With the City of Montesano already in the process of having work done at Beacon Park to rectify issues from previous construction, the city may push forward with additional improvements at the park to take advantage of possible construction savings.

The city currently has hired Quigg Bros. Inc. to complete a $75,000 wetland mitigation project after it was determined by the state Department of Ecology that prior work at the park had impacted the wetlands on site. Prior work includes the public works building construction in 2012 and a sewer line crossing the park to Roop Road installed prior to the public works building, as well as road construction, timber harvest and groundwork for a sports field.

During the city council meeting on July 26, the council gave its approval for Mayor Vini Samuel to seek any and all funds (specifically noting the real estate excise tax fund — REET — for capital improvements) necessary to build a soccer field and install irrigation at Beacon Park. The cost would be about $25,000.

Having Quigg Bros. Inc. build the field would save the city about $5,000 in “mobilization” costs because Quigg Bros. already will have equipment on site for the mitigation project, city CFO Doug Streeter said.

Mayor Samuel told the council she had been in discussions with soccer organizations within the city and they had been optimistic about their ability to raise some funding for the soccer field.

“The $15,000 will give us the U-19 field, we believe public works can do the U-10 field. The other part of it — the part that’s not covered by the $15,000 — is the irrigation, and that part we want to do. The last time the city tried this, we didn’t do the irrigation and all of that work and money was wasted,” Samuel said. “The club seems pretty excited about it and they’ve named a number that should take us up to where the larger part would be paid for, but that would mean the use of all of our REET funds.

“My hope is they can come up with more funds so they don’t use all of our REET funds. The REET funds for us is an insurance policy, and the reason I don’t want to spend it is because if something happens I don’t want to not have money.”

The motion to allow the mayor to seek funding and spend REET monies for Beacon Park improvements was made by Councilman Tyler Trimble.

Councilman Dan Wood objected to the immediacy of the request, saying the council needs to create a better process to introduce action to the public before moving forward.

“You can say the whole concept of Beacon Park was introduced years ago, but the whole point is the appropriation of the REET dollars was not put before us until Thursday (July 21) when the agenda was sent out,” Wood said. “The $15,000 REET dollars we did not include in our budget, so this is a budget amendment that we got on Thursday. This is an appropriation that we got on Thursday and we’re asked to take action on.

“My concern is not the proposal itself (construction of the field), my concern is the process we’re using to get there. If we truly want to have the public aware of what we’re doing and to have an opportunity for them to comment, we can’t have an item put on Thursday for action on Tuesday and expect the public has the opportunity to give us any input.”

Wood suggested items be introduced one meeting in advance before action is taken (unless the issue is an emergency).

Mayor Samuel noted that Beacon Park improvements have been ongoing since the council approved the wetland mitigation project.

“Part of the population that was interested — the soccer club — was made aware of it, and it was after the meeting that they expressed they thought they could get funds for it,” Samuel added. “I would disagree with Councilman Wood that people weren’t aware of the Quiggs bid — that went out in April — so whether or not we went forward with Part B was always a question, we just didn’t have the appropriate funds, in my perspective, to move forward with Part B. And we still may not.”

Samuel said the reason the decision seemed immediate is because Quigg Bros. Inc. is already on hand for the mitigation work and waiting until a later date to add the fields could cost the city more.

The motion granting the mayor approval to move forward passed with a 5-2 vote. Wood and Councilman Dave Skaramuca voted in opposition.

Mitigation work has been a long time coming. Part of the issue stems from two piles of dirt that were made during the construction of the public works building in 2012, Streeter explained. One of those piles, the Department of Ecology says, was created within wetlands. The impact was determined when wetland delineations from 2004 and 2015 were compared.

A mitigation plan, approved by Ecology, calls for an on-site wetland creation area at a 2 to 1 ratio. Whereas .67 acres were impacted by the city, the mitigation plan will provide 1.39 acres of new wetland. A section of land will be graded to create wetland, native plants will be put in, and the area will be monitored and maintained for three years after the planting.

Improvements to the park also have been a long time coming. In the early 2000s, the city created a plan for the park that included several fields and amenities. That vision would have been a nearly $2 million project. The city had lined up grant funding, and asked voters to approve a $750,000 bond that failed to receive 60 percent of the vote it needed to pass (known as a “supermajority”). Bond measures were put before voters in two separate elections without receiving a supermajority.

If the soccer group raises enough funds and the mayor chooses to fund the remaining costs through use of REET and any other source, as approved by the council, soccer fields at Beacon Park could be ready for use during the 2017 spring soccer season.

In other upcoming business for the city, the hearing examiner has announced it will hold a public hearing to discuss an application that requests a reduced buffer for a potential retail marijuana location at the 200 block of West Wynooche. The hearing is set for 1:30 p.m. on Aug. 26 at the council chambers.