Niten, Dorcy discuss state of city at Chamber event

Kirk Boxleitner0

Shelton City Manager Jeff Niten opened the State of the City address for the Shelton-Mason County Chamber of Commerce on Oct. 21 by reviewing how the pandemic continues to affect the city.

Shelton is receiving what Niten deemed “significant amounts” of state and federal money in 2021, which he pledged would be used for projects such as Western Gateway, Safe Routes to School, a new reclaimed water tank, and replacing pipes from Well 1 to the high school water tank.

The money includes $2.9 million from the American Rescue Plan Act, $3.1 million from the state Department of Commerce and $1.4 million from the state Department of Transportation.

Shelton now offers a “Will Pay” program for homeowners behind on their city utility bills, while its information technology department has been working on technology upgrades for city employees to ensure their ability to work remotely.

The Shelton Civic Center is open to the public and Niten said the city is working to add virtual services whenever possible, including online bill payment and permitting options.

Shelton’s $2.9 million in rescue act money is designed for eligible state, local, territorial and tribal governments to aid them in responding to the pandemic.

Shelton is receiving its rescue act money in two halves, with the second half coming in 2022. Aside from the Western Gateway between 8th Street on Railroad Avenue to Pacific Court, Niten identified eligible projects as new body and dash cameras for the Police Department, plus an automated meter infrastructure to save time and labor spent reading meters manually.

For the public, Niten touted the city’s mobile app introduced in June for both Apple and Android devices that allows them to interact with City Hall and the Police and Parks and Recreation departments, and report problems, pay utility bills, receive utility assistance and get news updates.

Niten said that by January, Shelton intends to launch a new logo and a “clean, simple” website that should be easier for the public to use and find the information they’re looking for, while “consistent, authentic” branding is intended to help the public know when they’re interacting with the city or its local partners.

The city is upgrading its internal technology for employees and departments to aid them in protecting public assets.

Other tech updates will be used to recruit employees and evaluate their progress, and for utility billing and payroll processes. Also included are online permitting software to allow the public to apply, submit documents for and track the progress of city permits.

Asset management technoogy will be used to track the maintenance of city assets, including its roads, pipes and bridges, while Cradlepoint routers should help strengthen the internet connections of police cars in the field.

Shelton Mayor Kevin Dorcy said that in addition to swearing in Shelton Police Chief Carole Beason at the start of the year, the Shelton Police Department is in its second year of being accredited through the Washington Association of Sheriffs and Police Chiefs, making it one of 65 agencies in the state to achieve this accreditation, as of this June.

The Shelton Police Department employs 17 sworn and three civilian positions, and is trying to fill two sworn vacancies. Dorcy encouraged those interested in those positions to apply.

The city’s streets division, which operates and maintains 63 miles of roads, notched what Dorcy deemed “notable accomplishments” in the year so far, including the Park Street overlay from 7th to Front streets, and the 3th Street pavement preservation from the hospital to Wallace Kneeland Boulevard.

Shelton’s city streets acquired a $770,000 Safe Routes to School grant, for improvements at five locations around the city in 2022, and $278,000 in federal money for yearly pavement restoration.