Tri-City Area and Real Estate Blog

Looking for something to do in the heat??

The new splash and play water park at Badger Mountain Park in Richland is now open! The Grand opening, celebrated with City of Richland officials and a few hundred kids and their families enjoyed the 5,950 square-foot park that features 19 water attractions. A steel drum band, clown, rabbit and sports mascots also present to entertain the crowds.

The park will serve approximately 18,000 residents in the South Richland area.

See more photos of this story: http://www.tri-cityherald.com/2011/05/19/1496553_a1496517/gallery-splash-play.html#ixzz1Mun1RYq8

A Steptoe, as defined as “a hill or mountain that projects like an island above a surrounding lava field” in some ways describes Steptoe Street in Kennewick, and of course in some ways does not – mainly that whole lava field part.  Nonetheless, Steptoe Street has officially begun it’s expansion southward towards Clearwater Avenue as of Tuesday when the groundbreaking was held. This southbound expansion will initially cover some hilly terrain, winding along 1.1 miles as it reaches North Center Parkway.  The second phase will take it upwards to Clearwater Avenue, and the final phase of expansion is to take it all the way to the Southridge area, once again heading up and over the southernly hills.

The hope for this expansion is that it will alleviate congestion on both Leslie Road and Columbia Center Blvd. and additionally allow for greater economic development with transportation flow being a key for sustained growth in Kennewick. This project is currently slated for completion in late summer.

For years the shelterbelt lineal park that follows along the Richland bypass has gone pretty much without attention, and consists mainly of dirt. But soon a group of volunteers will address that and plant flowers to add color and a little vitality to the area as a neighborhood sponsored art project. There will a lovely sculpture of children playing basketball as an additional feature. The city has just added timers for the new sprinkler system and they are re-doing a 300-foot portion of the trail leading from the shelterbelt area to Paul Liddell Park.  There is a restroom planned for near the art site. Karina Thorne of Richland, obtained a $4500 grant and then an addtional $5000 was raised to add landscaping, with Gamache Landscaping donating plants and labor. About $3700 in donations was raised to pay for the sculpture and the site will also include swinging benches and a basketball court.  Many local vendors have provided donated materials or labor for this enhancement.  This is a wonderful example of many coming together to create beauty in an otherwise forgotten space.  Congratulations on a job well done!

City of Richland park official have rewritten the master plan for Goethals Park to where nature and local children can connect and interact as kids most certainly love to do!  The plan is to include a wetland area (creek), a shrub-type environment, tunnels, a hill, logs, trails sand play area and a tree house. All these features will lend themselves to children’s imaginations and their need to have fun, including getting down and dirty, rolling down a hill, building a dam across the creek, anything and everything a child’s mind can create. This project is one of many that Richland Park officials hope can renovate some of the older parks in town and bring families back into the parks. One offical said it sounded like a kid in a candy store to have all these places to play. Others were excited about the treehouse project and couldn’t wait to see it all come together.  Looking for a good time with your kids? This could be the place for you!!  Volunteers through the Mid-Columbia Make a Difference Day program will be helping with construction.

The city of Richland on Tuesday (August 25) took another step toward applying for a state program that would help pay for new development north of the Richland Airport.

The program would generate revenue to pay for $8.5 million in public improvements in Richland’s Revitalization Area for Industrial Science and Education, or RAISE.

The area encompasses the Horn Rapids Industrial Park, Horn Rapids Business Center, a portion of the Tri-Cities Research District and the Port of Benton.

If the Department of Revenue approves the city’s application into the program, the state would pay up to $327,000 annually — half the debt service on 20-year bonds to install streets, sidewalks, sewers, utilities and fiber-optic lines in the area. The city, likely with participation by Benton County and the Port of Benton, would provide a local match to cover the other half.

The project wouldn’t increase local tax rates, but 0.05 percent of the 8.3 percent sales tax rate in Richland would be shifted from the state’s share to the city’s share.

The city council on Tuesday voted unanimously to create the revitalization area, and the Benton County Commission on Monday voted 2-1 to pursue partnering with the city on the project.

Commissioner Max Benitz Jr. dissented because the port, though interested, hasn’t yet committed to participating, and he didn’t want to obligate it to. The port will be able to decide whether to join sometime after the Sept. 1 application date, but the county agreed to partner with the city to strengthen its application for the program.

The state, city, county and port would use tax revenue generated from new development within the area to pay back the bonds. The county and port’s contributions each would be capped at $73,000 a year.

The revitalization area would need to have about $155 million in new private development to generate that amount of new tax revenue, Gary Ballew, economic development manager for Richland, told the city council last week. There has been that much private investment in the area over the past five years, he said.

If no private development came into the area — and no new tax revenue was generated — the city could use other sources to cover the local match and keep the state contribution. But the city would be on the hook for the local match on its own, without the county or port having to contribute.

Several businesses such as Henningsen Cold Storage and Solaris group already have contacted the city about doing new private development in the area. Those projects were in the works regardless of the chance to be in the state’s program, Ballew said.

But they would be able to happen sooner because of the revenue the program would generate to pay for the public infrastructure, he said.

Council members expressed comfort with the risks involved with the project.

“The projects we would do with this kind of funding are projects we would have in the queue anyway and we want to do at some point in time,” Councilman Ed Revell said. “The only thing this does is allow us a tool to start those projects sooner.”

Source: Tri-City Herald

Source: Tri-City Herald

The city of Richland has released results from the 2009 Comunity Survey conducted in May.

The 19-question survey asked residents to assess Richland’s strategic leadership plan, indicate satisfaction levels with city services, evaluate quality of life factors and recommend economic vitality improvements.

Among survey results: 80 percent of respondents said they receive excellent or good value for their city tax dollars; 83 percent said walkable neighborhoods are important; 64 percent indicated they would prefer to have xeriscaping (landscaping and gardening in ways that reduce or eliminate the need for supplemental irrigation) used in Richland’s streetscapes; and 76 percent indicated an interest in having “Smart Grid” technology available to help control energy costs.

Survey participants said they’d like to see Richland have the following: eateries, retail shopping — specifically Trader Joe’s — curbside recycling, water park/aquatic center/pools, a movie theater and more recreational and entertainment opportunities.

City council and staff will use survey results in planning the city’s 2010 budget.

Complete results are available at www.ci.richland.wa.us.  Click on “Current Issues”.