Delridge District Council report: New chair; lots more updates

In addition to the Washington State Ferries Draft Long-Range Plan public hearing in Fauntleroy (WSB coverage here) and the last Seattle School Board meeting before the school-closure vote (WSB coverage here), we have coverage for you from one more Wednesday night event — the Delridge Neighborhoods District Council monthly meeting, which included updates on a multitude of local events and projects, as well as a leadership change, and more details on the upcoming Gathering of Neighbors – read on:


By Julia Ugarte
Reporting for West Seattle Blog

More than two dozen people were at the Southwest Precinct last night for the first 2009 meeting of the Delridge Neighborhoods District Council.

The opening section of “Neighborhood Reports and Announcements” provided information on a number of upcoming events, outlined below:

TOWNHOUSE DESIGN: We told you yesterday afternoon about the Multi-Family Code, featuring townhouse-design standards, moving to the City Council. One major component is the expansion of design review to cover more townhouse projects. That’s the topic of a public meeting set for January 29th from 5:30-7:30pm in the Bertha Landes Room at Seattle City Hall. Here are more details on the meeting.

ADOPT A STREET: One more reminder, the Delridge Adopt a Street Cleanup is this Saturday and starts at 9:45 am, with groups meeting at the Delridge Community Center and at Chief Sealth (Boren). North Delridge Neighborhood Council has teamed up with the Chief Sealth High School PTSA for this particular event and encourage all residents to participate. Coffee and muffins will be provided. Read more here.

YOUTH SUMMIT: The White Center Community Development Association (WCCDA) will be hosting a youth summit in March. (Editor’s note: More details were discussed at Thursday night’s White Center/South Delridge Community Safety Coalition meeting, so stand by for that report.)

GATHERING OF NEIGHBORS: Suzanne Nevan, Director of Fund Development & Community Building for DNDA, gave an in-depth outline of the organization of the event. The Gathering of Neighbors now has a location: Saturday, April 4th at Chief Sealth High School from 11:00 am- 3:00 pm. Nevan revealed that not only would it be the celebrated community resource fair, but this year the West Seattle Chamber has chosen it to be the site of its Business Expo. She went on to state that the, “chamber [is] really excited about bringing businesses to the community.” Nevan encouraged anyone interested to get involved. There are multiple meetings planned for February and March. Pete Spalding, council chair, also encouraged organizations and residents to get involved, promoting the opportunity to, “make this event something that draws people from all across the peninsula.” If you are interested in helping out, please contact Suzanne Nevan at suzannen@dnda.org.

DELRIDGE/WHITE CENTER FOOD AND FITNESS INITIATIVE: There are multiple events for this project that Nevan also spoke about which are coming up in the next few weeks. For example, this Saturday, January 24th, there will be a park use survey at three different parks in the area. This survey will include volunteers going out to observe the usage of parks and to ask park users to fill out opinion surveys about their experience. Also, on January 31st, at Camp Long, there will be a walking audit to evaluate trail use. For additional information about weekly Food and Fitness Initiative projects, go here.

The council also had multiple guests from various Seattle city departments to update the council and area residents about upcoming projects and new programs.

DEPARTMENT OF NEIGHBORHOODS: Stella Chao, director of the Department of Neighborhoods, spoke about new programs the Department of Neighborhoods had taken on for 2009 including: the Mayor’s Youth Council; neighborhood leadership training; the Immigrant and Refugee Initiative; Youth Initiative; and the acquisition and development of more P-patches. With Chao, Laurie Ames from the Neighborhood Matching Fund presented simplified guidelines and applications for the two Neighborhood Matching Fund project awards. Applications can now be submitted via e-mail, and revisions have been made regarding the allocation of funds within the awards. The changes are a result of last year’s focus groups, and Chao promises more revisions to come. Click here for the new Small and Simple award application and here for the large projects fund application. The deadline for the large project (over $15,000) letters of intent is February 2nd.

SPOKANE VIADUCT IMPROVEMENT PROJECT: Art Brochet gave an overview of the Spokane Street Viaduct Project. He confirmed construction on the 4th Avenue off-ramp will begin this February; the ramp is set to open in early 2011. He also outlined the impact on traffic the construction will have when street closures are imposed in order to construct the structure on the north side of the viaduct. He warned that there will be multiple road closures throughout the area which will significantly impact traffic in the upcoming months. Brochet did stress that despite the headache of the road closures and construction, it will be important to still support businesses in that area of Sodo regardless of what it may do to your commute. (Archived WSB coverage of the Spokane Viaduct project is here; the official city webpage is here.)

PROJECT EARTH CARE/CHIEF SEALTH HIGH SCHOOL: Nicole Stariha, Sara Schendel and Daniel Ross, along with their teacher Gary Thomsen from Chief Sealth High School, have organized an environmental project at Cooper Elementary and gave a presentation at tonight’s meeting. Stariha, Schendel and Ross are working with Cooper students to remove the invasive plants that have taken over the meadow and trail behind the school and replace them with native plants in a more pleasing landscape design. Along with returning the meadow and trail to their more natural and user friendly states, the students will also research and complete a living history documentary about the area. The students are asking for the community’s input and involvement. They would like to encourage those interested to come out and help remove the invasive plants that have settled in the meadow and give input as to which native plants should replace them. The students are also interested in speaking to long term residents who might have historical photos and information for the documentary. To get involved, please contact Sara Schendel at saraschendel@yahoo.com, or Gary Thomsen at gwthomsen@seattleschools.org.

DISTRICT COUNCIL ELECTIONS: Longtime council chair Pete Spalding has stepped down and will be replaced by Pablo Lambinicio. All of Spalding’s exemplary work for the council and beyond has been greatly appreciated by his peers, and he assured council members he would still be “at the table” for meetings to come.

NEIGHBORHOOD STREET FUND / CUMULATIVE RESERVE SUBFUND: Spalding’s final item for the evening was to encourage organizations and individuals alike to submit ideas for the Neighborhood Street Fund / Cumulative Reserve Subfund projects. Past examples of these projects include sidewalks, street crossings and speed cushions. The application deadline is February 27th. For more information, or to download an application, click here.

DNDC NEXT MEETING: The next meeting for the Delridge Neighborhoods District Council is February 18th. City Council President Richard Conlin will be in attendance.

1 Reply to "Delridge District Council report: New chair; lots more updates"

  • Ron Angeles January 28, 2009 (8:56 am)

    Julia

    Thank you for coming and providing a very nice review of our meeting this month. I hope you can continue to attend in the future.

    Maraming salamat.

    Ron Angeles
    Dept. of Neighborhoods

    PS: FYI – Along with having Councilmember Richard Conlin, we also plan to have SDOT, WSDOT, and County staff come and give an update on the Alaskan Way Viaduct proposed tunnel option.

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