City Manager's Weekly Info Bulletin 4/23/10

Details
Category: Weekly Info Bulletins

April 23, 2010
WEEKLY INFO BULLETIN
To: Mayor and Members of the City Council
From: Andrew Neiditz, City Manager

  • Police Promotions: Andrew Gildehaus was promoted to Sergeant and Jeff Alwine to Lieutenant on April 16, 2010.
  • April 24 is Parks Appreciation Day: Citizens are encouraged to join us on Saturday, April 24th at the City of Lakewood's 8th annual Parks Appreciation Day celebration. Projects are planned at Fort Steilacoom Park, American Lake Park, the city's Blue Berry Fields and Wards Lake Park, between the hours of 9:00 a.m. and noon.
  • Amtrak Project Open House on May 17th: Residents and businesses are encouraged to learn more about the proposed Point Defiance Bypass rail project by attending an informational open house sponsored by WSDOT on Monday, May 17th from 4-7 p.m. The event will be held in Lakewood at Clover Park Technical College's Rotunda Building (entrance off of Steilacoom Blvd). Those attending can view maps and other displays concerning the project, talk with WSDOT rail division staff, and provide comments.
  • Communications Director to attend National Security Issues Seminar: Communications Director Jeff Brewster, in his Army Reserve status, will be attending the Reserve Component National Security Issues Seminar in Arlington VA later this month. The seminar is presented by the Army War College and is described as a "short version of the war college experience." It is an intensive one-week seminar for selected Reserve Component officers, who are also community leaders, which focuses on contemporary geopolitical issues, the process involved in national security decision-making, and current strategy for meeting U.S. defense needs.
  • LPD sponsors Rape Aggression Defense class: Lakewood Police Department sponsored Rape Aggression Defense (RAD), a self-defense class specifically designed for women. This class is over 12 hours of instruction over four evenings, and is provided at no cost to participants. The current session concluded on April 22nd, with 15 students participating. Instructors for this class include Correne Buck, Dawn McGinnis, and Lt Steve Mauer of LPD and UW police officer Pat Gilbert.
  • CSRT Staff Conduct Graffiti Clean Up In Springbrook Neighborhood: Due to the large amounts of graffiti being observed in District 2, on April 2nd, CSRT members Gail Conelly and Mike Miller conducted a graffiti clean up emphasis in the Springbrook neighborhood. Graffiti was cleaned up off of numerous fences and utility boxes throughout the neighborhood. The area was once again tagged by an incoming gang who is trying to claim the neighborhood as their turf. CSRT covered the graffiti, and contacted the Neighborhood Association to help out. The Pacific/Springbrook Neighborhood Association members are in the process of gathering donated supplies to keep on top of cleaning up the graffiti on their properties as it occurs. In addition, the members are volunteering to help other residents clean up the graffiti on their property, keeping the neighborhood clean and free from graffiti.
  • Litter Clean Up Day by CSRT Staff and Pacific/Springbrook Neighborhood Association: On Saturday, April 3rd, CSRT members Gail Conelly and Doug Price participated in a litter clean up day with the leadership of the Pacific/Springbrook Neighborhood Association. Several bags of litter were picked up throughout the neighborhood. The event was organized by association vice-president John Ruze. The first Saturday of every month was selected as the day for the neighborhood to get together to clean up litter.
  • LPD attends National Tactical Officers Association Class: SWAT Team supervisor Lt Steve Mauer spent the week in a National Tactical Officers Association SWAT supervision and command decision-making class, designed to help SWAT supervisors prepare for collateral duty.
  • WSDOT cancels northbound I-5 closure from concrete panel project: WSDOT is canceling a previously scheduled full closure of northbound I-5 and is planning weather-dependent lane restrictions in Lacey and Lakewood April 23-25. Nearly three weeks have passed since WSDOT and contractor Penhall Company began rehabilitating 25.5 lane miles of concrete between in Thurston and Pierce counties. So far, crews have replaced 85 of 295 concrete panels and 3,018 of 56,700 dowel bars on the project. Southbound I-5 motorists in Lakewood can expect triple-lane closures from 7 p.m. Saturday, April 24 to 8 a.m. Sunday, April 25 between 48th Street and Gravelly Lake Drive. Drivers can expect delays during construction and should either adjust their travel times or avoid the impacted areas of I-5 during work hours. While WSDOT schedules high-impact construction at night - when traffic volumes are lower - the best times to travel northbound I-5 in Lacey and southbound I-5 in Lakewood this weekend are Saturday and Sunday afternoon. Drivers can stay informed about this project, visit the online construction schedule and watch the progress by visiting www.tacomatraffic.com.
  • Country Club thanks City for construction process: The Tacoma Country & Golf Club monthly newsletter featured the president's message with thanks to the City and PSE and their contractors for completing the utility project on schedule and with the minimal possible impact to their course. The message stated also that because of our "timely and conscientious effort", they were able to start planting trees and restoring the course last month.
  • Clover Park Rotary donated roses to Lakewood Police: On April 21st, Clover Park Rotary brought in 150 dozen roses which had been donated by the citizens of Lakewood. Every year, the Clover Park Rotary has a rose sale for Administrative Professional's Day and every year they chose an organization or group who they ask the community to donate roses to. This year they chose the Lakewood Police Department.