Tacoma City Business Preview - Week of May 5, 2015

Rules of Procedure

City Manager T.C. Broadnax is requesting that the council consider some proposed revisions to the Rules of Procedure of the Council of the City of Tacoma. We haven't seen any details yet, but a discussion of the proposed changes is scheduled for this Tuesday's city council study session.

Budget Adjustments

At last week's council meeting we heard the first reading of an ordinance amending the City's 2015-2016 Biennial Budget to appropriate funds from the 2013-2014 Biennial Budget to cover current contract obligations, transfers, and other budget adjustments. Preliminary end of year numbers for 2014 show the 2013-2014 biennium budget with a favorable balance. The proposal would re-appropriate that balance - approximately $3.5 million in the general fund - to the 2015-2016 budget, covering various City commitments. At this week's meeting the council is scheduled to hear the final reading of the ordinance.

Point Ruston

Back in 2011 Point Ruston requested that the City of Tacoma vacate a strip of land lying just north of Ruston Way. The strip, a portion of the Ruston Way right-of-way, varies between 40 and 65 feet in width. An ordinance okaying the vacation of that strip was written for a first reading, and a public hearing was held in May of 2011. 

The Hearing Examiner at the time gave it a provisional thumbs-up, providing that Ruston Way was realigned as envisioned in plans at the time, and so long as the changes didn't interfere with public passage along the remaining right-of-way. That realignment had to be completed before the City would sign off on the vacation of the property. That realignment project is finally complete, and the 2011 ordinance is on this week's council meeting consent agenda for its final reading... finally.

Tacoma Power Land Donation

Tacoma Power is requesting city council approval to accept 567 acres of Washington State Department of Natural Resources land in the vicinity of the Nisqually Hydroelectric Project at Alder Lake. WA DNR would "donate" the land to Tacoma Power, expanding the utility's property in the area. The expanded property would give Tacoma Power additional opportunities for meeting Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) license obligations at very little cost to the City.

The DNR land is assessed at a value of $4,680,000, of which $4,256,000 is the value of timber on the land. The donation, however, comes with a deed restriction that requiring the land to be used for conservation, recreation, and/or open space uses, which are compatible with how adjacent wildlife lands are managed. A resolution on this week's council meeting consent agenda would accept the donation.

Purchase Resolutions

Three purchase resolutions appear on this week's council meeting agenda:

• $105,014, plus sales tax, budgeted from the Solid Waste Fund, to provide vactor truck and cleaning services at the Tacoma Recovery & Transfer Center, for an initial two-year period, with the option to renew for three additional one-year periods, for a projected contract total of $262,535.
• $221,806, plus sales tax, budgeted from the Solid Waste Fund, for one street sweeper for the Tacoma Recovery & Transfer Center
• $3,076,054 budgeted from the Transportation Capital Fund, for the construction of South Tacoma Way corridor improvements from South 43rd Street to South 47th Street and from South 56th Street to South 66th Street. South Tacoma Way is a major arterial between Tacoma and Lakewood, which the City has been repairing using chip seals as preventative maintenance, but which is now in need of an asphalt overlay to keep up with the existing traffic loads. The corridor also lacks curb, gutter, sidewalks, and streetlights in various locations, and many of the ADA ramps do not meet ADA standards. The project in question here would address those deficiencies, adding bike lanes, and improving accessibility and connectivity to the Water Flume Line Trail and the Sounder station at South 56th.

Other Items

May 2015 will be proclaimed as Preservation Month and Bike Month in the City of Tacoma.

A resolution on this week's regular council meeting agenda would authorize the submittal of the City of Tacoma's 2015-2019 Consolidated Plan and 2015-2016 Annual Action Plan to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development by the deadline of May 15, 2015; the execution of two agreements with the Tacoma Community Redevelopment Authority to fund housing development programs; and a subrecipient agreement under the HOME Program between the City of Tacoma, City of Lakewood, and TCRA, to administer the HOME Program.