City of Lakewood

City Managers Weekly Info Bulletin 6/20/08

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Category: Weekly Info Bulletins

Published on Thursday, 19 June 2008 17:00

• Summerfest on June 21st, LPD to Host Motorcycle Rally and Ride: The LPD Traffic Unit will host Lakewood’s second Motorcycle Rally and Ride on Saturday June 21st in connection with Summer Fest.
• Lakefront Street Ends: The Parks and Recreation Advisory Board will again review and consider policy recommendations pertaining to the City’s lakefront street ends during its regular meeting on Tuesday, June 24th at 5:30pm in the Council Chambers.
• Association of Washington Cities 75th Annual Meeting: The city manager and Councilmember Finnigan attended the AWC’s annual conference in Yakima this week with 535 participants representing cities around the state. Keynote speakers included Governor Gregoire and Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels. Work sessions covered numerous subjects including situational leadership, citizen communications, capital project planning, new State auditing standards, infill development and downtown housing, “going green”, and the new streamlined sales tax program. The AWC approved its resolutions in preparation for the 2009 legislative agenda. Councilmember Finnigan served on the AWC nominations committee; the city manager is an AWC boardmember and also served on the resolutions committee.
• Claudia Thomas Recognized by Boys and Girls Club: Councilmember Claudia Thomas was recognized this week by the Boys and Girls Club of South Puget Sound for her exceptional leadership in working with and advocating for youth. She was presented the 2008 Community Service Award in front of a large audience at the Tacoma Dome Exhibition Center on June 17th.
• Special Ops Seizure: The LPD Special Ops unit seized 61 guns, 201 marijuana plants and $256,000 in cash over last weekend in a series of warrants after receiving a Crime Stoppers tip about marijuana grow in Lakeview.
• New Police Officers Graduate after Academy Training: Lakewood Police’s two newest officers graduated from the Criminal Justice Training Center this week. Officer’s James Dean and Noah Dier successfully completed five months of required academics and will now begin training with senior officers in the field.
• Code Enforcement Status Report: The City’s Code Enforcement Division is reporting that 138 of 213 cases filed in 2007 have been closed. 75 cases from 2007 are still considered pending. Code Enforcement has received 139 cases so far in 2008, 13 of which have been closed.
• Abatement Update: Following a collaborative inspection with Police, Building Division, and the Health Department, Code Enforcement posted an abatement notice on a property with two collapsing buildings, an occupied travel trailer, and two occupied houses. The septic system was failed and had an illegal repair, resulting in raw sewage piled and discharging onto the ground, and pooling under the main house. One house had a rotten roof and foundation and broken windows, and the other house did not have running water. The houses are rentals, owned by relatives of the occupants. Another house, in the area just north of Lake Steilacoom, will be posted for abatement in the next several days. The house is vacant, the property is piled with garbage, there are several dilapidated structures on the property and there is a large quantity of rotting meat inside and outside the buildings. While preparing the abatement action, Code Enforcement contacted representatives of the bank that is foreclosing on the property, and they have advised that the bank will send a crew out to the property immediately to clean up the garbage and secure the buildings.

City Managers Weekly Info Bulletin 6/6/08

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Category: Weekly Info Bulletins

