The City of Tumwater Public Works Committee voted Dec. 4 to place the draft 2026 Sustainability Division work plan on the Jan. 6, 2026 city council consent calendar with a recommendation for approval.

Sustainability Manager Melissa Jones Woods told the committee the division’s work crosses nearly every city department and that the top items in the work plan are drawn from council‑adopted or accepted plans. “All of our work plan items, as a first priority come from either adopted or accepted plans, that have been adopted or accepted by the city council,” Jones Woods said.

The plan allocates about 1,800 hours per full‑time employee annually and separates higher‑priority “top‑line” items from a longer “below the line” list the city may address if capacity allows. Key top‑line programs Jones Woods described include Energize Thurston (a heat pump program), a vehicle‑miles‑traveled gap analysis for the Thurston Climate Mitigation Collaborative, and development of a Home Energy Score model ordinance with a regional supporting program.

Urban Forester Brian Coughlin outlined tree‑focused work the plan would staff, including maintaining Tumwater’s Tree City USA accreditation, updating tree‑related codes, expanding the city tree inventory and conducting tree assessments on city property. “We don’t really have much documentation about what trees are city responsibility, what species we have, how many we have,” Coughlin said, describing a walk‑and‑count approach that will be uploaded to GIS to track maintenance history.

Jones Woods said the division recently executed a CivicSpark contract for an eight‑month fellow, Shreya Messina, who will begin mid‑January and focus on tasks such as the climate change vulnerability assessment, researching incentive and grant programs in the climate element, developing outreach systems for vulnerable residents before and after disasters, and supporting resilience hub planning. “She’ll be developing a system to contact vulnerable population folks, pre and post disaster,” Jones Woods said.

The plan also includes grant work: Jones Woods said she worked with Olympia Community Solar on a request for just over $3,000,000 to move solar‑plus‑storage projects for the library and main fire station into construction.

On capacity, Jones Woods told the committee she estimated Tumwater would need roughly two additional full‑time employees to complete all actions listed in the below‑the‑line portion of the work plan; she asked council to identify which below‑the‑line items should be prioritized if members want additional items advanced.

Committee members praised the expansion of sustainability staffing. Councilmember Jefferson suggested a deeper briefing on urban forestry for the full council; the committee agreed the urban forestry topic is likely of broad interest and left the work plan on the Jan. 6 consent calendar with the option for members to pull it for consideration.

The committee’s vote was by voice; members approved sending the plan forward.

Next steps: the sustainability work plan is scheduled for the Jan. 6 council consent calendar with a recommendation for adoption; members may request a full briefing or pull the item from consent.