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Rep. Dawn Morrell, serving the 25th District Serving the city of Puyallup, portions of Milton, Fife, Edgewood, and the unincorporated communities of Midland, Summit and South Hill. |
25th District wins big in proposed capital budget
February 20, 2008
OLYMPIA—The 25th legislative district won support for three of its top priorities in the $110 million supplemental capital budget proposed by House Democrats today.
“We hit the trifecta,” said state Rep. Dawn Morrell. “The proposed budget supports our vision of a Pierce County Skills Center; it funds the mobile command unit that our law enforcement agencies requested; and it even includes money to help us preserve the open space at Terry’s Berries.”
“Rep. Morrell made a compelling case for the 25th District projects in our budget proposal,” said House Capital Budget Chair Bill Fromhold, D-Vancouver.
Pierce County Skills Center
The biggest prize
of the day for the 25th District is a proposed $3.1 million
grant to begin planning a new Pierce County Skills Center on the site of
the old Safeway at 160th and Canyon Road East in Bethel.
The skills center would serve a consortium of 10 local school districts who could not afford to create and operate a new top-quality skills center on their own. Preliminary plans envision an 84,000-square-foot facility serving between 800 and 900 students annually, according to news reports.
“I’m really excited that our dream of a cutting-edge skills center is moving forward,” Morrell said. “We are talking about skills that are at the forefront of the 21st century job market, including medical sciences, aerospace, veterinary careers and biotechnology.”
The completed skills center is expected to cost about $42 million.
Cooperative Cities Command Vehicle
The Democrats’
proposed budget also includes $300,000 for a Cooperative Cities Command
Vehicle to serve Pierce County.
Twenty-eight partner agencies—including the Puyallup, Tacoma, Edgewood and Fife police departments—said incidents such as the Tacoma Mall shooting showed a mobile command unit “is needed to effectively coordinate multi-agency responses.” The vehicle would be used for a wide range of public needs including search and rescue, SWAT operations, and public health emergencies.
Preserving Terry’s Berries
People who value
the remaining beautiful open spaces between East Tacoma and Puyallup
will like the proposed investment of $291,000 to help Pierce County
preserve the 21-acre site of Terry’s Berries for agricultural purposes
“in perpetuity.”
The county would use the cash to match a Conservation Futures application submitted by the Cascade Land Conservancy to purchase Terry's Berries' development rights.
According to the Washington Wildlife and Recreation Coalition, “The farm rests on some of the most productive soils west of the Cascades, surrounded by other agricultural uses. Its proximity to the urban fringe makes it a strategic location for agricultural conservation.”
The Coalition’s request adds that “over 2,000 school children tour the farm every year. Allowing children and families an opportunity to understand how food is grown is integral to promoting conservation and support for local farming as a valued profession and community need.”
A Good Two Years
The local gains in
this year’s supplemental budget come on top of big wins funded in the
main capital budget that became law last year—including more than $25
million to build a new Communication Arts & Health center at Pierce
College Puyallup.
All in all, the 25th District will have received more than $31.5 million in capital project funding in 2007-08, if the supplemental proposal is signed into law.
“Local lawmakers are united and determined to get these projects funded,” Morrell said. I’m confident we can succeed.”