City of Lakewood

City of Lakewood Hosting Community Building Workshop

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Category: Front Page

Published on Friday, 11 May 2012 15:52

The City of Lakewood is hosting a Community Building Workshop on May 17, 2012 from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. at Lakewood City Hall. The workshop goal is to provide support for neighborhood groups and the broader community to assist in leveraging their efforts to improve their neighborhoods and to make Lakewood an even better place to live, work and play. The workshop will feature keynote speaker Cary Bozeman, who as Mayor of Bremerton and as a councilmember and Mayor of Bellevue was instrumental in planning and implementing changes that led to managed growth and community-based urban centers for both cities.

The workshop is sponsored by Lakewood's Community Safety Resource Team (CSRT), and team leader Lt. Steve Mauer will present on how citizens and community-based groups can effectively work with the City. Lt. Mauer will request feedback from attendees about hot issues in their neighborhoods and what the City can do to help. Booths from City and other community-based groups will open for the first hour of the workshop before the speaking part of the program starts at 6 p.m. with introductory remarks from Mayor Douglas Richardson and City Manager Andrew Neiditz. The booths will provide information on what is going on in Lakewood and how citizens might be able to get involved in Lakewood from groups such as CSRT, Parks, Recreation and Community Services, Public Works and Keep Lakewood Beautiful.

City Manager Andrew Neiditz said "this event gives the City the chance to open its doors to citizens and to talk about how we can continue to connect with the community in a manner that will empower neighborhood and other groups to benefit the community." Light refreshments will be served.

Coffee with the Mayor - May 11, 2012

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Category: Front Page

Published on Monday, 07 May 2012 08:58

Please join me for Coffee with the Mayor on Friday, May 11, 2012, at 7:30 a.m. We will meet in the Resource Center at St. Clare Hospital, 4908 112th Street SW, in Lakewood.

Our guest speaker will be Parks, Recreation and Community Services Director Mary Dodsworth who will discuss the Lakewood's Farmer's Market kick-off and other upcoming events like SummerFEST 2012.  She will also talk about community services projects.

If you have any questions, please contact Executive Assistant Deanne Wegmann at (253) 589-2489.  I hope to see you there!

Mayor Douglas G. Richardson

City Manager's Weekly Info Bulletin 5/11/2012

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Category: Weekly Info Bulletins

Published on Friday, 11 May 2012 13:54

May 11, 2012
WEEKLY INFO BULLETIN
To: Mayor and Members of the City Council
From: Andrew Neiditz, City Manager

• Business Outreach in Lakewood: Staff continues to ramp up efforts to reach out to local businesses. This week’s visits included a local grocer, two additional retailers, and two communications companies. This year we’ve visited with 51 existing businesses so far, several startup companies, and have provided resources for business support and expansion. One can contact our economic development department to find out more about how the city of Lakewood can help businesses succeed.
• Human services “return on investment”: Staff analyzed the cash investment in Lakewood for human services programs funded in 2011 to present information to the Lakewood City Council at its April 23^rd meeting. The results indicated that Lakewood’s investment of $366,000 in programs leveraged funds and contributed another $7,255,946 into the community. When factoring in donations to programs, the total investment into Lakewood by funded programs for 2011 was $10,674,928.
• Invista in Lakewood: The City’s economic development manager and the city manager attended the “launch” of the Invista Performance Solutions program on May 1^st at Clover Park Technical College. Invista is a one-stop organization for corporate training which provides customized employee training programs.
• Lakewood United speaker: The city manager was the speaker at the regular meeting of Lakewood United on May 10^th. The subject was an update on the City’s operations as characterized by the four guiding principles of Service, Integrity, Teamwork, and Respect.
• Community Health Care event: A number of City staff and councilmember s joined in sponsoring a table at the fund-raising event for Community Health Care on May 8^th in Tacoma. The large audience was entertained by a stand-up comedy act featuring a very engaging comedian who has cerebral palsy. CHC operates medical and dental clinics in Lakewood and throughout the region.
• CPTC Joint Advisory Committee workshop: The president of Clover Park Technical College hosted their first annual joint session on May 8^th with all 34 of the college’s program advisory committees, consisting of subject matter experts in the various vocational fields. The city manager is a member of the president’s College Advisory Council.
• Lakewood Hosts Training by Washington State Archives: On May 3^rd, the Washington State Archives Office provided training sessions on Electronic Records Management and Scan and Toss Requirements/Records Schedule Revisions at Lakewood City Hall. Several Lakewood Records Committee Coordinators attended the training sessions along with other municipal government staff from western Washington.

