Lakewood City Manager Publishes Weekly Bulletin For April 17

Press release from the City of Lakewood:

April 17, 2020

The city of Lakewood was awarded a $350,611 grant from the Department of Housing and Urban Development through its Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program as part of the federal CARES Act. This money is specifically for assistance related to COVID-19 impacts in one of all three of the following categories:

1. Public Services;
2. Housing;
3. Economic development.

The Lakewood City Council is investigating using the entire grant amount for emergency economic development assistance for small businesses in Lakewood. The assistance would either be a cash award or a no-interest loan of up to $10,000.

Whichever option the council chooses, special attention will be given to assure the program is available to all qualifying Lakewood businesses. The goal is to design a program that keeps administrative costs low, simplifies the application process and provides the financial award as quick as possible.

The City Council is expected to make a decision at its May 4 regular meeting (conducted via Zoom and livestreamed on the city’s YouTube channel).

The grant allocation from the federal government is not as large as the city would prefer, as there are countless struggling businesses that need assistance currently, however the City Council is committed to helping where it can in this time of need.

Road work continues on Onyx Drive, Steilacoom Boulevard

The city’s contractors working on road improvement projects on Onyx Drive and Steilacoom Boulevard will continue with their work next week, which could impact travel for those accessing essential services.

Specifically, 88th Street will remain closed at its intersections with Steilacoom Boulevard and Custer Road between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. Local access will be granted to residents and for deliveries. Through traffic is not allowed.

This full closure allows the contractor to complete the storm drainage improvements quicker and provide a safer work environment for its crew.

This project involves the widening of Steilacoom Blvd./88th St. between Weller Rd. and Custer Rd. for the inclusion of bike facilities and 5-foot wide concrete sidewalks. It also includes curb and gutter, street lighting, traffic signal upgrade, along with associated storm drainage improvements, bridge modifications to Chambers Creek Bridge and pavement rehabilitation and overlay.

On Onyx Drive, residents can expect to see tree removal begin next week as the contractor continues to prepare the public right-of-way for the addition of sidewalks, street lighting and other improvements.

Approximately 190 trees need to be removed, as determined by an arborist. The majority of the trees to be removed are less than 12 inches in diameter, three are greater than 36 inches in diameter.

In some instances mailboxes may be placed on temporary stands if they are in the way of the contractor’s work. Eventually mailboxes will be consolidated into a clustered mailbox.

Both road improvement projects are allowed under Gov. Jay Inslee’s Stay Home, Stay Healthy order.

Read more about the Onyx Drive project on the project website.

Stay strong Lakewood

This week Gov. Jay Inslee reinforced the need for Washingtonians to remain home. While data from state health officials indicates the state Stay Home order is having a positive impact on limiting the spread of the COVID-19 virus across the state, if people stop abiding by the stay home order we could see those numbers climb quickly, Inslee said.

The city urges residents to continue to remain home except for essential services, including limited trips to the grocery store, pharmacy or for medical treatment. The Stay Home, Stay Healthy order is in effect until May 4 and Inslee could extend it if it appears people aren’t staying home, causing the virus to spread.

Inslee also noted this week that once it is safe to do so, he will lift some of his directives, however they will likely be rolled back in phases similar to how they were implemented. With each roll back data will be studied to determine whether the virus begins to spread again.

It is hard to stay inside when the sun is shining and the temperatures are warm, but people need to keep to their neighborhoods and refrain from going to public places. And if you do have to go somewhere like the grocery store where social distancing is difficult, please wear a cloth mask over your nose and mouth to help limit the spread of the virus.

Other tips for staying safe at home from the Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department:

• Designate one person to do your grocery shopping/essential service errands.
• Don’t use reusable bags unless they are washable.
• Regularly disinfect car after leaving the house for essential errands, including seatbelts, door handles, steering wheel and other high-touch areas.
• Use hand sanitizer after leaving car.
• Take shoes off before entering your house and change your clothes (wash what you were wearing).
• Wash your hands often (20 seconds, warm, soapy water).
• Cover coughs/sneeze with an elbow or tissue and throw away tissue and wash hands.
• Protect family members over 60, pregnant or with weakened immune systems by keeping six feet away from them as much as possible.
• Clean and disinfect bathrooms, kitchens and surfaces people touch often with EPA-approved COVID-19 cleaning products.

