Negotiations between the City of Lacey and Fire District 3 are continuing and centering around division of assets, as the city continues to move towards creating its own fire department.

But, Lacey City Manager Greg Cuoio also says that the two sides are talking some form of compromise.  “We’ve told the fire district what it has to do if it wants us to renew our contract with them,” Cuoio said. 

“We want to be able to control staffing.”

Cuoio said that in any contract, the contracting agency has the right to determine what type of staffing it wants.  That’s what the city wants in any renewal of contract with the district.

Cuoio said the city had several other criteria before it would renew its contract with the district, but until then, the two sides are continuing to discuss division of assets.

Blue is the predominate color but the tents are in several different colors.  Some dozen or so shelters now grace the back lawn of the Lacey Community Church on 19th Avenue, but they are shaded from public view by a plywood fence.

Lacey Community Church is the first religious organization in Lacey to host Camp Quixote.  Homeless residents moved in this past weekend.

Connie Lorenz, from the Olympia Downtown Association, has sent letters to several local firms and groups lining up their support against turning Capitol Lake into an estuary.

This is a portion of her letter.

I’d like to ask you to become involved in the Capitol Lake Management Plan, as the State GA draws to a final hearing after seven years of consultant studies ,with a plan that calls for blowing up the 5th Avenue dam and fish ladder and creating a 4-square mile stinking mudflat just upwind of downtown Olympia.

Twice everyday the stench from those newly exposed and freshly marina/port contaminated mudflats will waft across the retail district, most especially on the solstice extreme low tides at pre 4th of July and Christmas, days when shopping are ‘make or break’ for the downtown retailers entire year.

Working with DFW, I’ve prepared an alternative plan to preserve Capitol Lake and turn it into managed waterfowl habitat, which, if done pro-actively, would earn Olympia a national green award, even become a destination attraction.

We have already spoken with the Port and they say they will oppose the plan to blow the dam and waste $114 million of State taxpayers money on a mudflat.

Through our own contracts with Rocky Moutain Elk Foundation, we expect a large recreational user turnout in favor of managed habitat at those hearings.

And we hope for your support as well, in solidarity with the downtown merchants.

This article came across my desk from the wire services.  It’s so good, that I’m going to run it just as it arrived - - without any comment.

Fans of the giant Palouse earthworm are once again seeking federal protection for the rare, sweet-smelling species.

The worm has been seen only four reported times in the past 110 years, but supporters contend it is still present in portions of Eastern Washington and Northern Idaho.

The worm can reach three feet in length, is white in color and reportedly possesses a unique Lily smell.

Environmental groups are asking the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to protect the worm as an endangered species.

The Bush administration rejected an earlier petition, but supporters hope to have better luck with the Obama administration.

I was working the First Annual Great Pacific Northwest Mushroom Festival this past weekend, selling pop and water and Rotary.

A young couple with two children about 8-10 came up and asked where they could drop off dog food for the dogs.  Taken back a second, I finally answered “right here.”  Not only did they give me dog and cat food, but they also gave me money, raised they said, by their children who sold lemonade in their front yard.

I didn’t quite know what to say, but I thanked them, gave them from free pop and watched they walk away.

Tuesday, I stopped by the Animal Shelter and dropped off the money and the dog and cat food while telling my story.  The shelter people tell me that it isn’t uncommon for people to drop off dog food and other supplies.

As a matter of fact, such an action is encouraged.  The Shelter has a list of supplies it needs which starts out with kitty litter and includes dog and cat food, but also rabbit, Guinea Pig and bird food.  Dog toys, catnip, dog/cat shampoo and even dog houses in good condition are needed.

Everything donated helps stretch the Shelter’s budget.

And to that family that dropped off the food and money at the Mushroom Festival.  I wish I had gotten your name.  The Shelter wants to thank you.

While state workers and other government employees forego any pay increases this year because of the state’s poor economic condition, the unionized workers at the Timberland Regional Library System are getting more than a quarter of a million dollars in pay raises.

Library officials say these raises are the result of previously negotiated union contracts.

But, in order to pay for these salary increases, the library system has cutback on operating hours, laid off non-union staff members and cut back purchases of books and other equipment by more than $300,000. 

While other government union workers are sacrificing pay increases, union librarians and other union staff are seeing more money in their pay checks.  And, users of the library system are seeing a decline in service.

Doesn’t the union that represents library workers have any shame?

Improving Carpenter Road, from Pacific Avenue to Martin Way, has been a major project of the City of Lacey for several years. 

But since Carpenter Road is jointly owned by both the City of Lacey and Thurston County, the two entities have partnered together since 1995 to obtain funding and jointly improve the entire corridor from Pacific Avenue to Martin Way.

Until recently that is.  Thurston County has let it be known that since most of the traffic on Carpenter Road is from Lacey, that the city should be responsible for improving the entire road.

