Jacob Dimond / jake@yelmonline.com
The City of Yelm, an official Purple Heart City, is one step closer to further honoring its veterans in a large way — by constructing a veterans park and memorial walk near the intersection of Mill Road and SR 507.
Elizabeth Jones, City of Yelm projects and grants manager, told Yelm City Council on Tuesday, July 14, during a meeting that she sought adoption of Resolution No. 672 — which authorizes the City of Yelm to submit a Washington State Recreation and Conservation Office (RCO) grant application for the veterans park and memorial walk project. The resolution would also authorize designated representatives to execute related grant documents.
She said the adoption of this resolution is an administrative requirement of the RCO process.
Yelm City Council unanimously approved the resolution.
Additionally, Jones presented information about the second amendment made to the professional services agreement with Land Development Consultants (LDC) for the veterans park and memorial walk.
She said the amendment with LDC is in the amount, not to exceed, $213,983 for Phase 1 construction administration and related professional services for the veterans park and memorial walk.
“With construction anticipated to begin this summer, following the awarding of the public works contract which I plan to bring on July 28 for phase one, this amendment authorizes the engineering team to provide the professional services necessary during construction,” Jones said.
With the value of the amended contract set at $213,983, the total value of the agreement with LDC is valued at $866,631.
Jones told the council that funding for these services have already been identified within previously appropriate project funds — including grant funding and required matching funds.
Councilor Joseph Richardson asked Jones how much grant funding the City of Yelm will receive for this project, to which she answered $618,000. She added the net grant funding value is $599,000.
Councilor Tracey Wood asked about the $213,983 amendment, and wondered what happened in the original plan to where the City of Yelm didn’t anticipate this additional cost of nearly a quarter-million dollars.
“We usually don’t include construction administration because the scope and duration of the services would not be accurately determined until the project was bid and prepared for construction,” Jones said.
In March of 2025, Cody Colt, Yelm Public Services director, told the Nisqually Valley News that veterans park and memorial walk would include a reflection walk, which intends to honor and highlight veterans of the Korean, Vietnam, Gulf, Iraq and Afghanistan wars as well as World War I, World War II and smaller conflicts.
Each war and conflict would feature three pillars, with the center pillar providing a description of the war, how the United States became involved and more.
The pillars on the left and right would honor local veterans, prisoners of war missing in action and those killed in action who served in each specific war. Colt said previously he would like to make half the memorial a marble wall and the other half granite.
