South Sound briefs - Oct. 10

The Olympian | • Published October 10, 2008

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South Sound

Lacey, Olympia OK deal to help acquire water

Lacey and Olympia have ratified an agreement aimed at helping both cities secure more water to accommodate their growing populations.

Lacey has submitted to the state Department of Ecology a plan to mitigate the effects of pumping more water from the ground. Olympia has submitted a plan to mitigate the effects of moving its main water source from McAllister Springs to a nearby wellfield, a joint project with the Nisqually Indian tribe.

The two proposals affect some of the same bodies of water, so the cities needed to reach an agreement.

Under the agreement, the cities will jointly own and operate a facility that will use reclaimed water to mitigate some of the effects on Woodland Creek of pumping additional groundwater. The cities also will acquire land to increase the riparian buffer along the creek. They also agreed not to challenge the decisions by Ecology on the respective applications if certain conditions are met.

The Lacey City Council voted on the agreement Thursday night. Olympia took action Tuesday.

Lacey is scheduled to vote on a similar agreement with the Nisqually Indian tribe at a future meeting.

Thurston County

State to transfer 80 acres of land to school district

The Department of Natural Resources has approved a transfer of 80 acres of state trust land in rural Thurston County to the Rainier School District for a future school site.

The parcel, on 118th Avenue off Manke Road between Yelm and Rainier and west of state Route 507, was appraised at $720,000, according to the DNR. The school district will make a down payment of $600,000 and pay the remainder to the trust during the next four years, according to DNR.

In 2007, voters approved a Rainier School District construction bond that included money for the purchase of land for future growth.

Tumwater

Police hope images from robbery generates leads

Tumwater police hope that video images from a convenience store robbery this summer will help lead to an arrest.

Tumwater police detective Jennifer Kolb said Wednesday that there have been a number of commercial burglaries, including the Aug. 21 robbery of C&N Mini Mart on Custer Way.

Two men are suspected of stealing cigarettes, lottery tickets and the cash register. The suspects might be involved in other burglaries, Kolb said.

Video shows the suspects leaving in a silver-colored Nissan Altima.

One of the robbers is tall, thin man, wearing a green knit ski mask, gray pants with a dark-stripe down the sides, a dark jacket and gloves, brown shoes and a green shirt. The other has brown shaggy hair, is medium height and build and was wearing a camouflage ball cap, gray-hooded sweatshirt and a black coat, blue jeans and black tennis shoes with white soles.

Anyone with information is asked to call the Tumwater police at 360-754-4200 or Crime Stoppers at 360-493-2222. To see the store image of the robbers, go to www.theolympian.com.