Inside the City 22 February 2022 Edition

Inside the City of Tumwater Date: February 22, 2022 To:

Mayor Debbie Sullivan City Councilmembers City Employees

From: John Doan, City Administrator

PEOPLE

Jared Crews 2.0

Jared Crews is returning to the City Transportation & Engineering Department as a design engineer. After being away for a little while and experiencing the private sector, he is back with the City family to help with the many capital projects we have in the works.

Welcome back, Jared!

Department Assistant Joining Community Development

Brittaney Kelton is the new Assistant in the Community Development Department.

She previously held positions at Charles Schwab and with the State Department of Licensing. She also worked as a pawn shop manager. This position is funded by revenue from the significant growth in permitting and building in the City. Welcome,

Project/Asset Accountant On Board Christina

Choate

is

filling

the

Project/Asset

Accountant position, previously held by OngHong Smith. She comes to us from the State Department of Commerce, Pierce County, and the City of Lakewood (not all simultaneously). She has a bachelor’s degrees in information technology and business administration. Her work has included experience with fixed assets, project accounting,

Brittaney—we are glad you are here.

financial statements, and system upgrades. This

Christopher Ed Joins Transportation & Engineering

accounting for major capital projects and manages

Saint

Christina!

Martin’s

position in the Finance Department does the

University

civil

engineering alum, Christopher Ed, is joining us in the open position Engineering,

in

focusing

Transportation on

&

transportation

planning and design. Since 2014, he has been working for Lochner Engineering in Lacey. He’s worked

on

roadway, resurfacing,

pedestrian projects.

and

ADA

He also did an internship

with the City of Lakewood. Welcome, Chris!

the inventory of assets. Welcome to Tumwater

New Face in HR Allison Wright will be helping out the HR Department for the next year in an Assistant position providing support for purchasing, recruiting, and administration. Our HR Team has reduced the number of open positions in the City to 14.

Welcome, Allison!

MPD Funds Parks Maintenance Position

As a result of the Metropolitan Parks District, a second park maintenance position has been added.

Jason Callison has been a seasonal employee with the City and is joining full-time. He has experience with irrigation for the City and on his farm and specializes in irrigation management. Many of us know Jason from when he had his goats at the Cleanup/Drop-off

event.

His

professional

irrigation

management will conserve water, reduce energy consumption, help our grounds and parks look better, and help our athletic fields function better.

PLACES Island Annexations Move Forward

The City has been utilizing new State laws that allow island annexations to be processed in an expedited way. The islands are areas of unincorporated land completely surrounded by the City. Tumwater has a dozen of them, ranging from a single lot to the Trosper Lake Neighborhood. The first step in this new process was adopting an agreement between the City and County, allowing annexation to proceed with only a hearing by the City. Three weeks ago, the City Council and Board of County Commissioners

EVENTS

held

a

public

hearing,

and

last

week

the

Commissioners adopted the agreement proposed

Tumwater University Online The popular Tumwater University is making available encore video presentations from prior years. These are great ways for the public and employees to get quick and easy snapshots of the City story.

by the City Council. The next steps in the annexation

Tumwater University will be in session the week of March 21.

DRC Looks at Projects

History Talks Return

Road for a 48 unit mixed-use building with 870 s.f. of

are potential review by the Boundary Review Board and a City Council public hearing and annexation ordinance for the 11 small islands in March. The large Trosper Lake annexation will happen in May. Thank you to all planning staff and the directors who have been part of making this happen.

The Development Review Committee looked at the feasibility of a mixed-use building at 5945 Littlerock

The Heritage Builders local history program is re-

commercial space and doing a preliminary review of

starting after the COVID disruption. These monthly

a 367,000 s.f. warehouse building at 9742 Blomberg

talks in the “Fireside History” series are hosted online

Street SW. They have also looked at a small addition

from the Schmidt House. They are free, but pre-

to a commercial building for Reliable Electric on

registration is required. This series is a partnership

Lambskin Street and the feasibility of a 100 lot

with the City of Tumwater with support from

subdivision near 54th Avenue SW. Next week, they

Lodging Tax funds.

will do preliminary review of the Velkommen Apartments planned for 7125 Littlerock Road, a 3-

City Receives Grant for Summer Camps The City has received over $35,000 in SEEK grants to support the Tumwater Great Outdoors Teen Camp and the Tumtastic Day Camp, hosted by the Parks & Rec

Department.

