Council authorizes amended Thurston Climate Mitigation Collaborative interlocal agreement

The Lacey City Council on Dec. 2 authorized the city manager to sign an amended interlocal agreement (ILA) for the Thurston Climate Mitigation Collaborative (TCMC). The amendments are administrative and are intended to reduce duplicated legal and management steps while preserving each jurisdiction’s final budgetary approval.

Lindsay Fields (Climate Sustainability Coordinator) described key changes: a definition for “regional initiative” and conditions under which such initiatives can proceed without a separate ILA—specifically, if the project is developed and implemented through the TCMC staff team, is included in the biannual TCMC work plan and budget, and is funded by jurisdictional budget allocations. The amended ILA also gives the TCMC executive committee explicit authority to delay or cancel TCMP updates, shifts the cadence for full greenhouse‑gas inventories to every three years (with smaller interim ‘dash’ inventories between), and permits flexibility for collaborative work to proceed with fewer than all four original parties if budgets or participation change. Administrative notice provisions were modernized to allow email in lieu of mailed notices.

Council asked for future reporting on dash inventories and trajectory to adopted emissions goals; staff said they will return with inventory updates. After discussion, council moved, seconded and unanimously authorized the city manager to sign the amended ILA.