City of Orting wins “Municipal Excellence Award” &“Well City Award”

Last Friday June 26th, the City of Orting was awarded the “Municipal Excellence Award” for the accomplishment of the new Calistoga Setback Levee. If that wasn’t enough we also won an award for being a “well city” for work to keep our city staff healthy through education, events and exercises.
The awards were presented during the Association of Washington Cities Conference in Wenatchee. This is a prestigious event attended by many of the cities of Washington State and the awards are highly coveted and difficult to attain.

The Calistoga Setback levee was the largest and most expensive project taken on by our City. We have frequently been called the “little city that could”. Mayor Cheryl Temple began this project in 2006 following one of the worst floods in our history. During this time the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) declared their intent to not recognize old levees as existing and thus increasing the size of flood plains. We realized about 1100 (about half) homes in Orting would be required to pay up to $2,500 a year in flood insurance. It was clear the federal government was not going to allow dredging of the rivers because of the Endangered Species Act. Our only alternative was to build a setback levee. The cost would be over $18 million. Where would a small city with a $2.5 million general fund get that kind of money? The federal government quickly assured us there would be no direct federal money. We began by raising stormwater rates. The citizens of Orting stepped up first. We were able to show our commitment to this important project. Then we found our first grant through the Salmon Recovery Funding Board (SRFB). So we began by creating a project that would benefit the endangered species. The money allowed us to begin design and to purchase property. Later we were able to appeal to the State Dept. of Ecology for stormwater improvements. Then we learned about a state funded program called Flood Plains By Design. We were able to garner almost $5 million through the state for having a levee design that benefited endangered species and protected citizens from flooding.
We were then very fortunate that Pierce County developed and funded a flood control district. Ultimately the citizens of Pierce County paid for this program to protect the county from the economic damage of flooding. The County flood program provided $8 million for the project.

One of the more poignant moments of the conference involved Ken Wolfe, the city’s Building official and the levee project manager. Ken was stricken with a serious illness 6 weeks ago and no one expected him to be at the conference to receive this award. So it was a great treat to see Ken walk to the stage, cane in hand, and accept the award.

As flood waters once again threatened our small city this past winter of 2015 the new levee held strong and not a drop of flood waters entered our City. We have been asked to speak around the country and even internationally to show other communities how to be the “little city that could.”

I am also proud of our designation as a wellness city. Our employees have been educated and trained in how to live more healthy lives. This has resulted in reduced sick time, greater productivity and just plain happier people. That means better services for our citizens. We hope to expand this wellness initiative ultimately to all of our city. We have organic foods being grown right next to town. The foothills trail goes right through the middle of town and is often full of walkers and bikers. We have plans to build infrastructure for the growing agricultural activities in the Orting Valley. Our farmers market is off to fast start this summer. The pumpkin festival is this fall. Let’s embrace this agricultural renaissance and continue to build a great city to live, work, play and do business.

Joachim Pestinger, Mayor