Summer

Experiences

and

Enrichment for Kids (SEEK) grants are funded by the Washington Recreation and Park Association, the Association of Washington Cities, and the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction. Thank you to Chad Harvell and Josh Irwin for putting together the application.

story, 20-unit apartment building.

Remember that feasibility is the first level of preapplication review and has the lowest likelihood of becoming a project. Preliminary is the next level, and final review is the last step before actual permits are filed. Smaller projects may sometimes skip steps and move directly to application if there are minimal issues with design and infrastructure.

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

I’m thrilled to tell this story of our employees taking care of each other.

Over the past month, we ended our hold on utility shut-offs. Our Finance employees worked hard to connect people with the funding available at the Community Action Council to help them with COVID impacts or get people on payment plans. Lots of people accessed federal and local funds at the Action Council.

Mike Erickson and the water crew were performing shut-offs. The curb stop broke at this site, infuriating the customer further beyond the shut-off issue. As Mike and the crew were repairing it, the customer sped off, dropping a ramp from his truck in the road.

Mike inferred the customer was heading to City Hall and called Finance staff to inform them. On his way back to City Hall shortly thereafter, Mike brought the ramp to Tumwater Police so they could return it should the customer look for it.

When he arrived at City Hall, the customer confronted Mike outside. Mike noted he tried to de-escalate the situation as best he could and spoke to the customer about carefully driving to avoid injuring his crew or others in the community. The Finance staff report that although the customer had yelled obscenities at one of our employees on the phone earlier in the day, he was calm at the counter with Jennifer Heilman, Gwen Frost, and Doug Sampson—thanks to Mike’s intervention.

Thank you, Mike, for the extraordinary effort to serve our community and keep your crew, other employees, and the community safe! Those actions thoroughly embody our belief in PEOPLE. In the words of Accounting Supervisor Heilman, “Thank you for acknowledging the wonderful support Mike E and his crew provide. We are so grateful to have such a wonderful team!!!”

As for our utility shut-offs, we never want to shut off customers’ utilities. We spent several months reaching out to customers to make them aware of resources and payment plans. We had 403 customers behind on their bills worth about $369,526 owing at the peak.

Prior to COVID, we typically had people carrying about $100,000. With the help of our Community Action Council, Thurston County, and their federal funds, we made resources available to people behind on their bills because of COVID. By shut-off day, we had reduced the list of potential shut-offs from 350 to 338, and it dropped by 12 as customers paid at the very last minute.

At the close of business on shut-off day, after more people came in and paid their bills, we were left with only 59. Two days later, there were only 15 meters that were shut off. Some of those are vacant houses, irrigation meters, and other similar meters.

Thank you, Finance Team, for being so diligent in working with our customers to make them aware of resources and payment plans to keep people supplied with water.

TUMWATER FIRE DEPARMENT

FEBRUARY 2022

Sustainability, and TCOMM 911 play critical roles.

Tumwater Fire Department will continue efforts to enhance programs and services to maintain the highest level of service possible while improving our protection class rating.

OPERATIONS MESSAGE FROM THE CHIEF What is a community fire protection class rating? The Washington Survey and Rating Bureau (WSRB) regularly evaluates the fire-protection capabilities of every community in Washington State. The WSRB is an independent, not-for-profit organization whose evaluation criteria is approved by the Washington State Office of the Insurance Commissioner. Most insurance companies use WSRB Protection Class ratings and data to evaluate property risk and set fire insurance premiums.

The City of Tumwater currently has a community Protection Class (PC) rating of 4 on a scale of 1 to 10, lower being better. About 20% of communities evaluated in the state have a PC rating of 4 or less. The City of Olympia currently has a PC rating of 2 and Lacey a rating of 3. The PC rating applies to dwellings and commercial properties located within a five miles radius of a fire station, with adequate fire hydrants and water supply. Properties not meeting those requirements may receive a different rating. Tumwater was last evaluated in 2018 and is scheduled for re-evaluation in 2023. Departments are rated in four areas: 1.

Fire Department: Distribution of stations, staffing levels, equipment, and personnel training.

2.

Water Supply: Water flow capacity, fire hydrant location, and maintenance.

3.

Emergency Communications System: Dispatching system, staffing, and training.

4.

