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MONDAY, JANUARY 7, 2013
Vol. CXXIV, No. 4
OFFICIAL NEWSPAPER OF THE CITY OF TACOMA Devoted to the Courts, Real Estate, Finance, Industrial Activities, and Publication of Legal Notices
Published Since 1890
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Brewing Employment Pierce County coffee roaster posts record job growth Posted online Fri., Jan. 4 A coffee roasting facility in Sumner has earned a top spot in a list of major employers in Pierce County, according to the Economic Development Board (EDB) for Tacoma-Pierce County. Since its roasting facilities moved to Sumner almost four years ago, Green Mountain Coffee Roasters Inc. has added employees at a faster rate than any of the 174 employers on the list, its payroll having risen from 182 to 325, a growth of 79 percent, according to the EDB. The job growth comes in the wake of strong expansion plans that lay behind Green Mountain's move to Sumner in 2009 when the company bought the Tullys Coffee trademark, supply chain and wholesale coffee business. "We planned to expand the single serve packs operation," John Rader, director of operations at the Sumner facility, explained in the EDB's January newsletter. "We have now become the number-one producer in the country of single serve packs." The company's strongest sales expansion was recorded in 2011, when Fortune magazine named the company second-fastest growing in the United States. Last year, the company, still maintaining strong growth, was listed in 35th place nationally. As sales have soared, an expanding list of employees has followed. Other strongly growing Pierce County companies in 2012 were Sound Credit Union, which continued to grow following its merger with Watermark Credit Union in 2011, increasing its employees by 71 percent to 173, and Cabinet-maker Pacific Crest Industries (Bellmont Cabinet Co.), based in Sumner, which advanced its employee total to 183, a gain of 62 percent, according to the EDB. The full list of major employers can be found online at edbtacomapierce.org.
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Tacoma City Council to discuss provisional rental housing
Point Defiance Pagoda grand re-opening Saturday Photo Courtesy Metro Parks Tacoma Metro Parks Tacoma will host a grand re-opening ceremony for the Point Defiance Pagoda this weekend at Point Defiance Park. The event will include self-guided walking tours and the following line-up of discussions: 2:30 p.m. — A history of the nearly century-old pagoda; 3 p.m. — Restoring the pagoda after the arson; and 3:30 p.m. — Future plans for the Japanese Garden restoration. In addition, members of the Asia Pacific Cultural Center are teaming up with Metro Arts and Tacoma Public Schools to create a 1,000 crane blessing for the event. Only 900 of the thousand cranes will be prepared in advance of the grand re-opening. Attendants will get the chance to craft the remaining 100 at the ceremony itself. The pagoda was heavily damaged in 2010 after a 15-year-old boy set fire to the building, causing approximately $2.5 million in damages. According to Pierce County prosecutors, the teen was implicated in a series of fires set at Point Defiance over a period of days. He pled guilty to Arson in the First Degree, Attempted Arson in the First Degree, Arson in the Second Degree, and Reckless Burning in the First Degree, as well as additional felony counts related to an earlier pagoda break-in and damage to neighborhood vehicles. The teen was sentenced to the maximum range — 142 to 189 weeks — in a jail for juveniles. The Point Defiance Pagoda grand re-opening will be held on Sat., Jan. 12 between 2 p.m. and 5 p.m. at Point Defiance Park, located at 5400 N. Pearl Street, in Tacoma. All events are free. Visitors are encouraged to park in the main picnic lot (cross the foot-
Posted online Fri., Jan. 4 Tacoma City Council is scheduled to meet Tuesday at City Hall to discuss a proposed ordinance that would amend the city's municipal code as it relates to provisional rental property licenses. The license was implemented on Jan. 1, 2012, in an effort to ensure the public health, safety, and welfare of its citizens and the maintenance of quality rental housing for Tacoma citizens, according to city staff. Areas in the new regulation have been identified as needing to be amended in order to effectively regulate this activity. The proposed amendments include the requirement of a provisional rental license for derelict buildings, alignment of the rights of appeal with Titles 2 and 6 of the municipal code, removal of the word "substantially" from determining when a property meets the conditions of a license, requirement of the completion of the city's Crime Free Housing landlord training, reflection of the organizational changes in the City, allowing for a certificate of complaint to be filed, and adding Section 6B.165.085 to address first-time offenders. City council's neighborhoods and housing committee was briefed in November. The ordinance is scheduled to receive its first reading during the council meeting later in the day. Councilmembers will not take public comment during the study session, which will be held on Tues., Jan. 8 at 12 p.m. in Room 16 of Tacoma Municipal Building North, 733 Market St. Audio from the meeting will be broadcast live on TV Tacoma and online at tvtacoma.com. On-demand audio archives are available on the Web within 24 hours of the meeting online at tvtacoma.com. bridge to access the pagoda from the lower Japanese Garden). Alternate parking is available in lot B. More information is available online at MetroParksTacoma.org/Pagoda.