Tumwater’s water resources department moving to office in South Puget Sound Community College

Tumwater’s water resources and sustainability department is moving out of city hall and into a rental space at South Puget Sound Community College (SPSCC), Department Director Dan Smith reported to the Public Works Committee on Thursday, April 20.

Smith explained that the move would decongest city hall as more city staff are returning to onsite work, as well as to accommodate future growth for their department.

“We have been moving desks around [at city hall and] we've been using telework to help facilitate some capacity issues. It's helping us gain a little bit of capacity but not the kind of capacity we're looking at,” Smith said.

“We're anticipating growing over the next six months to a couple of years down the road,” he said, adding that later on, he sees “potential increases around urban sustainability or urban forestry programs” within the coming years.

Smith said the annual lease would cost $61,299 for three rooms with a combined floor space of 2,400 square feet in the natural sciences building of SPSCC. He projected that the city would spend $745,341 for ten years of leasing, with rate increases capped at about 3%.

There would be initial expenditures involved in the relocation, such as the purchase of office furniture, carpeting, and paint, while SPSCC would provide utilities, internet, garbage collection, and janitorial services. Smith estimated that the city would have to spend $176,499 in the first year of moving in.

Smith added that placing their office at SPSCC would help improve their internship program.

“To be able to sit and site an office space on SPSCC properties, there needs to be a kind of a connection to the mission for the school,” he explained. “ would allow us to formally build an internship program or mentorship program. In our vision, we’re looking at that as promoting public work opportunities developing the next generation of water resource scientists and professionals through our schools.”

Percival Creek also runs through the college, which Smith said was a good connection to the department’s mission, as the creek is a growing focus for salmon recovery, habitat restoration, and water quality monitoring.

Documents prepared for the meeting mentioned that the city initially considered moving out the transportation and engineering department, with a portion of the 2023-2024 budget already allocated for the move.

The water resources department considered two rental options: South Puget Sound Community College and Town Center East.

Smith explained that they decided to relocate their department as his team was more flexible. He said that they have limited interaction with city staff as well as with the public as they mostly face people on the field during inspections, workshops, and events.

Town Center East also considered

The water resources department initially considered Town Center East as their only option before SPSCC President Timothy Stokes informed city staff that the college had available space. Smith explained that SPSCC has classrooms that were not being used as more students were taking up hybrid learning options.

Though Town Center East is closer to city hall than SPSCC, Smith said that the space was larger than what they needed. The government building had available 2,8000 square feet of office space when they only needed up to 2,2000 square feet. Smith noted that there are not many government buildings that offer offices for smaller work units.

The lease rate at Town Center East would have cost $63,300 for the first year. Tenant improvements such as paint and carpeting would have been part of the lease, but the city would have to pay for utilities, internet, and janitorial services. Smith estimated that the city would have to spend $196,200 in the first year of the lease.

The department would bring forward a contract to the city council in May. Should things go smoothly, Smith hopes to move into their new office by July.