Council approves $102,000 parks-levy allocation for Community Center locker-room work as part of multi‑year renovation

Federal Way city council on Sept. 16 approved a $102,000 parks-levy allocation to support renovations to locker rooms at the Federal Way Community Center, a portion of a multi‑year rehabilitation program that city staff said totals roughly $3.7 million for locker-room work plus prior leisure-pool renovations and other investments.

The council approved the item as part of the consent agenda; Councilmember McDaniel moved the item and the motion passed unanimously. Autumn Gressett, the city's community relations liaison and contract administrator, presented a timeline and budget briefing to the council before the vote.

Why it matters: the Community Center projects restore facilities that staff closed for safety reasons after detecting mold, corrosion and other building-envelope problems; the work is intended to return pools and locker rooms to full service for residents.

What staff told the council - Project history: demolition and evaluation began in December 2021; an architect’s contract with Nova Architects was approved in December 2023; an environmental study in January 2024 discovered mold that led to an immediate closure in February 2024 and to a phased reconstruction approach. - Current budgets: temporary locker-room expenses through Sept. 15 totaled about $841,000; the locker-room renovation budget stood at about $2.8 million; combined work on the leisure pool, temporary locker rooms and locker-room renovations amounts to roughly $3.7 million for the current phase and about $5 million of total investment over four years when earlier slide and leisure-pool work is included. - Funding sources: staff said financing for the locker-room renovation draws from a mix of ARPA funds, the general fund, paths-and-trails money, parks mitigation and the parks levy. Gressett presented the immediate policy question as whether council would approve the $102,000 parks-levy allocation; the mayor recommended approval. - Anticipated grant: staff said the city expects to receive a King County aquatics grant of about $1.5 million to pay for boiler and pump-room work and lap-pool replastering; that grant acceptance is expected to come to council in October and work likely will proceed after contract execution in early 2026.

Relevant council discussion - Councilmember McDaniel pressed for clarity about future capital needs and options if ARPA were not available. Finance director Steve Broom (present) told council the city seeks to plan capital spending over multiple years and treats debt as a last resort: “debt is always a last resort,” he said. - Councilmembers asked about timing for lap-pool work and possible downtime; staff said design and bid phases will follow the grant contract and that more precise schedules will be available as the design progresses. - Councilmembers also discussed the city’s capital-reserve and major-maintenance accounts. Staff noted a major-maintenance account balance under approximately $200,000 and that the capital-reserve baseline has limits; the parks department may request interfund loans that must be repaid within three years.

Action taken - Motion: approve funding allocation of $102,000 from the parks levy for the Federal Way Community Center locker-room project. - Outcome: motion approved as part of consent agenda (unanimous vote).

Follow-up and next steps - Staff will proceed with the locker-room contract work and incorporate the parks-levy allocation into project accounting. - Staff will return to council with grant acceptance and contract details for the King County aquatics funding when available (anticipated in October) and will provide future timeline estimates for the lap-pool replastering and related downtime.

Speakers - Autumn Gressett, Community Relations Liaison / Contract Administrator (government) - Councilmember McDaniel (government) - Steve Broom, Finance Director (government) - Councilmember O'Malley (government) - Councilmember Honda (government)

Authorities [{