Inside the City 19 August 2021 Edition

Inside the City of Tumwater Date: August 19, 2021 To:

Mayor Pete Kmet City Councilmembers City Employees

From: John Doan, City Administrator

PEOPLE

Daniel and David Joining TED The Transportation and Engineering Department will welcome Daniel Sullivan and David Moorhead as Maintenance Techs. Daniel is currently a Maintenance Engineer at Darigold in Chehalis and previously worked for the City of Olympia Parks Department and has been an aviation mechanic.

Daniel has a degree in Cultural Studies from Evergreen and was working on an automotive technology degree. David is currently working for Olympia Public Works. He previously was a delivery driver for Swire Coca Cola and served in the U.S. Army. He was also a greenskeeper at the Chambers Bay Golf Course and has a degree in horticulture landscape maintenance from Clover Park Technical College.

Welcome, Daniel and David!

Jeff Cota Welcomed to Water Resources

Jeffery Cota comes to Tumwater from the City of Lakewood, where he was a maintenance worker in streets/storm maintenance. He previously did seasonal maintenance work for stormwater in the City of Sammamish. He lives just south of Tumwater along Old HWY 99. Jeff will be a Maintenance Tech in the Water Resources and Sustainability Department.

Welcome, Jeff!

New Planner Joins Community Development

The Associate Planner position in Community Development has been vacant for about the past year and a half, despite one of the largest development runs we’ve had in a long time. Alex Baruch will be joining the department soon in this Associate Planner position, working primarily with new development. Alex has an undergraduate degree in history from Binghamton University and a Master’s in Public Administration from Virginia Polytechnic Institute. He was most recently a Senior Planner with James City County, Virginia.

Welcome to Tumwater, Alex!

Ben Huntley Becomes a Paramedic, Too

Tumwater Firefighter Ben Huntley recently completed nine months of coursework at Tacoma Community College to earn Paramedic Certification. He passed the National Registry Paramedic Exam and Thurston County Protocol test. Ben’s training program was supported by Thurston County Medic One. We are pleased to have Ben in the position of Firefighter/Paramedic providing Advanced Life Support care to the resident of Tumwater and Thurston County.

Congratulations, Ben!

We’re Bringing Brewfest Back!

The Tumwater Artesian Brewfest celebrates the legacy of brewing and its importance to Tumwater's history.

City Employees Step Up to Help Kids

Tumwater City employees and officials stepped up and raised about $2,275 for kids in our school district, and Directors matched the employee contributions with a $1,000 donation. Water Resources & Sustainability Department members raised $315 and will receive ice cream treats! City Police and Fire union members donated $500 to the Little Red Schoolhouse to make sure kids get the supplies they need to be successful in school.

Great job, everyone, and a huge thanks to Tami and Jen for leading the drive!

EVENTS

1-8 p.m.

Saturday, August 21 Tumwater Valley Golf Course Tickets available at

www.tumwaterartesianbrewfest.com

Mark Your Calendars for 9-11 Recognition

September 11th marks 20 years since the tragedy where 2,996 people lost their lives in New York City, Washington, D.C., and Pennsylvania.

Additional public safety personnel lost their lives as a result of responding to the events. The Tumwater Fire and Police Departments will recognize this 20th anniversary with an observance at 12 noon, September 11, at the Fire Station. The public is invited to join us.

Do you know Someone Who Would Make a Great Firefighter?

Firefighting has changed since we all watched John Gage and Roy DeSoto on the television show Emergency! To staff a Fire Department that reflects the diversity of our community, we must help potential candidates learn how the job has changed and the variety of skills and abilities we value beyond fitness and strength that are required.

While fires still occur, most calls are for emergency medical services—car accidents, medical calls, mental health, social services, and eldercare issues. We are always looking for a diverse class of men and women to be the next Tumwater firefighters and paramedics.

A special career event, especially for women, will be this Saturday 10 a.m., August 21. These events are for people interested in learning more about a career in fire and emergency medical services and who have not previously tested or applied for a fire service job.

If you know people interested in this career, encourage them to attend the event or apply. More information at www.TumwaterFireJobs.

Start Rounding Up Your Shred-ables

The annual City Clean-Up, Drop-Off event will be 9 a.m.—12 noon, Saturday, September 25, at Tumwater City Hall. The shredding truck will be there again, and we will be recruiting people to participate.

Please let Todd Anderson in Parks and Recreation know if you want to volunteer.

