The Yelm City Council approved the purchase of a wind sculpture and a professional services agreement with Skillings Inc. for phase two of the new off-leash dog park at its meeting on May 23.
The council voted 5-1 in favor of approving the wind sculpture, with Councilor Joshua Crossman as the lone no vote.
Kathy Linnemeyer, with the City of Yelm, said the sculpture will be placed at the trailhead on Yelm Avenue. The location and installation of the wind sculpture has been approved by Yelm Public Works Director Cody Colt.
“The arts commission came before you at a study session in March and asked to purchase a wind sculpture,” Linnemeyer said. “Council wanted them to do some more research and see if they could find a local artist. They went back out and searched for an artist in Washington state and found two.”
She said one artist quoted a cost of $10,000 and she noted they lost contact with the other artist.
“They came back again on May 2 and updated you with all the information,” Linnemeyer said. “The arts commission is asking for a motion to approve the original purchase of the wind sculpture, which was the ponderosa wind sculpture.”
She added the sculpture will be purchased for $4,350.
The council also approved a professional services agreement valued at $73,748 with Skillings Inc. for phase two of the dog park project with a 5-1 vote.
“The project is in this year’s budget. We have two grants totaling $575,440,” Brad Chatwood, the City of Yelm’s projects manager, said during the meeting. “This contract will allow us to meet all federal grant requirements and inspections during construction that we need to abide by.”
The project has 91 calendar days scheduled for its construction.
“As long as we have no issues with the supply chain, they should stay right on track with the 91 day completion,” Chatwood told the Nisqually Valley News on May 29.
Chatwood said he expects to see the completed plans for the off-leash park on May 30. Previously, the City of Yelm only saw 60% of the official completed plans.
Once the plans are completed, the City of Yelm will put out an advertisement for bids.
“At that point, it’s a two, possibly three week advertisement,” Chatwood said. “We then set a bid point and the low bidder wins.”
The off-leash dog park will feature newly built restrooms and a paved parking lot in addition to the amenities in the park itself.
The park will feature a “doggy water fountain,” which Chatwood described as being “pretty cool.” He added there will be two separate areas at the park, with one area being designated for small dogs and the second for larger dogs.
Chatwood expects to learn more about the park’s features once the city sees the official plans for the project.
“Something that just came up recently is if local businesses want to donate a feature or something like a bench, they can do that and we’ll put their name on it,” Chatwood said. “We’re all excited to actually see this come to fruition. It’s been a long time coming. We had this budgeted with city funds, and we were able to acquire some things through grants, which slowed it down. But it’s been a long time coming and we’re happy to be making progress.”
Phase two has an estimated completion date of around October. The dog park will be located at 902 Rhoton Road, directly across from the city’s public services department.
