Tacoma City Business Preview - Week of March 5, 2013

Tacoma Shops Property

A resolution on this week’s City Council meeting agenda would authorize an agreement between the City and BNSF to construct a public road in South Tacoma.

An image from a May 24, 2011 presentation shows the area.

BNSF owns 157 acres in South Tacoma, which both the train company and the City would like to see sold to a third party developer for future development. The City (through TPU) owns property that abuts the “Tacoma Shops Property,” as defined in the Development Agreement. The agreement would allow BNSF to use a strip of that real property to develop an access road necessary to the development of the Tacoma Shops Property. Terms of the agreement specify that BNSF would construct the proposed access road, along with road improvements, on TPU property, all at BNSF’s expense.

The request for the resolution describes the development of the Tacoma Shops as providing economic and community benefit to the City and its residents. What do you think – is it a fair trade?

BNSF Prairie Line Trail Deal

Another resolution on this week’s City Council meeting agenda would authorize agreements with BNSF relating to land exchanges for the Prairie Line Trail project. The City and BNSF have been in negotiations for some time to arrive at a deal that would give the City the land for the bike and pedestrian corridor that would follow the path of the historic rail line through Tacoma, ending at the water.

The resolution would authorize an agreement in which the City would receive a 20-foot wide strip of property following the Prairie Line Trail right-of-way between South 15th and 26th streets, and an 80-foot wide strip between South 23rd and South 25th streets as a “donation” from BNSF. In exchange for this “donation,” the City would agree to permanently close the street crossing at A Street near East 22nd and Dock Streets, per BNSF’s request.

The agreement also includes the expansion of an existing bridge structure at South 15th Street and construction of a future pedestrian overpass in a mutually agreed location between “A” and “East D” Streets. BNSF and the City would also agree to explore potential future exchanges of BNSF “remnant properties to be used by the City for streetscape and other park-like amenities” in the vicinity of South 17th and Hood Street and Pacific Avenue.

A recent conversation about an overlooked billboard on the Prairie Line Trail property could complicate plans a little, but as far as we can tell, the deal (and associated deals) look like they’ll be going through as planned.

Economic Development Strategy

A resolution this week would approve the latest version of the five-year Economic Development Strategic Framework for Tacoma, along with a two-year Economic Development Action Plan. Together the documents guide both the long-term vision for Tacoma’s economic development, and a more focused short-term set of goals and priorities for implementing the framework.

Emergency Management

A resolution on this week’s agenda would extend the Tacoma Fire Department’s Emergency Management Planning Performance Program (“3P”) through December 31, 2016. In 2009 the City Council approved the establishment of the 3P program as a special project of limited duration, to accelerate and enhance emergency management planning and training in Tacoma. Over the last three years, grant funded 3P temporary project staff assisted Fire Department emergency management and other City staff in developing and updating the City’s emergency management plans, providing support to and assisting with event-related training, and providing Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) instruction to the public. The Fire Department is proposing to extend the 3P project to accomplish more work.

Mental Health & Chemical Dependency Priorities

A resolution on this week’s agenda would make revisions to the current Human Services Strategic Plan relating to priorities and funding policies. Last March Council passed adopted the 0.1 % Mental Health Sales Tax Revenue. As a part of implementing and distributing that tax, the Pierce County Health Department conducted a Community Needs Assessment to identify available resources, as well as gaps in services. Themes included a lack of coordination between services and the continuum of care for individuals, co-occurrence of chemical dependency and mental health issues; a prevalence of crime and incarceration for MHCD populations; and disparities in access to, availability, and quality of services between populations. City staff identified potential funding priorities and a potential funding distribution framework. This week Council will vote on the recommended changes.

Tacoma Water Refunding Bonds

This week we’ll hear the first reading of two ordinances that would provide for the issuance and sale of the Water Supply System Revenue Refunding Bonds, and Water System Revenue Bonds, up to $83,000,000 and $87,000,000, respectively. The sale of those bonds would refund or defease all or a portion of water system bonds issued in 2002 and 2003.

Interest rates have significantly improved since Tacoma Water originally issued the bonds, and Tacoma Water wants to take advantage of today’s much lower interest rates to refund the bonds. The 2002 refunding is expected to produce a net savings of $8.2 million for Tacoma Water ratepayers, and $6.6 million for Tacoma Water’s Regional Water Supply Partners. The 2003 refunding is expected to produce a net savings of $1.6 million for Tacoma Water ratepayers. Refunding the 2003 bonds is expected to also generate funds for needed capital improvement projects, including the second phase of funding for the Green River Filtration Facility and the balance of other projects adopted in the 2013-2014 budget.

Purchase Resolution

This week’s purchase resolution would award contracts for:

 

1. $175,000.00 plus sales tax, budgeted from various departmental funds, for a cumulative total of $776,403.96, to increase the contract for office supplies on an as-needed basis.

 

2. $1,250,000 for repair and maintenance of the Solid Waste transfer trailer fleet, for an initial three-year term with the option to renew for two additional one-year terms.

Item 1 represents an increase in an original contract, approved in 2011. The initial contract value was based on historical purchase data from the previous citywide contract. This contract was used by staff more than anticipated, leading to the need for additional funding until the contract expires July 2013 and a new contract is awarded.

Public Works performs most maintenance and repairs on solid waste transfer trailers. Item 2 would cover outside repair and maintenance services for work requiring a large work space, extensive labor hours, and specialized work.

FYI: ULI Visits MLK

This week, as a part of Tacoma’s participation in the year-long Urban Land Institutes’ Daniel Rose Center Fellowship Program, representatives from the Rose Center, planners, urban design specialists, and city officials from around the country will be visiting Tacoma. From Monday, March 4 to Thursday, March 7, they will work with City staff and stakeholders on ideas for attracting investment along the MLK corridor. The visit will include presentations, site visits, stakeholder interviews, and the development and presentation of recommendations for the corridor from Rose Center representatives.

Mark Your Calendars…

City Council meetings for March 12 are cancelled.

The Planning Commission is scheduled to conduct a public hearing on Wednesday, March 20 to receive public comments on the Proposed Amendments to the Comprehensive Plan and the Land Use Regulatory Code for 2013 (“2013 Annual Amendment”). Staff from Planning Services will conduct an Informational Session on Wednesday, March 13 to provide an opportunity for interested citizens to leam more about the proposed amendments and be prepared for providing comments at the public hearing. The 2013 Annual Amendment includes the following nine applications seeking amendments to seven elements of the Comprehensive Plan and seven chapters of the Tacoma Municipal Code:

 

• Drive-Through Regulations

 

• Countywide Planning Policies

 

• Transpoliation Element

 

• Shoreline Related Elements

 

• Land Use Designations

 

• Adoption and Amendment Procedures

 

• Platting and Subdivision Regulations

 

• Sign Regulations

 

• Regulatory Code Cleanup

Other Items

At Tuesday’s Study Session, Government Relations Officer Randy Lewis will provide Council with a Legislative update.

Two resolutions on this week’s Council meeting agenda would authorize Multi-family Housing Eight-Year Limited Property Tax Exemption Agreements for two developments. The first for five market-rate multi-family rental housing units at East 35th Street in the Portland Avenue Mixed-Use Center, and the second for 16 market-rate multi-family rental housing units at South Yakima Avenue in the downtown Mixed-Use Center. The tax exemption is meant to incentivize in-fill development in Tacoma’s mixed-use centers; creating construction jobs; higher density; and after the eight-year exemption ends, increased tax revenues.

This week Council is also scheduled to vote on an ordinance amending the Compensation Plan for City employees represented by several unions. We heard the first reading at last week’s City Council meeting.