The intersection of State Route 502 and State Route 503 in Battle Ground, seen here May 5, 2019.
North County cities have their eyes turned to Olympia in 2020 as Ridgefield and Battle Ground have come out with what they wish to see from the Washington State Legislature in their session this year.
Councilors for both cities approved their respective legislative agendas for 2020 during some of the last meetings of the year. Included in both are specific funding requests for local projects, as well as general support for policies laid out by other supportive groups seeking the benefit of the cities or the region.
Ridgefield
The Ridgefield City Council unanimously approved their 2020 state legislative agenda Dec. 19. The agenda includes three specific funding requests for projects in the city, two of which were in concert with requests from other entities with a presence locally.
The largest of the requests was for $50 million from the state capital budget in support of Clark College at Boschma Farms, a satellite campus of the college planned for the east side of the city. The agenda stated that the project is now in the top 5 of priority projects on a list submitted by the State Board of Community Colleges.
According to a master plan for the site finalized in 2016, Clark College at Boschma Farms would include six buildings with 70,000 square feet of space apiece at full buildout in a phased construction that would stretch 40 years.
The Ridgefield City Council also advocated for Fort Vancouver Regional Library District’s efforts for a new Ridgefield Community Library, throwing their support behind a $1 million request to help with expansion of the existing space. The legislative agenda referenced a 2014 study that found at least 10,000 square feet of space was needed to serve the community. Currently, the library is only a little more than 2,000 square feet.
The agenda noted that more than $3 million had been raised either by the library district, its funding foundation or the local Friends of the Library, adding the additional money as necessary to complete construction and provide materials for the expansion.
Ridgefield’s legislative agenda also has a request for $250,000 in funding for design of a YMCA facility in the city. Given a past study and the rate of growth in the city, the agenda argued such a facility would meet membership and program enrollment “from day (one),” adding 7 acres off of State Route 501 had already been purchased for a potential YMCA.
The funds would allow the project “to move from study and land acquisition to being ready for construction of a Ridgefield YMCA,” according to the agenda.
Though it wasn’t a funding request, Ridgefield’s legislative agenda also contained a desire to see another access point to Interstate 5 come to fruition. In 2019, the city received $250,000 from the state transportation budget for planning and pre-design of a connection to Exit 11, though following the approval of Initiative 976 in November the Washington State Department of Transportation has been directed by Gov. Jay Inslee to hold off on embarking on new projects such as the connection while the future of state road funding is in question.
“We request your support to ensure these funds are allocated following the Legislature’s intent,” the agenda read.
Battle Ground
The Battle Ground City Council unanimously approved its 2020 state legislative agenda in November. It contains requests on three specific projects benefiting the city, while also announcing support of the agendas approved by the Association of Washington Cities and the Clark County Transportation Alliance.
Battle Ground’s largest request was $2.2 million for an “inflationary adjustment” to a multi-phased project to bring congestion relief at the State Route 502/State Route 503 intersection. The agenda noted that the three-phase project received funding from the state initially in 2015 as part of the statewide Connecting Washington package and is currently in the second phase of the total work initially scheduled for completion this year.
This was the second time the city has sought funding from the state to handle inflation. In 2019, the city made a similar request for a $1.3 million adjustment — the only budgetary request from the state by the city, mayor Mike Dalesandro said at the time — though the Legislature did not grant it.
The project has received additional funding from elsewhere, securing a $2 million grant administered by the Regional Transportation Council of Southwest Washington in October.
The city is also seeking $250,000 from state lawmakers to expand sewer services in the northwest quadrant of the city. Those funds would join federal dollars for about 2 miles of sewer improvement from Northeast 92nd Avenue to State Route 503, which the agenda stated would allow for 190 acres of private development.
The phased project is anticipated to cost more than $6 million, including a new pump station and sewer main improvements, with the quarter-million dollars from the state being used for preliminary design and pre-construction work. The agenda noted the city may have an additional request in 2021 depending on what federal funds can be realized.
Battle Ground is also seeking support for future water utility support, including a request for “appropriate sufficient capital budget funds” for the completion of the Paradise Point Regional Water Supply System. Clark Public Utilities is currently seeking grant funding from state agencies for the project expected to take place over the next 15 years, which the agenda stated the city was dependant on for its future water supply.
