Transportation & Engineering

Water Resources & Sustainability

March 2023

PERSONNEL UPDATES & ANNIVERSARIES

Steve Craig

WRS Operations Manager | 03/09/1990, 33yrs

Kelly Crawford Senior Inspector | 03/14/1990, 33yrs

Danny Miller

Engineering Tech IV | 03/23/1992, 31 yrs

Jerry Leaming

WRS/TED Electrician | 03/02/1998 25 yrs

TRANSPORTATION & ENGINEERING PROJECTS IN DESIGN

Capitol Boulevard, Israel Road to M Street Design

The design phase for this project is nearing final completion.

The X Street roundabout will be the first project to move to construction. The right-of-way phase for the project has begun and construction is expected to begin in 2023.

Israel Road / Linderson Way Water Main

This project will replace the water main on Israel Road from Interstate 5 to Capitol Boulevard along with a small segment on Linderson Way. The project was prioritized to complete needed improvements shown in the City’s Water System Plan ahead of a roadway improvements along Israel Road slated for construction in 2024.

Final preparation for bid documents is in progress and construction bidding is expected to occur in April 2023. Construction is expected to occur over the summer of 2023.

2023 Pavement Maintenance Project

City staff is currently preparing construction documents for the 2023 Pavement Maintenance Project. The project will include asphalt repair, asphalt overlay, roadway crack sealing, and pavement striping efforts on various roadway throughout the city. It is expected that design will be completed in March 2023 and construction will occur between July and September of 2023.

Projects In Progress

Interstate 5 / Trosper Road / Capitol Boulevard

Reconfiguration

Construction is currently underway. The contractor, Active Construction Incorporated, is working in multiple areas within the project limits. The main focus has been sanitary sewer installation along Capitol Boulevard which is near completion. The next step will be to complete the sanitary sewer run along Linda Street. Initial clearing and grubbing, grading, and installation of the stormwater system has begun on the new 6th Avenue alignment The contractor is also currently installing the water main along Lee Street and will follow with the stormwater system improvements.

Work is progressing well and the contractor is meeting their project schedule. Underground utility installation will continue this spring to include installation of the new sewer, water, storm, and dry utility installations.

WATER RESOURCES & SUSTAINABILITY

Mark Your Calendars

Free Tree Giveaway on April 22nd

The City of Tumwater will celebrate Arbor Day with a free event on Saturday, April 22, 2023, from 10:00 a m until 12:00 p m at Tumwater Historical Park. At this event, residents can take home free potted native trees for the first one hundred people and have the opportunity to ask a professional forester, a landscape architect, and a horticulturist about the proper care and planting of trees. This year, in response to the Monarch butterfly being declared endangered by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature, the Tree Board will also be giving away native wildflower seeds including showy milkweed which provides critically important habitat for Monarchs.

COLLABORATING WITH BEAVERS Thriving Habitats through Maintenance

The City’s beaver population is thriving. We have several areas in the City that support healthy beaver habitats; however these same areas often overlap with City rightsof-way and infrastructure. Maintenance staff have been managing these areas by best management practices designed to reduce impacts to the built environment while maintaining supportive habitat conditions for the beaver. Flexible levelers are used to regulate water levels being impacted by beaver dams, and culvert exclusion devices are used to keep beavers from building dams inside of culverts. Each year the City reports the number of times crews installed and maintained these structures to the Department of Fish and Wildlife. Since we started using these management tools, maintenance crews have been called to these sites less and less each year:

• 2020: +20 maintenance events

• 2021: 16 maintenance events

• 2022: 5 maintenance events

The management tools are designed to be low cost for installation and regular maintenance They also help to reduce localized flooding in neighborhoods so beavers can coexist with Tumwater businesses and residents. This strategy is a win–win–win for beavers, maintenance crews and city ratepayers, and helps enhance the way of life in Tumwater.

Stormwater Catch Basin Cleanup

A Big Win with our Improved Inspection Process

The City is required to inspect 50% of the city’s stormwater catch basins annually. In November 2022, the Stormwater crew implemented updated procedures and data collection tools that have significantly improved the inspection process. We are extremely happy to announce that the Stormwater Operations crew has inspected all 3,610 City-owned catch basins in Tumwater since November 2022. This is quite an accomplishment and would not have been possible without the dedication of Mark Teigen and the Stormwater maintenance crew with support from David Kangiser, Matthew Joseph, Jennifer Radcliff and Georgianna Strobin. Now that the inspections are complete, the crew is focusing on cleaning and maintenance identified during the inspection process. Great job by everyone involved.

Message from the Chief

The Tumwater Fire Department is again partnering with the American Red Cross to promote Home Fire Safety. Through this program, community members can request the installation of smoke detectors at no cost. The Fire Department will also provide home fire safety inspections and development of home fire escape plans. Please contact the Fire Department at (360) 754-4170 for more information.

Brian Hurley

Five Tumwater Paramedics, along with Olympia Fire Department and Lacey Fire District 3, completed a 24-hour training program to become super-users in Point of Care Ultrasound (POCUS). These five Paramedics will be participating in a study on the use of ultrasound in pre-hospital cardiac arrests. POCUS will allow paramedics to better assess sick patients, enhancing their ability to treat patients successfully.

Community Outreach

The Fire Department participates with various community partners to donate birthday experiences to their auction events. The Department helped celebrate the first auction birthday of 2023. During the party, crews provided tours of the bay, fire engines, and medic unit.