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City forwards multiple parks grants: pool, turf and Steel Lake dock planning moves ahead
Summary
The committee forwarded acceptance of King County Parks grants to renovate the Federal Way Community Center pool and to replace Sacagawea's turf, and authorized staff to apply for a $200,000 RCO planning grant for a Steel Lake dock design; restrictive covenants on the county grants were shortened to better match component lifespans.
Federal Way’s committee voted to forward several parks-related grant actions for council approval and authorized staff to apply for planning funds for a new dock at Steel Lake.
King County awards: Staff presented two King County Parks Levy grant awards. One is a $1,525,000 award for mechanical and pool-plaster work at the Federal Way Community Center; staff negotiated a change to the grant’s restrictive covenant, shortening it from 30 years to 15 years to better match the useful life of mechanical components. The second is a $705,796 award to replace artificial turf at Sacagawea; staff and the school district together will cover the remaining cost (school district contribution roughly $102,000), leaving the turf replacement paid in full without general-fund impact.
Steel Lake dock planning (RCO): Parks staff (Claribel Orianna) asked authorization to apply for a Recreation and Conservation Office (RCO) planning and recreation access grant of $200,000 to support planning and design for a new Steel Lake dock. Staff said the grant covers planning-level tasks (construction drawings, permitting, cultural and environmental studies) but not construction. Staff estimated the grant would fund about 85% of design work and that additional in-house work would be needed to reach shovel-ready status. Applications are due July 15, and award notifications are expected 10/26/2026.
Council discussion and next steps: Council members pressed staff on whether art could be included in design documents (staff said public art is typically part of construction documents), the likely overall cost of a new dock (staff estimated in the low millions for design and construction, noting that the figure was a rough industry-based estimate), and how maintenance and repair of installed assets would be funded. The committee voted to accept the county grants and to forward the RCO application authorization to the July 7 consent agenda.
What to watch: If the RCO planning grant is awarded, staff will return with design alternatives, timeline constraints tied to environmental/cultural reviews, and next-stage construction funding options.
