Lakewood Weekly Manager’s Bulletin: Jan. 24, 2025

Be inspired by local ‘Hidden Heros’

Each year the City of Lakewood, in partnership with the Clover Park School District, celebrates “Hidden Heroes” to coincide with Martin Luther King Jr. Day and Black History Month.

This year’s campaign kicks off Feb. 3 and runs until the end of February. Each week a “hero” from the Black and African American community will be featured. The kick-off includes a special presentation of a proclamation declaring February as Black History Month to this year’s heroes by the Lakewood City Council.

The goal of Hidden Heroes is to raise the visibility of Black and African American leaders in our community. The focus is on celebrating their accomplishments and bringing to light lesser-known individuals who have made a big impact either on their local community, in their profession, or on the global scale.

Learn more about these heroes by reading about them on the City of Lakewood’s Facebook and Instagram accounts. Or click this link to access the form and automatically sign yourself up.

You can also send an email to Lakewood Communications Manager Brynn Grimley, [email protected] with “Hidden Heroes” in the subject line.

By signing up you agree to receive emails from the City of Lakewood related to the Hidden Heroes campaign.

Larry Saunders Service Award recipients announced

The Lakewood City Council was joined by members of the Lakewood Community Foundation Fund at its meeting on Monday to announce the recipients of the Larry Saunders Service Award.

Saunders is a former Lakewood Police Chief who helped form the department in 2004 and who gave countless hours back to the community. Saunders’ wife Sally Saunders was at the meeting to present the award with Mayor Jason Whalen.

This year’s recipients were Larry Woods, Jr. and the Kiwanis Club of Clover Park.

Read more about why they were chosen.

Construction begins next week on Steilacoom Boulevard

Lane closures are expected to begin next week on Steilacoom Boulevard between Weller Road SW and 87^th Avenue SW. The city’s contractor, Active Construction, will begin its work in the westbound direction.

On Wednesday, Jan. 29, the signal will be removed from the intersection with Briggs Road SW. Once the signal is out, left turns will be prohibited from this intersection.

The total project is estimated at about $6 million. The city applied for and received more than $5 million in grant funding for the construction portion of the project. Planned improvements include:

• Curbs
• Sidewalk
• Aluminum street lighting
• Bike lanes

Storm drainage will also be replaced, and new traffic signals will go in at 87^th Avenue SW, Hipkins Road SW, Briggs Road SW and Weller Road SW. The pavement will be overlayed and the road restriped with durable markings.

Steilacoom Boulevard will remain open during construction, but lanes will be reduced. This will result in traffic backups during busy travel times. Drivers are encouraged to allow for extra travel time and where possible find alternative routes. Construction is expected to conclude this fall with the traffic signal replacement potentially taking longer due to supply issues.

Registration now open for recreation programming

Registration is open for the City of Lakewood’s latest round of wellness programming. This includes Sunday’s Sound Healing Bath, scheduled for 7 p.m. at the Pavilion. (Register here).

Available classes include Gentle Yoga, Fusion Yoga, a six-week Cardio Drumming course and a new, four-week Kirtan Chanting class.

Classes are offered at the indoor Pavilion at Fort Steilacoom Park, 9107 Angle Lane SW. Unable to commit to a full session? The following classes allow drop-ins for $12 per class:

• Gentle Yoga, Mondays, 4:45-5:45 p.m.
• Gentle Yoga, Thursdays, 4:45-5:45 p.m.
• Fusion Yoga, Thursdays, 6-7 p.m.

Find class descriptions, registration links and more information about drop-ins online.

Council Corner: Jan. 21, 2025 recap

Larry Saunders Service Award Presentation. The Lakewood Community Foundation Fund announced the winners of the 2024 Larry Saunders Service Award. This year’s recipients are Lake City resident and longtime Lake City Neighborhood Association President Larry Woods, Jr. and the group award went to the Kiwanis Club of Lakewood. Congratulations to this year’s winners. As part of the award the winners identified local nonprofits to receive a grant from the foundation donated on their behalf.

Lakewood Sister Cities Association Presentation. Members of the nonprofit Lakewood Sister Cities Association presented the Lakewood City Council with a gift from the city’s sister city Gimhae in the Republic of Korea. The Mayor and City Council were honored to accept the gift.

The City Council acted on the following:

• Authorized the execution of a construction contract to R.L. Alia, in the amount of $3,361,777.20, for the South Tacoma Way 88th Street S to North City Limits Project.
• Authorized the execution of an operation and maintenance agreement with the Washington State Department of Transportation for the I-5 Gravelly – Thorne Connector Shared Use Path.
• Approved the 2025 citizens advisory board, committee and commission work plans.

Study Session items (followed regular meeting)

Review of the Ezee Fiber franchise agreement. Ezee Fiber, a telecommunication firm based in Houston, approached the city to enter into a franchise agreement in 2024. Ezee intends to connect customers to high-speed fiber optic internet in communities along the I-5 corridor, including Lakewood. The proposed build-out plan is broken out into five to six phases with two areas under construction at a time. Areas are separated geographically to reduce impacts to residents. Approximately 26,500 total connections to homes are proposed, both to single-family and multi-family units. A draft ordinance to grant the agreement will be before the City Council at its Feb. 3 regular meeting for review and consideration.