Fire Safety Control: Fire and building code enforcement, fire investigation, and public fire education programs.

Providing the highest level of service to the community is a collaboration across City Departments and partner agencies. Community Development, Water Resources &

On a sunny afternoon in January, Tumwater Fire Department crews responded to a residential structure fire. Light smoke was coming from the home when firefighters arrived. The homeowner stated there was a cloth heating pad in the warming tray of their stove that had ignited. Firefighters were able to contain the fire to the oven, countertops, and cabinets.

Structure fire contained to stove, cabinets, countertops, and wall.

In January, heavy rains, snow, and rising rivers caused several residences and properties to flood. Lieutenant Jon Kalar assisted with the flood response at the Emergency Coordination Center for West Thurston RFA.

Tumwater residence and vehicles submerged in floodwaters.

FIRE PREVENTION Was your home built before 2012?

If so, your smoke and carbon monoxide detectors may be expired! Most residential detectors have a life span of only ten years. If they are older, they may cause a false alarm or not work at all.

With daylight savings time rapidly approaching, it’s a great time to replace the batteries and check the manufacture date of your detectors. The date is printed on the back of the detector, along with an explanation of what to do if it malfunctions. The Department responded to 839 false alarms over the last three years. The Department plans to reduce false alarm activations by completing annual fire safety inspections of commercial occupancies, educating homeowners of residential properties, and promoting a smoke detector replacement program for residents needing assistance.

The Department has resumed CPR classes at area schools.

Several of our Firefighters and Paramedics taught CPR classes to Tumwater High School students during January.

ANNUAL RESPONSE DATA Calls for service for the Department increased by 510 between 2020 and 2021. The trend of increasing call volume returned in 2021. Data for most fire agencies in the region showed a decline in responses in 2020 but are returning to pre-pandemic trends.

Tumwater Fire Department Responses 6,000 5,000

5,877

5,926

5,416

4,794 4,099

4496

4,000 3,000 2,000 1,000

400683

579738

638792

2019

2020

2021

0

Contact the Fire Prevention Office at (360) 754-4176 if you have any questions or need assistance.

COMMUNITY OUTREACH The Department and Medic One hosted a CPR class on January 18. Classes are offered on the 3rd Tuesday of every month at 6:00 p.m. at Station T1.

Residents wanting to take a class can contact Medic One at (360) 704-2780 to reserve their spot.

Firefighter Dante Cammarata and Paramedic Monte Sorem teaching a CPR class at Tumwater High School.

City Responses Medic 5 responses in County Medic 14 responses (Stationed in County) Totals

Police Department Monthly Report

To:

John Doan, City Administrator

From:

Jon Weiks, Chief of Police

Date:

February 15, 2022

Re:

January 2022

CRIMINAL ACTIVITY 2022-0072/Assault 1st - Tumwater officers were dispatched to a local restaurant to a reported weapons violation. When officers arrived, the suspect had already fled the location, and officers contacted the employees inside the business. Employees reported a male had approached the restaurant doors and attempted to make entry, but the lobby was closed due to staffing issues. The suspect demanded entry to use the restroom, and he was notified the lobby was not open. The suspect again demanded entry and made a threat. The on-duty manager told him to leave, and they observed him pull out a firearm. The employees retreated, and the suspect fired a round into the glass door. Employees took cover in the back of the business until law enforcement arrived. Officers investigated the scene, recovered the bullet, and developed probable cause to arrest the suspect. A short time later, a witness called to report a possible suspect walking southbound in the 6100 block of Capitol Blvd. . Officers arrived in the area and determined the person matched the suspect's description. Orders were given to the suspect to stop, but he continued walking away. Officers followed and provided orders to the suspect until he ultimately complied and was taken into custody without injury. The suspect was non-compliant, yelling and making derogatory and offensive comments to one of the officers while being searched for weapons. The officer recovered a .45 caliber handgun from the suspect's waistband of his pants as he continued to yell and try to stop the search. Officers found baggies in the suspect's possession that contained a white substance believed to be methamphetamine. An employee of the restaurant was transported to the scene and positively identified the suspect. The suspect was transported and booked at the Thurston County Jail for Assault 1st while armed with a deadly weapon, Possession of a Firearm without a CPL, and Malicious Mischief.

