Tillicum Residents Raise Concern About Camp Murray Gate

Update on Camp Murray Gate

On July 19th, city staff provided updates on the Camp Murray Gate relocation to three citizen advisory boards (Transportation, Planning, and Redevelopment) in the afternoon and to the Tillicum neighborhood later that evening.

The latter meeting was attended by about 50 people including three councilmembers. Lakewood City Manager Andrew Neiditz and Dave Bugher, assistant city manager, presented the extensive review of options and new traffic data which led to the determination that a new gate at Portland Avenue, in conjunction with traffic measures to discourage cut-through traffic on Portland and Thorne, provided the best long term solution.

A roundabout at Boundary and Portland would expedite the flow of traffic and additional turn lanes would encourage traffic to utilize the Berkeley exit 122. Eventually the existing gate will need to be relocated when the Interstate 5 interchange at Berkeley is upgraded.  Other locations considered were Washington and Grant Avenues but proved untenable from a force protection and security standpoint.

City meets with Lakewood Towne Center management

Senior city staff met on July 20 with two vice presidents of Inland Western, the Illinois-based company which owns and manages most of the Lakewood Towne Center. Discussion covered issues of directional signage, retail recruitment strategies and potential improvements to the overall shopping center.

Lakewood’s Brightest Star

On a blustery Tuesday evening, four finalists competed for the Lakewood’s Brightest Star championship at American Lake Park. With a mixture of songs from popular artists and a few original works, finalists wowed the crowd with their vocal talents while singing a three-song set.

The judges for the event included Dr. Ben Keller, choral director for the award-winning Lakes High School Choir, and Shirley Petersen, current chairperson of the Lakewood Arts Commission. This year’s winner was Lakewood resident Sammi Bradley who took home a $100 in cash. She sang two original songs and a Taylor Swift song accompanied with the guitar.

Emergency management training

Lakewood Parks & Recreation staff and volunteers attended a county-wide emergency management training at Pierce College on Saturday, July 16.  Topics included ham radio communication, food handling, creating shelter care teams, ADA access and the introduction of a new and improved shelter training manual.

The afternoon ended with a mock shelter exercise. A highlight for the participants was touring the city’s mobile emergency response trailer, which Pierce County would like to replicate in their other service areas.   

Lakewood Police hosts Street Survival

The Lakewood Police Department hosted two days of Street Survival, with over 50 officers from 25 law enforcement agencies in attendance each day. The Street Survival course teaches techniques for mental preparation, situational control, armed encounter preparation, high risk stop skills, tactical awareness and non-lethal force options. The Street Survival seminar motivates, inspires and teaches officers not only to survive but to prevail.

Senior Activity Center conducts workshop on aging

The Lakewood Senior Activity Center hosted a workshop in collaboration with Pierce County Aging & Long Term Care on July 19th called End of Life Emergencies: Essential Documents to Prepare. It was attended by more than 30 older adults.

The free presentation covered living wills, power of attorney, Physician’s orders for life sustaining treatments and other pertinent topics. The goal was to help seniors be prepared for the unexpected and to encourage sharing this important information with family members.

Proposed development on Interlaaken between Washington and 112th

On July 19th, the Community Development Department received the Hearing Examiner’s decision for the SHB preliminary plat, which was presented at a public hearing on July 6th. The decision took into consideration comments by members of the public who were concerned about the proposal’s high density, impacts from site preparation activities, and lack of open space for children to play.

In addition to conditions of plat approval recommended by the Community Development Department, the Hearing Examiner provided the following additional conditions:

• Construction of a security and privacy fence on the south property line prior to clearing, grading and construction.
• Extension of a security and privacy fence along the southwest and west boundaries of the site.
• Provide for a centrally-located recreation area for the residents of the plat, which may reduce the number of lots by one.
• Restrictions to construction traffic work time and routing, as determined necessary by the Public Works Department for public safety.