I'd like to call to order the city council study session of April 15th, 2025.

Clark, will you please call the roll?

Council Member Bushnell.

Absent.

Deputy Mayor Daniels.

Here.

Councilmember Diaz.

Councilmember Hines.

Here.

Council Member Rumba here.

Councilmember Sidalgay?

Here.

Councilmember Scott.

Here.

Councilmember Walker.

Here.

Mayor Woodards.

Here.

The study session materials sent to you at 11.

All right.

We um have one agenda item today, and our first agenda item is the Sheridan Arterial Improvements.

And I'd like to call on Chief Deputy City Attorney Steve Victor to begin the presentation.

Mayor, I'm going to defer to our Real Property Services Manager, Susie Rogers, who's going to lead the presentation.

Thank you very much.

Hello, thank you.

Good afternoon, Mayor Woodards and Council members.

I am Susie Rogers here on behalf of Real Property Services Public Works Department to provide an update on the City of Tacoma Public Works Project Number, PWK-G0043, otherwise known as the Sheridan Arterial Improvements Project, and to provide a recommendation on the approval for the authorization for the use of eminent domain at the City Council meeting scheduled for next Tuesday, April 22nd, 2025.

Oops, excuse me.

Okay.

The Sheridan Arterial Improvement Project is a complete street road improvement project of Sheridan Avenue between South 64th Street and South 72nd Street along Wapato Park, and consisting of the following work.

Wapato Park is to the west of Sheridan Avenue on the PowerPoint.

The following work consists of full reconstruction of Sheridan Avenue with new base course and asphalt pavement, addition of a new shared use path for pedestrians and cyclists, new sidewalks, new water main replacement, new stormwater collection system with new curb and garters, new landscaping consisting of grass and mulch and approximately 150 new street trees.

Installation of a new pedestrian signal improvement at the intersections of Sheridan Avenue and 64th Street and 72nd Street.

This project will benefit the community by improving mobility, accessibility, and public safety, and also enhance livability by creating a more pleasant corridor along Wapato Park.

This project is being paid for through a variety of funding sources, totaling approximately $7.8 million, almost half of the dollars of which are coming from the Washington State Transportation Improvement Board, TIB grant funds.

As a recipient of state monies for transportation projects, the City of Tacoma is obligated to comply with state agency requirements for spend, which includes the requirement to acquire the necessary property rights to construct the project in a timely manner and to initiate and utilize eminent domain if necessary.

Otherwise, all monies must be returned or will be withdrawn.

Construction of the Sheridan Arterial Improvement Project requires property rights acquisition from 23 total parcels.

Property rights acquisitions for the project comprise a mix of fee acquisitions and temporary construction easements.

Fee acquisitions are permanent property acquisitions that would carve out a sliver of property which would be controlled and utilized by the city as public right of way permanently.

Temporary construction usements or TCEs are temporary in nature and are temporary property rights, which allow the city to use private property for a specific period of time, in this case two years or less.

And for this project, property owners will be paid for a full two-year term, regardless of whether or not the city will utilize a full two years.

For the Sheridan Arterial Improvements Project, the overall project construction schedule is estimated to be for approximately a year and a half, with actual construction days being estimated to be approximately 266 working days.

The longer schedule being to account for landscape maintenance and inspections.

However, actual construction time on any given property would be intermittent throughout the construction period, lasting only hours or days at a time.

Access to properties during construction will be prioritized to the best of the city's ability, and there will always be access to driveways for property owners to access their property.

All acquisitions are conducted in compliance with the state and federal guidelines for acquisitions, namely the Washdot or Washington State Department of Transportation Local Agency Guidelines or the Lag Manual and the Uniform Relocation Assistance and Real Property Acquisition for federally for federal and federally assisted programs, otherwise known as the Uniform Act.

All acquisitions, whether in fee or temporary, are valued by a license appraiser, and property owners are compensated fair market value for the take, fee take, or temporary use of the area.

As previously stated, there are 23 parcels in corresponding 23 owners within the Sheridan Arterial Improvement Project for which property rights are needed.

Out of the 23 parcels, the city has acquired all the necessary property rights to construct the project with the exception of four remaining parcels.

Negotiations of the four remaining parcel holdouts have been unsuccessful due to either non-responsiveness of the property owners or negotiation impasse.

The four remaining parcel holdouts for this project are located at 1315 South 72nd Street, 6481 South Sheridan Avenue, 6477 South Sheridan Avenue, 6421 South, excuse me, South Sheridan Avenue.

The following slides will highlight those parcels for which property rights are still pending.

The first slide, parcel number one, 1315 South 72nd Street.

We are at a negotiation impasse.

The existing conditions are there is it's a residential property.

There's a rock retaining wall located adjacent to the public right-of-way on South 72nd Street and Sheridan Avenue, and there were three unpermitted driveways at the location.

The improvements proposed were a new block retaining wall on the south side of the property and the west side of the property, removing the two corner driveways, and additional landscaping or paving paving for driveway expansion.

The fee acquisition is 44 square feet, and the temporary construction easement required is 2,917 square feet, mostly for the reconstruction of the block wall.

Okay.