200 West Seattle homes in ‘One Less Truck’ biweekly trash test
(UPDATED Wednesday morning with additional information from Seattle Public Utilities)
(Click to see full-size map, as PDF)
ORIGINAL 11:56 PM TUESDAY REPORT: 200 homes in Highland Park will only get trash pickup every two weeks, for six months, starting in July. You might have heard about the city’s “One Less Truck” pilot program, to see if every-other-week pickup will work (explained here); tonight, we learned that part of West Seattle will be in the program. Carl Woestwin of Seattle Public Utilities made the announcement during the WS Crime Prevention Council meeting tonight (though trash pickup has nothing to do with the group’s usual scope). The area affected is bounded by SW Barton on the north, SW Roxbury to the south, 15th SW to the west, and 11th SW to the east.
Woestwin says homes from single-family through fourplexes in the area will be required to participate, and will get a $100 stipend for their trouble. All the affected homes have been notified via letters and/or flyers, he said. They can choose to get larger trash containers, or try to see if they can make it work, and that’s what the experiment is for. Woestwin said that the city estimates changing to every-other-week pickup could save $6 million citywide. This part of Highland Park is the only test area in West Seattle and one of only four citywide; a community meeting is planned in early June (he wasn’t sure of the date – we’ll seek confirmation Wednesday) and then SPU will come back to the neighborhood in September “to find out how they’re going.”
ADDED 11:25 AM: We followed up this morning with SPU, whose Brett Stav provided some information, including the FAQ they have put together (apparently, though, it is not on their website, because, he says, “We’re trying to keep the study as scientific as possible and avoid confusing our non-participating customers, so we haven’t broadly advertised this project outside of the participating neighborhoods”) and the rate card for participants – read on:Read More
Sunrise Heights/Westwood raingardens on Wednesday DNDC agenda
(King County rendering from March community meeting in Sunrise Heights)
Wednesday night’s Delridge Neighborhoods District Council includes an update on one of the most vigorously debated public-works projects planned for West Seattle, the Barton Pump Station basin combined-sewer-overflow-control project – “bioswales” (raingardens) in planting strips along multiple streets in the Sunrise Heights/Westwood area, to reduce the water going into the system and downhill to the pump station. The presentation, including project manager Mary Wohleb, is scheduled for around 7:20 pm during the DNDC meeting, which begins at 7 pm at Youngstown Cultural Arts Center (4408 Delridge Way SW). The county’s most recent community presentations were in March; here’s our coverage.
In the mood for Colman Pool? June 30th reopening gets closer
If this warm weather puts you in the mood for outdoor swimming, wondering when Colman Pool on the Lincoln Park shoreline will be open – here’s another reminder that it’ll be late this year, June 30th. The renovation work has been under way for 4 months now, and we just got two new photos today from Jim Edwards (thank you!), so we checked in with Seattle Parks project manager Garrett Farrell, to see where the project is at. He tells WSB that the last of the pool-wall sections were to be put in place today, and “we have already started pour-back of the pool decks, which will go much faster than the walls.” Now, it gets tricky, according to Farrell, as they work on “installing the pool-water piping in the tunnel that runs around the pool deck and connects to the walls as we work to pour the lid over the top of it, a few pieces at a time.”
Crews are also working to remove the existing plaster, he said, while prepping “every square
inch of the interior shell for a much needed new plaster liner.” That’s still a lot of work, he said, but they are on track for the expected opening date of June 30th. (To plan ahead, you can check out the schedule here.)
Happening now: Chamber ‘after-hours’ at Dream Dinners
Till 7 pm, West Seattle Chamber of Commerce‘s monthly ‘After-Hours’ mixer is happening at Dream Dinners (longtime WSB sponsor), on 41st just south of Alaska (east side of Jefferson Square‘s main building, fronting on 41st). From left, we photographed Nancy Woodland from WestSide Baby – which has its big Shake, Rattle & Roll cocktail-party event this Friday night (ticket info here) and the Stuff the Bus diaper drive on July 22nd – with Dream Dinners proprietor Leslie Thomson and Rob Shiras from PC Mobile Help. Dream Dinners facilitates home cooking while taking away some of the time-consuming tasks like shopping and prepping – they have monthly menus, you choose what sounds good and assemble dinners in three- or six-serving sizes to take home and keep till you’re ready to cook them. After-Hours events rotate among various locations, offering Chamber members a chance to learn more about one of their fellow local businesses – in recent months, hosts have included Easy Street Records and Global Diving and Salvage.
City grants for Alki Art Fair, Roxhill Park, City Fruit
The city has just announced the latest round of Small and Simple grants – for which organizations apply, promising matching funds/volunteer labor, and three West Seattle events/projects are on the list:
(WSB photo from 2011 Alki Art Fair)
*Alki Art Fair – Volunteer-run since city cutbacks made city-staff resources unavailable. $20,000 grant. (This year’s fair is July 28-29.)
