Tacoma City Business Preview - Week of April 22, 2013

Transportation Benefit District A special meeting of Tacoma’s Transportation Benefit District Board (which also happens to be the City Council) will be held at noon this Tuesday. The Board will review the proposed TBD spending plan, which will guide how the TBD spends the money raised by Tacoma’s new car tab fees. The spending plan is scheduled for consideration at an April 30 special meeting.

City-Owned Property A discussion of City-owned properties identified as “Tier 1” leads the agenda for this week’s City Council study session. The “Tier 1” designation comes from a set of guidelines for the sale or disposition of City-owned properties adopted last year. Tier 1 properties are generally properties that are strategically located in downtown or a mixed-use center, are high value (greater than $500,000) and sizable (greater than one-third of an acre), have the potential to generate a high level of community interest due to impact, and can be instrumental in meeting the City’s economic development goals and/or in implementing key policies.

Staff have identified 13 Tier 1 properties, which they will review by site characteristics, opportunities, and constraints, as well as in the context of the City’s vision for future development of the area in which the property is located. The list includes both properties that staff feel are ready for disposition in the near-term, as well as properties that have longer-term potential. During this week’s presentation, staff will review three properties identified as having the most potential in the near-term for sale and development: properties at 1110-1124 Martin Luther King Jr. Way, the municipal parking lot at 7th and Market and the 6.2 acre site at 21st and Jefferson.

Link Alternatives The discussion of alternatives for Tacoma Link expansion will continue at this week’s study session, leading up to the April 30 Council meeting, where we expect to see a resolution in support of one of the alternatives.

South Downtown Subarea Plan & EIS A public hearing for the South Downtown Subarea Plan and Environmental Impact Statement is scheduled for this Thursday, April 25 at 5:30 p.m. in the Carwein Auditorium at the University of Washington Tacoma Campus. The South Downtown Subarea Plan, and associated non-project Environmental Impact Statement are designed to lower the threshold for development in the area, which includes the Dome District, the Foss Waterway, the Brewery District, the UWT campus, and the southern half of the hillside between MLK and downtown. Goals for the subarea planning process include pre-approval of up to 30 million square feet of new development, prioritization of transportation investments; identification and prioritization of necessary infrastructure improvements; planning for parks, trails, and other open spaces; and development of potential funding strategies.

Purchase Resolution Three items on this week’s purchase resolution:

1. $617,400, plus sales tax, budgeted from the General Fund and the EMS Special Revenue Fund, for protective jackets and trousers for structural firefighting, for an initial three-year term with the option to renew for two additional one-year terms;
2. $428,689, plus sales tax, for a cumulative total of $880,428, budgeted from the Information Systems Fund, to increase and extend the contract for enterprise storage area maintenance through May 31, 2015;
3. $1,562,808, plus sales tax, for a cumulative total of $8,471,208, budgeted from the Parking Enterprise Fund, to increase and extend the contract for operation and management of municipal parking garages and lots, from May 1, 2013 through May 31, 2014.

Protective gear for our firefighters. Data storage for TPU and General Government. Parking facilities operation.

Other Items A resolution on this week’s agenda would authorize a Multi-Family Housing Eight-Year Limited Property Tax Exemption Agreement for the development of 10 multi-family market-rate rental housing units located on currently undeveloped property at 4031-4033 South Puget Sound Avenue in the Tacoma Mall Mixed-Use Center.

Another resolution and an accompanying ordinance on the agenda would authorize and implement changes relating to a collective bargaining agreement with the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Local 483, Court Clerk’s Unit, which covers 26.8 budgeted, full-time positions effective January 1, 2012 through December 31, 2015.

Also happening this week, on Wednesday, April 24, is the Landmarks Preservation Commission review of Tacoma Art Museum plans for a new 16,000+ square-foot wing.

Council meetings have been pretty perfunctory _efficient lately. Anything here you’d like to discuss?_