Council roundup: Gig Harbor Wastewater Treatment Plant receives 10th consecutive award from state

For the tenth year in a row, the Gig Harbor Wastewater Treatment Plant received an outstanding performance award from the Washington State Department of Ecology for meeting and/or exceeding the standards set by the state.

Darrell Winans, wastewater treatment supervisor, received the award from Mayor Jill Guernsey at Monday’s Gig Harbor City Council meeting, accompanied by staff from the treatment plant, who displayed their nine previous awards.

“The mayor presented me the plaque but these guys deserve the credit,” Winans said. “I’m a true believer in teamwork. We hope you take as much pride in this award as we do, because we did this together, as a group, as a team.”

Winans, who celebrated his 11th year working for the city on Wednesday, added that the plant has not been issued a violation in the past decade.

He credited the ongoing success of the treatment plant to the cooperation between his staff, the city and the city council members who worked together to provide the capacity the treatment plant needed to meet the demands of the growing Gig Harbor community.

“I really wanted to thank you for your continued support,” he said. “Ten years in a row is a huge milestone.”

Transportation Improvement Program

The six-year Transportation Improvement Program (TIP) for 2017 to 2022 was approved unanimously by the Council after a brief presentation by Senior Engineer Emily Appleton.

The TIP is required annually by the state for every city and most transportation improvement projects that seek state or federal funding must be included in the TIP.

Organized by project priority, the largest changes to TIP were align projects with the 2017-18 budget and to remove completed projects.

Priority projects identified on the TIP include the Harbor Hill Drive Extension and intersection improvements at Rosedale Street and Stinson Avenue, Burnham Drive and Harbor Hill Drive and Olympic Drive and Point Fosdick Drive, among other listed projects.

Pierce County jail contract

A renegotiated contract for housing at Pierce County jail was presented to the Council by Gig Harbor Police Chief Kelly Busey, featuring lowered booking and daily rate fees from the 2016 contract.

This 2017 contract features a booking fee lowered from the 2016 rate of $225 to $52, and a daily rate lowered from $92 to $77.

Rates at Kitsap County jail remain the same for 2017, with no booking fee and a daily rate of $88.

Rates at Sunnyside, used for post-conviction, also remain the same in 2017, with no booking fee, a daily rate of $42 and one-way transportation.

The Council voted unanimously to approve the contract.

The next City Council meeting will be held at 5:30 p.m. Nov. 28 at the Gig Harbor Civic Center, located at 3510 Grandview Street in Gig Harbor. More information and a meeting agenda can be found online at cityofgigharbor.net.

This story was originally published November 17, 2016 at 9:31 AM with the headline "Council roundup: Gig Harbor Wastewater Treatment Plant receives 10th consecutive award from state."