Except for the Martin Way, Carpenter Road intersection.  There Thurston County officials want to partner with the City of Lacey to improve that intersection.  The county has committed $2.8 million for the project which has an estimated cost of $4.7 million.  

They want the city to enter into a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU)  that Lacey will finance 50 percent of the remaining cost of the intersection improvements.

Only, the city doesn’t think it makes any sense to improve the Carpenter Road/Martin Way intersection, without improving the entire corridor.

The city is under pressure to concede because any state and federal funds they’ve received, for the corridor project,  will be in danger of being taken away if the project does not reach completion.

The bottom line - - the county wants Lacey’s help and funding to complete the improvements to the Martin Way/Carpenter Road intersection.   Lacey wants the county to provide financial help towards improving the entire Carpenter Road corridor from Pacific Avenue to Martin Way.  The county doesn’t want to do it and doesn’t have the money.

Further talks between city and county officials might bring a solution, but again, they may not.  And nothing on Carpenter Road will be done until some resolution to the problem is forthcoming.

Medic One Administrator Steve Romines said today, that even if the City of Lacey starts its own fire department, the Medic One unit will be under the control of Lacey Fire District 3.

“We have a good relationship with the Fire District and they’ve done a good job,” Romines said.  “We’ll have to see what the city does and give them some time before we’ll consider moving the Medic unit under their control.”

Romines said that keeping the unit with the fire district could cost a little more, if Lacey doesn’t pick up the additional 20 percent of the salary that goes to the medics for any fire service they provide.  That cost now is picked up by the fire districts.

The Medic One system is a countywide system serving all of Thurston County.  There are 54 paramedics spread out over seven stations.  In addition, all of the fire fighters, some 560, are EMT trained.

Top staff to Governor Chris Gregorie are saying that the Washington State Legislature will be called into Special Session this October, if the state revenue picture doesn’t improve.  This time, they say, tax increases will be on the agenda.

From George F. Will in his current Newsweek column.  “Global warming has become like God:  It is an explanation for everything and an all-purpose excuse for the political class to do whatever it wants to do.”

Some $12 million in federal stimulus money is finding its way to our state which will be used for safety projects on several state highways.

The major beneficiary will be two-lane highways in Thurston, Mason, Lewis, Pacific and Grays Harbor counties which will see the installation of centerland rumble strips. 

According to the Washington State Department of Transportation, these rumble strips help in alerting tired drivers who are about to cross the center line.

The DOT expects to award the projects next month with work starting in August.   It’s estimated that the $12 million will provide about 120 jobs. statewide.

Here it is the middle of June and I just realized something was missing from this month - - Super Saturday.  Two weeks after the event had traditionally been held, and I just realized its gone.  That’s just indicative of the problem.

In 1975, The Evergreen State College, in an effort to gain community support and to celebrate its graduating class, hit upon the idea of a one-day community festival.  

They invited the greater Olympia area, which had not been exactly welcoming, to visit the campus and enjoy a day of festivities, music, food and art.

I received a phone call from Judy Prentice, the college relations director, asking me to help round up some local talent to perform.  A recent “Greener” I was happy to help.  And I got the Johnny Lewis Junior Band to perform.

That first Saturday, we had no way of knowing if the community would come.  As soon as 10 a.m. rolled around and we opened the doors, we got the word.  Super Saturday was a success.  Cars were parked all along the Expressway and even backing up on to 101.  

For several years, I participated in Super Saturday, sometimes helping out at the Alumni booth and sometimes just enjoying the show.  In 1981, I was working temporarily at the college and was put in charge of lining up the entertainment.  Super Saturday was so successful that it was often billed as the largest one-day festival in the state.

Then, something happened.  We quit going.  The kids had grown up and left home and we just didn’t seem to get the same enjoyment by attending.  And, it seemed like there wasn’t anything new or different.

Super Saturday faded from my mind.   It wasn’t until the college announced that it was cancelling the event, that it drew my attention.  But, not so much as I didn’t notice it was gone, until it was long gone.

I don’t miss Super Saturday.  It was fun and I enjoyed the event, but I haven’t been to one in years and I haven’t really missed its demise. 

I guess that’s what happens to some community festivals.  They just fade away.

A 21st Century Fire Department.  That’s what Lacey City Manager Greg Cuoio wants and that’s what his consultants previewed at a Thursday evening work session of the Lacey City Council.

Consultants from ICMA, an international city manager’s group, told the councilmembers that a new, stripped down fire department, which did more than fight fires, was a possibility.

The consultants said that modern fire departments are integrated into the community.  During down times they do other things such as public education, fire prevention, and even sometimes do building inspections, once trained.

They’ve recommended that a new Lacey Fire Department can be staffed with 40 employees.  This allows the staffing of three city fire stations 24-hours per day.

