Yelm City Council to vote on approval of beautification grants to four local entities

One week before Yelm City Council voted to approve the allocation of individual funds to four different local entities during a Yelm City Council meeting on Tuesday, April 14, Kathy Linnemeyer, Yelm city clerk, led a discussion with the council on the four applications for the funding in 2026.

According to Linnemeyer, the applications included responses from Bounties for Families, American Legion Post 164 and VFW Post 5580, Pizzeria La Gitana and Steve Craig.

Before she specified how much each entity was recommended to receive — which was designated on by a committee that included the mayor, mayor pro-tem, city clerk, finance director, and a building official — Linnemeyer first provided a history of the beautification grant process.

According to Linnemeyer, the beautification grant process in Yelm began in 2022 when Yelm City Council adopted a resolution to establish guidelines to the program. She noted there was a “small update” to the program in 2023 in order to establish a yearly schedule to stay consistent with dates and timelines. These grant funds are recommended by the finance director as part of the budget process.

“When you approve the budget, she has the recommendation in there for each year to approve that,” Linnemeyer said.

When Yelm City Council adopted a yearly schedule for the program, it included projects from the previous cycle being highlighted in January, the opening of application submission during the first week of February, and a deadline for applications by 5 p.m. on the first Friday in March. Then, the committee would meet during the second and third weeks of March to discuss the applications and how much grant money each entity would be allocated.

Linnemeyer described the purpose of the beautification grant process as providing access to improvements to neighborhoods or other areas of the community in the downtown region.

Eligible applicants include neighborhoods, community groups, local businesses, home owners and Yelm residents. Project examples have included community landscaping projects, cleaning up common areas, installing fencing or paths to common areas and more. Commercial examples of these projects include material upgrades, lighting improvements, signage improvements, awning replacements and more.

Linnemeyer said that the award amounts can total up to $5,000 for larger projects and first-time grant recipients. She specified that entities that’ve previously received funds are still eligible for up to $2,500 in grant funding. Applicants that have been awarded funding in two previous grant cycles are no longer eligible to apply.

Additionally, funds are awarded on a basis of reimbursement upon the completion of the projects. Receipts and invoices must be submitted prior to reimbursement.

In 2026, the City of Yelm received six applications for the beautification grant. One application was not considered because it was submitted after the deadline. Another application wasn’t considered because it did not meet criteria guidelines.

The first of the four eligible applications was Bounty for Families, who sought funding for landscaping and retaining wall pavers at Yelm City Park’s community gardens. Yelm City Council voted on Tuesday, April 14, on whether the organization would receive $1,000 in beautification grant funding. The results of the vote were not readily available to the Nisqually Valley News before publication of this story.

American Legion Post 164 and VFW Post 5580 sought $5,000 in funding for a new digital reader sign on the corner of its property.
Pizzeria La Gitana sought $4,000 in funding for the installation of new decorative lighting in its parking area.

Steve Craig, the owner of the Yelm Outpost Church building, sought $3,500 to replace an awning on the building that was destroyed by wind.

“All of the projects have to meet all of our municipal codes,” Linnemeyer said. “Anything that is done is also run by the building officials part of the committee.”

Councilor Griselda Arias said that the vote for the allocation of funds should be approached with caution by councilors, as it’s taxpayer money that’s being allocated.

“The caution from me here is that this is our tax money,” Arias said. “I understand there’s a criteria and you’ve looked at this. But just because we’ve done something one way doesn’t mean that’s how we should continue just because that’s what’s been done. I think as individual council members, we can look at these projects, individually, apart from what the committee looked at and recommended and decide on the merits of my tax dollars and whether I think that my tax dollars should go to fixing something or not.”