According to Bothell Mayor Mark Lamb, City Council seems ready to move forward with annexing the so-called NEWBA (North East West Bothell Annexation) area, potentially adding about 22,000 new residents to the northern end of the city.

But with Bothell seemingly caught in the middle of a trash-hauling turf war involving Snohomish and King counties, the future of the annexation may rest with the Snohomish County Council and the Snohomish County Boundary Review Board (BRB).

As most know, Bothell straddles the Snohomish-King county border, actually sitting in both counties. The NEWBA is contained entirely in Snohomish County.

In what some say may be a key meeting regarding the potential annexation, the Snohomish BRB meets May 28 and, according to at least one source, the Bothell issue is the first thing on the group’s agenda.

The BRB must approve Bothell’s annexation of the NEWBA, though the ultimate decision rests with voters in the area targeted for annexation. Lamb said he’d like to schedule a public vote on the issue for this year.

In the meantime, Lamb and others said the city administration continues to work with the Snohomish County Council on hammering out an interlocal agreement that would clear the way for the annexation, dealing with such issues as who would be responsible for police protection, street maintenance and numerous other issues, including — most notably at this point in time — trash collection.

Because of the growing animosity between King and Snohomish leaders, following a meeting May 18, Lamb said that at the direction of City Council, the Bothell administration will approach the Snohomish County Council asking them to hold the city harmless in any legal dispute resulting from the solid-waste issue. Lamb added he had reason “to be hopeful” that Snohomish County officials will go along with that plan.

“We don’t feel we even have a dispute,” contended Logan Harris, public-affairs officer for King County Solid Waste.

Harris pointed to a 1988 agreement signed by the city stating that any trash collected within Bothell borders must be handled by King County. He added the contract extends until 2028 and he sees no reason that the NEWBA would be an exception if it is annexed into Bothell.

Harris also stated that when Bothell annexed the Canyon Park area in Snohomish County in 1992, King County began picking up the trash from that spot.

At present, trash in the NEWBA is handled by Snohomish County. Officials there did not return phone calls. But Harris said Snohomish leaders want to continue trash collection in the NEWBA into the future, arguing those collections generate $1.9 million in revenues. Harris contends Snohomish has inflated the figures by at least “a few hundred thousand.”

For their part, Lamb and other city officials are siding with their northern neighbors, taking the opposite tact of Harris and arguing the 1982 agreement just doesn’t apply to the NEWBA.

An attorney himself, Lamb said that at over 22 years old, the ‘82 contract predates even the thought of Bothell ever annexing into Snohomish County. Regarding the Canyon Park annexation, Lamb said King County took the same hard-line stance they are now. On that occasion, he added Snohomish officials eventually capitulated for whatever reason.

“King County kind of forced their will on Snohomish, and Snohomish has said that’s not going to happen again,” Lamb said.

“In the current situation, the city is considering the annexation of territory where the waste stream is already going to Snohomish County facilities and is being relied on by Snohomish County both with regard to revenue and planning,” Bothell City Manager Bob Stowe wrote in a letter dated late last month and sent to then-King County Executive Ron Sims.

“This is an unanticipated change of conditions and completely outside the terms of any current agreement,” Stowe further contended. He added that it is not reasonable to expect unanticipated waste streams to head to King County through Bothell “especially to the detriment of Snohomish County.”

Among the general public, NEWBA resident Gene Grieve easily has been the annexation’s strongest proponent.

“King County is in a revenue grab … They are struggling to annex Snohomish County,” Grieve said. “We just want King County to stay out of our business.”

Grieve urged anyone interested to show up at the May 28 Snohomish BRB meeting, slated for 6 p.m. in the Robert Drewel Building, 3000 Rockefeller Ave., Everett.