Litter-sucking trucks, road work, graffiti priorities in Pierce public works budget
Pierce County officials are looking to crack down on litter and graffiti in the next biennium and are planning to do so with the help of a special vacuum-armed truck, according to a preliminary budget proposal for 2024-2025.
The Planning & Public Works department’s priorities also include adding 25 miles of sidewalks, 710 curb ramps, 364 crosswalks and six miles of bike lanes, relieving traffic congestion and increasing staffing, according to the budget proposal.
In its entirety, the preliminary 2024-2025 county budget is $3.2 billion, a 1.2% increase, or $38.5 million, over the 2022-2023 budget. Other budget priorities identified by Pierce County Executive Bruce Dammeier have been public safety, affordable housing and homelessness and economic development. A final budget is expected to be approved by the Pierce County Council on Nov. 21.
Planning & Public Works is responsible for overseeing county road systems, sewer services, airports, ferries, building permits, environmental review, sustainability, community planning and code enforcement.
The total Planning & Public Works budget is expected to be about $957 million. In 2022-2023, the budget was about $908 million, according to communications manager Erin Babbo. Funding for the department comes from 20 different funds, including the County Road Fund, Transportation Facilities Fund, Sewer Utility Funds, General Fund, Airport Fund and Ferry Services Fund.
The department wants to add 18.5 full time authorized staff positions by 2025, including three related to ferry and airport maintenance, a specialist to guide the protection of cultural and archaeological resources, two long-range planners and a maintenance worker on the Litter Reduction Taskforce, according to a presentation made to the Pierce County Council on Oct. 12.
Planning & Public Works expects to spend $14.8 million on a total of 142 replacement equipment purchases, according to the preliminary budget.
Vacuum-armed trucks could help clear litter
Pierce County is proposing a new Community Restoration and Cleanup Initiative designed to accelerate and expand the county’s response to litter and graffiti cleanup, as well as deal with nuisance properties, homeless encampments and illegal dumping.
The department would focus its attention particularly in urban neighborhoods, transportation corridors and commercial centers with high visibility, said Jen Tetatzin, the director of Planning & Public Works.
Pierce County would work with other cities, the Washington State Department of Transportation and Joint Base Lewis-McChord to address litter, graffiti and nuisance properties, according to the budget presentation.
The new Community Restoration and Cleanup Initiative would use $4.5 million in federal American Rescue Plan Act dollars, which would be in addition to the more than $4 million typically spent on those types of activities, according to Planning & Public Works.
The additional investment includes:
About $1.3 million for road and sign maintenance, litter removal, graffiti removal and enhanced street lighting
About $2.3 million for additional property maintenance, graffiti removal, trash collection, boarding up of drug houses and overgrown vegetation on private property
About $290,000 to partners with cities, the Washington State Department of Transportation, Joint Base Lewis-McChord and law enforcement to remove unauthorized homeless encampments and clean up related debris
About $555,000 to expand citizen litter reporting tools and marketing, as well as additional signage and education about harmful community impacts of litter, graffiti, illegal dumping and abandoned property
To aid in litter removal, the department is proposing to buy two litter-removal trucks with a vacuum arm, which is designed to pick up small litter and debris in ditches along highways and other sections of roadway that are often difficult, dangerous or labor-intensive to reach otherwise, Tetatzin said.
One truck would be purchased specifically for county roads and the other purchased with ARPA dollars would be available for county-wide use, she said. The truck operators would visually target trash to ensure anything other than debris is not sucked up, Tetatzin said.
“The models we’ve tested can pick up everything from cigarette butts to soda cans, small bags of garbage, plastic bags that get loose and fly, paper,” Tetatzin said. “The different models have a little bit different range, but generally we’re talking about one trash bag size or less. Cigarette butts, we see a lot of candy wrappers, discarded fast food wrappers, that kind of thing.”
The cost of adding a new maintenance technician and equipment purchase of a new Roadway Debris Vacuum truck is $676,290, according to the preliminary budget.
Because the budget has not been approved yet, Tetatzin said, the department hasn’t selected a specific vendor or type of litter-removal truck. If the council adopts the budget, the department would start a competitive procurement process and later buy the equipment, she said.
“In the city of Tacoma and some of the other more densely populated areas, you’ve seen a lot of graffiti, a lot of blight, a lot of trash left behind, certain activities. And it is overwhelming what the cities can do with their budgets and their workforce, their contracts,” Tetatzin said. “So it’s really an effort to help those urban areas deal with the rising rates of blight.”
