Tacoma City Business Preview - Week of October 22, 2013

Marijuana Regulations

Both the City Council and the public will have opportunities to discuss the implications of I-502 and how marijuana-related issues will be handled in Tacoma. The state Liquor Control Board is expected to finalize rules for marijuana-related uses and begin accepting applications in mid November. The City has begun the process of developing its own rules and regulations, which will guide how Tacoma-based applications are handled. This week's City Council study session agenda includes a discussion of proposed 1-502 recreational cannabis interim regulations for Tacoma. Then, at the regular Council meeting, the public will have its turn to speak at the public hearing on the issue. Learn more at cityoftacoma.org/planning.

TPU Management Review

Tacoma's City Charter mandates a review of the City's Department of Public Utilities every 10 years. The last such review happened in 2003, so it is time once again to take a look at the department. A resolution on this week's City Council meeting agenda would create an ad hoc Tacoma Public Utilities Ten-Year Management Review Steering Committee, which would conduct a comprehensive management review. The resolution appoints members of the City Council and Public Utility Board, and the City's Finance Director and Deputy Director for Administration to serve on the committee. At the end of the 12-week review a report with the committee's findings and recommendations will be made public.

Old Sewer Pipes

A purchase resolution on this week's agenda would award a $676,122 contract, budgeted from the Wastewater Fund, for the replacement of 1,900 linear feet of wastewater sewer pipe in various locations in Tacoma. This is part of the ongoing effort to rehabilitate and replace the worst sections of aging and failing sewer infrastructure out of the city's 700 miles of sewer pipes. The pipes being replaced in this latest phase were installed over 100 years ago, and it's a bit of an understatement to say that they have exceeded their design life. These sections will be repaired using open-cut construction within gravel alleys. The recommended bid came in at about 7% below pre-bid estimates.

Other Items

Mayor Strickland will read a recognition of the 20th Anniversary of Neighbor’s Park. The Mayor will also proclaim October 22, 2013 as Joeseppi’s Senior Softball Team Day and October 2013 as Domestic Violence Awareness Month.

Also on this week's agenda is the final reading of an ordinance relating to the Compensation Plan, which would implement adjustments to rates of pay and compensation, and changes in classifications to reflect the organizational structure for employees represented by the Professional and Technical Employees Union, Local 17. The ordinance got its first reading at last week's City Council meeting.

The last of the City's Proposition 1 information sessions will be held Wednesday, October 30th, at 6:00 p.m. at the Nature Center. You should have received your ballot; return it by November 5th at the lastest.