Inside the City of Tumwater

Date: June 15, 2023

To: Mayor Debbie Sullivan City Councilmembers City Employees

From: John Doan, City Administrator

People

Evan Ozasa Off to Costa Rica

Evan Ozasa, Field Lead on the Sewer Collections Crew in Water Resources and Sustainability is leaving the end of June to transition to a new career in Costa Rica. Evan started with the City six years ago and currently serves as the Teamsters shop. Thank you for your service, Evan We wish you well on your adventures around the planet.

Brain Scharber Scholarship Awarded

The New Market Skills Center Brian Scharber Scholarship was awarded to Andrew Chappel. Andrew will be attending DigiPen Institute of Technology in Redmond to study computer science and game design. The scholarship is funded by family, friends, and the community in honor of former Tumwater IT Manager Brian Scharber (Yes, Cody’s father), who passed away in 2017. Anyone wishing to contribute to the scholarship fund can send a contribution to the New Market Skills Center Foundation.

Lacy Neal Leaving City

HR Analyst Lacy Neal, who joined the City in 2021 from SPSCC, is leaving us at the end of June to return to the College. Lacy was instrumental in our pandemic response, the wave of transitions and hiring, and implementing safety and learning programs. We will miss her and wish her well at SPSCC.

Shane Brady Promoted

Firefighter Shane Brady has been promoted to Fire Lieutenant on B Shift. Since joining Tumwater, Shane has been a pump academy instructor and coordinated community CPR training. Congratulations, Shane!

Events

Looking for Summer Fun?

Our own Parks & Recreation Department has released the summer recreation catalog. Check out the online catalog for things to do this summer.

The Washington Center for the Performing Arts is our region’s premier arts venue. Over the years, the City has contributed capital funds and lodging tax to the Center. Located in Olympia, the Washington Center offers a variety of entertainment and cultural activities. Offerings for the 2022-23 Season can be viewed on the online events calendar

Places

Craft District Getting Tenants

Have you heard the news? The Market Building at the Craft District has new tenants. The space, the second of eight buildings in the District’s concept, will have a mix of food and beverage vendors in an open market setting similar to other popular markets around the country. The building is expected to open in late summer with the Left Bank Bakery, Pattaya Thai, Julie Kluh Art, Don Juan’s Mexican Kitchen, Olympia Seafood, Finn River Cider, Percival Creek (SPSCC), and Sweetlee’s Ice Cream. It is exciting to see this addition to the Tumwater community. The third building, which will be in front of the SPSCC building, will have a credit union and coffee shop, and should start construction soon.

O & M Facility Taking Big Step Forward

It has been a long journey since the City purchased the former Trails End Arena in 2011 to become an O & M Facility for utilities, transportation, and fleet purposes. We’ve done gopher studies, acquired gopher mitigation, developed concepts for a park, held public meetings, weathered a recession and a pandemic, developed alternative designs, formulated a plan for a roundabout to support the project, and selected a preferred concept. Earlier this month, the City Council approved a $2.45M contract with TCF Architecture for the design drawings for the site, buildings, and facility. TCF has designed numerous other similar facilities and specializes in innovative environmental solutions. The facility has been designated by the City Council to be all electric. This design phase is expected to take about a year. The project is funded by the rate increases in the City’s three utilities (we started collecting this revenue six years ago) and the General Fund which will rely on a future utility tax increase.

Trails End Park: Concept Option A

Warehouses Proposed Outside the City

Thurston County has received an application for two large warehouse buildings near Littlerock Road and Prine Road. The site is outside the City limits but in our Urban Growth Area (UGA). The project is inconsistent with the City’s plan and regulations for numerous reasons, including it exceeds size limits and is not allowed in the zone. The project would need to comply with the City’s regulations in order for the City to provide necessary water and sewer service. The City has sent a letter expressing our opposition to the project as proposed.

DRC Looks at Projects

These projects came before the City’s Development Review Committee:

• Feasibility Review of reconfiguration of the parking lot at the Tumwater Valley Golf Course. This project is partially funded with City and grant funds in order to improve the parking and reduce environmental impacts.

• Formal Review of the Velkommen Apartments at 7125 Littlerock Road – 19 units in a 5-story building.

• Feasibility Review of dividing one of the Port Cleanwater buildings into three tenant spaces.

• Feasiblity Review of proposed tenant improvements to an existing 18,000 s.f. building on Blomberg to allow a marijuana grow operation.

• Feasibility Review of a proposed 2,300 s.f. quick service restaurant at 5945 Littlerock Road.

• Preliminary Review of the Kaufman’s 160,000 s.f. warehouse proposed for 9010 Legacy Ct. SW by Kaufman Real Estate.

• Formal Review of the Tyee Landing Apartments on Tyee Drive and containing 148 apartment units.

• Formal Review of a 5-story multi-family building with 42 unites at 723 Israel Road SW. This project would replace the run-down house across from Tumwater High School and would bring residential units to the Town Center area.

Inside The City

Illustrating our Mission, Vision, or Beliefs in Action.

This is my last newsletter to you. One of the things I’ve enjoyed is being able to write this newsletter to our elected leaders, employees, alumni, and friends. I’ve pretty much written all of them myself with the editing and proofing help from several friends who made it readable.

I’ve enjoyed it because I’ve gotten to tell our stories – of success, introduce new people who join us and recognize those who leave, highlight changes that are happening in the City and community, and share stories about the awesome things we are doing.

People have asked me what I’m going to miss and I’ve given that some thought.

The pace of this work in a City is invigorating for me. A full-service city like Tumwater has so many things going on that a day is filled with lots of topics. With that comes so much learning. I came to city administration 19 years ago with a background in some aspects of a city – but not all. Since then, I’ve learned about policing, firefighting, and emergency medical, pandemics, recreation, housing and community services, and more. Every day was learning more and I have loved it.

A good colleague once gave me a Post-It that said “Grow People” on it. I’ve always felt that one of the most important things we can do is help people grow. Maybe they want to learn more skills, become a supervisor, do different or bigger work, be a director or city administrator, or even pursue a different career. We’ve created more opportunities to grow, expanded training and tuition reimbursement, and promoted education incentives. I’m so proud of the people who have stepped up and are growing in the City of Tumwater. I’m going to miss that.

It has been rewarding to help the community create a vision around “bringing brewing back.” You are doing it! While it is a long journey, the road has started and I fully expect that Tumwater’s place on the map is secure.

Finally, I’m going to miss the people. Our City family has changed over the years. We’ve lost some friends and added many new ones. It is so great to meet the new employees – hear their stories and welcome them to the City as they get ready to shape our future and serve the community. You have no idea how many times I’ve said “WOW” at the end of one of those new employee orientations. The City of Tumwater’s future is outstanding and I look forward to watching and cheering you on as the City grows.