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Tenino council approves property exchange with Richardsons; city to receive equal‑value lot, city not charged
Summary
The Tenino City Council voted Dec. 10 to approve a long‑discussed real‑property exchange with the Richardson family; the council was told the Richardsons will pay all swap costs and the city will receive a same‑sized, same‑value lot, preserving the city’s asset value.
The Tenino City Council voted unanimously Dec. 10 to approve a real‑property exchange with property owners identified in the meeting as the Richardsons, resolving a multi‑year discussion about a small city lot on East Washington Street.
Council members heard that the Richardsons will pay all costs associated with the swap — survey, boundary adjustment and attorney fees — and that the parcel the city would receive is to be the same size and value as the lot the city is relinquishing. "The Richardsons are paying all the cost, our cost and their cost of anything, so there's no cost to the city," the mayor stated during the council’s old‑business discussion.
Public comment at the meeting included concerns about fiscal benefit. Michael Huber, a resident who spoke during the public‑comment period, urged the council to consider selling surplus land on the open market instead of undertaking a swap that he said would primarily benefit a private citizen and impose legal costs on the city. The mayor and other council members responded that the exchange was structured to preserve municipal value and that the parcel the city would receive could still be sold or developed for public benefit in the future.
Jennifer Colvin, an area resident and ag‑park stakeholder, also addressed the council earlier in the meeting to provide context about planning at the Ag Park and nearby lands; she said some nearby parcels are undergoing ecological restoration and are not industrial sites, a point the council said it considered when weighing site impacts.
After discussion, a councilmember moved and another seconded to approve the Real Property Exchange Agreement for the Washington Street property; the motion passed by voice vote.
Next steps noted by the council include finalizing the recorded documents if either party withdraws or if contractual conditions are not met, and staff will file the exchange paperwork once surveys and boundary adjustments are completed. The council did not set any additional city expenditures for the swap at the meeting and said the agreement includes provisions allowing either party to terminate if terms cannot be met.
