• Editor’s note: Councilor Camrody updated the Splash Park’s cost overrun numbers for Yelm Community Blog and her Facebook readers:
• “The Spray park and Playground; according to the budget, we received/will receive $545,118 for the playground AND spray park for 2018 and 2019 in revenue from grants.

“We will have spent/will spend $642,109 for the playground AND spray park for 2018 and 2019. That makes us officially $96,991 over budget (spending more $$ than we receive), if we use ONLY grant money. I’m not sure where the NVN got $650,000 in grant money from.

“If you look at revenue for the spray park alone, it’s $305k. When the city came to us in March to ask for $443k, that’s probably where I got the “$160k” (math/memory error) overage from. I realize now that the city was asking for $443k for BOTH spray and playground. Regardless, we still haven’t been told exactly how much “extra” we’re paying for equipment, or how much both projects combined will finally cost.

“Here’s a link to the 2019-2020 budget: look for the Municipal Building Fund 302 (revenue and expenses),” by Yelm councilor Molly Carmody.

Click here for Councilor Carmody Facebook post, scroll down to June 13, 2019.

“New Splash Pad May Not Be Ready for Use by Prairie Days” “

“The splash pad at Yelm City Park has Yelmites in a state of anticipation, with some hoping the new water feature will be open by Prairie Days, June 28-30.

“Project manager Pat Hughes said that while the splash pad is coming along, it won’t likely be ready for use by the time the festival rolls around.

“‘The construction of the splash pad will be complete by Prairie Days, but that doesn’t mean it will be ready for use the next day,’ Hughes said,” by Daniel Warn, Nisqually Valley News. Read more