Yelm Public Safety Building & City Council Chambers

The Yelm City Council is set to approve construction of the Skate Park relocation tonight, even after:
1. Mayor Harding said there would be public input and involvement, which has not been seen
2. Downtown owners of 32 businesses petitioned the City Council to make the new skateboard park site available for parking.

The key question remains unaddressed:
Should public input and involvement be usurped just because the City of Yelm was able to get a CDBG grant to build the new state park and a Capital State Grant to build a community center.
After-all, grants ARE public funding!
And Yelm voters twice rejected the Park Bond Plan, subsequently followed by Mayor Harding’s promise to include the public in future park plans, which never materialized.

From the City’s Staff Report on tonight’s Yelm City Council Agenda:

Recommendation
Authorize Mayor Harding to sign the Community Development Block Grant Public Facilities Sub-recipient Agreement with Thurston County Public Health and Social Services, Housing and Community Renewal.

Background
The City applied for a Community Development Block Grant through Thurston County for the development of a new skate park at the site of the old City Shop at 203 1st Street in the amount of $450,000. The grant request was approved by Thurston County in the amount of $439,208.
The sub-recipient agreement formalizes the grant award and will allow the City to proceed with the construction of the new skate park. To date, the City and County have completed the Federal environmental review process and are ready to proceed with the project.

Current Situation
The agreement has been reviewed by the City Attorney and the AWC Risk Management Services Agency. The Council should authorize the Mayor to sign the sub-recipient agreement with Thurston County for the Community Development Block Grant. After approval, the City will begin final design of the new facility and go out to bid for construction.

The City’s process of bids will be discussed in a future Yelm Community Blog entry!