3 good South Sound priorities for 2017 session

Thurston County cities and business leaders have agreed on a short list of priority projects they hope to win funding for during the legislative session that begins Jan. 9.

All three of the requests — for brewery-center lab equipment, for a Capitol Lake study and for Interstate 5 planning — have merit. The requests total $12.2 million and are jointly backed by leaders in Olympia, Lacey, Tumwater, Port of Olympia, the Thurston Chamber, the Thurston Regional Planning Council, and the Thurston County Economic Development Council.

Once again the chamber, led by executive director David Schaffert, orchestrated the work to narrow the community requests to three. This is an important, effective strategy that cuts through political noise and gets better attention on shared goals that help a larger community.

Here is what’s proposed:

▪ $2 MILLION FOR BREWING EQUIPMENT:

The Center for Craft Brewing and Distilling project can give an economic shot in the arm to South Sound. The proposal is more honed than what Tumwater and South Puget Sound Community College proposed jointly a year ago.

The goal now is to create a center on port property north of the Tumwater airport. A feasibility study done for Tumwater showed a potential for 662 jobs and $101 million in economic impact from a fully developed craft center that houses craft breweries, distilleries and cider-makers.

As outlined by the city, college and Thurston Chamber in a meeting with The Olympian Editorial Board, the goal is for a private brewing, distilling or cider-making company to build a facility with room for the college to lease for the education center it proposed last year. The $2 million is for lab equipment.

SPSCC president Tim Stokes envisions a classroom and lab facility that lets future brewery, distillery and cider-making workers learn the trade and skills needed to run a businesse.

The city is interested in reviving its once proud brewing history to create a niche industry that echoes what Walla Walla has done with wines, according to Heidi Behrends Cerniwey, Tumwater’s assistant city manager and brewery project manager. The city and college are seeking a public-private partnership with private brewing and distilling companies and the Port of Olympia, which has land north of the airport in Tumwater.

The plan is still a work in progress. But private talks are under way with a company that could potentially anchor this project. Gov. Jay Inslee’s capital budget omitted funds for this, but as details emerge, we hope it earns support from legislators.

▪ $5.2 MILLION FOR CAPITOL LAKE:

This money is for the next stage of planning for the long-term future of Capitol Lake. The man-made lake fed is filling up with silt from the Deschutes River. Dredging it to keep it an urban lake may not be possible.

Our Olympia community has been split on the best solution. Some favor letting the lake return to salt marsh estuary, allowing silt to drift into Budd Inlet. Others refuse to give up the dream of dredging the lake to retain its present character. There also are hybrid options.

The money is intended to identify specific costs and the feasibility of five concepts in play. It’s going to take a lot of money, federal assistance, good faith among stakeholder groups, and tremendous political endurance to reach a good solution that serves Olympia, Thurston County, tribal, and state interests.

Gov. Jay Inslee included this vital work in his capital budget request for 2017-19.

▪ $5 MILLION FOR I-5 PLANNING:

It pays to plan far ahead on transportation. The expansion of Interstate 5 in the 1980s didn’t look far enough into the future. As a result trestles over the freeway, which might have allowed commuter rail into our three cities’ urban center, were torn down and the rail corridor was abandoned to other uses.

More recently, lawmakers provided money for an interchange upgrade in Lacey and also the eventual widening of I-5 at Joint Base Lewis McChord.

Scott Spence, Lacey city manager, told the editorial board that the I-5 expansion at JBLM is eventually going to push the traffic bottleneck further south.

Getting ready for that traffic bulge is smart. It may take years to get the planning money.

The request starts the conversation. It covers the area from Mounts Road, on the Pierce County side of the Nisqually River, to to 93rd Avenue south of Tumwater. Whether planning leads to suggestions to widen I-5 — or add carpool lanes or some other option such as commuter rail — remains to be seen.

We encourage our delegations from the 22nd, 2nd, 35th and 20th legislative districts to take all three requests to heart. It’s important that our local representatives make time early in the year to meet with advocates to fully understand what is being proposed.

This story was originally published December 23, 2016 at 9:04 PM with the headline "3 good South Sound priorities for 2017 session."