Review of Five-Year 2025-2029 Consolidated Plan, 2025 Annual Action Plan and Analysis of Impediments to Fair Housing. The city is starting its process to create a new 5-Year Consolidated Plan and a new FY 2025 Annual Action Plan and is in the process of gathering public comment on the use of funds. These plans are required as part of the CDBG/HOME funding process and require coordination with the City of Tacoma through the HOME Consortium process. Tacoma is also the lead entity in this process. As these plans move forward for action, the City Council can use the existing plans as reference points, or they can adopt amended plans, provided they meet HUD’s national priorities for the CDBG and HOME programs.

Watch the meeting.

What’s on deck. The Lakewood City Council meets Monday, Feb. 3, 2025 at 7 p.m. for a regular meeting in Council Chambers. Tentative agenda items include:

• Proclamation recognizing February, 2025 as Black History month
• Recognition of Landmarks and Heritage Advisory Board members  
• Business Showcase: Juanita Lanier, State Farm Insurance
• Youth Council Report
• Clover Park School District Report
• Ordinance granting Ezee Fiber, a non-exclusive franchise for the transmission of telecommunications in, through, over, and under the rights-of-way of the City of Lakewood.
• Resolution authorizing the agreement for tax exemption regarding Residential Target Area Development for 11409 Kendrick LLC.

How to attend: Attend in person at Lakewood City Hall, 6000 Main Street SW. Attend virtually via Zoom (or dial 253-215-8782 and enter meeting ID: 868 7263 2373), or watch live on the city’s YouTube channel.

Police Chief’s Corner

Each week Lakewood Police Chief Patrick D. Smith shares a summary that includes a look at total calls for service the Lakewood Police Department responded to for the prior week. The intent of the summary is to show a snapshot of how the department works to keep the community safe. To see quarterly statistical analysis, visit the Lakewood Police Department crime statistics page on the city website.

Week of Jan. 14-21, 2024

• Calls for Service: 964 (down 13% from prior week)
• Arrests: 62 (up 13% from prior week)
• Violent Crime: 13 (down 35% from prior week)
• Property Crime: 55 (up 12% from prior week)
• Traffic Stops: 145 (down 35% from prior week)
• Collisions (reportable): 16 (down 30% from prior week)

Attend a Neighborhood Association meeting in 2025

Neighborhood associations play a crucial role in fostering community engagement and improving the quality of life in local neighborhoods. Through its Neighborhood Connections program, the City of Lakewood aims to not only better connect the community, but also help residents better understand city processes.

There are currently six Neighborhood Associations in Lakewood. Five meet regularly. The meeting times and locations are listed below. All residents are invited and encouraged to attend an upcoming meeting for their respective neighborhood. Find out more about the Neighborhood Connections Program online.

• Downtown Neighborhood Association
  • Meets: Feb. 12, 2025 at 5:30 p.m.
  • Location: Interim Lakewood Library, 10202 Gravelly Lake Dr. SW
• Lake City Neighborhood Association
  • Meets: Every other month. Next meeting is March 13, 2025 at 7 p.m.
  • Location: West Pierce Fire & Rescue station, 8517 Washington Blvd. SW
• Tillicum/Woodbrook Neighborhood Association
  • Meets: The second Tuesday of the month at 6:30 p.m.
  • Location: Tillicum-American Lake Gardens Community Center, 14916 Washington Ave SW.
• Springbrook Community Meetings
  • Meets: The third Thursday of the month at 4:30 p.m.
  • Location: Springbrook Connections, 5105 Solberg Dr SW #A
• Fort Steilacoom Neighborhood Association
  • Meets: The third Tuesday of the month at 6:30 p.m.
  • Location: The Pavilion in Fort Steilacoom Park, 9107 Angle Lane SW
• North Lakewood Neighborhood Association
  • No meetings scheduled.

Community events 

Valentines for Veterans

Congresswoman Marilyn Strickland kicked off her annual Valentines for Veterans and First Responders drive this week. Through this program valentines will be distributed to veterans and first responders in Washington’s 10th Congressional District, and for the first time, Valentines will be distributed to JBLM soldiers deployed to Korea.

Residents can leave cards at a drop box in Lakewood City Hall at the box located at the front desk. Lakewood City Hall is open Monday-Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Other locations accepting valentines include the city halls of Lacey, Olympia, Puyallup and Yelm.

Lakewood Playhouse offers winter camps and classes

Lakewood Playhouse recently released a winter class schedule that offers a range of options for youth, young adults and adults. Find the full class listing online.

Lakewood Playhouse presents “The Laramie Project”

In honoring the memory and legacy of Matthew Shepard, this production of “The Laramie Project” strives to inspire the community to see themselves in the citizens of Laramie and reflect on their own reaction to recent attacks on the rights of the LGBTQ+ community, locally and nationally. With a cast composed of local actors, this production will bring a whole new perspective on the work by putting community at the center of the storytelling and offering space for conversation and reflection. What can we learn about ourselves by examining the words and actions of another community?

