Highlights from the weekly report (January 8) from City of Lakewood Manager, Andrew Neiditz to the Mayor and Council Members:
- City gets clean state audit: The State Auditor’s Office conducted its exit conference on January 7th to conclude its annual audit of the City of Lakewood with no management letters of findings. An unqualified opinion, the highest level of report, will be issued this month, which means the financial statements are presented fairly, in all material respects. The report also concluded that prior audit findings regarding preparation of financial statements were resolved.
- Lakewood featured in the winter issue of South Sound magazine: The “Loving Lakewood: 10 Things to Fall For” article highlights ten destinations and spotlights local businesses Hess Bakery and Tijuana Taco. A six-page feature on the Falk home on Lake Steilacoom, “Lakewood Repeats,” follows (available online at www.southsoundmag.com/article_read.php?articleid=170). The opening reception for the new Design Gallery and Studio at the Colonial Center also gets a mention. Published by Premier Media Group in Tacoma, South Sound has covered home-garden-lifestyles for a broad region since 2007.
- American Lake Toxic Algae Bloom: There currently is a toxic algae bloom in American Lake. A toxic algae bloom is easily identified by an unusual color or appearance to the water. Usually a bloom makes the lake surface green, giving the appearance of pea soup or green paint, but sometimes the bloom is a different color, such as brown or red. The algae are the small dots in the water. Wind and weather conditions can greatly change the amount and location of algae in the lake. The Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department recommends that children and pets be kept away from areas that have a heavy concentration of algae, and that citizens do not swim, wade, water-ski, or fish in such areas. The risk to pets is much greater than the risk to people, both due to the smaller body sizes of pets and to a pet being more likely to drink water containing a heavy concentration of algae.
- Judge Heller’s swearing in: Lakewood Municipal Court Judge Ernest Heller was sworn in last month at a special ceremony at the Supreme Court in Olympia. It was the first time the Supreme Court held the event of swearing in Municipal Court Judges, and over 25 Judges were sworn in from around the state. Chief Justice Alexander informed the audience of the importance of Municipal Court Judges due to the high volume of people’s lives they impact.