubber ducky idea. She said she preferred the “strong, prominent colors” and suggested leaving the main logo alone out of respect for the original designer.
Sonmore also mentioned liability concerns about officially promoting front-yard hello kits that invite the public onto private property. “Inviting people into yards is wonderful…but I don’t think the City should promote that,” she said.
Mayor Steve Woodard also cautioned against using language that might accidentally put the City back in the “cartoonish” box. He said he liked having the Western bleeding heart as the city flower, adding that it’s one of his wife’s favorite flowers.
City staff said there is no action requested from the Council at the time, and All Together will touch base again next month.
Details of the branding proposal are on the City’s website.
First-quarter budget report
City Finance Director Sirke Salminen and Senior Accountant Artus Nemati reviewed the City’s first-quarter budget and said that the City’s revenue and expenditures are close to its adopted budget. Most departments are operating near the 25% mark for expenditures but a few departments have expenditures that are in the 33% to 37% range, they said.
When Murray asked why some salary lines were so high this early in the year, Nemati said the increase was due to a mix of reorganization of capital projects and operating costs and lack of capital billing.
“If an engineer doesn’t have [a] capital, like a specific project to tie to, then their time gets charged more to general operating,” Nemati said.
For police operations, he said that the department is short two people, which drove overtime operation costs.
Nemati said that property tax collections were low in quarter 1 with the bulk of the payment expected in the second and fourth quarters. He noted a bump in gambling tax revenue of more than $668,000, which is a late payment from the Mountlake Terrace casino that went bankrupt in 2025.
Capital funds were restructured, with new separate construction funds for water, sewer, stormwater and parks. Salminen said some enterprise and REET (real estate excise tax) revenues were low in the first quarter but expected to improve with spring and summer property sales.
Wahl pointed out there is about $300,000 sitting in the housing needs fund and asked how it would be used. City Manager Jeff Niten said the City is holding it to partner with other South County cities or organizations like the Housing Authority of Snohomish County, since $300,000 alone “is not enough to even build one unit,” which costs at least $500,000.
There was also a council discussion around human services and tourism funds. Niten said the opioid settlement fund is paying for the SCOUT crisis program for 2026, but that contract will expire at year’s end. He said the City is already coordinating with South County Fire’s community paramedic program to maintain embedded social worker support.
The full presentation of the first-quarter fiscal report is on the City’s YouTube channel starting at 1:56:23. The first-quarter fiscal report is also on the City’s website.
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Other business items
Public works
The City awarded a $2 million bid to Eadon Prairie Construction for the six-month Westside Watermain Phase II and Overly project, which replaces aging infrastructure, starting at 220th Street Southwest and 68th Avenue West. The total project cost is about $2.9 million, backed by a low‑interest Public Works Board loan. Public Works Director Gary Schimek said the City’s share is about 18-20%, which is a “a really good ratio,” he said, adding that the staff will build in a 10% contingency for unforeseen issues.
Pedestrian Plaza
Recreation and Parks Director Jeff Betz and Parks Project Manager Donnelle Dayao presented an update on the planned Pedestrian Plaza at 236th Street Southwest and Van Ry Boulevard. Described as a “gateway” to Town Center from the MLT light rail station, this area will have terraced walls, landscaping, concrete “twig” benches and a commissioned art sculpture.
The total construction cost is $2,575,000, with $2,366,000 coming from Sound Transit and federal demonstration grants. Construction is expected to start in August 2026.
Main Street project
Traffic Engineer John Marek brought forward a contract with engineering consultant Perteet for supplemental services for the Main Street Phase II and III project. The supplement adds about $1.2 million for construction management services, such as inspection, record‑keeping, utility coordination and design support during construction. It brings the total consultant contract to about $4.5 million.
The Washington State Department of Transportation is reviewing plans and the City expects to go to bid for the project in early August, Marek said.
Telecommunications
Schimek also presented a proposed new 10‑year franchise agreement with McLeod Communications, which serves primarily commercial customers in the Van Ry area. It would allow McLeod to maintain and build their operations in the City’s right‑of‑way, subject to normal permitting.
Schimek noted the City cannot simply deny a qualifying telecom franchise outright but emphasized that “if there’s something in the agreement that is not good for you, we can definitely go back and have that conversation.” He added that the draft has already been vetted by the City’s legal counsel.
Council will vote on these items as part of its June 4 consent agenda.
For the Polco community survey, read here.
A good location for a mural/street art would be on the back (west) wall of the commercial building (Blue Flame Heating) along the Interurban Trail at 220th Street. There could be a three day weekend (Labor Day) “artists in action” event. Could include food trucks, art vendors, etc. (like Edmonds Art Festival) People could watch bare walls become works of art.
Two enthusiastic thumbs up for the Rubber Ducky! (And it actually fits with our established MLT logo: How perfect is that)? And lest there be concern about ruining our city’s image, a newly open classy eatery like Baguus certainly wasn’t hesitant to present customers with a genuine Baguus ducky at checkout. (Their cuisine is outstanding, by the way.)
And if MLT is worried about its reputation, then it should do something about the old Roger’s lot (yeah, you know the one). How many years has it been vacant anyway? Judging from the signs, apparently some corporation nabbed the property but has just let it sit there — empty. Are they too broke to build there?
So: Why can’t MLT gather up some serious courage to set deadlines for these guys? You don’t see surrounding communities being taken advantage of like this.