RFA Planning Committee Launches

The Regional Fire Authority Planning Committee held its inaugural meeting on August 16. The Committee selected Tumwater Councilmember Leatta Dahlhoff as Chair and Olympia Councilmember Yến Huỳnh as Vice-chair. The Committee reviewed a draft Request for Qualifications for consultants to assist with the planning process. The next meeting will be to review the responses to the RFQ. The Planning Committee will guide the investigation of the potential for a Regional Fire Authority to be formed and provide fire and emergency medical services to the community. The Committee has an 18-month timeline to make recommendations back to the City Councils for Tumwater and Olympia.

places DRC Looks at Lots More Residential

The Development Review Committee is looking at a proposal for 106 residential units in a mixed-use development at 6501 Capitol Blvd. It would also include 3,900 s.f. of office/retail and 1,800 s.f. of tenant amenities.

They are looking at a proposal for 372 apartment units on the parcel behind the City shops. It would also include a small grocery store space. They are also looking at a proposal for a 40-lot subdivision on the Hope property on Henderson (where the lawnmower shop is).

There is a proposed 14,000 s.f. warehouse at 8915 Tradewind Dr. SE, a 367,000 s.f. warehouse at 97429744 Blomberg St. SW, and a change of use to allow a church at 208 Tumwater Blvd. S.W. the Committee is reviewing. The warehouse project is probably not viable because of the zoning.

City Applies for Grants

The City has applied for an Urban Sidewalk Program grant for safety improvements around Linwood and accessing Michael T. Simmons Elementary School.

We are asking for $371,250 to go with our $453,000, which is our share. We are also asking for $2.25M from the Urban Arterial Program for the Tumwater Blvd/I-5 Interchange. It would be matched with $4M in local development funds. This project helps support significant industrial, retail, and residential development in that portion of the City. The Port of Olympia provided a letter of support for the Interchange project.

Inside the City Illustrating our Mission, Vision, or Beliefs in Action.

I’ve talked a lot about taking care of each other and taking care of our community. I’d like to focus here on taking care of ourselves – because if we don’t do that, we are in no shape to take care of each other and the community.

In the past week, the City experienced positive COVID19 cases among our employees. We have been working with the affected workgroups on testing, isolation, and monitoring. Fortunately, we don’t know of any spread in the City from those two cases. This illustrates to me that the risk of this pandemic isn’t over, and it is real. The numbers from the County Health Department for our community are frightening: • The Delta variant has 1,000 times the viral load than other strains making it easier to transit; • Thurston County’s percentage of positive tests is at an all-time high of 10.8%: • All the beds at St. Peters Hospital are occupied, and 98% of the ventilators are in use. There are 56 COVID-19 patients at the hospital. Patients with a full range of issues are regularly being diverted to other hospitals.

• At least 95% of the hospitalized COVID-19 patients are unvaccinated.

• All hospitals have significant staffing shortages due to a variety of reasons, including COVID-19 outbreaks.

I see great progress at work with people wearing masks, distancing, following protocols, sanitizing, washing hands, limiting meetings and contact with groups of people, getting vaccinated, and teleworking whenever possible.

If we are going to beat this thing, we have to keep it up – at work and home. I urge everyone to think about their choices away from work. Follow the same protocols – be smart – be careful. That will help us ensure that we can be available and at our best for our co-workers, families and community.

Thank you

TUMWATER FIRE DEPARTMENT

July 2021

July 2021

Message from the Chief

The Tumwater Fire Department is hiring! The Department anticipates hiring for entry-level firefighter positions by the end of the year. More information can be found at www.TumwaterFireJobs.org

Brian Hurley

Operations Division On July 15, around 3 p.m., several brush fires erupted along the I-5 and 101 corridors. In total, 12 fires were discovered along the right side of NB I-5 and US 101. By 6 p.m., all fires had been extinguished. The fires were suspicious in nature, with the Department of Natural Resources and WSP leading the investigation.

JULY 2021 On July 17, Tumwater Fire received mutual aid assistance from West Thurston Regional Fire Authority, Olympia Fire Department, and East Olympia Fire District 6 for a commercial structure fire at Mills and Mills Funeral Home.

The fire was in a separate building on the rear of the property. The fire was suspicious in nature and is under investigation.

Emergency Medical Services Division On July 4, the Department offered COVID-19 vaccinations to the public in collaboration with Providence St. Peters Medical Group. Several community members received their COVID-19 vaccines.

On July 20, staff provided compression-only CPR instruction to 10 area residents. The Tumwater Fire Department offers CPR/AED classes on the third Tuesday of every month at 6 p.m. Contact Thurston County Medic One to sign up.

