In the Olympian: Olympia City Council will consider request to study potential park sites

Council may study 5 sites for new parks

BY ANDY HOBBS
Staff writer

After two weeks off, the Olympia City Council will consider funding a study of five potential park sites during its 7 p.m. meeting Tuesday at City Hall.

The city’s finance committee is recommending approval of $60,000 for a “community park site suitability assessment” The recommendation stems from a request by the LBA Woods Park Coalition for the city to purchase land in southeast Olympia

— known as the Bentridge property — that’s slated for development.

Other potential park sites, according to the city, are at Lindell and Lister roads in northeast Olympia, Spooner Berry Farms on Yelm Highway, the Cooper Point Road Sundberg gravel pit on the city’s west side, and the proposed Trillium subdivision near LBA Park.

If the study is approved by the council, a consultant would be hired, and then the study would take about 90 days, according to a city staff report. The council would also have the option to approve a study for only the Bentridge parcel at a cost of $18,000.

Also on the council’s agenda Tuesday are two public hearings for proposals to install more fiber-optic lines for telecommunications services. Noel Communications Inc. and Astound Broadband LLC both want to install fiberoptic lines throughout the Olympia area.

According to the city, Astound Broadband acquired all the licenses and approvals required to install new lines on existing power poles. Upon approval of a permit, the installation is expected to begin in August and take 30 days, the city reported.

This project’s primary focus is to provide service to Providence St. Peter Hospital, the city said.

According to the city, Noel Communications also acquired all the required licenses and approvals to place the lines on power poles. If the permit is approved, installation would begin in August and take about two days . The project would provide service to the Department of Enterprise Services in the area of the Jefferson Street roundabout .

Also on Tuesday, the City Council is expected to approve a list of requests for federal block grant funding from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. The city planned to request $642,375 in Community Development Block Grant funding to benefit economic development projects. Projects include funding for the Downtown Ambassadors program, facade improvements through the city’s Crime

Prevention Through Environmental Design program, seed funding for a small-business loan program called the Grow Olympia Fund, and money for the isthmus park studies.

The deadline to submit the funding request is July 15.

Andy Hobbs: 360-704-6869 ahobbs@theolympian.com