Published on Thursday, 05 June 2008 17:00

• Lakewood represented on the State’s new Sex Offender Policy Board: Lakewood’s city manager was appointed as the Association of Washington Cities (AWC) representative on the Sex Offender Policy Board, as one of13 voting members from various agencies and associations around the State. The board was recently established by the Legislature as a body to review best practices related to risk assessment and supervision, to conduct case reviews, to develop benchmarks, and to provide a forum for discussion of issues related to coordination and interagency communication. The board is supported by the Sentencing Guidelines Commission and is tasked with reporting to the Governor and Legislature on its work plan by December 1, 2008.
• Lakewood University: The City conducted a two-evening session of Lakewood University at City Hall during the evenings of May 28th and June 4th. The program is a “Local Gov’t 101” approach to a basic understanding of the City and its governmental partners. This was the fifth class, with 20-25 students, and the course evaluations were overwhelmingly positive.
• American Lake Gardens/Tillicum Sewer Project Update: Public Works gave an update on the ALGs/Tillicum Sewer project at the June 5th Tillicum/Woodbrook Neighborhood association meeting. The emphasis was to prepare for the upcoming 18-month construction phase of the project which is anticipated to start later this fall. The group was given a synopsis of what to expect regarding the construction activities, the sequencing of construction work, how the City was proposing to manage the project and who would be their first line of contact. Once a contractor is actually selected, another meeting will be held with all the property owners and tenants who front along the project.
• Meeting with Fort Lewis Garrison Command Staff: The city manager and senior city staff met this week with the deputy garrison commander as well as the public works director, public affairs officer, and the Morale, Welfare, and Recreation office of Fort Lewis this week at City Hall. The agenda included discussion of transportation issues, housing, Tillicum and American Lake Gardens redevelopment efforts. The City and Fort Lewis will meet regularly to coordinate efforts to resolve mutual concerns.
• Camp Murray coordination: The city manager met this week with Adjutant General Tim Lowenberg to review matters of mutual interest between the City and Camp Murray. The redevelopment effort in Tillicum is of major interest to Camp Murray, as are traffic issues around the Berkeley interchange and other key access points around the installation.
• Thank you letters for the PD: Chief Bret Farrar received a letter from the St. Clare Emergency Department commending Officers Brian Weekes and Jeremy Prater on their teamwork and professionalism during an infant death investigation last month. After the officers’ arrival at the hospital, it quickly became evident that the situation had occurred in Tacoma, but hospital staff were especially grateful to both officers for staying and assisting the Tacoma Police Department with what became an extremely volatile situation. Chief Farrar also received thanks from Bonney Lake PD for sending Detective Bryan Johnson to assist with Forensics during a shooting incident there on June 2nd. The mutual aid assistance was truly appreciated and is an example of our cooperative cities approach and what we can achieve together.
• 4th Stryker Brigade 2nd Infantry Division presentation: Mayor Douglas Richardson will host the 4th Stryker Brigade 2nd Infantry Division at “Coffee with the Mayor” on Friday, June 13th at 7:30 am, at the Resource Center at St. Clare Hospital. Our guest speakers will be Major Daniel Dudek and Major Chad Sundem who will talk about the brigade’s deployment to Iraq.
  

City Managers Weekly Info Bulletin 6/13/08

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Category: Weekly Info Bulletins

Published on Thursday, 12 June 2008 17:00

• Management Retreat: City management staff participated in an all-day retreat in town this week which included a workshop on interaction styles facilitated by managers from the City of Shoreline. There were also presentations on strategic issues, lessons from “Good to Great”, and a review of the conceptual and connective age by Jim Keene, the president of the Alliance for Innovation.
• Juvenile Evening Reporting Center: The police chief and city manager met on June 5th with the director of the Pierce County Juvenile Court to further discuss the implementation of an evening reporting center. There are several local counseling agencies interested in providing the service to Lakewood youth who are under the Court’s supervision.
• Community Connector briefing: Three majors from the 4-2 Stryker brigade combat team met with members of the community at the “coffee with the mayor” program, hosted this week by Deputy Mayor Don Anderson, and they provided a briefing on the brigade’s 15-month deployment to Iraq.
• Senior Center Hosts Breakfast: The Lakewood Senior Activity Center hosted a continental breakfast for participants of four Puget Sound area Senior Activity Centers on June 5th. After a morning of ice breakers and great company, the entire group traveled to the Bremerton Senior Center for lunch and entertainment. The stars of the show were the tap dancers who ranged in age from 67-77. More than ten Senior Activity Centers participated in the event.