2022-0111 Assault 1st- DV/Attempted Kidnapping - Tumwater officers were dispatched to a local hardware store for a weapons violation. Upon arrival, officers made contact with the victim. The female victim reported she had agreed with her ex-boyfriend to meet at the location to collect her hedgehog from him. When she arrived, her friend who was driving pulled up next to the suspect's vehicle, and the victim got out and approached the car on the passenger side. She talked to her ex-boyfriend through the window, and he told her the hedgehog was under the tarp in the backseat. She observed the second suspect when she opened the backdoor and lifted the tarp. The ex-boyfriend ordered her to get into the car. The victim fled back to her friend's vehicle. The suspect put his vehicle in reverse and fired shots at

the victim, striking the front side windows and the vehicle's front passenger door. Officers conducted the initial investigation, and Detectives were contacted to respond and continue the investigation. Based on the developed probable cause, an arrest warrant was issued for the ex-boyfriend. Three days later, an Olympia officer located a second vehicle belonging to the ex-boyfriend, leaving a residence in Olympia. A traffic stop was conducted, and an uninvolved person was contacted. She provided information that the two suspects were in the residence she had just left. A perimeter was established around the residence, and the homeowner exited the residence and confirmed the suspects were still located inside. With the assistance of the Olympia Police Department and Thurston County Sheriff's Office, officers attempted to call the suspects out of the residence, and they were met with no response. The Thurston County SWAT team and HNT were activated and responded to assist. While on the scene, the female driving the suspect's car returned to the scene and advised HNT members that the suspect was on the phone. The HNT was able to get the suspect to surrender to law enforcement, and he was taken into custody without further incident. The second suspect also exited the residence a short time later without incident. The exboyfriend was booked at the Thurston County Jail for Assault 1-DV, Assault 1, Drive-by Shooting, Attempted Kidnapping, and Unlawful Possession of a Firearm. The second suspect was arrested for Rendering Criminal Assistance in the 1st Degree. Detectives were able to locate and recover the 9mm handgun used in the shooting.

PRESCRIPTION DRUG DROPBOX The public deposited 70 pounds of prescription drugs in January.

BUDGET At the end of the month, the police department budget is 7% spent for the year and 49% spent for the biennium.

K-9 STATISTICS 1 Tracking/Deterrent deployment  Tumwater officers responded to a felony harassment/threats to kill complaint in the area of Derby Lane S.W. Upon arrival in the area, an officer encountered the very large male suspect while speaking with the victim. The victim reported the suspect threatened him with a fixed-blade knife.

The suspect began approaching the officer and threatened to kill her with a knife. The officer retreated to her vehicle to create distance between herself and the suspect. The suspect then fled the area on foot. Officer Mize and K9 James responded to the scene to assist in locating the suspect. Officer Mize deployed K9 James at the last known location of the suspect. K9 James acquired the suspect's scent and began tracking the suspect. K9 James tracked the suspect to a residence familiar to officers. The residence was known to house an adult male with mental health issues and his mother. Officers approached the residence and spoke with the suspect's mother, who initially denied the suspect was at the residence. However, she eventually advised officers she was afraid of her son and admitted he was inside taking a shower. The mother evacuated the residence with an officer while officers began hailing the suspect. The suspect did not respond to multiple attempts to talk to him. Officers then applied for and were granted a search warrant to enter the residence to arrest the suspect and attempt to locate the knife. Due to a number of factors regarding the suspect, a callout of Thurston County SWAT was initiated. SWAT members responded to the scene and eventually took the suspect into custody without incident. Officer Mize and K9 James assisted SWAT by staging just outside the residence.

1 Tracking  Assisted the Thurston County Sheriff's Office with locating two suspects involved in a stabbing.

Officer Mize responded to the scene and deployed K9 James at the crime location (railroad tracks near Pattison Lake). Officer Mize gave K9 James a track command, and K9 James acquired the suspects' scents. K9 James tracked the suspects into a nearby residential area and past several homes before losing the track in front of a residence. It was believed the suspects had fled in a vehicle at that location.

1 Narcotics Detection •

Assisted a Tumwater officer with a free-air sniff around the exterior of a vehicle the officer had impounded. The officer believed the vehicle was an unreported stolen vehicle. Officer Mize responded to the impound yard and deployed K9 James around the vehicle's exterior. K9 James provided alerts to the presence of narcotics inside the vehicle. Officer Mize provided the officer with a probable cause statement to support a search warrant application, and then he left the area. The officer later applied for and was granted a search warrant for the vehicle. The search of the vehicle resulted in the discovery of multiple syringes and a narcotics kit.