The Willamette station will have two firefighter/EMTs, the Central Station on Pacific Avenue will have five firefighters/EMTs and the Mullen Road station will have three.  They will be supplemented by volunteers.   “This will be a challenge,” the consultants said.  “Trying to keep up the skill levels is tough, even for career firefighters.”

A comprehensive citywide program to place Automatic Electronic Defibrillators (AED) around the city will be crucial to provide life saving response.  The consultants recommended that all police and city vehicles be equipped with AEDs.  They also said these devices should be placed at all public areas around the city.

“A dollar spent in prevention saves $7 in costs,” they said.

While the price of this new department wasn’t mentioned, Lacey Mayor Graeme Sackrison said it wouldn’t be less.  “It’s going to cost us as much or more than we’re paying now,” he said.  “But perhaps we can do more with what we have and prepare for any changes in the future.”

Cuoio pointed out that the costs wouldn’t increase significantly down the road.  “We have a level of service which will meet our needs far into the future,” he said.  “We won’t need more stations or more personnel.”

The final report isn’t finished yet.  The consultants want to get another month of statistics under their belt before they release the full report to the public.  They also want to run the report by Lacey Fire District 3 officials to make certain the base line is accurate.

Lacey Fire District 3 has hired its own consulting firm and that report will be presented to fire commissioners in a week or two.

In the meantime, city and fire district officials have been negotiating a split of assets.  Lacey owns part of several fire stations and part of the district’s fire equipment.  Coming up with how to sever the relationship and agreeing on price is the purpose of the meetings.

The largest hangup right now in the negotiations is the cost of the land on which the fire stations sit.

Work on the 15-acre West Bay Park will start soon.  It will begin with  a  one-acre section called Rotary Point and will have a groundbreaking ceremony on July 24.

Rotary Point is a joint project of the seven local area Rotary clubs which are doing the actual construction.  Rotarians have raised $100,000 of the needed $175,000 to build the point.

If things go well, Rotary Point will be dedicated in October.

This is just the first phase of construction on West Bay Park, which may take as long as 15 years to fully complete.

Thurston County Auditor Kim Wyman has given in to special interest pleadings and will once again publish the Thurston County Voter’s Guide.

Earlier this year, Wyman had announced that she was ceasing publication and mailing of the Voter’s Guide in an effort to save money.  She estimated that she could save as much as $50,000 if she didn’t publish the guide.

But special interest groups asked her to reconsider, and last week Wyman announced that bowing to the pressure she was going to put out a Voter’s Guide afterall.

The pressure came from special interest groups.  The East Olympia Fire Department has a tax increase measure on the ballot, and supporters were concerned that without the Voter’s Guide, they wouldn’t be able to make their case before the voters.

While that government agency is the only one mentioned, other special interests groups such as libraries, transit agencies and school district felt that by not publishing a Voter’s Guide this year, Wyman was setting precedence that would carry over to times when these government agencies also had tax increases on the ballot.

Wyman’s bow to special interests, even if they are government agencies, was the wrong thing for our county auditor to do.   She should have stuck by her original decision and saved the voters money.  Not only in the publication of the Voter’s Guide, but also in future tax increases demanded by these special interests.

Intercity Transit has just been named the “Best Transit System in the Country for It’s Size.”   I know that it’s true because I just received a news release from the transit system saying so.

The award is presented by the American Public Transportation Association (APTA) and has been awarded before to only two other Washington state transit systems - - King County Metro and Pierce Transit.

According to the news release -  - the “APTA presents the award each year to the transit system that best demonstrates achievement in efficiency and effectiveness over the previous three-year period.”

According to the news release the award is the result of outstanding employees, the leadership of the Intercity Transit Authority and the entire community that supports and understands the value of public transportation.

IT, according to the release, has increased its fixed-route ridership by more than 50 percent; increased Dial-A-Lift by nearly 14 percent;  and vanpool ridership by almost 80 percent.   And, according to an in-house survey of riders, IT was found to be excellent or good by 86 percent of those surveyed.

Congrats to IT - - and more importantly, congrats to the taxpayers who have approved substantial tax increases to keep the system operating at top peak and efficiency.

The Draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) of the Lacey Gateway Town Center is now available for public review.  Copies of the report can be picked up at city hall.  The 45-page document costs $25.  Copies are available for review at the Lacey Library.  You can also access the EIS on-line.  Digital copies can be picked up at city hall.

There, I’ve gotten all of the dull stuff out of the way.  For the most part, I can’t understand why anyone would want to pick up a copy, let alone comment on the EIS.   But it does have interesting information, particularly as it relates to the city’s vision of the project.

The masterplan has Cabelas as an anchor, and a section set aside for future phases.  Phase One of the plan consists of approximately 120 acres.  That is what’s called the “Town Center”.