The show runs Feb. 21-March 9, 2025, with performances on Fridays and Saturdays at 7:30 p.m., and Sunday matinees at 2 p.m. The “pay what you can” and industry night is Sunday, March 2 at 7:30 p.m.

Call the Box Office at (253) 588-0042 or visit www.lakewoodplayhouse.org to book tickets online.

Sign up for Lakewood Alert (Code Red)

The City of Lakewood uses Code Red, an alert service, to notify residents of important information happening in the city.

If there is an emergency that requires public notification, we will use Lakewood Alert as one way to communicate. We will also post information to our website and social media channels.

Subscribers can sign up to receive text and email alerts. People can also sign up for important non-emergency updates including information about road impacts from large events in the city or information about special events.

Find out more and sign up today.

Road project updates

Steilacoom Boulevard Weller to 87^th Ave: Active Construction, Inc. began mobilizing to the site this week and installed traffic control devices/signage throughout the work zone. They began work on Friday. The traffic signal at Steilacoom Blvd and Briggs will be decommissioned on Wednesday, Jan. 29. When this occurs, left turns will be prohibited at this intersection. Work is expected to begin daily by 7:30 a.m. Lane closures will remain in place throughout the duration of the project. Work is expected to conclude by this fall.

Lakewood Station Access Project: Sound Transit is investing nearly $70 million in road improvements in and around the Lakewood Sounder Station to improve roads in the Lakeview and Springbrook neighborhoods. Recent survey work added one-foot squares of white paint on certain roads. Construction is not anticipated to begin until the fall of 2025.

84^th and Pine: The luminaires on the traffic signal poles and some signage corrections are the remaining items. Tacoma Public Utilities was expected to give final approval to mount the luminaries this week.

Farwest Drive SW: The final piece is for the power company to bring power to the lights so they can be turned on. Once that is done, this project is complete.

Rose Road Sanitary Sewer Project: Work is anticipated to start early March.

South Tacoma Way Overlay 96^th to Steilacoom Blvd.: Miles Resources is expected to start work in March.

South Tacoma Way & 92^nd signal replacement: Work is expected to begin in March.

South Tacoma Way  88^th to north city limits: The Lakewood City Council awarded a contract to RL Alia for this project. Work is expected to start late March or early April. Before the City of Lakewood’s work begins the Lakewood Water District will rip up the road to install a new watermain.

Parks project updates

Each week updates will be shared highlighting the work being done to improve our parks for public use.

American Lake Park: Construction continues with significant progress on the new retaining walls along the beach and boat launch parking lot as well as the new shelter. Completion is anticipated by June.

Wards Lake Park Improvements: The city’s contractor Redside Construction is in the park working. The 35-acre park is closed and will remain closed through November 2025.

Planned improvements include:

• ADA accessible loop trail with a 170-foot-long bridge over the lake.  
  • Ten-foot-wide paved trials and gravel paths throughout the site.  
  • A new playground and picnic shelter.
  • A pump bike track.
  • New restroom facility.
  • Prairie restoration and a bird blind overlooking the lake.
  • Public art and landscape improvements near the entry.
  • Parking lot expansion.
  • New off-leash dog park.
  • 3-acre bike track and skills area.
  • New neighborhood park and playground at 25^th Ave Ct South.
  • Landscape improvements.

The Big One: Relocation of the Tenzler Log: Construction of a shelter around the log is nearing completion. The log will be refinished to protect and seal the monument, and a wire mesh installation will be installed this month to protect the round it in its new home at Fort Steilacoom Park. Work is expected to be complete by late January, weather permitting. We expect the blue tarp to be removed by February.

Other park projects planned for 2025:

Primley Park playground replacement: The City is planning a community work day to help install the surfacing for the playground in March. A save the date notice with details about that effort will be shared with neighbors to gain volunteers.

Oakbrook Park: A new picnic shelter is on order and design is ongoing for a trail inside the park that will be installed before the busy summer season.    

New park signs: Park signs will be replaced this year with updated designs. Expect the signs in place by summer.

Historic H-Barn revitalization: Grants and community funding continues to come in to support the preservation of the H-barn at Fort Steilacoom Park. Local nonprofit Partners for Parks is working to raise $3.5 million to match a $4 million commitment from the city. Design work will start in early spring to determine building and code needs, as well as cost estimates. 

Street End pilot project: The Parks and Recreation Advisory Board will host a community meeting in early March to look at how to create a new public open space at the Westlake Ave Street End on Lake Steilacoom.   

Harry Todd pickleball courts: Four new pickleball courts will be developed at Harry Todd Park this year. The city has submitted permits for this work. The courts should be available for public use by fall 2025.

Nisqually Loop Trail Fort Steilacoom Park: In partnership with the Nisqually Tribe the city will install several interpretive exhibits along the Nisqually Loop Trail in the southeast area of the park. The exhibits will be located along a 1-mile trail and include Nisqually art, educational information and Lushootseed language. Construction is anticipated to occur late summer-fall of 2025.