Longmire Park, named after one of Yelm’s pioneers, James Longmire, is due for a facelift in the future as Yelm City Council members approved a professional services agreement with RWD Landscape Architects to develop a park master plan outlining projects the city could like to have completed.
Brad Chatwood, Yelm Public Works projects and programs manager, said the contract with RWD Landscape Architects will not exceed $87,294.40, and that the money is currently budgeted.
“We have some drainage issues out there that we need to take care of,” Chatwood said on Tuesday, Aug. 27, during the Yelm City Council meeting. “But beyond that, we thought, why don’t we come up with a master plan? What are all of our hopes and dreams for Longmire Park? What can we do, on top of the drainage issue, to make this a better place to play all year round?”
He said the master plan will address various aspects of the park, including dugouts, backstops and ADA compliance, along with an overall “facelift” of Longmire Park over time. The master plan will also correct the park’s drainage issue, which makes Longmire Park “worthless” in the winter time, Chatwood said.
“This master plan comes with a lot of pieces. We’re talking about turf for the infields, obviously the drainage and a lighting plan,” Chatwood said. “What RWD is giving us is basically setting us up to go after funding. This is going to be a many-year, many-phase project. As funds are available, we’ll go after them and chip away at this.
“A big part of this is logically figuring out how to phase this,” he continued. “That’s a big part of this plan. How do we phase this to where we’re not screwing up baseball season every year? Let’s think about the most logical way to go about this.”
Councilor Tracey Wood said he wants to remain cautious about spending the money to create a Longmire Park master plan.
“I’ve seen the situation many times. It’s an ongoing thing, and it’s been happening for decades,” Wood said. “Plan, spend the money and we’re going to have it on the shelf, but when it comes time to implement the plan, all the rules have changed. The plan doesn’t hold any water.”
Wood said the city has spent a lot of money on parks, but people can’t access them without roads.
“I think our roads have been overlooked, and we’re once again putting the cart ahead of the horse,” Wood said. “I think we ought to reconsider spending this kind of money by doing something like this right now, when we have a lot of other things that I believe are priority.”
Councilor Brian Hess said, although he understands Wood’s concern, the money for roads and parks come from two separate funds.
