The City of Hoquiam is teaming up with the YMCA of Grays Harbor for the Summer Parks program, which will provide kids with fun activities and a free meal and snack during summer vacation.
There will be activities like an arts and crafts table and athletics, including soccer, said Hoquiam mayor Jasmine Dickhoff at the Monday City Council meeting. There will also be a learning component, specifically a section dedicated to STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) education designed to help young people get interested in careers in those much-needed fields.
Kids will also be provided a full meal and a snack, said Hoquiam city administrator Brian Shay. Kids who rely on free school lunches all too often have to go without when school is not in session. This will help bridge the gap for young people in need.
Councilman Ben Winkleman lauded the agreement between the city and YMCA. “This is something that is needed that was missed when it went away,” he said.
The program runs from June 18-Aug. 24, five days a week for nine weeks and four days a week for the remaining week. Activities are centered around the Art Pocklington Central Play Park across Levee Street from Al’s Humdinger on Emerson Avenue.
Per the agreement, the YMCA will provide at least two mentors, coordinate and supervise recreation and enrichment activities for the three-hours-per-day program, and assist with serving food provided by the Hoquiam School District. The city will provide the park facility and restroom, water and garbage support — “Something we do anyway (at the park),” said Dickhoff — as well as compensating the YMCA a little over $5,000 at the completion of the program.
“Plus the kids will conduct morning and afternoon cleanups at the park, which will free up our parks department to do maintenance in other locations,” added Dickhoff.
Parents will be notified in a number of ways about the availability of the program. Fliers will be distributed to area schools, and YMCA volunteers and city officials will provide boots on the ground, knocking on doors and meeting parents face to face to explain the program to them. City funding will come from the thousands of dollars the city will save by changing city street lights to LED lights, which was made possible through a grant from the State Transportation Improvement Board. The council unanimously approved the agreement.
Ambulance bond
The council voted unanimously to approve the issuance and sale of an unlimited tax general obligation bond in the amount of $360,000 to finance the cost of a new ambulance and for reconditioning the fire department’s existing aid units. A levy to pay for the bond was approved by city voters in 2016. The council expedited the bond as the city has already taken delivery on the new ambulance, six months ahead of schedule.
Excavator
The council approved the purchase of a new John Deere excavator and a trailer to haul it, from Pape Machinery for a grand total of $82,842 to replace the 1997 Case backhoe currently used by the city. According to city Finance Director Corrine Schmid, the city got a sizable discount on the cost of the John Deere, which provides the public works department much more flexibility in terms of use and transport than the backhoe. The funds for the purchase will come from the equipment rental reserve fund, which contains dedicated money for specific equipment purchases. The Case backhoe will be moved to the Hoquiam watershed to be used more or less exclusively there, said Schmid.
Pre-commercial thinning bids
The city sent out bids for the pre-commercial thinning of 285 acres of watershed property and received only one response, from Curtis Hill Forestry LLC, based in Chehalis, for $38,567. According to Shay, city forester Loren Hiner has worked with the company in the past and said they do good work. As for the lack of responses, Shay said that wasn’t unusual; the City of Montesano recently put out a similar call for bids and only got two responses. The council approved the bid.
Parking
City attorney Steve Johnson drafted a resolution clarifying the city’s limitation on street parking to 72 hours at a time. Describing many instances where fined drivers argued they had moved their vehicle – sometimes just a few inches — Johnson’s ordinance clarifies to be considered “moved” the vehicle must be moved at least one car length. The ordinance is designed to discourage people from leaving boats, RVs and other vehicles parked for long periods of time on the same spot on the same street. The council moved that the issue be referred to the Public Safety and Law Committee for review.
