Inside the City 10 June 2021 Edition

Inside the City of Tumwater Date: June 10, 2021 To:

Mayor Pete Kmet City Councilmembers City Employees

From: John Doan, City Administrator

PEOPLE

Matt will continue to focus on being a liaison with the IT staff and building expertise with the software

WELCOME! New Permit Manager Joining Tumwater

Currently a planner with the City of Yelm, Tami Merriman will join the City as our new Permit

Manager. Tami was with Yelm for 20 years and also worked at the City of Ocean Shores. Welcome, Tami!

Congrats to Lt. Ken Driver

Tumwater Police Sergeant Ken Driver has been

promoted to the Lieutenant position made vacant

with Bruce Brenna’s retirement. Ken has been with the Department for 13 years, having come from Shelton

implementation.

Juliann will work with Departments to keep them on schedule and resourced. The ERP upgrade has been in the works for at least the past year and will ultimately

upgrade most central software systems (payroll, general ledger, utilities, fixed assets, permits, etc.). The

implementation will take about three years to complete. The estimated $2 million cost is coming from the General Fund and utilities. Congratulations,

Juliann and Matt – we all look forward to working with you in the coming years.

EVENTS

PD. In his time with Tumwater, he has been a police

Flag Day Ceremony June 14

instructor, FTO, EVOC instructor, FTO supervisor, and

Veterans Council, and the Thurston

officer, detective, relief supervisor, defensive tactics SWAT team member. Congratulations, Lt. Driver!

ERP Managers Appointed

Implementation of the City ERP (Enterprise Resource

Project) continues with the appointment of two internal project managers. Matt Ames and Juliann

VFW Post 318, the Thurston County

County Realtors are hosting the annual Flag Day Ceremony at the Lacey Civic

Plaza near South Sound Center. The

event will be at 4 p.m. sharp on Monday, June 14. The public is invited.

McGarva will be keeping the project moving for the

Recreation Classes Available

our Departments.

catalog of classes and programs. If you have always

City, working with the vendor project manager and

Parks and Recreation has published its summer online wanted to learn ukulele campfire songs—this is your chance. Class size is limited, so register today.

INSIDE THE CITY Illustrating our Mission, Vision, or Beliefs in Action.

Red, White & Blue Drive-Thru

Tumwater’s annual Independence Day Parade will be

making a pandemic-friendly appearance on Sunday, July 4, with the first and hopefully last drive-thru event.

The drive-thru event will be 10 a.m.—1 p.m. at Tumwater City Hall. Pre-registration is required.

Thunder Valley Fireworks Show

Tumwater’s Fireworks Show is back for 2021! While we aren’t holding a festival or a public viewing area for

the show, the fireworks can be seen in places around the City like Tumwater Hill or the North Street area.

PLACES Development Review Committee

The Development Review Committee continues to be busy reviewing potential development:

• The Craft District is proposing a new multi-

As we re-organized the former Public Works Department into Transportation & Engineering and Water Resources & Sustainability, we kept in mind our beliefs in PEOPLE—People, Excellence, Opportunity, Partnership, Learning, and Environment. For example, seizing the opportunity that came with the retirement of a director and lots of outstanding talent in the Department was building on existing Opportunities.

Creating opportunities for employee advancement and allowing each Department to specialize in their focus areas promoted Excellence. Defining pathways for employees to grow and develop is about Learning.

In collaboration with the Teamsters, employees, and leadership in the two departments, we were able to work with the structure of the Operations staff to achieve the following:

family (60 units) complex between the new

• Create opportunities for people to develop professionally and advance.

live-work units along Capitol Blvd.

• Reduce the span of supervision to recognize the growth of the operations crews.

commercial sites at 1589 Israel Road.

• Continue the Public Works restructuring to Transportation & Engineering and Water Resources & Sustainability.

Tumwater Valley Drive and Linwood with several

• Lot line adjustment is proposed to redefine 6 • 8 multi-family units in two buildings at 6820 Littlerock Road.

• 8,500 s.f. tire store at the Pilot Truckstop.

• A manufactured home at 810 5th Avenue SW

• 41 single-family homes at 6139 Kirsop Road as

• Recognizing increased emphasis on water quality and specialized responsibilities, create dedicated stormwater and sanitary sewer crews.

part of Kirsop Crossing Division 3.

• With increasing population and water supply regulations, create a dedicated water quality crew.

Dr. SE

• Establish a lead in transportation and rights-ofway maintenance.

• 30,000 s.f. dental laboratory at 8966 Tradewinds • 20,000 s.f. warehouse for Dairy Fresh Farms at 9636 Blomberg St. SW

• Preliminary Review of “The Cubes at Tumwater” a 1.1 million s.f. warehouse building at 2311/21 93rd Avenue SW

•

What does it mean to keep our beliefs in front of us when we make decisions?

• Create a structure to recognize extraordinary skills, abilities, and experience within certain focus areas, such as traffic signals.

With that in mind, the new structure in Operations includes five new supervising leads over each of the five new crews: Eldon Newell, Street Field Crew Lead – Eldon joined the City in 2008 after owning and running his own contracting business.

Curt Shields, Water Quality Field Crew Lead – Curt started with the City in 2004, and is a certified Water Distribution Manager 4 and Water Treatment Plant Operator 2.

Mike Erickson, Water Distribution Field Crew Lead – Mike started with the City as a maintenance worker in 2007, and has been a crew lead since last autumn.

Mark Teigen, Storm Water Field Crew Lead – Mark was hired with the City in 2008, and currently operates the street sweeper.

Evan Ozasa, Sewer Collections Field Crew Lead – Evan is the newest of our new leads, hired in 2017, and has been working as the collections crew lead since last summer.

New Face Covering Guidance Last week we offered City fully-vaccinated City employees a voluntary option to the face-covering requirement in the workplace. All established City policies and procedures remain in place for self-checks, physical distancing, protective shields, and sanitizing shared spaces. Here’s a few things to keep in mind: • The City will allow employees to wear a mask or

other protective equipment if they choose to; regardless of vaccination status, physical distancing is still required.

• If an employee is not fully vaccinated or their vaccination status is unknown, the City will require masks and physical distancing.

• The City will not fire or discriminate against an employee at high risk of contracting Covid-19 and is seeking accommodation that protects them from COVID-19 exposure.

Customers and Visitors at City Facilities

As a result of the re-organization, numerous other changes to assignments and crews have happened or are being completed, including a range of technicians and specializations. Those will be announced later when completed.

Congratulations to this new group of leads, and thank you to the crew and Teamsters for working with us on this exciting opportunity and the changes that come with it. I believe this is a good improvement and a step forward as we grow and better serve our community.

I also want to recognize the TED and WRS leadership— Dan, Brandon, Mary Heather, and managers Marc Lavack and Steve Craig, the HR Team Eric, Juliann, Tameka, and the former Assistant City Administrator Heidi Behrends Cerniwey for making this happen.

We also implemented guidance for face coverings for government offices that serve customers onsite. This means:

 Customers and visitors must wear face coverings

unless fully vaccinated or otherwise exempt, as provided in the Secretary of Health’s face covering order.  Signs are posted on exterior doors, lobby areas, and customer service counters at City Hall and other facilities informing customers and visitors of the face-covering requirement.  No Inquiry Option: Employees may not inquire about a customer’s vaccination status or request proof of vaccination.