1 Evidence Search •

Assisted Tumwater officers locating any possible evidence an Assault 1st suspect may have discarded prior to being taken into custody. The suspect had fled the scene on foot and was apprehended approximately one-half mile away. Officer Mize responded to where the suspect was taken into custody and deployed K9 James. K9 James was able to acquire the suspect's scent and track the suspect from the arrest location back to the crime scene; however, no additional evidence was located.

SRO ACTIVITY School Resource Officer Tyler Boling assisted in several health classes at Bush Middle School by addressing the abuse of drugs and alcohol.

The School Resource Officers investigated the following incidents this month: •

•

•

SRO Boling located a student who had been reported as a runaway. This student had shown up for school while he was suspended. SRO Boling contacted the student's mother by phone, who refused to pick up her son. SRO Boling provided the student with a courtesy transport home.

School Resource Officer Rosco Rollman investigated a harassment complaint at Black Hills High School involving a possible hate crime. SRO Rollman completed an informational report documenting what occurred. The victim refused to cooperate with the investigation and reported it was a mutual joke between them and the suspect.

SRO Rollman investigated a report of a Protection Order violation at Black Hills High School. A student was previously a victim of an assault that had resulted in the suspect being incarcerated.

Through a third party, the suspect violated the protection order by trying to intimidate the victim into dropping the assault charges.

CODE ENFORCEMENT Code Enforcement opened four new cases this month: •

Campers and trailers being lived in on a partially developed commercial property

• • •

Graffiti on the exterior of a vacant commercial building Inoperable vehicles parked in the driveway of a residence and the City right-of-way Trash and broken glass in the landscaping of a retail business

Code Enforcement closed two cases this month: • •

Multiple campers and trailers on the property were not found to be occupied Feather flags were removed from outside of a business upon issuance of a courtesy letter

Code Enforcement currently has 13 open cases.

QUANTIFIABLE ACTIVITY

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

Monthly 2022 1,395 900 24 18 20 90 122 66 124

2021 1,488 1,511 52 54 17 86 116 72 116

% Changed -6% -40% -54% -67% 18% 5% 5% -8% 7%

Overtime Annual Leave Sick Leave

523 298 459

502 130 167

4% 129% 175%

Year to Date 2022 2021

% Changed

*Self-Initiated includes investigative follow-ups, civil paperwork service, area checks, business checks, school visits, resident contacts, traffic stops, and backup activity.

PERSONNEL Carlos Quiles, Lieutenant – 20 years Elizabeth Anderssen, Police Services Specialist – 8 years Chase Grimmett, Officer – 3 years TRAINING • • • • • •

One member completed ACCESS Level 1 recertification One member completed a five-day Peer Support for 1st Responders course One member completed a two-week Patrol Tactics Instructor course One member completed Draeger/SFST recertification Four TPD members of Thurston County SWAT attended monthly training Seventeen members attended an internal training day consisting of Patrol Tactics; Defensive Tactics; Legislative Update; WRAP-Spithood-Hobble restraint; and Capitol Metro Independent Investigation Team overview

323 total training hours COMMENDATIONS/LETTERS OF APPRECIATION Officer Jacob Rodriguez received a verbal commendation from a resident he assisted at the scene of a collision. The resident called and spoke with Lt. Driver. She described Officer Rodriguez as calm, polite,

very kind, and really professional during his interactions and nice to all involved. The resident was impressed with Officer Rodriguez's demeanor and how she was treated. She wanted to pass along to his supervisors how much she appreciated his response.

Officer Stacy Brown received a letter of appreciation from the son of a suicidal subject she assisted in finding help. The son wrote, "I wanted to inform you that my mother is much better today, stable, and we've had several conversations regarding triggers and what occurred before the event. At this time there's a lot to work on, but we're in a much better space. I'll be in town for a while to keep her company.

Please know that you have my gratitude and appreciation. In my viewpoint, you not only provided a much needed service to two people in need, but you did so with sympathy, professionalism, and kindness.

Thank you and know that you made a difference yesterday."

Transportation & Engineering Water Resources & Sustainability February 2022 PERSONNEL UPDATES & ANNIVERSARIES Marc LaVack TED Operations Manager | 02/04/1991, 31 yrs.

