College Place advances Lions Park work, wins $3.5M for road rebuild and eyes water-storage fixes

College Place City Administrator Mike Riztelo on Feb. 2025 provided a city project update announcing a contract increase to keep the Lions Park construction on schedule, the City Council’s recent adoption of a regional hazard mitigation plan, a memorandum of understanding with the YMCA to use leftover grant funds for design of a replacement Lions Park Community Center, and a $3.5 million Public Works Trust Fund award to rebuild Birch Avenue.

The update matters because several of the projects are tied to state or federal grant eligibility and to near-term construction timelines: the Lions Park work aims to be ready for the May farmers market season, the hazard mitigation plan adoption preserves eligibility for hazard-related grants, and the Birch Avenue award funds a multi‑year reconstruction including water and sewer replacement.

Riztelo said the council at its most recent meeting approved an increase to a construction contract on the Lions Park project so the schedule can be maintained ahead of a planned May opening. He also said the council adopted the hazard mitigation plan that was prepared with county emergency management; jurisdictions with a plan adopted in the past six years are eligible for certain state and federal capital grants.

Riztelo credited the YMCA and its…