Graffiti removal efforts could include hiring contractors to power wash or use chemicals to remove paint, painting over graffiti, or, in some cases, providing reimbursement to private home or commercial building owners for material costs to paint over graffiti, Tetatzin said.
Bridge repairs, road work in project budget
According to the county’s Transportation Improvement Program, Pierce County plans to allocate $208,000 on Americans with Disabilities Act improvements from 2024-2029 in various locations countywide.
Also allocated is about $2 million for repairs and improvements on the Fox Island Bridge Road crossing over Hale Passage.
Canyon Road improvements included in the proposed biennium budget are:
$11.8 million for improvements from 52 Street East / 62 Avenue East to Puyallup River and SR-167 to North Levee Road East / 70 Avenue East
$3 million for the northerly extension of Canton Road East from 1,500 ft S/O Pioneer Way East to 52 Street East / 62 Avenue East
$2.3 million for Canyon Road East from 72 Street East to Pioneer Way East
$794,000 for improvements and asphalt overlay on Canyon Road East from 160 Street East to 138 Street East
The Planning & Public Works department also proposed about $1.3 million to be allocated to the Safe Routes to School Initiative including improvements at these intersections:
East of 16 Avenue East to Portland Avenue East
Golden Given Road East to 16 Avenue East
97 Avenue East (Pvt) to State Route 161
126 Avenue East to Hunt Elementary
B Street East to 13 Avenue Court East
156 Street East to 152 Street East
And other various locations to be determined
The department also is proposing more investments in the Vision Zero Program, with the goal of eliminating traffic fatalities and serious injuries by 2035. Among that is adding a transportation planning supervisor to implement a Vision Zero Traffic Safety Action Plan (cost: $321,540) as well as professional services to implement the plan (a one-time cost of $555,740, $400,000 of which is reimbursable via grant).
Ferry fees proposed to go up
Planning & Public Works is proposing to add a $1 per ticket surcharge and increase all ferry fares by 3% in 2024 and 5% in 2025. An adult passenger ticket that cost $6.21 in 2023 would cost $7.40 in 2024 and $7.77 in 2025 with the proposed changes.
Those increases are expected to bring in $702,130 of new revenue, according to the preliminary budget.
With increased ridership and economic factors that continue to strain the ferry system, these fees adjust to compensate for the demand and costs of operation, according to the Planning & Public Works department.
“The increase in fares would also generate revenue for the Ferry Capital Replacement Fund, which can be used to pursue grants for future replacements,” according to the department.
A “Youth Ride Free” fare change is also proposed, with free fare for those 18 and under as part of the state’s $17 billion Move Ahead Washington transportation funding package. The $70,000 cost will be offset by funding provided by the state, according to the budget presentation.
This year more ferry cancellations left many Anderson Island residents stranded, as reported by the News Tribune in June. The county plans to invest tens of thousands more in the ferry system in the next two years.
Funding for ferry improvement projects come from ferry ticket sales, state and federal grant programs and a subsidy from the County Road Fund (which is primarily funded by property taxes).
Rehabilitation of Steilacoom and Anderson Island ferry landings make up 70% of the Ferry Improvement Program biennial budget. That includes surface and parking lot construction as well as upgrades to the Anderson Island and Steilacoom ferry landings, including $189,000 invested in the Ketron Island ferry landing.
Also in the Ferry Services Fund is the purchase of a small service boat for the Pierce County Ferry fleet to support routine maintenance needs and provide backup passenger transportation in case of unplanned outages (total cost: $407,000).
The department also wants to add a new ferry maintenance program manager for $287,190 to oversee ferry system operations, which is subsidized by Federal Ferry Boat Program WSDOT funding, according to the budget.
The cost of adding a new maintenance worker to support airport and ferry system maintenance is $356,480, according to the preliminary budget.
Airport fees also going up
The department also proposed increasing monthly hangar and tie down rates at local airports. Thun Field’s rental rates are proposed to increase 15% annually to bring up to market rate and the Tacoma Narrows rental rates are proposed to be increased 5% per year.
These changes are expected to bring in $119,590 of new revenue for maintenance and future facility investments. According to Planning & Public Works, operational costs are expected to rise by at least 8% in the next biennium.
“Without this adjustment, the airport fund does not have the necessary resources to maintain existing infrastructure in the future,” according to the department.
