Tacoma City Business Preview - Week of September 30, 2014

International Economic Development

Last week the City Council passed a resolution allowing for the creation of a Commission on International Relations to be composed of representatives of Tacoma businesses, organizations, and other local stakeholders. The purpose of the Commission will be to develop a cohesive approach to improving Tacoma's attractiveness for foreign direct investment, and promoting access to foreign markets for local businesses.

At this week's City Council study session, World Trade Center World Trade Center President and CEO Louise Tieman, China consultant Michael Fowler, and City of Tacoma Community and Economic Development staff will present information to the Council on the City's international programs, including accomplishments over the last 18 months. All of this international focus comes ahead of the launch of a Global Cities Initiative, in which Tacoma will work with the cities of Seattle, Bellevue, and Everett to promote the region internationally.

Marijuana Interim Regulations 

Also at last week's meeting the Council heard the first reading of an ordinance that would extend current interim land-use regulations on recreational marijuana businesses for another six months beyond the current expiration date in November. At that meeting we heard a number of concerns and questions, both from the public and the Council, relating to various elements of the regulations. At this week's study session, the Council will continue the discussion of the existing interim regulations, and will hear more from staff on the enforcement strategy for medical marijuana, and on options for moving forward toward permanent land-use regulations related to marijuana businesses.

A final reading of the ordinance extending Tacoma's interim regulations of recreational marijuana appears on the agenda for this week's regular City Council meeting.

Budget Timeline

It's also budget season for the City. Staff has been hard at work on the back end numbers and projections for the 2015-2016 biennial budget. An early round of budget discussions with the City Council and community budget input opportunities for the public set the tone for the process this time around. At this week's study session, City Office of Management and Budget staff will brief the Council on the timeline going forward, including the schedule for the City Manager's budget presentation, TPU and General Government department presentations (October and November), and the anticipated appearance of an ordinance adopting the budget sometime in December.

For-Hire Transportation

Last week we heard the first reading of an ordinance repealing the entire existing taxi cab code for Tacoma, and replacing it with new "For Hire Regulations," which would cover the operations of both traditional cab companies and newer app-based for-hire transportation network companies. At week's Council meeting, where the ordinance got its first reading, we also heard public comment from a representative of Uber, and a few others, asking the Council to reconsider treating the new breed of companies the same as traditional cab companies, and others with concerns about some parts of the new code. We'll see whether their arguments swayed the Council at all.

North Downtown Subarea Plan

This week's Council meeting is the date set for a second public hearing by the Council on the draft North Downtown Subarea Plan and associated proposed amendments to the Tacoma Municipal Code. The plan, and its associated Environmental Impact Statement have been in the works for a while now, with input from the public and from stakeholders including local businesses and Bates Technical College. The plan is intended to both guide development in the area over the coming years and decades, and to reduce development uncertainty and risk by setting a clear plan for the area, and by completing some of the early requirements, like the environmental review process, on an area-wide basis, saving individual developers the work of project-by-project reviews.

Tacoma Avenue Bridge

A purchase resolution on this week's regular Council meeting agenda would award a $10,517,689 contract budgeted from the Transportation Capital Fund for the reconstruction of the Tacoma Avenue South Bridge. The bridge has significant structural deterioration requiring repair, which have already forced the closure of sidewalks and vehicle lanes on the bridge. The year-and-a-half-long project will be paid for in part by federal and state grants.

Surplus Property

In the ongoing effort to divest the City of various un-needed properties, two resolutions appear on this week's Council meeting consent agenda setting October 14 as the date for public hearings on two properties proposed to be declared surplus and transferred.

The first property is 3.2 acres of Tacoma Power property on the Hood Canal in Mason County. The property sits adjacent to Skokomish Tribe-owned Saltwater Park. Tacoma Water has determined that it doesn't need the property, which was originally retained for the construction of a fish hatchery. The plan is to trade that property to the Skokomish Tribe in exchange for rights to build the hatchery elsewhere on land owned by the tribe.

The second property is 20 acres of Tacoma Water property in the Green River Watershed. Beginning in 1986 the United States Army Corps of Engineers began installing piezometers on the property with permission from Tacoma Water. Despite the fact that a "piezometer" sounds like a method for indicating how satisfied you are with your Thanksgiving dessert selection, it's actually a tool that tracks groundwater, and in this case is used to measure the safety of the nearby Howard Hansen Dam. The ACOE has installed more of these piezometers, along with drainage tunnels, and a couple of log boom anchor sites. All of this puts a significant encumbrance on the property, and Tacoma Water and the ACOE have agreed to transfer the property for $142,300. 

The public hearing for both of these items will be set for October 14, during the regular City Council meeting.

Also appearing on this week's Council meeting consent agenda is the final reading of a ordinance vacating a portion of the South Adams Street right-of-way north of previously vacated South 62nd Street for use in connection with an adjacent business. The ordinance, which would allow the adjacent business to continue to use the narrow strip of property in question as a parking lot, got its first reading back in May.

Other Items

At this week's Council meeting October 2014 will be proclaimed as Tacoma Arts Month and as Domestic Violence Awareness Month. 

A resolution on this week's agenda would authorize the execution of a collective bargaining agreement for 127 Teamsters positions at the City. The first reading of an accompanying ordinance enacting that agreement also appears on this week's agenda.