Please Lakewood, stay home so we can stop the spread of COVID-19. We are in this together.

City Council April 20 virtual meeting

At its virtual regular meeting Monday the Lakewood City Council is expected to award a $6 million contract to Miles Resources LLC for the construction of the Veterans Drive road improvements.

Once awarded a timeline will be presented by the contractor to the city and notice will be provided to residents around when construction is expected to begin on this major road improvement project. Work will span Veterans Drive from the entrance of the VA Hospital to Gravelly Lake Drive. To read more about this project view its project page on the city’s website.

The council’s regular meeting will be held virtually so that the city can continue to conduct necessary business while still abiding by Gov. Jay Inslee’s Stay Home, Stay Healthy order. Under the order in-person attendance by members of the public is NOT permitted at this time.

Residents can virtually attend City Council meetings by watching them live on the city’s YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/cityoflakewoodwa

Those who do not have access to YouTube can call in by telephone via Zoom: Dial +1 (253) 215- 8782 and enter participant ID: 151-082-920.

Participation in public comments and public testimony on public hearings will only be accepted via email at this time. Comments should be sent to City Clerk Briana Schumacher at bschumacher@cityoflakewood.us.

Comments received up to one hour before the regular meeting will be provided to City Council electronically. Comments received after that deadline will be provided to the City Council after the meeting.

City Council meeting agenda and materials can be found here.

Upcoming meeting cancellations

A number of upcoming city advisory board and commission meetings are canceled due to the need for social distancing and for the public to stay home. They include:

• Landmarks & Heritage Advisory Board April 23 meeting.
• Parks and Recreation Advisory Board April 28 meeting.
• Lakewood Arts Commission May 4 meeting.

Join the Pierce County Library System Board of Trustees

Looking for an opportunity to give back to the Pierce County community and help lead valued services for 614,000 children and adults? Apply to be a Board of Trustee with the Pierce County Library System.

“If you are an engaged leader, seeking a community-focused way to give back and be a significant part of your community, you are an ideal candidate for the Library’s Board of Trustees,” said Library Executive Director Georgia Lomax. “The successful applicant will help shape and guide library service throughout unincorporated Pierce County and 15 cities and towns annexed to the Library System.”

The Board of Trustees oversee the Library System’s commitment to thoughtfully invest the public’s funds in highly valued library services‒services the public selected as their top priorities.

Trustees’ responsibilities include:

• Advocating for library services.
• Setting goals and charting courses.
• Approving budgets.
• Adopting policies.
• Planning for future directions.

Trustees must live in the Library’s service area. Trustees are non-paid positions and are appointed to a five-year term, with an opportunity to serve up to two consecutive terms.

Learn more. Applications must be received by Friday, May 15, 2020

Give Big: Emergency Food Network

GiveBig2020 is an annual day of giving where the community can join together and make a difference in the lives of our neighbors in need.

Due to the coronavirus pandemic, the event has been extended to two days this year: May 5 and 6.

The Emergency Food Network is accepting donations now, which will be processed on May 5 and 6, for those who want to help.

One in seven people and one in five children in Pierce County are food insecure, according to EFN. This number is increasing rapidly due to the COVID-19 pandemic and EFN’s work to address this heightened need is only beginning.

Each year EFN provides 14 million pounds of food to food pantries and meal sites ensuring the community receives the nutritious food they need to stay healthy.

A donation will help ensure this continues, as well as meets the growing needs of our community. According to EFN, $1 equals five meals for those in need.

This year, the Simply Organic Giving Fund is matching the first 25,000 meals donated through GiveBig, which means your contribution will go even farther.

Learn more here.

‘See it, Snap it, Send it’

If you encounter a business or person inflating prices, take a picture with your phone or screen grab an image of the price gouging and attach it to the online reporting form available here on the Attorney General’s website.

