Many of West Seattle’s neighborhood councils/associations meet monthly. Those that don’t tend to have jampacked agendas when they do get together – and as usual, that was the case with the Morgan Community Association‘s quarterly meeting on Wednesday night. Of all the topics tackled, the long-in-the-works RapidRide bus system briefing was the beefiest, but the MoCA meeting also brought news about other subjects from an impending development to neighborhood crime/safety concerns – read on:

RAPIDRIDE: Though the new bus service is still two years away – September 29, 2012 is the currently scheduled debut date – two Metro reps said they’re reopening the process of engaging the community, now that construction is getting closer on some of the street projects related to RapidRide’s West Seattle run (the “C Line“). They recapped what RapidRide is supposed to be – bus service mostly along the current 54 run, though they say it looks like there also will continue to be some form of what’s now the 54 Express to downtown. During peak hours, Paul Roybal said, it’ll be on a “schedule so frequent that you won’t really need a schedule.” It will have set times during the 10 pm-4:30 am hours, but still scheduled more than the current so-called “Night Owl” runs. Points of differentiation will include three doors on the buses, fares to be paid before you get on, with ORCA pass readers and illuminated maps, and bike racks at some stops (there are two types of station/stop designs – see one at left); features on board the buses will include announcements of the next stop, fewer seats, wi-fi.

An SDOT representative was on hand as the upcoming road work was discussed; it will include arranging for “transit-signal priority” at 10 intersections, where approaching buses may trigger a signal to shorten the red or lengthen the green. Some of the lanes on SW Alaska, 35th SW and SW Avalon will have bus priority – “vehicles can use them if they’re going to businesses.” Some curbs will have “bus bulbs,” and yes, they acknowledged, that means traffic behind the buses will stop when the buses stop, but they insist that the stops will be shorter because of the various features enabling faster boarding and processing. The SW Avalon business community has some concerns, they acknowledged, but discussions are under way, including another meeting next month.

One note of particular interest: The SDOT rep said, “We’re looking at lane configuration in (the Fauntleroy/California intersection)” regarding RapidRide – no details yet how it might change; you may recall that intersection was bookended by road-rebuilding work last year which had included significant reconfiguration to the east and north. The Metro reps also reiterated what’s been said earlier – about a year before RapidRide begins, all of West Seattle’s bus service will be evaluated, to see how it might be affected, and what other needs exist.

METRO’S OTHER CHANGES: There was a recap of the recently announced plan for some West Seattle routes to use 3rd Avenue for much of their downtown leg rather than 1st Avenue – as noted here.

COMBINED SEWER OVERFLOW PROJECT FOR MURRAY BASIN: This briefing has mostly been superseded by the summarizing King County news release we published last night (one night after the MoCA meeting) about the recommendation that this be handled with a storage tank under the south parking lot of Lincoln Park. MoCA vice president Chas Redmond gave the group the main points of the community advisory group’s discussions as well as regrets that the Fauntleroy Community Association‘s representative had been unhappy with the process: “Considering it’s literally in (Fauntleroy’s) front yard, we can’t do anything but recommend that King County Wastewater go forward,” Redmond said, while calling the plan “easily the least-impactful near-term and long-term solution to the problem.” As he noted, the final decision is up to King County, which has said it needs to make that decision by the end of the year.

CALIFORNIA/GRAHAM DEVELOPMENT: President Deb Barker had originally scheduled developers Dan Duffus and Mark Knoll to talk with the group about their plans for the lot, but she said they canceled and gave her some information to share instead. (We originally reported some information about the site back in July.) Right now, she says, they’re planning to break ground “any day” on the north half of the lot (which once was slated for a different development that led to demolition of its original buildings more than two years ago), which will hold 7 units resembling the building a few doors to the north (now home to ZippyDogs, among others). They’re selling the south half of the lot, which she said they believe would be best suited to purely commercial development, but if it doesn’t move, they would likely build something similar to the 7-unit building now in the works for the north half.

LOWMAN BEACH/NORTH LINCOLN PARK SAFETY CONCERNS: MoCA heard from Dr. Ron Sterling, whose well-known playful, artistic duck displays by Lowman Beach were vandalized with explosives one month ago (WSB coverage here). He said his neighborhood continues to have crime/safety problems – “It seems to be getting worse all the time” – and has been trying to get regular patrols from local police, but has been unable to secure a commitment, and regular surveillance video shows none going by. Vice president Redmond wondered if perhaps the problem could be lessened with better signage keeping people away from the dead-end Beach Drive stub. Better lighting might help, it also was suggested. Sterling believes the park itself is a major magnet for people on the dead-end street and that if something were done to dissuade afterhours use, that would reduce the street’s crime/vandalism problems – maybe even parking a not-in-use “old police car” that would keep ne’er-do-wells guessing.

EMERGENCY COMMUNICATION HUB DRILL: MoCA board member Cindi Barker updated the group on the fake-quake drill held at three Emergency Communication Hubs (explained and mapped here) around West Seattle – in tandem with other parts of the city – last Saturday (WSB coverage here). She said the drills will be held twice a year, and while Morgan Junction’s hub was not part of this one, she joined in at Fauntleroy, plus at least one Morgan Junction volunteer participated in the drill as a “citizen actor.”

‘AGING YOUR WAY’: Tamsen Spengler briefed MoCA on the September 23rd community conversation at Fauntleroy Church, which she said drew 75 participants. The goal was for “baby boomers” in particular to sit down together and talk about what they would like life to be like as they age – programs, services, lifestyle. The results of their brainstorms are now in a document on the Senior Services website (see it here). The conversation moderated by Jim Diers was one of five workshops around the area – the final one was in the north end earlier this week.

WAYFINDING KIOSKS: Redmond’s been working on this project a long time and had another update for MoCA: Permits are now in hand for eight of the 10 they’d like to place, with information and directions for people who are traveling on foot (etc.) – the two locations they’ve had trouble with are by the Fauntleroy ferry dock and on the northeast corner of Fauntleroy/California.

COUNTYWIDE COMMUNITY FORUMS: A guest speaker gave MoCA a quick primer on this series of discussions that’s been happening around King County – in partnership with county government, but financed primarily by the family that owns the Dick’s Drive-In hamburger chain, which is why the guest handed out information printed on Dick’s bags, accompanied by Dick’s coupons. The results of their latest round of forums/surveys is scheduled to be online by October 28th. You can find out more at their website.

OFFICER NOMINATIONS: Because of two “life changes,” as Deb Barker put it, the positions of secretary and treasurer are open on the MoCA board; Kate Gill de la Garza was nominated unanimously for secretary (replacing Steve Sindiong), and former secretary Eldon Olson was nominated unanimously for treasurer (replacing Dave Fansler).

POLITICAL PITCHES: Time was set aside on the agenda for candidates to address the group, with the election less than 2 weeks away, but the only person who asked for time was a representative for Seattle Municipal Court judicial candidate Karen Donohue.

The Morgan Community Association meets quarterly on the third Wednesday, 7 pm, The Kenney, and is online at morganjunction.org