The Thurston County Board of Commissioners is in talks with the City of Yelm regarding the transfer of ownership of sections of the Yelm-Rainier-Tenino Trail as the jurisdiction intends to develop parking.
Yelm requested in January that the county transfer ownership of a 1.6-mile parcel within Yelm’s urban growth area that is owned, operated and maintained by the county through its public works parks and trails program. According to county officials during a Wednesday work session, parking development would likely encroach on county property, resulting in Yelm’s request to own the section. The city plans to apply for grant funding for the infrastructure improvements.
County public works officials presented three options for the board to consider:
• Allow development within the trail corridor while maintaining ownership and implementing an interlocal agreement with Yelm
• Transfer ownership of the parcel area needed to complete the project and execute a boundary line adjustment
• Transfer ownership of the entire requested 1.6 miles of trail within the UGA to the City of Yelm
Vice Chair Wayne Fournier and Commissioner Carolina Mejia expressed interest in another option, which would be to allow the county to take on the parking development. Fournier noted that the project would be developed on a parcel that Yelm already owns and that a partnership with Yelm would strengthen both jurisdictions.
“We build good parking lots. To me, that’s a simple solution,” Fournier, the former mayor of Tenino, said. “In my experience of 10 years having a trail running through the city, [we] never had a problem. We had a maintenance agreement that said we would maintain it and the county would work hand-in-hand with us, and we leveraged that to our benefit every chance we could. We saw it as an opportunity for a partnership, and that partnership paid off a lot of dividends.”
Ed Marson, the county’s parks operations and maintenance manager, compared Fournier’s example to the county’s relationship with the City of Rainier and that a similar partnership could be possible with Yelm if the city is open to it.
“I think that you’ll find that what Commissioner Fournier is talking about…the same thing applies in the City of Rainier. It’s an excellent partnership,” Marson said. “They provide all maintenance throughout city limits. We will come through and, as needed, perform some mowing, litter or trash removal, or pruning, but it’s very minimal because they do such a great job. They’re happy with it. We’re happy with it.”
The trail is not currently managed under an interlocal agreement between the City of Yelm and Thurston County, but the county and city share maintenance responsibilities. Mejia said the matter is still awaiting Yelm City Council approval, therefore the commissioners took no action during their session. She expressed concern about a potential “checkered system” if ownership is granted to the City of Yelm and now the cities of Rainier and Tenino.
“I just want there to be some equity across the other jurisdictions and what we’re doing with them, as well,” Mejia said. “If we start transferring ownerships, my concern is, then, are we just going to have this checkered system in our trail systems as more jurisdictions are like, ‘Well, we’ll own the trail too.’ It’s going to become difficult for our minimal staff to have to jump around the checkered pieces.”
County Manager Leonard Hernandez responded that the county hoped to be responsive specifically to the City of Yelm’s requests but that county officials could meet again with Yelm to discuss a potential ILA with Yelm for the parking development and maintenance services.
Cody Colt, City of Yelm public works director, told the Nisqually Valley News that no designs have been formalized and that there were a couple of internal layouts proposed to see what could fit on the properties in question. He added that the council and Mayor Joe DePinto were uninterested in the city investing extensive time or money into a project that is up in the air due to ownership concerns.
