Lacey set to renew Veterans Services Office lease

Lacey City Council is expected to renew a one-year lease for the Lacey Veterans Services Office.

The council was close to approving the lease Thursday night during its work session, but decided to postpone the vote until Thursday for a larger City Council meeting audience.

Council members spoke highly of the office and the services provided to veterans, including readjustment counseling.

“These services are essential to our citizens,” said Councilman Jeff Gadman, noting the city’s large active-duty and retired military population.

A year ago, the city approved a lease for a 1,200-square-foot office in the former Rowe Six properties on Sixth Avenue after they were purchased by South Puget Sound Community College for its new Lacey campus. The campus opened Monday. The veterans services office is behind the main campus building, not far from Golf Club Road.

The city spent $10,000 for the first year of the lease and will pay the same amount in the second year once the lease has been approved. The city’s goal, though, is to continue to lobby for federal funding to make the veterans office a permanent, five-day-a-week operation.

The demand is there, city data show. A year ago the office opened two days a week, but it has grown to three days a week, serving about 34 veterans per week.

This story was originally published September 17, 2015 at 11:39 PM with the headline "Lacey set to renew Veterans Services Office lease."