Rumors & Questions

Your timing is perfect as we were at the High School last week, and the students themselves brought up being frustrated with litter. Their solutions were a bit more drastic than we'd go. We'll follow up with the District. Can you tell if it's more where the construction companies are working or where students are going? If you have a sense which (as that means different people to address), email me at carmenp@sumnerwa.gov. Thank you!

I will pass on your comments to our staff who are working with those developers. I know they were working hard to correct impacts like worker vehicles illegally parked in front of neighboring mailboxes and hydrants. That should clear up very soon/already as we did warn that we would start ticketing vehicles if not self-corrected.

Washington State Dept. of Transportation (WSDOT) takes care of trash and growth alongside state highways like SR 410. Our Public Works Dept. knows who to contact, so I sent your message to them to be passed onto WSDOT. Contacting WSDOT directly can't hurt either. I know they suspended trash clean-up for a while, but then resumed it last year. Hopefully, we're scheduled for one soon as the shoulders are due.

The holly in Lucy V. Ryan park, along Main Street, is over 90 years old and was visibly struggling. We debated removing it entirely; however, the Sumner Historical Society highly values its long connection to the property, the Ryan House and traditions like hanging lights on it every holiday season. Based on recommendations from two arborists, we’re trying a strategy called retrenchment, which attempts to extend the life of heritage trees. It is a severe pruning that forces the tree to regrow a new, healthier crown within approximately a year or two. The downside is that it looks quite odd when it happens. Both arborists warned us, “You’ll get calls.” And, the holly may or may not grow back out. Only time will tell. We’re making this effort, really the only option remaining, to see if we can extend the life of the holly a few more years.

It’s an option, but not a quick one. To rejoin a transit district like Pierce Transit takes a vote of the people as it would raise Sumner’s sales tax rate. This is why Sumner’s sales tax rate currently is lower than neighboring Puyallup. It also has to make sense for both the people of Sumner and for Pierce Transit. Once a city is in a transit district, only that agency can provide transit, so to retain our current services, Pierce Transit would have to take over the shuttle to the Bonney Lake Park & Ride, a route currently provided by Sound Transit; the circulator shuttle for low-income, seniors and youth, a service currently provided by Pierce County’s Beyond the Borders; and the new Sumner Commuter Connector to the industrial businesses, now being provided by the City through BusUp as a ride-share program. When Sumner left the transit district, it was because Pierce Transit planned to provide none of these services anymore. With limited funds and a large district to serve, why would they keep services in Sumner that few were riding? Ironically, leaving the district was the only way the City could retain what transit service we had. But, times change.

With our current services, including the Sumner Commuter Connector, we want to see if people in Sumner will ride public transit. Surveys told us that most people want transit, but only so that other people ride it and clear the roads to make driving easier. Few indicate any intention of changing their own habits, which remains problematic. If no one intends to ride transit, the sustainability of any future service, from other providers or a transit district, remains in doubt. Our hope is that services like the Sumner Commuter Connector catch on with actual riders, providing the numbers and the track record to make any future conversations about rejoining a transit district more viable than theoretical. Link to current services.

1/10/2023 - You asked this question nearly a year ago, but it's worth following up with the launch of the Sumner Commuter Connector. Now, this is not actually public transit as you reqeusted because bringing that would take more time and money. This instead a ride-share service where your employer would have to sign on and then you could register, but it is a connector that meets the trains to hopefully eliminate that long walk. Take a look at the info and urge your employer to consider it if they aren't already.

Update: The latest meeting to talk about a lot of issues for businesses in Sumner, especially transit options, is March 23 10-11 am as a webinar. More info and to register: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/sumner-business-updates-webinar-tickets-272426644427

We had Pierce Transit public transit service from the Sounder platform to the manufacturing industrial center. No one rode it, so Pierce Transit eliminated the route. Fixed-route service is very difficult to succeed there because every business runs different shifts all through the day and night. Understandably, Pierce Transit isn't going to put all their limited resources to serve one area, and unless there's full, robust service, employees aren't going to wait around 1, 2 or 3 hours to ride limited service when they can walk it faster. 

It appears Pierce Transit's vanpool program may be just the answer to provide a real solution with enough flexibility to work. The City of Sumner and the Economic Development Board (EDB) joined forces with Pierce Transit to host an event on February 7 to highlight this program and how it could work for our industrial businesses. But, again, no one attended. Not one. We're regrouping and going to try again later in March. 

Stay tuned and watch for that event. Please encourage your friends and employer to show up. It seems like some creative solutions may finally solve issues we've struggled with for years, but it's going to take everyone participating--including employees and employers--for any option to actually succeed.

Thank you for the important reminder. Like most things the City does, we use a combination of the carrot & stick method. Sometimes, a simple reminder helps residents remember to trim things back and keep sidewalks clear after the summer growing season. One of our Public Works employees developed this nice graphic, which we haven't run in a while, so we'll share/post to try to get some people to comply. We'd add not running hoses or wires across sidewalks (like for holiday lights, for example) and to shovel sidewalks if/when it snows. Quick note about street trees: our crews also prune those and are working their way around the city as we speak, or type.

And then there's the stick method, which involves more punitive fines, code enforcement, etc. In the past, staff moved onto this level if asking nicely (a few times) doesn't work. However, these are all the same staff who are also busy doing other things like plowing roads, fixing water mains, etc. In the 2023-2024 budget is a position focused just on code-enforcement. If that doesn't get edited out, we'll soon have a person with more time to work on issues like these.

I'm so sorry for the delayed response. Last week was quite out of the ordinary, to say the least. 

We're just beginning the process to update the City’s Park and Trail master plan. As part of that plan, the trail system will be looked at as a whole with recommended updates. Even with our existing trail system, we have much better access to the rivers at the portion off State Street. The Riverwalk Trail section that is proposed to be vacated is landlocked. We have no plans to further develop that trail section, and there is no good way to have it serve as it doesn't really connect to the rest of the trail system and is not the best or safest access to the river. It's also very confusing. For years, the condominium association has put “NO TRESPASSING” signage at the edge of the trail, leading the public to actually believe it is private, even when it has been owned and partially maintained by the City. (I've never walked it myself because even I thought it was private.) 

For the current trail and access points, here's a link to the map and info.

To participate in updating future plans to develop the trail system, watch our website/e-news for information next year about how to participate in the master plan update.

I'm so sorry for the delayed response. Last week was out of the ordinary, to say the least. Here's the link to the project page with the new Operations Facility plans. https://connects.sumnerwa.gov/new-shops-facility

No. The City of Sumner is just 8% of your total property tax bill, so a proposed 9.5% increase on our 8% portion means a proposed 0.76% increase on your property tax bill. For more information on the proposed rate and what it means to the average Sumner homeowner, visit this link for complete details.