Tumwater’s new maintenance and operations facility presented for consideration

At his final city council meeting as mayor, outgoing Tumwater Mayor Pete Kmet discussed a plan for a new maintenance and operations facility for the city.

On Tue. Dec. 14, City Manager John Doan presented a plan for the proposed facility. Known as Alternative A, the new building complex will have six new buildings which include a rain garden, an administrative building, a fleet maintenance building, vehicle storage, a fuel, and car wash facility, and police material and equipment storage.

In addition, the new facility will also have shops and a park. The proposed location sits on 6.07 acres of land and will be situated at what was previously known as the Trails End Arena. Plans for the new structure began as early as 2002 since the current facility could no longer keep up with the city’s demands.

While the project was scheduled for approval, Councilmember Joan Cathey asked to table the proposal for next year to provide ample time for Tumwater residents to comment and provide their feedback.

“Having a conceptual design leads to a lot of misinformation. So having that architecture do something more solid I think will minimize a lot of confusion, questions, and concerns, and allow input from the community,” Councilmember Leatta Dahlhoff added.