Tacoma City Business Preview - Week of December 18, 2012

The final City Council meeting agenda for 2012 is a lengthy one with some real meat on its bones. There’s some interesting stuff here this week.

A New Distillery and Other Plans for the Foss
A resolution on this week’s agenda would authorize the submittal of a grant application to the Washington State Community Economic Revitalization Board, in the amount of $150,000 (the maximum the City can receive), to fund infrastructure improvements at 301 East 11th Street. The improvements would increase Tacoma’s competitive position in attracting a new distillery to the site. Riverhorse LLC is considering locations in three states (Oregon, Washington, and Virginia) for a new Copper and Kings Distillery, which would have national distribution. If the Tacoma site is selected, and the City is awarded the grant, Riverhorse would bear the balance of the project and infrastructure costs, with no City contribution. Read more here.

The main item on this week’s City Council study session agenda is the Foss Waterway Master Redevelopment Strategy. Council will hear a presentation on the Foss Waterway Development Authority’s plans for future development. Under its Third Operating Agreement with the City of Tacoma, the FWDA is required to update its Master Redevelopment Strategy (MRS) and the final document must be approved by the Council.

Jails and Home Monitoring
A pair of resolutions on this week’s consent agenda authorize agreements with the City of Fife to provide jail services for a 10-year term, and to utilize Fife’s Electronic Home Monitoring Program for a 2-year term, both with the intent of reducing jail costs for Tacoma.

The Tacoma Police Department has been evaluating options to reduce the City’s jail costs. The City has maintained an exclusive jail services agreement with Pierce County, which currently maintains the County jail in Tacoma. That agreement will expire on December 31, 2012. The City of Fife operates a 52 bed jail in the city of Fife, and has additional capacity through contracts with other jails. According to TPD’s review, using Fife for jail services while retaining the option of using the County on a non-exclusive basis would result in savings of approximately 30%.

The Tacoma Municipal Court currently uses Electronic Home Monitoring from private vendors as an alternative to incarceration for misdemeanor offenders who are willing and able to pay for the services. The City of Fife has an EHM program, in which it is willing to include Tacoma offenders. Expanding the EHM Program by authorizing the Municipal Court Judges to place defendants on the program at the City’s expense is expected to increase the number of defendants on the EHM Program in lieu of incarceration, and therefore reduce jail costs for the City.

Under the Fife system, offenders are monitored 24 hours a day, seven days a week, by professional civil service correction officers, and in the event of a violation, offenders are contacted and notified of the violation by a Fife corrections officer Through the EHM device communications link, usually within 10 minutes of the violation. The monitoring devices are also equipped with an audible alarm that “may be used to encourage offenders to maintain compliance with court ordered limitations.”

Fees for Services
Changes up for approval this week would update Tacoma’s General Government Fee Schedule for special and miscellaneous services to include charges to the public for various departmental services. These rates haven’t been changed since January 2010. If this passes, the next time you go to get a film production or special event permit, or request certain services and/or documents from the City, be prepared for a change.

Mountain Rail
An agreement on the agenda this week would authorize the execution of a 30-year Operating and Option to Purchase Agreement between Tacoma Rail Mountain Division (TRMW) and Mount Rainier Scenic Railroad (MRSR) for an approximately 30-mile segment of rail line between the towns of Eatonville and Morton. TRMW is seeking to eliminate any further costs and expenses related to an approximately 30 mile section of track running between the towns of Eatonville and Morton, Washington. MRSR has been operating tourist excursion services in this area since 1981, and has requested the exclusive use of TRMW property to expand their operations. This agreement would reassign rail operation and maintenance responsibilities to MRSR, and includes an option for MRSR to purchase the property.

Human Services Funding
We heard a lot of public comment on this at last week’s public hearing on human services funding from groups affected by the allocations. A resolution approving the final draft of the Human Services Commission’s recommended allocations of $5,873,000 budgeted from the General Fund and the Mental Health Fund for local human services programs, along with $200,000 for gang prevention/intervention is up for a vote this week. One program we heard a lot about at the public hearing was the DASH Center for the Arts, which doesn’t appear on the list of programs proposed for funding as it stands at this point.

DASH won’t be completely without City funding, though. Another resolution on this week’s agenda would set aside Council Contingency Fund dollars for the DASH Center, Metro Parks’ SPARX program, and the Korean Women’s Association. Each of these three programs applied, but was not recommended for funding by the Human Services Commission. The DASH Inspiring Artists Program and KWA’s case management services would each be awarded $25,000 for the 2013-2014 biennium, and the SPARX middle-school youth development program would get $100,000 for the next six months of operations, while Metro Parks seeks additional funding sources.

More Funding
A couple more resolutions on the slate this week deal with funding. The first would approve the 2013-2014 Community Mobilization and Economic Development Services Funding recommendations, authorizing the allocation of $325,200 from the General Fund for economic development and community mobilization services. Funding will go to Go Local, the Proctor Farmers Market, the Tacoma Farmers Markets, and the South Sound Women’s Business Center, Safe Streets, and the Hilltop Action Coalition.

A second resolution would approve the Tacoma Community Redevelopment Authority’s 2013-2014 budget of $269,409 for 2013 and $275,716 for 2014. The budget includes two accounting staff, liability insurance, potential legal fees, training, advertising, computer costs and miscellaneous fees and charges. The TCRA Budget is fully funded by federal grants and program income. There is no General Fund money in the TCRA Budget.

