For Tumwater, the year began with the arson of a historic building. The rest of the year was tamer, though fire remained in the spotlight: the proposed formation of a Regional Fire Authority was perhaps the city’s most contentious public issue. It would only be eclipsed later the year when another local issue raised some eyebrows: an ordinance that proposed allowing overnight stays on city property for those who are indigent. Here are the biggest Tumwater news stories for 2023.
Almost two-thirds or 64% of Tumwater and Olympia voters thumbed down the idea of forming a regional fire authority during the April 25 special elections. If passed into law, the two cities would have divested their fire departments and consolidated their resources to form the Olympia Tumwater Regional Fire Authority.
Proponents of the RFA reasoned that it would help support the rising demand for fire and emergency services in the two cities. The RFA would have been funded by a property tax that would not have exceeded a dollar per $1,000 of assessed value and a fire benefit charge that would have been determined by a property’s area, use, and other factors.
Before the vote, Tumwater and Olympia city staff sent out mailers to inform the voters about the coming vote. Three residents filed formal complaints to Washington’s Public Disclosure Commission (PDC) against officials from the two cities, claiming that the mailers were biased and that the two cities illegally used public resources to promote a ballot measure. PDC dismissed the complaint but issued the respondents a formal written warning.
Tumwater City Council pulled from its agenda this November an ordinance that would have allowed overnight staying in parks specifically for those who were indigent or homeless. The ordinance was mainly about applying park rules to all city properties, but it also contained a provision suspending a rule prohibiting nighttime loitering.
The proposed ordinance generated one of the biggest crowds for the city council this year. Twelve people spoke about the issue during a public comments section of a council meeting, citing concerns about public safety and whether parks have the resources to accommodate people experiencing homelessness.
Another issue that turned heads towards the city council was a common interest and confidentiality agreement between the city and the Port of Olympia as part of the ongoing development of the Bush Prarie Habitat Conservation Plan (HCP). The agreement was initially placed in the council’s consent agenda in October but was pulled out for further discussion due to concerns from residents and some council members. The agreement was approved anyway by a 4-2 vote, with one council member abstaining.
The agreements allowed the two parties to declare their communication about the HCP as confidential. City staff held that the agreement was merely a routine document, with City Administrator Lisa Parks saying that it was part of a strategy to get to a point where they could even finalize the HCP.
The HCP is a planning document required to develop habitat areas where species listed under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) occur. Earlier in April, the city still needed to secure a $1.5 million funding from the state legislature which they would have used to buy mitigation land as part of the HCP. The city is trying again in next year’s legislative session.
Tumwater is currently amending several laws about trees and vegetation as part of its Urban Forestry Management Plan. The city is working to update its street tree plan and various chapters of its municipal code about trees and vegetation, street trees, and landscaping. City staff had estimated that its council would have adopted a portion of the updates by the end of the year if not only for the state’s new Wildland-Urban Interface (WUI) Code which contains new development laws to address fire spread and defensible spaces.
One concern about the new law was that it required trees to be at least ten feet away from structures and other trees in certain areas of the county, which complicated the city's tree retention system.
The historic Brewmaster’s House was intentionally set on fire by a transient individual in January. The house, formerly called the Henderson House Museum, is a two-and-a-half-story home near Tumwater Falls that was built in the early 20th century. The fire primarily affected the building's basement, back porch, and second-floor office. The fire department also had to remove all doors and portions of the wall on the second floor to ensure that the fire died. The city has since contracted Heritage Restoration Inc. to repair the historic building.
Tumwater hired Lisa Parks, formerly Port of Olympia’s executive services director, as the city’s new city administrator. Parks replaced John Doan, who retired in April after 13 years of service to the city. Parks’ appointment was not met with zero controversy as the Port of Olympia faced management and union issues when Parks joined the city.
Councilmember Leatta Dahlhoff even voted against Parks’ appointment, saying she opposed the appointment out of respect for union members who have given feedback about Parks. The Port is still working to sign a contract with International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) Local 47B, which represents the employees of the marina and boatyard.
The city has long been working to renovate the Old Brewhouse Tower, Tumwater’s best-known landmark, which was a former brewery built in 1906 by the Olympia Brewing Company. The first phase of the renovation dealt with brickwork repairs, and was completed in July 2020. The project saw significant progress this year, with the city’s Historic Preservation Commission approving a certificate of appropriateness for the second phase of the project, which concerns seismic improvements to the structure.
Early in June, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency also awarded the city a $500,000 grant to evaluate building contamination and develop a remediation plan. Later in November, The Olympian also reported that Tumwater Development LLC, the former owner of the property, agreed to pay a total of $2.3 million in penalties as a result of the Washington Department of Ecology’s action against the company for an oil spill that originated from a transformer in the old brewery site in February 2019.
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