Pictures and screenshots are useful tools for investigators tasked with looking into price-gouging complaints. Any additional information, like the brand and size of the product being sold, and, if it is known, what that store charged for the product before the current pandemic outbreak, is also helpful.

Price gouging during an emergency violates the Consumer Protection Act’s prohibition on unfair business practices.

The Attorney General’s office can only process complaints that involve either Washington state residents or businesses located in Washington.

Read more.

See a business violating ‘Stay Home’ order? File a complaint

A full list of what businesses are essential is available on the state website here. Businesses are asked to review the list and then determine whether they fall into the essential or non-essential category.

It is up to businesses to make the decision to close, not local jurisdictions or local police.

Residents concerned that non-essential businesses are violating the order to shut down can now file an online complaint. State agencies will contact the businesses to provide guidance and information around how to comply with the order.

The goal is for everyone to comply voluntarily, however if a business continues to “willfully and flagrantly” violate the order and create a public health risk, stricter enforcement actions could follow, according to the governor’s office.

Under the state emergency proclamation willful violation of the order is a gross misdemeanor, which carries a sentence of up to 364 days in jail and a $5,000 fine.

Lakewood scenes for your next Zoom conference call

Conducting a lot of video conference calls lately? We have some great virtual backgrounds for you to try for your next Zoom meeting!

Download our Lakewood themed background today.

TO ADD TO ZOOM

1. Download and save one or all of the images below. Open your Zoom account, and under the settings menu look for the option “Virtual Backgrounds”.
2. Click “Add Image” then select the image you want.

For system requirements and troubleshooting, read more from Zoom here.

Postponed: Lakewood Night Market

Due to the uncertainty around Coronavirus and restrictions of public gatherings the city of Lakewood postponed opening night of its new Lakewood Night Market.

A new date will be announced in the future. We are excited to celebrate this new event with the public and encourage everyone to stay tuned to the city’s social media channels and its website for the announcement of when the market will launch.

The Lakewood Night Market will be held the first and third Friday of every month from 3 to 7 p.m. and will include family-friendly activities and entertainment, along with a variety of vendors for people to shop.

Interested in being a vendor? Submit this vendor application. View the Night Market website for market dates and market updates.

How to help or get help

Looking for ways to help your community during this time? Or are you looking for assistance?

Pierce County created a website with information about how to donate to area food banks, including Emergency Food Network based in Lakewood, and a fund set up specifically to assist the human services needs facing our community in light of COVID-19 impacts.

There are also resources for individuals and businesses looking for more information about available financing and public assistance options.

View the website.

Census 2020: Are you counted?

Have you filled out your household’s 2020 Census questionnaire?

We need every person in our community to be counted. It takes about 10 minutes to participate, but the impact the data will have on our city will last for decades.

There are three easy ways to participate in the census:

1. Answer online at www.2020census.gov
2. Call toll-free to 844-330-2020 (English) or 844-468-2020 (Spanish). Call centers are open from 4 a.m. to 11 p.m.
3. Return a paper form via the mail if you received a paper form in the mail.

The census is critical to our community. In 2018, Washington received more than $16 billion in federal funding based on Census data. Those funds are for critical programs like Medicare, school lunch programs, Head Start, transportation funding programs and more. Your personal information is kept private for 72 years – no one in the Census Bureau can release your personal information.

The census is easy, safe and important. Please make sure you are counted. If you have questions or want more information, please visit www.2020census.gov.

Thank you for your support and for helping make our community a better place to live!

SummerFEST 2020 vendor applications now available

Applications for market vendors and food vendors are now available for SummerFEST 2020.

Over the course of the all-day event more than 40,000 people visit Fort Steilacoom Park to participate in the fun — most of it free! There is live entertainment on two stages, including cultural performances at the Lakewood Sister Cities International Festival, a kid zone with inflatable toys and pony rides, food trucks, market vendors, a classic car show, roaming entertainers, free activities, movie at night and more.

