The following is written by Sumner Mayor Dave Enslow:

Two things happened last Friday that were seemingly unrelated but are actually inextricably linked.

First, I had the pleasure of meeting a representative with Amazon.com. He spoke about how their Sumner Distribution Center continues to serve customers and is even expanding to bring in more jobs to our community.

Second, Mike Dahlem, our public works director, presented to the Pierce County Flood Control District’s Advisory Board about why it is imperative to protect Sumner from flooding on their “to do” list. Several years ago, Sumner couldn’t wait, so we completed the item that had been on that list ourselves, the building of the flood wall to protect the Wastewater Treatment Facility. This past month, we completed another “temporary” measure, installing HESCOs along the White River to protect our industrial area, the largest manufacturing/industrial job center in Pierce County. Mike’s message to the flood district was that we’ve worked hard to create jobs but that we need them to take notice and help keep them here by protecting this area from flooding.

How are these two items linked? Many regional jurisdictions don’t realize that flood protection in Sumner protects our roads, our homes, our buildings, our water lines, and also over 14,000 jobs that serve the entire region at places like Amazon.com. People are coming here from Bonney Lake, Orting, Puyallup and even Tacoma to work and support their families. If those jobs aren’t protected as well, the repercussions will be felt across the county and even into King County.

I think Mike’s message was well received by the flood district, and we look forward to working with them and other regional partners to protect Sumner. We look forward to working with our business community like Amazon to continue seeing jobs and production happening in Sumner, a key indicator of families being supported without having to drive to Seattle for work. All of this is progress in Sumner.

Click here if you’d like to see the PDF of Mike’s presentation to the Pierce County Flood Control Zone District Advisory Board.