Citizens United
A month after we heard testimony at November’s Citizens’ Forum requesting that the Council take a stand on the Citizens United issue, a resolution brought by council members Fey, Mello, Walker, and Woodards would do just that. The resolution voices support for an amendment to the United States Constitution to regulate corporate political spending and campaign financing. The resolution would call on the Washington State legislature and the US Congress to initiate steps to amend the Constitution to state that:

Corporations are not human beings, and only human beings are endowed with Constitutional rights. Contributions and expenditures for political purposes are not constitutionally-protected speech, and that, therefore, regulating political contributions and spending is not equivalent to limiting political speech. Congress and the states shall have the power to regulate contributions and expenditures for campaigns and ballot measures, and to require public disclosure of the sources of such contributions and expenditures.

We’ve heard strong opinions on both sides of the question of whether this is an appropriate issue for the Council to take a stand on. It will be interesting to see how this one plays out.

6-Year Transportation Plan
Adoption of Tacoma’s Six-Year Comprehensive Transportation Improvement Program for amended year 2012 and 2013-2018 is up for a final vote this week. The public hearing for this ordinance was held at the November 27 Council meeting, and the first reading was at last week’s meeting.

First & Final
Eight ordinances are scheduled for a first and final reading at this week’s meeting. Six of these, relating to Point Ruston LIDs, were held over from last week’s City Council meeting. The other two vacate portions of public property for private construction – a portion of South Alder Street near South 8th for the construction of a single-family home, and a portion of the alley right-of-way between South Lawrence and South Alder Streets south of South 45th, to create a private drive.

Purchase Resolution
This week’s purchase resolution awards contracts to:

1. Print NW, in the amount of $7,864,488 plus sales tax, budgeted from various departmental funds, for on-call printing and binding services for an initial three-year term with the option to renew for two additional one-year terms, for a projected contract total of $13,107,480;
2. Pease & Sons, Inc., for a cumulative total of $1,348,896 plus sales tax, budgeted
   from the Surface Water Fund, for construction of the Flett Creek Pump Station Upgrade Project;
3. IPL Inc., in the amount of $3,227,862 plus sales tax, budgeted from the Solid Waste Fund, to increase and extend the contract for 30-, 60-, and 90-gallon plastic containers, for a cumulative total of $5,709,278; and Toter Inc., in the amount of $945,221 plus sales tax, budgeted from the Solid Waste Fund, to increase and extend the contract for 45-gallon plastic containers, for a cumulative total of $1,094,153; and
4. Tacoma Regional Convention & Visitors Bureau, in the amount of $325,000 budgeted from the Convention Center Operation Fund, for marketing and promotion services to support destination and tourism development for the City for an initial one-year term, with the option to renew for one additional one-year term for a projected contract total
   of $650,000.

Item 1: Due to the pending closure of Graphic Services, this contract will provide all
City departments with an on-call, as-needed contract for printing and binding services. The contract includes labor and materials to complete various print and binding needs.

Item 2: This contract provides for the construction of a new electrical building installation of four new pumps, and structural upgrades needed to restore capacity and raise the delivery point of the new pumps to prevent water from draining back. New
electrical and mechanical equipment will increase pump station reliability.

Item 3: These containers will be used to collect garbage, recycling, and yard waste
from the City’s residential and commercial customers, and will replace broken containers. SWM is requesting additional funds above the typical needs for operations in preparation for the implementation of every other week (EOW) garbage pickup. The 45 gallon container size is a new container size for all areas of the City outside of the EOW pilot areas, and is expected to be one of the more popular container options.

Item 4: This contract is for marketing and promotional service to support destination
and tourism development for the City. The nonprofit TRCVB has been awarded this contract every two years since 2001, and provides these services to other government entities in Pierce County.

Meeting Cancellations
This week’s City Council study session and meeting are the last ones for 2012. The next regularly scheduled City Council meeting will be held on Tuesday, January 8, 2013. Meetings and study sessions on the following dates are also cancelled:

• Tuesday, March 12, 2013
• Tuesday, May 28, 2013
• Tuesday, July 2, 2013
• Tuesday, September 3, 2013
• Thursday, December 26, 2013

Other Items
A couple of development-related resolutions appear on this week’s agenda. The first, on this week’s consent agenda would approve the final plat of “Wapato Ridge,” a 14-lot single-family residential subdivision located at 1731 South 60th Street. The Land Use Administrator has reviewed the Final Plat request and has issued a recommendation approving the plat. No one has appealed the recommendation.

The second, continued from the November 27 meeting, would authorize a Multi-Family Housing 12-Year Limited Property Tax Exemption Agreement for the development of six market-rate multi-family rental housing units at 4549 South Puget Sound Avenue in the Tacoma Mall Mixed-Use Center.

Another resolution this week would declare surplus approximately 6,550 square feet of City-owned property located at 5514 North 48th Street; and authorize the conveyance of that property to abutting property owners, Lewis and Carol Mann, for $60,400. The property in question, acquired by the City in 1989, has remained unused and unimproved. The Manns have maintained the land for several years, and are interested in purchasing it.

And finally, a resolution on the agenda would authorize Tacoma Power to defease $15 million of bond principal due in 2013 and 2014 by depositing approximately $16.3 million of cash reserves to cover principal and interest into an irrevocable escrow account enabling lower and more stable retail rate increases in 2013 and 2014.

So, there you have it – tonight’s meeting should be chock full of action.