City Manager's Weekly Info Bulletin 5/30/08

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Category: Weekly Info Bulletins

Published on Thursday, 29 May 2008 17:00

• Fishing Derby at American Lake Park: The Kids’ Fishing Event was held in on May 17th at American Lake North Park, and about 500 youngsters received a rod and reel, T-shirt and fish (up to 2) that they caught for only $5. It was very much a family event as many kids caught their very first fish. The fish were provided by Trout Lodge. Partners in offering this event included CAST for Kid’s, Pierce County Parks, the Department of Fish and Wildlife, and the Clover Park Kiwanis Club who provided lunch to our volunteers. Also assisting with the event was Puget Sound Anglers, the Police Department and their Explorers, and Lakewood Fire Department who provided our first aid station. The City’s offender work crew assisted with the setup and takedown of the event.
• Lakewood University: The fifth class of this “City Gov’t 101” education program was started this week with a class of 30, and the concluding session is scheduled for June 4th. Presenters include Lakewood Fire, the Clover Park School District, Lakewood Water District, as well as City staff from several departments.
• State Archives Grant: The City was awarded a $30,000 grant from the Secretary of State Archives Division to secure temporary help to inventory and create a master index of the City’s permanent building permit files. There are approximately 7,500 building permit files from 1995 to 2003, and since 2003 approximately 6,000 additional building permit files will eventually need to be added to the existing archives. Once a master index is created, the City intends to pursue a subsequent grant request for digital imaging of these records for electronic access and storage.
• Street Ends Report to Parks & Recreation Advisory Board (PRAB): The PRAB reviewed a staff report and recommendations regarding the Waterfront Street Ends, to reflect the completion of the initial analysis and evaluation of sites using consistent criteria. The report and appendices can be found on the City’s website at www.cityoflakewood.us The PRAB will continue to discuss the matter at its June 24th meeting.
• Railroad Improvement Project Coordination: WSDOT Rail Division has merged the over-lapping portion of its railroad improvement project (76th St to Nisqually) with Sound Transit rail reconstruction project from Tacoma to Bridgeport Way. As a result, one bid will be let for the improvement of the rail road tracks from M Street in Tacoma to Bridgeport Way in Lakewood. The bid date is set for this coming August.
• Code Enforcement Abatement Status Report: 13 abatement cases have been initiated in 2008, and two abatements are currently under contract and the cleanups have been done. Five abatement cases are currently in the notification process, and one abatement case is on appeal. Several cases should go out for bid in the next two weeks 11 abatements are in a monitoring status as the owners are in the process of correcting violation.

• Armed Robbery on at 84th and Tacoma Mall Boulevard: A male entered the Shell Station and approached the clerk to buy a box of cigarettes. When the clerk opened the cash drawer for change, the suspect grabbed for the cash drawer. The clerk grabbed his hand and was told “this is a robbery”. The clerk backed away and let the suspect take the drawer. The suspect indicated he was armed with a knife, and he also made statements that he didn’t want to have to shoot anyone. No gun was seen or displayed. During the suspect’s hasty retreat to a get-away car in the casino parking lot, he dropped most of the estimated $50 he had taken and the knife he used during the incident.
• Vehicle prowls: A witness called in reporting three male subjects breaking into cars and he was following them west on 108th. Several units arrived in the area and located three subjects who matched the description. They all fled on foot after dropping a bag full of stolen items. One of the suspects was tazed which had no effect. He tried to walk away and took a swing at an officer. He was tackled and continued to resist for several more seconds. Another suspect was captured and the third suspect was not located.
• Suspicious Persons: A K-9 officer was driving around looking for the third suspect in the vehicle prowls when he noticed 3 male subjects walking across Bridgeport heading towards the 7-11. As they got closer to the store, the subjects covered their faces with bandanas. They then noticed an officer driving by and lowered the bandanas. The officer contacted them and located a gun on one of them. The gun and bandanas were recovered and placed into evidence.