Sustainability

Rocky Smith WRS/TED Locator | 02/18/2003, 19 yrs.

Month Year

Shaun Carney WRS Maintenance Tech II | 02/02/2015, 7 yrs.

Brian Frankowski TED Maintenance Tech II | 02/16/2017, 5 yrs.

Joseph Norman Engineer II | 02/10/2020, 2 yrs.

5301 Capitol Boulevard – Active demolition of existing building

TRANSPORTATION & ENGINEERING PROJECTS IN DESIGN

Interstate 5 / Trosper Road / Capitol Boulevard Reconfiguration Project

Interstate 5 / Trosper Road / Capitol Boulevard

The City Transportation and Engineering Department has

Reconfiguration Project – Building Demolition

completed review of the 90% plans, estimates, and

The building demolition project is currently underway, and the contractor is actively working at two separate sites: 5301 Capitol Boulevard and 348 Lee Street. At the 5301 Capitol Boulevard site, the existing building has been razed and materials have been hauled away. The contractor is currently backfilling excavation on the site and completing the final removal of surface features. At the 348 Lee Street site, the contractor has razed the first of two buildings and is preparing to haul waste material from the site. The demolition project is scheduled to be completed by the end of February.

specifications for this project and is actively working with the consultant on comment resolution and document completion. Construction on this project is scheduled to begin in 2022.

Capitol Boulevard, Israel Road to M Street Design This project includes proposed improvements to Capitol Boulevard from Israel Road to M Street. The project will consist of full corridor improvements along Capitol Boulevard to provide access control and increased pedestrian facilities. The main design focus has been on the roundabout improvements to the Capitol Boulevard and X Street intersection. The City is working with the design consultant to refine design elements of the roundabout, working towards a 30% design. With this effort, design alternatives are being evaluated to limit property impacts to adjacent businesses. The intention is to begin right-of-way coordination later this year.

348 Lee Street – Demolition begins on building 1

WATER RESOURCES & SUSTAINABILITY

impeding stormwater flow. The crew has completed many improvements around the City, with observed successes

OPERATIONS

during the recent flooding in early January. Great

Cody Smith Welcomes Baby Boy!

teamwork by all.

Cody and Ashley Smith welcomed the first addition to

Surface Sewer Overflows and Response

their family on January 17. Their baby boy greeted the world happy and healthy. Congratulations, Cody and Ashley.

The City is Electrifying Its Fleet!

WRS/TED Operations are replacing two existing fully electric F150 pickups and adding two new fully electric F150 pickups to the Operations fleet. Additional charging stations are being installed to accommodate the new vehicles expected to arrive later this year.

When sewer lines become impacted by debris (usually by items flushed down toilets that should not be), they can back up with sewage and overflow above ground through sewer maintenance holes or cleanouts, these events are better known as a Sanitary Sewer Overflow (SSO). SSOs are rare and typically affect a small area, usually immediately around the cleanout, and are easily cleaned up.

In some situations, the overflow makes its way to stormwater infrastructure for example, a catch basin and water bodies such as rivers, creeks, and streams. For such incidences, the City has a spill response protocol that is initiated with several steps to eliminate, clean, report, and monitor the overflow. This includes, but is not limited to: 

New electric pickup

Water With support from other crews, Mike Erickson and the Water Distribution crew installed a new water service to connect the Velkommen Mobile Home Park on 70th Avenue to City water. The mobile home park was previously served by a private well that will be disconnected. The mobile home park is considering connecting to the City sewer next and plan to abandon the community septic system that currently serves the park.

Storm Mark Teigen and the Stormwater crew, with David Kangiser and Matthew Joseph’s support, breached another beaver dam at the railroad trestle near 66 th Avenue and installed a flow leveler device that allows the beavers to continue their dam-building work without

 

Notifying appropriate State and county environmental and health agencies of the spill Cleaning the affected infrastructure Monitoring for the presence of E. coli bacteria (a potential indicator of sewage contaminated water)

When State safety thresholds for E. coli are exceeded, Thurston County Public Health and Human Services will issue a Public Health Advisory that explains the potential impact to the community. Further water quality testing is typically done weekly until E. coli levels fall below State thresholds. Through proper planning and response, the City is able to reduce the environmental and health impacts from SSO events.