City Manager's Weekly Info Bulletin 5/4/2012

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Category: Weekly Info Bulletins

Published on Friday, 04 May 2012 13:05

May 4, 2012
WEEKLY INFO BULLETIN
To: Mayor and Members of the City Council
From: Andrew Neiditz, City Manager

• Development Update: The Community Development Department issued a total of 349 building permits from January 1, 2012 to the end of April. This permit activity represents construction improvements that total $22,544,336 in value. This is an increase of over $13.5 million in development investment in the community from the same time frame in 2011.
• Business Activity Update: In recent business retention and expansion visits, we’ve learned that many businesses are starting to re-hire and/or intend to hire new positions over the next couple of months. We’ve seen an increase in new business licenses, expansions, permits and tenant improvement activity. Access to resources, increased consumer confidence, and an uptick in business orders and contracts are cited as examples of the reasons for increased activity.
• Murray Road / 150^th Street – Detour to start next week: The detour for Murray Road and 150^th Street will start next week as the contractor moves operations to start the roadway widening on these roads. All vehicles, except those accessing JBLM Logistics gate, will be detoured to 146^th and Spring Street. See the project newsletter on the City web site for more information.
• Bridgeport Way North – PSE Gas Main Installation: Puget Sound Energy will be placing 1,400 feet of 4” gas main at the north end of Bridgeport in the vicinity of Flanagan Road. PSE is trying to complete this work ahead of the City’s project to minimize conflicts with the City’s Contractor and to avoid the need in the future to cut up a newly paved roadway. Public Works staff are evaluating the feasibility of completing this work during the day or night with minimum disruption to the traveling public and adjacent residents. Work will require temporary closure of 1 or 2 southbound travel lanes. This work may start as early as next week and last for 2-3 weeks. More information to come.
• Lakewood presentation at county management team: The city manager was the speaker at the monthly meeting of the county executive’s management team on May 2^nd. The subject was the City of Lakewood – its priorities and the regional context.
• Public Works applies for 8 Grants: This week, the Public Works Department will be submitting eight grant applications for a variety of transportation improvement projects. In the Safe Routes to Schools Program, grants for two Lochburn Middle School projects; in the Federal Surface Transportation Program (STP) / Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality (CMAQ) Improvement Program, grants for three Bridgeport Way projects, one South Tacoma Way project, one Gravelly Lake Drive project, and one Lakewood traffic signal upgrade project. The total of all eight grants requests is about $5.7 million.
• PD accepts Emergency Food Network Award: Lieutenant Heidi Hoffman attended the 30^th Annual Emergency Food Network Award Banquet and accepted the Corporate/Civic Partner Award for the Lakewood Police Department’s Second Annual Fallen Officer Food Drive. Donations of food and money were accepted during the drive and a total $41,244 and 42,211 pounds of food were collected.
• City staff take Advanced Loan Packaging Training to support business expansion: Staff recently participated in the National Development Council’s Economic Development Finance Professional (EDFP) Certification Program. EDFP is a rigorous, four-course training series that explores the skills essential for the successful practice of economic development – from business credit and real estate finance analysis techniques, loan packaging procedures, and negotiating and problem solving skills, to deal structuring techniques. City staff is available to provide advice and structure loan package deals to assist Lakewood businesses to expand successfully.
• Washington State Association of Municipal Attorneys (WSAMA) Spring Conference: Several staff from Legal attended the 2012 WSAMA Spring Conference at Skamania Lodge April 25-27. During the conference Ass’t City Attorney Matt Kaser presented a panel discussion with others on Public Records litigation and Mike Savage, communications director, facilitated a session on hot legal topics.
• Washington Association of Public Records Officers (WAPRO) Spring Training: WAPRO held its annual Spring Training in Everett on April 19^th. City Clerk Alice Bush serves as past president on the WAPRO Board of Directors. She was also a panel member, along with Paralegal Ann-Marie Evans, for an interactive training session entitled “What Would Scooby Doo Do?”
• CPTC provides shelter for families forced out by apartment fire: A formal letter of thanks was sent to the office of the Clover Park Technical College president this week to acknowledge the college’s immediate response to the crisis on April 28^th where a number of residents were made suddenly homeless by the serious fire at the Twin Oaks Apartments on 115^th St Ct SW. A call from Lakewood emergency management to the on duty security officer at the college resulted in use of the Rotunda for shelter.