Captain/MSO Shawn Crimmins taught 16 employees of the Tumwater Chiropractic Clinic compression-only CPR at their location on Saturday, July 24. He also provided one-on-one instruction on the proper use of an Automatic External Defibrillator (AED) machine.

From July 27 through July 30, staff received training on how recently passed legislation will affect how our law enforcement partners are responding to certain emergency calls. The goal of the training was to ensure that our crews remain safe while still addressing the needs of the community.

Crews ran on eight cardiac calls for the month of July.

Training Division A representative from the Board for Volunteer Firefighters came to present their program, goals, objectives, and benefits to the Tumwater Volunteer FFs. The Board provides retirement and injured worker benefits for volunteer firefighters in the State.

Third-quarter assignments were distributed – this included quarterly training on donning and doffing of MSA G1 SCBA (Self-Contained Breathing Apparatus). Staff also trained on the MSA G1 SCBA user manual, care, maintenance, and alarm limits.

FF Dan Ness completed Emergency Vehicle Incident Prevention (EVIP).

This is a required class before being able to drive during emergency responses.

Five employees, Lt. Phinney, Lt. Osberg, Lt. Bates, Lt. Kalar, and PM/FF Sorem, completed their wildland “Red Card” certification. This brings the total number of red card members at TFD to fifteen.

Currently, the Department has seven members enrolled in the Firefighter JATC (Apprenticeship) program, with one member who will start the program in September. We also have seven officers enrolled in the Fire Officer JATC Program.

2

Training

Hours

Administrative

52

Emergency Medical OTEP/In-service

80

Fire Suppression Fire Prevention

44

Special Operations Technical Rescue

0

WAC Requirements

6

Total Hours

182

On July 15, Capt./MSO Shawn Crimmins and Paramedic Lt. James Osberg met with South Thurston Fire and EMS personnel regarding the Advanced Life Support interface on EMS calls.

Tumwater Fire Department paramedics work with Emergency Medical Technicians from all over the County. It is vital to train collaboratively to provide the highest level of EMS service to County residents.

“B” Shift trained on our new HURST E-Draulic extrication tools on Monday, August 2 at Pick N Pull Wrecking Yard. The complement of tools consists of a spreader, cutter, and ram. These tools are used to cut and spread metal to assist in the extrication of patients trapped in motor vehicle collisions. The tools can be used in a wide variety of rescue scenarios. Older tools powered by gasoline hydraulic pumps were replaced with tools powered by high-capacity lithium batteries. These new tools have been placed in service on Tumwater Fire apparatus.

JULY 2021

3

Fire vs. EMS % Monthly Responses by Shift 80 60

74

72

67

63

40 20

32

28

39 25

0

A Shift

B Shift Fire Calls

C Shift

D Shift

EMS Calls

Station T1 and T2 Response Numbers & Times Station

Average response time

ET1 to T1

6:32

ET1 to T2

6:89

ET2 to T1

5:24

ET2 to T2

6:54 Station T1 & T2 Response No.

Call Volume and Response Data

300 250 200 150 100 50 0

251 173

T1 Responses

Total Response for July - 524 Responses by Shift

T2 Responses

Community Outreach, Fire Prevention, and Public Education A Tumwater resident came into the Station with their guardian to fit properly for a reduced-cost bicycle helmet.

A Shift

B Shift

C Shift

D Shift

Four car seat inspections were performed upon request.

Crews attended the City of Tumwater Summer Camp on July 13 at Peter G. Schmidt Elementary.

Police Department Monthly Report

To:

John Doan, City Administrator

From:

Jon Weiks, Chief of Police

Date:

August 15, 2021

Re:

July 2021

CRIMINAL ACTIVITY 2021-1084 Malicious Mischief 3rd, Unlawful Transit Conduct - Tumwater Police Officers were dispatched to a report of a disorderly subject at the Intercity Transit bus stop in the 500 block of Cleveland Ave. The reporting party stated they observed a male at the bus stop smash a beer bottle on the side of the Intercity Transit (IT) bus, and the bottle caused damage. The witness described the suspect. As the Officer arrived in the area, she located a male matching the description in the 700 block of Custer Way. The suspect was known to the Officer from prior contacts. An IT supervisor and the bus driver were contacted. The investigating Officer learned the suspect was angry after being refused a ride on the bus for being intoxicated and disorderly. He started pounding on the door of the bus and demanding they let him on. The suspect then smashed the beer bottle on the bus and walked away. Video of the event was recorded on the bus security system. During the contact with the suspect, he was found to be in possession of additional bottles of beer. The suspect admitted to being involved in the incident. He was advised he was under arrest for the vandalism, and he was issued a citation for Malicious Mischief.

