Olhava and the municipal campus. Two of the biggest projects to hit this city in years are still but blooms on a tree both in danger of not making it to fruition as intended. Having two such highly touted plans flower during election season might have distracted city officials just enough to cause them to forget to water both.
Yet the roots of Olhava and the campus need some attention — and soon.
The foundations of the projects are in question as the city public works committee neglects to address needs that are more pressing than ensuring local talent gets a crack at the municipal campus project. There’s time for that later, but right now, the city must forge ahead on the project.
If the city misses its opportunity at Olympic Property Group’s land, it will have pretty much wasted the $50,000 it spent studying that property. OPG and the city have already made some pretty serious headway on siting the new municipal campus at 10th and Lincoln and BLRB Architects have created scenarios that show the site will work. After some pressure, the city did review the option of relocating city hall to the EDS building but deemed it unworkable.
Since then, the clock on the OPG land has been ticking away. The business granted an extension in late September, a final presentation was given to council Nov. 1 and the council vote is set for tonight. A delay at this juncture could alienate OPG altogether. The business, which has postponed its own plans to create a business park at the site has been patient with the city’s campus process. Is its patience running out?
Maybe. Councilman Ed Stern warned that another extension probably won’t be granted.
If it is, the city may simply have to chalk another $50,000 in the expense column on the municipal campus, bringing the tally — which also includes the Morrison property fiasco — to $715,000. That’s $715,000, not to mention hours and hours of city staff’s and the community’s time, and back to square one.
Meanwhile, the committee should be hammering ahead to ensure a Bond Road pump station is available to serve Olhava and any future annexations in the western part of the city’s UGA.
The station is the linchpin for development at Olhava and for some reason, isn’t getting the attention it deserves. The city just upped its projected sales tax revenues by $500,000 but it won’t see a dime of that unless it addresses the pump station issue.
Under the original Olhava master plan, all of the sewage would have gone into the Lindvig Pump Station at the head of Liberty Bay.
However, with the proposed station and force main, the only sewage taking that route will be from the proposed 185 residential units being built south of Highway 3. The rest will go to the pump station and down 305, not along the beaches of the bay.
With more than half of the project being funded by Olhava Associates, it’s just a matter of finding a workable solution to a pressing problem.
If that doesn’t happen, the anticipated revenue flood that will help pay for the municipal campus could slow to a mere trickle, jeopardizing not only Olhava but other developments as well.
