Tacoma City Council
Study Session
Noon, Tuesday, September 28, 2004
Room 16
Tacoma Municipal Building North
733 Market St.

Utility rate adjustments
City Council members will discuss utility rate adjustments for solid waste, surface water and wastewater. Rates will be based on programs and services developed with the input of the Environmental Services Customer Advisory Panel and the Environment and Public Works Committee. The public may attend, but the council will not take public comment. CityPost (Channel 85 on Click!, Channel 77 on Comcast) will air the audio portion of the study session live.

Tacoma City Council
Regular Meeting
5 p.m., Tuesday, September 28, 2004
Council Chambers
Tacoma Municipal Building
747 Market St.

Drug use code revision
The City Council will hear the first reading of an ordinance that would strengthen current regulations related to drug paraphernalia. If approved, the ordinance would ban the manufacture, distribution, display and sale of drug paraphernalia, in order to discourage the illegal use of banned substances in Tacoma. The current regulations, which have not proven as effective as originally planned, only ban the sale of drug paraphernalia to persons under 18 years of age. The new regulations not only provide criminal penalties for the sale, display, distribution and manufacture of drug paraphernalia but also provide for the suspension or revocation of business licenses of any store that sells or displays drug paraphernalia. There will be time set aside for public comment at the beginning of the meeting.

Elderly Services funding
The City Council agenda includes the first reading of an ordinance that would authorize the execution of an agreement with the Tacoma Housing Authority (THA) that would deposit $52,346 in a special revenue fund for the Elderly Services Coordinator Program in the Human Rights and Human Services Department. The purpose of the grant that would fund the program is to provide assistance to residents of the THA’s senior housing projects to help them remain as active as possible, to reduce social isolation and to meet the special needs of senior tenants.

Job training program funding
City Council members will consider a resolution that would contract the Tacoma/Pierce County Employment and Training Consortium for $291,060 to train and employ young adults ages 18 to 24 with an emphasis on participants who are transitioning from welfare, women, minorities and those with limited English-speaking abilities. If approved, the resolution would allocate the funds from money already set aside as part of the 2003-2004 biennial budget for the Youth Building Tacoma project.

Budget workshop
The pricing of city services that have been categorized as strategic, essential or desirable in planning for the 2005-2006 Biennial Budget will be presented to City Council members beginning at 4:30 p.m. Sept. 30 at a budget workshop. The workshop will also include a discussion of strategic plan initiatives and new service funding proposals and how these items fit into the budget process. The public may attend the workshop in Room 16, Tacoma Municipal Building North, 733 Market St., but the Council will not take public comment. CityPost (Channel 85 on Click!, Channel 77 on Comcast) will air the audio portion of the workshop live.

CERT training
Tacoma citizens who want to learn how to prepare for and respond to disasters can sign up now for the Tacoma Fire Department’s Community Emergency Response Teams (CERT) classes. The goal of the CERT program is to teach people how to help each other in their neighborhoods in the first few minutes or hours following a disaster – before emergency responders are able to arrive on the scene. Sign ups are open until Sept. 24 to be one of 25 people to take part in the series of six classes starting Oct. 5 and practice exercises Oct. 23. Classes will be held at the Fire Training Center, 2124 Marshall Ave., on Tuesday and Thursday evenings from 6:30 to 9 p.m.