Additionally, the charge of Unlawful Transit Conduct was referred to the Thurston County District Court for consideration. The suspect was notified he was trespassed from all IT property and released.

2021-1107 DUI - A Tumwater Officer was driving westbound on Trosper Road at approximately 0008 hours when he observed the driver of a vehicle ahead of him commit a traffic violation. The Officer activated his emergency lights to conduct a traffic stop. The vehicle driver continued driving westbound and pulled into a gas station parking lot, parking next to the building. The Officer contacted the female driver, who advised she did not have a driver’s license, only a WA State identification card. During the contact, the Officer observed the driver was displaying signs of being under the influence of an unknown substance. He also observed an unopened can of beer resting in the driver’s lap. The Officer asked the driver if she had been drinking, and she said she had not been. The Officer continued his observations of the driver during the contact, and he reported the driver was showing signs of being under the influence of narcotics. The Officer inquired further, and the driver admitted to having used methamphetamine earlier in the day. The Officer requested the driver voluntarily submit to standard field sobriety tests, and she agreed. The driver did not complete all the required tests as instructed. The Officer inquired again about the use of the narcotic. The driver then admitted to using meth a few hours prior, not earlier in the day as

previously reported. The Officer advised the driver she was under arrest for suspicion of DUI. The driver was transported to the Tumwater Police Department and placed in a holding cell. At the same time, the Officer applied for a telephonic search warrant to obtain a blood sample from the driver. Once the warrant was granted, the Officer transported the driver to Capital Medical Center, where the warrant was executed, and a blood draw was conducted by hospital staff. The driver admitted to the Officer that she had an addiction and felt high while driving the vehicle. The driver was cited for DUI and released at the hospital.

PRESCRIPTION DRUG DROP BOX The public deposited 75 pounds of prescription drugs in July and a total of 660 pounds for the year.

BUDGET At the end of the month, the police department budget is 54% spent for the year.

K-9 STATISTICS Our K9 team spent most of the month on vacation and had no deployments.

SRO ACTIVITY Our School Resource Officers are Detectives and have been working in the Investigations Division during the summer break. Their focus is on crimes against minors and then general felony investigations.

CODE ENFORCEMENT Code Enforcement initiated seven new cases this month: construction noise starting too early in the morning; trash, overgrown vegetation, and vehicles on a residential property; running a vehicle repair shop in a residential area; overgrown vegetation and abandoned vehicles on a vacant residential property; roosters in a residential area; vehicle repair/inoperable vehicles in a residential area; and, commercial vehicle noise in a residential area.

Code Enforcement closed three cases this month: Overgrown vegetation blocking a sidewalk was trimmed back after issuing a notice of violation; overgrown vegetation mowed down at an unoccupied residential property after a courtesy letter was sent, and construction noise stopped after consulting with the company about the City noise ordinance.

Code Enforcement currently has 23 open cases.

PERSONNEL • • •

Russ Mize, Officer – 20 years Tim Rios, Officer – 4 years Patrick Long, Service & Transport/Code Enforcement Officer – 3 years

QUANTIFIABLE ACTIVITY

Calls for Service Self-Initiated* Arrests Citations Issued New Cases – Investigations Public Disclosure Requests CPL/Gun Transfers Court Documents Evidence

2021 1591 862 37 20

Monthly 2020 1542 887 47 35

% Changed 3% -3% -21% -43%

2021 10292 8712 306 321

17

12

42%

73

91

112 97 115

180 97 151

Year to Date 2020 10479 8555 433 287

% Changed -2% 2% -29% 12%

113

129

-12%

-20%

619

514

20%

-38% 0% -24%

813 461 838

748 212 1112

9% 118% -25%

Overtime 368 436 -16% 1949 2705 -28% Annual Leave 1049 790 33% 3105 2069 51% Sick Leave 212 86 147% 1404 1060 33% * Self-Initiated includes investigative follow-ups, civil paperwork service, area checks, business checks, school visits, citizen contacts, traffic stops, and backup activity.

