Tumwater staff recommend REAP interlocal agreement for council consent calendar

Grant, the City of Tumwater's REAP representative, told the Public Works Committee on July 9 that the Regional Environmental Education Partnership (REAP) coordinates watershed education, stormwater pollution prevention and stewardship across multiple jurisdictions and helps satisfy Phase 2 NPDES permit education requirements.

"REAP is the regional environmental education program," Grant said, summarizing the partnership's outreach, volunteer and training work. He described programs for businesses, HOAs and residents, hands-on science opportunities at Sap Road Park and Palermo Wetland, and school-based water-quality testing that brought students together for a regional conference at Evergreen State College.

The presentation stressed REAP's role in permit compliance and behavior-change work. Grant said the program reached 800 participating households in 2025, recorded 487 program participants, 1,799 volunteer hours and 321 unique volunteers, and that Tumwater has taken a lead on the "natural yard care / Habitat at Home" campaign. He said REAP's communications reach included about 19,806 newsletters and more than 60,000 emails last year and that the program's annual operating budget is roughly $120,000, allocated to jurisdictions by population.

Grant noted tribal collaboration with Squaxin Island for vetting tribal messaging and said deeper in-person tribal participation is a priority for 2027 but limited by tribal capacity. He also described training and accreditation partnerships (EcoPro) for landscape professionals and school partnerships run with South Sound Green and the Pacific Shellfish Institute.

After the presentation, Grant asked the committee to place the proposed interlocal agreement with Thurston County and the cities of Lacey, Olympia, Yelm and Tumwater on the July 21 city council consent calendar with a recommendation to approve and to authorize the mayor to sign. Council member Kelly Vanholtz moved to place the agreement on the consent calendar and the chair seconded; the motion passed on a voice vote.

The packet and Grant's presentation show the interlocal agreement is intended to codify the regional coordination and the budget split; the committee did not take a final vote to approve the agreement itself but forwarded the item to the July 21 consent calendar. The council will consider the agreement at that meeting, where final approval and the mayor's authorization could occur.