Tumwater City Council approves acquisition of Deschutes Valley properties from LOTT 

The Tumwater City Council approved a deal to purchase three properties adjacent to the former Olympia Brewery site in Deschutes Valley. 

The city council authorized Mayor Debbie Sullivan to sign a deal with LOTT Clean Water Alliance to purchase three parcels covering 44.81 acres at a meeting on Tuesday, Aug. 19.

The city will pay LOTT $572,193 every year for five years, or $3,433,158 in total, which includes 3% interest. 

Funding for the purchase will come from the city’s general fund and stormwater fund.  

The properties were appraised at $3.9 million, but the purchase price was reduced to $3.19 million due to anticipated costs related to site cleanup and environmental hazard mitigation. 

“LOTT recognized that there's a significant amount of work remaining to be done out there, mostly relating to those industrial land uses, the cleanup, mitigation, and or demolition of some of the remaining structures,” said Tumwater Director of Water Resources and Sustainability Dan Smith at the meeting.  

To help cover unforeseen cleanup costs, LOTT is providing $300,000 for environmental mitigation and $225,000 for demolition work. 

Council member Michael Althauser questioned whether the funds would be sufficient. Smith said staff have done their due diligence and previous site inspections found there would be no significant mitigation work involved. 

“We're very confident that the unknown is not going to creep up as we start to engage the project,” Smith said. 

He said the only concern is a pipeline, whose condition won’t be fully understood until digging starts. He also noted it is confined to a small area. 

City goals

LOTT initially acquired the properties in 2011 to use them as facilities for reclaiming water. The agency has since changed its plans and has been in talks with the city since 2023 about acquiring the land. 

During negotiations, a feasibility study was conducted to study various factors, such as whether acquiring the property aligned with Tumwater’s goals. 

“For the most part, the feasibility analysis resulted in a very beneficial kind of result for the city,” Smith said. 

E Street 

Acquiring the properties would secure right-of-way for a project called the “E Street Connection,” which aims to connect Capitol Boulevard and Cleveland Avenue through the extension of E Street. 

Some residents along Cleveland Avenue, especially people on Roberts Road, have opposed a version of the project that would cut through the forest north of their homes. 

During the meeting, Smith showed a rendering of the project that had drawn such criticism, but emphasized it does not represent any formal plans. 

Council member Kelly Von Holtz requested city staff reach out to residents to manage their expectations as to what the acquisition could mean. 

Smith said acquiring the properties does not mean the city will be taking any immediate action toward the E Street project. 

Environmental goals 

Smith said acquiring the properties also aligns with the city’s goal of enhancing Deschutes River. He mentioned the city has plans to plant a 150-foot vegetative buffer along the riverbank to improve water quality.

Additionally, the area could provide compensatory mitigation to offset impacts from other city projects on wetlands. The site could also support large community events by creating up to 1,500 additional parking spaces. 

City Administrator Lisa Parks noted the deal also supports redevelopment efforts for the former Olympia Brewing Company site. To guide those plans, the city aims to conduct a planned action Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the property. 

“This could be described as planets aligning slowly,” Parks said. “This is a very strategic and advantageous purchase for the City of Tumwater generally, but specifically with regard to that planned action EIS process, which we hope will really facilitate and instigate redevelopment of the brewery properties,” Parks said. 

Once the deal is finalized, Smith said the city will develop a work plan and budget for the cleanup. Staff aims to have this plan ready by the end of the year.