“Neighborhoods” To Feature Lakewood
With assistance from the sun, the Lakewood community showed off its beauty for the folks from Comcast on Monday.
A crew spent the day in Lakewood filming segments for an upcoming feature on the community for its On Demand show, “Neighborhoods .” The show is hosted by Sabrina Register.
Trust us. It’s going to be a great one.
Comcast customers will be able to watch the segment on Lakewood as early as April 1.To access “Neighborhoods,” simply tune to Channel 1 or select On Demand on your Comcast Digital Remote, then:
- Select Get Local
- Select Around the Sound
- Select Neighborhoods
And that’s it! Sit back and learn a little bit about the communities in the Puget Sound.
Soggy Doggy on Saturday
Rain or shine at 9:30 am., Saturday, the City of Lakewood will present the second annual Soggy Doggy Run at Fort Steilacoom Park! The on-site/day-of event registration fee has been reduced to $10 per participant over 14 years old. Younger children may accompany their parents and dogs at no cost for a 1-mile walk around Waughop Lake or a 5K run. Prizes for people and pets will be awarded! Join us on what may be a soggy day – the City’s Parks, Recreation and Community Services team will welcome you to this fun, family event.
Communities in Schools
Communities in Schools of Lakewood celebrated with the Champions for Youth Breakfast at Old Country Buffet on Thursday.
This annual fundraising event was attended by more than 200 community members, including great representation from the City. Mayor Don Anderson, as well as former Mayor and current Pierce County Councilmember Douglas Richardson, attended the event. An inspiring keynote speech was given by local success story Brandon Stodgstill, recalling the encouragement and support he received from our community as he rebuilt his life .
Communities in Schools is recognized nationally for being one of the best organizations in preventing drop-outs and increasing the graduation rate in high schools. The funds raised at this event will help cover the expenses of programs that are being delivered in the Clover Park School District.
Police
Year-End Crime Report
This week, the Police Department presented its 2013 year-end report to the Lakewood City Council. The report covered plenty – everything from the number of incidents to the number of uses of force by officers to the number of times the department received awards and praise. Here are some highlights of the report:
- Police responded to 59,909 calls for service in 2013, more than 2,500 of which resulted in bookings. More than 17,000 involved traffic stops
- Officer use of force (90 in 2013) represented an 18 percent drop from the prior year. There were no complaints of excessive force, and taser use fell almost 70 percent
- Officers used force on a sliver of a percent – 0.15 – of its contacts, and 3 percent of physical arrests required use of force
- Police received 39 citizen letters of praise and 27 department awards.
Assistant Chief Mike Zaro told the City Council that determining whether Lakewood is a safer community compared to years past can be subjective. However, the number of Priority One calls for service has dropped to its lowest level since 2008, and the violent crime rate has dropped to its second-lowest mark since 2005.
To view the Police Department’s full report, click here . When prompted to the agenda, under “Items For Discussion,” select “2013 Year End Police Department Report.”
Economic Development
Hobby Lobby Holds Grand Opening
They didn’t have to look very far to find the ribbon or the scissors.
On Monday, Hobby Lobby held its grand opening celebration for its new location in Lakewood, 5401 100th Street SW. Mayor Don Anderson, Deputy Mayor Jason Whalen and other City officials attended the ribbon-cutting.
The Lakewood store is Hobby Lobby’s ninth location in Washington. Jeremy Hayes is the store manager of the 55,000 square-foot retail facility located at 100th Street SW and Bridgeport Way
Once inside, visitors were treated to the new world – at least in Lakewood – of Hobby Lobby’s offerings For a taste of what Hobby Lobby is about, click here to view our photo gallery on Facebook.
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Tour of Classic Reflection Coachworks
On Thursday, City of Lakewood officials got an up-close tour of Classic Reflection Coachworks , a niche company that specializes in classic reproduction conversions of the Chevrolet Corvette.
Chief Engineer Doug Graf gave us a tour of the shop, located in the Lakewood Industrial Park. The finished products have been a hit at car shows across the country. For more information about CR Coachworks, visit www.crcoachworks.com./
For a gallery of photos we snapped during the visit, click here .
Parks & Recreation
Community Gateways Meeting
Interested in making the entrances to the Lakewood community look even better?
The City is facilitating a stakeholders group made up of representatives from various advisory boards, community organizations and businesses. Although the purpose of this group is to improve the look of the Bridgeport-Pacific Highway gateway, they are also developing a City-wide vision that can be used for all Lakewood gateways.
Besides the many visitors coming to the area for the U.S. Open in June 2015, improved entries and positive image of Lakewood may have an effect on future tourism and economic development.
A community meeting to review several design options is scheduled for 6 p.m., Tuesday, April 8 at Lakewood City Hall, 6000 Main Street SW. All are invited to attend. A preferred design option will be shared with Lakewood City Council at the conclusion of this process, along with costs and funding and phasing options.
Council Meetings
The City Council will be holding a regular meeting on Monday, April 7, 2014, beginning at 7:00 p.m., in the City Hall Council Chambers located at 6000 Main Street SW. Agenda items for the meeting include:
- Youth Council Report
- Clover Park School District Report
- Recognizing the Clover Park School District STEM students
- 4/2 and 2/2 Stryker Brigades Presentation
- Set April 21, 2014 as a public hearing on the 2014 budget amendments
- Adopt lodging tax collection code
- Approve an interlocal agreement with the Town of Steilacoom for court transport services
- Approve an agreement for Waughop Lake management
- Approve a street sweeping contract
- Approve grant agreement for 111th/112th St. improvement (Bridgeport Way to Kendrick)
- Review of sole source traffic signal equipment.
- Review of Council Comprehensive Plan amendments
The City Council will be holding a study session on Monday, April 14, 2014, beginning at 7:00 p.m., in the City Hall Council Chambers located at 6000 Main Street SW. Agenda items for the meeting include:
- Review of Community Visioning Plan consulting services
- Presentation of 2013 Year End Financial Report
- Review of the 2014 budget amendments
- Review of HOME loan agreement with Claude Remy regarding Gravelly Lake Apartments
- Review of lodging tax guidelines