MATTAWA - The skate park the City of Mattawa plans to have in place by the Fourth of July will cost between $40,000 and $45,000, Public Works Director Jack Fox reported to the city council.

The park will cost $44,700 if a contractor is hired for the concrete labor. It will cost $39,925 if public works staff does the work.

According to City Clerk Robin Newcomb, it appears city staff will get the assignment.

According to Fox, the park will be straight forward and simple. It will be 50 feet wide by 80 feet long. It will be sited in Hund Memorial Park.

The park will be built with a combination of public funds and private donations. How much the city will pay will depend on donations. There was $5,531 donated in 2011 and $500 so far this year.

There could be a windfall of $16,000 in June. President Mike Thiede is thinking about suggesting the Mattawa Are Chamber of Commerce turn over money it has set a side for a community center.

One savings will be the installation of lights. Grant County PUD has committed to three.

In other business, City Planner Darryl Piercy told the council that the Grant County Housing Authority will soon submit its plat application for changes at the Esperanza Housing Project.

Esperanza, on the east side of Boundary Ave., is a number of farm worker units made of transport containers as temporary housing. They will be replaced by larger, permanent units, some this year.

First the housing authority needed to get a zoning variance in what is a commercial zone, Newcomb said. That was done, and now all commercial zones in the city will allow for multi-family housing.