1. Public meetings to address surface water management issues
Surface water management issues in the Bonney Lake, Fife, Orting, Puyallup and Sumner areas will be discussed at two public meetings conducted by Pierce County’s Water Programs Division.
The first will be held Tuesday, May 31 at the Orting Multi-Purpose Center, 202 Washington Ave. S. from 7 to 9 p.m. The second meeting will be Tuesday, June 7, at Sumner City Hall, 1104 Maple St., also from 7 to 9 p.m.
Pierce County Water Programs staff will present findings and recommendations of the Draft Mid-Puyallup Basin Plan and Draft Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement and invite public review and comment. The basin area is 57.6 square miles.
The presentation is part of the proposed update of the county’s 1991 Storm Management and Surface Water Management Plan and Capital Improvement Program. The proposed Mid-Puyallup Basin Plan provides strategic direction to Water Programs for addressing flooding, water quality and floodplain habitat problems associated with stormwater runoff.
The update started in 2002 and is scheduled for completion this summer.
2. Try the CarLESS Commute
There are at least six reasons to participate in the 2005 Pierce County CarLESS Commute June 6-19, which is aimed at encouraging private and public sector employees to burn calories instead of fossil fuel.
Consider these:
1. Biking or walking creates no pollution, and increases the participant’s fitness level.
2. More than 120 million daily car trips in the U.S. are short enough to make on foot.
3. Taking a transit bus is 170 times safer than riding in a car.
4. The average urban commuter lost 46 hours in traffic congestion in 2002.
5. More than half of the outdoor air pollution in Washington State is caused by motor vehicles.
6. Public transit is the biggest time saver, shaving 32 percent of the time people spend sitting in bumper to bumper traffic.
Besides reducing traffic congestion and air pollution and saving money, participants can win prizes.
Signing up as a participant or team captain is easy. Participants can ride the bus or train, carpool or vanpool, compress the work week, telecommute (with prior approval), walk and-or ride a bike to work.
Captains organize their work place teams and receive materials to help with the process. A team can be a department, an office, or any group of people that wants to take part.
3. County officials from Western states to meet in Tacoma: Agenda Includes Dialogue on Methamphetamines, Public Lands, Transportation
The National Association of Counties (NACO) will hold its annual Western Interstate Region Conference in Pierce County May 25-27 at the Greater Tacoma Convention and Trade Center. More than 300 county commissioners from Western states are expected at the conference, where they will participate in workshops, listen to speakers and vote on resolutions.
Kathleen Clarke, director of the Bureau of Land Management, U.S. Department of the Interior, is confirmed to speak at the opening General Session May 26. The second General Session May 27 will explore the challenges Western counties face when dealing with methamphetamine abuse.
Conference attendees will take part in workshops designed to encourage collaboration between county officials. Workshop topics include economic development, transportation, environment, healthcare, housing and energy.
The National Association of Counties (NACo) is a full-service organization that provides legislative, research, technical and public affairs assistance to county governments. Created in 1935, NACo continues to ensure that the nation’s 3,066 counties are heard and understood in the White House and Congress.
