A public safety building to replace the aging police department and the leased space that now holds municipal court.
An athletic complex.
A larger dog park.
Those are all features Puyallup could see in the next five years. The City Council placed them on a list of possibilities during a brainstorming session Friday in which members set goals and cast visions to guide the future of the city.
Some other themes also emerged during the roughly two-hour discussion: The council wants a plan for staying on top of city facility maintenance and infrastructure repairs.
And some members want to establish a policy to preserve the historic look of downtown.
“If we can maintain downtown, that will maintain the heart of the city,” Councilman John Knutsen said after the session.
The session marked the first time the seven-member council has met to brainstorm and set broad goals for the city of 37,000 residents since four of the members took office after last fall’s general election.
The group spent time rewriting the city’s mission and vision statements. Members put a range of goals and ideas on their to-do list, such as restoring Clarks Creek, widening Shaw Road, reducing city debt and making a decision on whether to join the regional South Sound 911 dispatch agency.
And they revisited an idea that’s come up at other City Council meetings this year: making better use of space at the five-story City Hall.
The council at one time discussed moving the police department or municipal court into the building. But a consultant this spring recommended against, citing building code, space and cost issues.
Mayor Rick Hansen said during Friday’s session that the city “should absolutely be looking at (having) other government entities” sharing space in the facility. He added that he’s talked with Puyallup School District officials about the idea.
Council members said they thought the session was productive.
“The real work is going to be, where do we go from here?” Councilman John Palmer said afterward. “We don’t have the money for all of that.”
The council is in the midst of settling a city budget for next year. The preliminary 2013 budget developed by the interim city manager totals about $94 million, down nearly 7 percent from this year. The proposed plan includes the net reduction of 10.5 employee positions.
Another council workshop on the budget is planned Tuesday.
The council plans to meet again in a couple weeks about the goals and visions to refine and prioritize the list.
Sara Schilling: 253-552-7058sara.schilling@thenewstribune.com
blog.thenewstribune.com/street
@TNTschilling
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