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Tumwater committee backs Ecology grant, service agreement to map stormwater nutrient sources
Summary
The Tumwater Public Works Committee voted to forward a Department of Ecology grant and a service provider agreement with Herrera to the April 15 City Council consent agenda. The work would map stormwater conveyance areas and recommend targeted sweeping and treatment to reduce nutrient loading.
The City of Tumwater Public Works Committee voted April 3 to place a Department of Ecology grant agreement and a related service-provider contract on the April 15 City Council consent calendar with a recommendation that the council approve and authorize the mayor to sign.
Patrick (city staff, filling in for Dave Congheiser) told the committee the Ecology grant would fund an "enhanced nutrient management plan" to map the city’s stormwater conveyance areas and identify where streets and curb-and-gutter systems discharge the most nutrient-laden material. "One of the things that this enhanced nutrient management plan would do is we would do some mapping of our conveyance systems … and then develop strategies for sweeping routes that focus on very specific areas that have the highest potential to discharge these pollutants," Patrick said.
The nut graf: the project is intended to help Tumwater meet its NPDES (National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System) permit responsibilities by identifying hot spots for road grit and organic particulate runoff and recommending targeted maintenance, treatment or equipment purchases (for example, sweepers) to reduce nutrient loads to receiving waters.
Committee discussion described the mapping as more comprehensive than the city’s existing utility maps: Patrick said the plan will map drainage catchment areas in GIS and estimate how much runoff each discharge area contributes. He said the Ecology grant would pay for work the city lacks in-house capacity to complete and could make the city eligible for future grants to buy expensive equipment such as street sweepers.
The Department of Ecology grant amount shown in the presentation was $170,000 with a $30,000 city match. The committee also discussed a recommended service provider agreement with Herrera, which the city selected after two rounds of qualifications and because of Herrera’s prior work on similar plans in the region. The presentation listed a service-provider agreement value that was read on the record as "a hundred and $90,000, 5 hundred and 60 1"; city staff characterized the service agreement as aligning with permit requirements and scheduled to run through June 2025.
The committee approved two motions to place the Ecology grant agreement and the Herrera service-provider agreement on the April 15 council consent calendar with recommendations to approve and authorize the mayor to sign. Council members present moved and seconded the motions and recorded the committee’s unanimous voice approval.
Next steps: the items will appear on the April 15 City Council consent calendar for council action. If the council approves, staff said the work would begin as soon as possible and run through June, with later opportunities to seek equipment grants based on the plan’s findings.
Ending: Patrick and the committee noted the plan is intended to create grant-readiness and guide future investments rather than immediately purchase equipment; specific follow-up actions and procurement would depend on the plan’s recommendations and future funding availability.
