Yelm Council Member Bob Isom announced to the Council & public at the June 9th Council Meeting that as the city’s representative on TRPC [Thurston Regional Planning Council], he reported that contracts for Phase One of the Yelm Bypass will be let in October, 2009.

And this appeared on city’s website under Permits, then Recent Permits Lists:
Project Value: $0.00
Date Received: 06/03/2009
Review Status: ACTIVE
Applicant: Washington State Dept of Transport Parcel Number:
Site Address: 510 Yelm Loop
Lot:
Building Size:
Project SR 510 Yelm Loop

So, again I wrote WSDOT Bypass Manager Dennis Engel this question,
“Did WSDOT split the Yelm Bypass into 2 phases and move the $11 million r-o-w & engineering funding allocated from the State Legislature to construction funding for a Phase 1 construction start?

Mr. Engel’s response,
“We are in the process of having the $11 million allocated to the construction phase of the project. We are still working towards an October 2009 advertisement date of a construction contract to build stage 1 of the Yelm Loop project as Councilman Isom reported.”

What Isom and Engel are saying are two very different things.
Isom said “contracts for Phase One of the Yelm Bypass will be let in October, 2009.”
Engel has repeatedly stated, “We are in the process of having the $11 million allocated to the construction phase of the project,” which means that has NOT been done.

WSDOT may be ready with the funding by October, 2009, and may not.
Why Isom, Mayor Harding and others keep saying it’s a done deal is beyond me.

I told the Yelm Planning Commission along with Community Development Director Beck and Associate Planner Tami Merriman last night at the Planning Commission meeting that the correct facts on this were not being given to the public by city officials.

How will all of know when WSDOT has split the Bypass into two phases and moved the funds to Phase 1 for construction?
Simple: When we see this line on the WSDOT Yelm Loop webpage “Unfunded Amount Remaining – $56,059,900” changed to FUNDED!

EVERYTHING ELSE IS WINDOW DRESSING!