TRAINING • • • • •

Two members completed ACCESS Level I refresher training Four members completed internal (legislative update) training One member attended a two-day Social Media/Open Source Investigations course One member continued in the Field Training Program Two TPD members of TCSO SWAT attended monthly training

244 total training hours

COMMUNITY ACTIVITY Detective Tyler Boling, Detective Bryent Finch, and Detective Brandt Baker attended the City of Tumwater Parks and Recreation Camp TumTastic day camp. They met with the kids and talked to them about law enforcement.

COMMENDATIONS/LETTERS OF APPRECIATION Officer Hannah Dale received a letter of commendation from a resident. The resident wrote, “I wanted to let you know Police Officer Hannah Dale, at around 7:35 paid for my soft drink at the Safeway Convenience Store. I didn’t know this until she left the store. What a wonderful act of kindness. Thank you for all your service to our community.”

Transportation & Engineering

Water Resources & Sustainability August 2021

PERSONNEL UPDATES & ANNIVERSARIES David Schwen Maintenance Worker | 08/01/2018 – 3 yrs.

Jeff Query Engineer II | 08/01/2018 – 3 yrs.

Erik Lysne Maintenance Worker | 08/06/2018 – 3 yrs.

STREET OPERATIONS

The City contractor, Apply-A-Line, and Street Crew

members worked to freshen up the lines on our streets.

Over 115 miles were painted – yellow centerlines, white-

edged lines, and skip or dashed lines. This annual work

maintains the infrastructure necessary for safe and efficient travel through Tumwater.

TRANSPORTATION & ENGINEERING ACTIVE CONSTRUCTION PROJECTS 2021 City Pavement Maintenance Project

Work continues on the 2021 Pavement Maintenance

project. All paving for this project is now complete. In

addition, all crack sealing and pavement repair work have been finished. The contractor is scheduled to work on

utility adjustments, pavement markings, and final project cleanup over the next few weeks.

Striping on Linwood Avenue

Capitol Boulevard Corridor Improvements: Trosper Road

Reconfiguration

Demolition

—

Scheduled

Building

As part of the roundabout project that will be constructed at the Interstate 5 / Trosper Road interchange, two

buildings will be demolished to make way for roadway and utility improvements. Project design, schedule, and

bid solicitation were authorized by the Public Works

Committee on August 5, 2021. Staff is working to complete design plans and permitting for this work.

Asphalt paving on Henderson Boulevard and Old Highway 99

Demolition activities are expected to start in October 2021

at 348 Lee Street and 5301 Capitol Boulevard. The City of Tumwater currently owns both properties.

WATER RESOURCES & SUSTAINABILITY Homeland Security Visit to Tumwater

During the last week of July, the City invited the

Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA)

from Homeland Security to perform a walk-through visual inspection of the City water utility. The CISA is an expert

in its field and supports the security and resilience of

critical infrastructure owners and operators. Staff from

CISA toured City Hall, Operations, and most of our water

infrastructure sites and advised on improvements to security protocols already in place. Additionally, the CISA

Pond Restoration Projects Completed

The Storm Crew, led by Mark Teigen, completed several

large storm pond restoration projects, including Irving

Street pond, E Street pond, and a pond on Mottman Road. They have also completed needed repairs to other

storm facilities and worked to mitigate beaver activities in preparation for the rainy season. The Crew has begun

preparations for a ditch maintenance project on Linwood Avenue, too. All of these projects have been coordinated

with support from Water Resources Specialists Dave Kangiser and Matthew Joseph. Way to go, team!

will help the City connect with other agencies and programs to assist with additional support and guidance.

UTILITY OPERATIONS Operations Division Reorganized

On July 1, the Operations Division of the Water Resources & Sustainability Department reorganized maintenance

staff into five new work Crews. The five new groups

include Water Distribution, Water Quality, Sanitary Sewer, Storm Water, and Transportation. Each group has a new Field Crew Lead and support from Fleet and Electrical

maintenance staff.

Irving Street Storm Pond - Before

Water Leak on Littlerock Road

On August 4, Cody Smith received a report of a water leak

on Littlerock Road at the Fred Meyer/Costco intersection.

Cody contacted Mike Erickson, Field Crew Lead, and the

two of them were able to identify and isolate the leak without affecting any customers’ services. Mike Erickson, Rocky Smith, Walter Renaud, Curt Shields, and Erik Lysne

worked through the night on August 5, excavating and completing repairs. The road was reopened the following

morning at 7:30 a.m. During the repair project, the Crew identified a failed valve that will need replacement.

Thank you to everyone involved for their commitment

and dedication to our water service customers and

transportation system users. A true team effort across Department and a great job all around!

Irving Street Storm Pond - After