Market vendors can participate in the free Passport to Sports & Arts, which sends passport holders on a scavenger hunt through the festival to different vendor booths to try a new sport or arts and crafts activity. This is a great way for children to learn a new skill, and vendors to get their product in front of a larger audience.

Download the market vendor application and the food vendor application today. Deadline to submit a hard copy is May 15, 2020.

Veterans Brick Update

Did you purchase a brick to be engraved on the Veterans Memorial located outside Lakewood City Hall in Lakewood Towne Center?

We hope to see the bricks engraved this summer, dependent on weather and the status of any stay home orders around COVID-19.

Thank you to everyone who purchased a brick for your patience while volunteers continued with the brick sales to be able to engrave them all at one time.

Volunteers were able to sell 153 of the 242 bricks remaining at the memorial. They are grateful for the community’s support of veterans and proud to see this memorial that was dedicated in 2003 by a citizen-led committee come closer to completion.

Join a community advisory board

Do you like to give back to the community? Are you looking to get better connected to Lakewood? Have some free time you want to fill? Consider joining one of the city’s community advisory boards. Board members often have experience or expertise they can lend, can meet on a monthly basis and can commit to serving a full term, or longer.

Boards with openings:

• Landmarks and Heritage Advisory Board: 2 vacancies. Open until filled.
• Lodging Tax Advisory Board: 4 vacancies. Deadline: April 30, 2020.

Board and commission descriptions, meeting schedule and application form can be found online.

Stay up to date with MyLakewood311

Did you know Lakewood has its own free mobile app? All you need to know about the city is at your fingertips. Updates on road projects and detours around the city and other city announcements can be found under the “Public Announcements” header.

Contact the city using the “submit a new request” button and select from the appropriate category. The app allows you to track city staff’s response to your request and follow it through the process.

Please only submit one request per item – submitting multiple requests for the same item slows the review process. Note: This app is not monitored 24/7. If you are reporting an emergency that needs immediate assistance please call 911.

Download it now in the iTunes App Store or on Google Play.

Upcoming Council Meetings

The City Council meets every Monday beginning at 7 p.m., in the City Hall Council Chambers located at 6000 Main Street SW.

Watch the City Council live during meetings on the city of Lakewood YouTube Channel. Miss a meeting? You can also find past meetings under the Playlists tab for City Council Meetings.

Residents can virtually attend City Council meetings by watching them live on the city’s YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/cityoflakewoodwa

Those who do not have access to YouTube can call in to listen by telephone via Zoom: Dial +1(253) 215- 8782 and enter participant ID: 151082920.

Participation in public comments and public testimony on public hearings will only be accepted via email at this time. Comments should be sent to City Clerk, Briana Schumacher at bschumacher@cityoflakewood.us. Comments received up to one hour before the meeting will be provided to the City Council electronically. Comments received after that deadline will be provided to the City Council after the meeting.

April 20, 2020 Regular Meeting

• Authorizing the award of a construction contract to Miles Resources, LLC, in the amount of $6,034,066.10, for the construction of the Veterans Drive SW improvement project
• Authorizing the award of a contract to McDonough & Sons, Inc., in the amount of $272,384.50, for the 2020-2025 Street Sweeping service
• Approving a site-specific rezone at 11918 and 11920 Nyanza Road SW known as the Durr rezone
• Ratifying Pierce County Ordinance 2019-70s amending the Pierce County Countywide Planning Policies and designating 14 countywide centers
• Adopting an amended Six-Year (2020-2025) Comprehensive Transportation Improvement Program
• Amending the Rental Housing Safety Program (RHSP) administrative procedures

April 27, 2020 Study Session

• Legacy Plan Update
• Review of Transportation Benefit District (TBD) Annual Report
• Review of 2019 Year-End Financial Report
• Review of 2020 Carry Forward Budget Adjustment
• Review of Small Wireless Facility Franchise Agreement with New Cingular Wireless, LLC (AT&T) (tentative)

Review the City Council agenda packet

This press release was produced by the City of Lakewood. The views expressed here are the author’s own.