Tacoma City Business Preview - Week of July 23, 2012

Budget Report
It’s the moment you’ve all been waiting for: leading the agenda for this Tuesday’s City Council study session is a Finance and Economic Status Report, which includes the second quarter of 2012. Budget input sessions are just wrapping up this month, and we won’t see a draft of the 2013-2014 budget until October, but we’re hoping for a little more discussion of 2012 solutions, now that the City’s heard back on the SAFER and COPS grants.

Final Community Budget Input Meeting
The last of the series of City-hosted Community Budget Input Meetings is tonight

• July 23, 6:00 p.m., Baker Middle School

If you’ve missed the meetings you can still provide input to the City via the online budget input forms.

Medical Cannabis
After changing direction last week on the City’s approach to the medical cannabis issue, this week’s agenda includes an ordinance on the topic, but after all that debate, it’s rather brief.

Ordinance No. 28083 Amending Chapter 8.30 of the Municipal Code, relating to public nuisances, to add a new section identifying activities related to marijuana that are nuisances.

The moratorium expires on August 1, so that puts a bit of a time limit on any debate relating to this item.

Puyallup Tribal Justice Center
On the consent agenda for the week is the final reading of an ordinance vacating a portion of the alley right-of-way between East 30th and East 31st Streets for the future development of Tribal governmental facilities for the the Puyallup Tribe of Indians. The request has been in the works for a while now.

On the regular agenda is a resolution declaring surplus, and authorizing the conveyance of 2,642 square feet of City-owned property to the Puyallup Tribe. Together with the above ordinance, this resolution would enable the Tribe to develop its Tribal Justice Center project adjacent to the Tribal Administration Building.

Sobering Center
A resolution on this week’s agenda would allocate $32,500 to the Making a Difference in Community (MDC, formerly Metropolitan Development Council) Sobering Center to provide emergency outreach and support services to homeless and chronic inebriates in Tacoma. The Center provides services, including medical screening, monitoring, and connection to other services aimed at increasing sobriety and breaking the cycle of homelessness for individuals struggling with addiction and untreated mental health conditions. The funding comes from the 2011-2012 Human Rights and Human Services Council Contingency funding in the General Fund.

City Personnel Rules
Following on last week’s City Council meeting communication item, an ordinance up for a first reading this week would update City of Tacoma personnel rules to be consistent with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and the Washington State Law Against Discrimination (WLAD).

• Removing applicants who are “addicted to the excessive use of drugs or intoxicating beverages which has or will affect job performance” from the list of individuals whose applications the Personnel Director may reject, and revising another item in that section to read “Who does not meet the medical or physical requirements of the position for which appointment is sought with or without a reasonable accommodation.”
• Adjusting language limiting scoring advantages given to veterans in hiring and promotion opportunities per changes in state law.
• Repealing the affirmative action hiring section of the Tacoma Municipal Code in its entirety to be in compliance with state law.

Purchase Resolution
This week’s purchase resolution includes several items, all pertaining to waste and storm water.

1. $322,821.00, plus sales tax, budgeted from the Surface Water Utility Fund, for one Vactor five-yard catch basin cleaner to be installed on Freightliner cab and chassis. The vehicle would be used to clean storm system structures, storm and sewer mains, and respond to customer requests, system failures, and other maintenance tasks that require use of high pressure water and vacuum. The possibilities seem endless.
2. $794,260.00 budgeted from the Wastewater Fund, for consultant engineering services associated with the design and construction of the Dewatering Facility Upgrade project at the Central Treatment Plant. The specialized engineering would be necessary to install the new “dewatering” equipment purchased under last week’s purchase resolution.
3. $1,815,353.65, budgeted from the Wastewater Fund, for the replacement of approximately 6,500 linear feet of existing wastewater pipe in yet another round of replacement/rehabilitation of Tacoma’s aging and failing wastewater pipes.
4. $185,000.00, plus sales tax, budgeted from the Wastewater Fund, for a cumulative contract total of $619,720.00, to increase and extend the contract for liquid polyaluminum chloride for the treatment of wastewater through March 31, 2013. Polyaluminum chloride acts as an “anti-coagulant” for treatment of wastewater, primarily during the wet season, helping to increase treatment capacity.