The Town Center envisons retail blocks centered around a public plaza, with offices or housing on the second and upper floors.

In addition, a 270-room hotel is planned for construction as part of the Phase One development.   Offices, professional and medical, will be a part of the Town Center.  Later phases will have a office park in the future phases section.

The city also wants at least 500 units of housing with residential housing restricted to the upper floors.  The developer is looking at having some housing on the ground floor.  It’s anticipated that most of this housing will be condominiums.

There will be a central greenway that runs though the first phase to supply walking and cycling trails.

The City of Lacey also has the option of purchasing 10 acres of property within Phase One for the development of a civic facility such as a library, performing arts center, farmers market, police station or community center.  What the city will build has yet to be determined.

A public hearing will be held before the city’s Hearing Examiner on July 1 for presenting information and taking comments.

That’s the assessment of Mike Dexter, director of the Thurston County Visitor and Convention Bureau (VCB).  Dexter told the business and economic development committee of the Lacey Chamber of Commerce that promotion of a sports complex takes time.

“We need to start going after business, for the Regional Athletic Complex (RAC) now,” he said.  “We can’t wait for the customers to come.  It takes two to three years to generate business for a new sports complex.”

The City of Lacey was mum was Dexter’s comments but pointed out that the facility was busy.   “Those are all local people,” Dexter said.   “That’s what parks directors are oriented towards.

“We need to start cultivating our relationships with the various out-of-town sports groups such as softball and soccer, as well as baseball,” he said.  “The VCB is in the position of being able to consummate the deal with the sports teams.”

Dexter, while not criticizing Lacey officials, did say that he was surprised the city hadn’t worked more closely with the VCB in promoting the RAC.

Dexter also addressed the issue of Cabelas, and its impact on the local community.   Cabelas  reached its multi-million visitor mark in its first year, according to the Economic Development Council.

Dexter said he didn’t think Cabelas had much of an impact on the rest of the community.  “Their trip to Cabelas is a two-hour blip, then they’re back on the road to home or their next destination.”

He also said he hadn’t seen a lot of evidence of Cabelas involvement in the community.  “Maybe its because they’re trying to get this first year under their belt.  I anticipate that as time goes on, they’ll become more involved in the community.”

UPDATE - - The City of Lacey has hired Sue Falash who will work half time on recruitment and promotions of the RAC, and the other half time will be to work on site with organizations.

According to Lacey Assistant City Manager Scott Spence, new Lacey Parks Director Lori Flemm has been hired in her new position partly because she has experience  in the construction and operations of two athletic complexes.

In addition, the city is working with Skyhawk (the former Bucknell Park) to coordinate all activities.

“We’re devoting time and resources to the RAC,” Spence said.  “We have the people and the resources we need to make it successful.”

Thurston County’s homeless encampment, Camp Quixote, will be coming to Lacey at the end of this month.

Tent City will find a home, for up to 90 days, at the Lacey Community Church on 19th Avenue, between College Street and Golf Club Road.

Residents will begin moving in on June 26 & 27.

Tent City was originally kept out of Lacey when the Lacey City Council voted to add additional requirements to the homeless camping ordinance.  After considering its options and a possible lawsuit, the City of Lacey revoted and agreed to accept tent cities with their current criteria.

Lacey has a reputation of a city that loves growth, and a city that will stop at nothing to become the dominate city in the South Sound.

Yet, during last month’s Lacey City Council and Staff Retreat, the subject of growth and annexation was discussed.   Lacey City Manager Greg Cuoio pointed out that annexing adjacent county urban areas in the city would not be in Lacey’s best interests.

Cuoio said that annexing urban areas, and then bringing these urban areas up to city standards, could cost as much as a billion dollars.   That’s money the city doesn’t have, he said.

He also suggested that the city take a look at its urban growth area boundaries and determine if that’s where the city wants to grow.  “We may have to shrink those boundaries,” Cuoio said.

City councilmembers and city staff debated the issue of growth and settled on a population of about 50,000 as the ultimate for the community.

Lacey currently has a population of about 38,000.  There is another 30,000 population in the city’s urban growth management area.

If Lacey were to shut its borders at 50,000 population, many of those currently residing in those urban areas but not in the city limits would be shut out of future city services.

Cuoio’s proposal flies into the face of the Thurston County Commission and particularly Commissioner Sandra Romero, who is attempting to get the cities to annex urban areas adjacent to the city limits.

Romero contends that county government shouldn’t be involved in offering urban services and that would be better undertaken by city governments.

It’s apparent that the three cities and the county will have to talk about servicing those urban areas, which under the Growth Management Act were to have been annexed by the cities.

Look at this as a future issue and possible area of conflict between those who favor growth and those who want to restrict growth  and force it into the cities.

(A similar story ran in the May 09 issue of my newsletter.)