Title
Approval of a Resolution Authorizing an Interlocal Agreement with the Port of Olympia and LOTT Related to Sea Level Rise
Recommended Action
Committee Recommendation:
Not referred to a committee.
City Manager Recommendation:
Move to approve the resolution authorizing the Interlocal Agreement between the City of Olympia, Port of Olympia, and the LOTT Clean Water Alliance to establish an interjurisdictional governance framework to address sea level rise, and authorizing the Interim City Manager to sign the agreement.
Report
Issue:
Whether to approve an Interlocal Agreement with the Port of Olympia and the LOTT Clean Water Alliance establishing an interjurisdictional governance framework to address sea level rise.
Staff Contact:
Eric Christensen, Water Resources Director, Public Works Department, 360.570.3741
Presenter(s):
Eric Christensen, Water Resources Director
Background and Analysis:
Downtown Olympia is the social, cultural, historic, and economic core of the City. The 450-acre downtown area contains vital infrastructure such as Olympia City Hall, the Budd Inlet Treatment Plant, the Port of Olympia marine terminal, and the emergency vehicle corridor between west and east Olympia.
While our downtown’s extensive shoreline helps make Olympia an extraordinary city, it also makes us vulnerable to flooding. In the coming decades, sea level rise will cause flooding downtown that could lead to property damage and loss of public services. With just 12 inches of sea level rise, a 100-year flood event could occur every other year.
The City of Olympia has been engaged in climate change and sea level rise planning since the early 1990s. Considerable work has been completed to understand the implications sea level rise will have for downtown Olympia. Most recently, the City collaborated with the LOTT Clean Water Alliance and the Port of Olympia to produce the Olympia Sea Level Rise Response Plan, adopted in March 2019.
The Plan recommended that we prepare for 24 inches of sea rise by the year 2050 and 68 inches by 2100. The Plan identified the vulnerabilities and presented strategies for adapting to the sea level rise scenarios.
A key Plan strategy was to develop a governance structure and organization for managing our response. This Interlocal Agreement is a first step in implementing that strategy. The agreement will establish a “Joint Administrative Committee” to be comprised of elected officials from each jurisdiction and will commit us to creating a “Core Team” staffed by individuals from the City, Port and LOTT, to perform day-to-day coordination and production. The agreement will also allow the jurisdictions to move ahead with and share costs for limited initial near-term projects.
The agreement is scheduled to be approved by the LOTT Clean Water Alliance on February 12 and the Port of Olympia on March 9.
Neighborhood/Community Interests (if known):
Various community groups and other agencies are engaged in climate change and sea level rise issues. The City of Olympia Comprehensive Plan and Downtown Strategy support planning for and adapting to sea level rise. With very few exceptions, preparing for sea level rise was uniformly supported by citizens during public outreach for development of the Olympia Sea Level Rise Response Plan.
Options:
• Approve a Resolution authorizing the Interim City Manager to sign the Interlocal Agreement between the City of Olympia, Port of Olympia, and the LOTT Clean Water Alliance to establish an interjurisdictional governance framework to address sea level rise. This will allow the parties to proceed with initial sea level rise projects.
• Modify the Interlocal Agreement. Changes to the agreement will require coordination with all parties and may delay our response to sea level rise.
• Decline the Interlocal Agreement. This would be contrary to public sentiment and may ultimately make maintaining downtown public and private services challenging. The lack of a coordinated approach to sea level rise would impact relations among the City of Olympia, Port of Olympia, and LOTT Clean Water Alliance.
Financial Impact:
Under this Interlocal Agreement, the City of Olympia, Port of Olympia, and LOTT Clean Water Alliance will share costs to implement joint-funded, near-term projects. Each party will pay up to $50,000 plus necessary in-house costs such as staff salaries. Additionally, as needed, the City of Olympia and LOTT Clean Water Alliance agree to repair or replace the Fiddlehead outfall tide gate at a cost of up to $75,000 each.
Attachments:
Resolution
Agreement