*Castle Park at Roxhill Park – To enhance the city Parks and Green Spaces Levy-funded playground project, $20,000 extra for “a climbing and physical challenge course.” (After getting the city announcement, we checked with project manager Kelly Davidson, who says that the playground/skatepark plans just went to the general contractor yesterday and are in a review period. The playground itself is still on target for a public build, probably in September.)
*West Seattle Community Fruit Harvest – City Fruit gets $6,295 to “organize the harvest of fruit from residential fruit trees to distribute to partner organizations like food banks, women’s shelters, and senior centers within Delridge and West Seattle.”
West Seattle schools: 1st PTA meeting for K-5 STEM at Boren
Just under four months till the first day of school, and families signed up for K-5 STEM at Boren are already organizing a PTA. The first meeting is set for 6:30 pm this Thursday (May 17th) at the Southwest Library, 35th and Henderson, and the topic is whether to form an organization associated with the PTSA network or “an independent PTO,” as Kathleen Voss puts it, adding:
All parents of students currently enrolled at STEM for the 2012-13 school year, families on the wait list, and families interested in learning more about the K-5 STEM at Boren program are encouraged to attend. For those who are interested but cannot attend, questions and comments will be collected on the community forum groups.yahoo.com/group/k5stem for discussion at the meeting.
A representative from the state PTA network will be there to help facilitate discussion of what kind of organization to form. Also, tasks will be identified and assigned.
Followup: West Seattle’s ex-Fire Station 37 sold for $613,000
(2011 WSB photo of ex-Fire Station 37)
When we checked in with Colliers International vice president Arvin Vander Veen last week regarding the sale of 87-year-old ex-Fire Station 37 in Sunrise Heights, he told us the deal would close this week, and to watch the public records. We did, and while checking online records last night, we noted that the sale was registered. The former fire station’s new owner also owns a business in The Junction, where WSB contributor Katie Meyer went this morning to see if she would talk with us about her plans for it. She told Katie that she does not want to comment, nor does she want to be identified. We have a request out to the city to ask about the purchase price, as it was not part of the public document; as reported previously, minimum bid was $250,000, and Colliers requested a second round of offers from the highest bidders in the original round. Since the former fire station is a city landmark, its new owner would have to get city Landmarks Board approval before altering any of its landmarked features; it’s in a single-family residential zone. The city gave final authorization to the sale plan last fall, one year after the new Station 37 opened a few blocks south.
1:03 PM UPDATE: The city says the ex-station sold for $613,000. Minus commission and closing costs, that means $579,807 into the city’s Fire Levy Fund. (added) City spokesperson Katherine Schubert-Knapp explains, “Levy proceeds and other funding, such as the sale of former fire stations, are being used to upgrade, renovate and replace 32 neighborhood fire stations, among other things. Seattle voters approved the levy in November 2003. (It will be funding future WS upgrades at other stations including 32 and 36.)
Food trucks in West Seattle: Junction ‘pod’ now dinner-only
(WSB photo from October 2011, when Uptown’s “pod” launched)
Another chapter in the ongoing saga of West Seattle’s food-truck scene. The owner of Uptown Espresso, who gave permission for a “pod” of trucks in his Junction lot 7 months ago, is no longer allowing food trucks there before 5 pm. The folks from SeattleFoodTruck.com first mentioned this in a WSB comment last week, after Lucky Devil Doughnut Co.’s short-lived Uptown run; at least one truck, Contigo, alluded to it via Twitter; and we just confirmed it in a phone conversation with Uptown partner Pete Noble. He told us it’s strictly a decision about keeping the parking available for Uptown customers in the morning and afternoon. (Back when launched in October, the pod was described as an “experiment” anyway.)
The website wseattleeats.com had been posting the Uptown-lot schedule, and after the change, it only has one truck on the schedule right now, Rainy Day Gourmet for Thursday nights. That was the only Junction-area “pod”; on weekends, Marination (Saturdays) and Snout and Co. (Sundays) have continued to frequent the Hans VW lot at 35th/Graham, while the Highland Park Improvement Club lot at 12th/Holden has Lumpia World and Sweet Wheels visiting at lunchtime on Saturdays, according to its website sidebar. West Seattle has a few every-day trucks, too – Beloved Mexico at West Seattle Produce (Fauntleroy south of Alaska), and taco trucks El Rey del Taco on SW Orchard north of Home Depot as well as La Playita at Alki Auto. As SeattleFoodTruck.com mentioned in its comment, they’re open to helping find a new site for the trucks that used to be at Uptown.
10:38 PM UPDATE: As noted in comments: Since we published this story, Snout and Co. has told us they’re not planning to return to 35th/Graham on Sundays, and Lucky Devil Doughnut Company has announced via Facebook that they have a new West Seattle spot for Tuesdays. More to come.
Arbor Heights Elementary to get visit from next superintendent
Just announced by Seattle Public Schools in a media advisory, José Banda – scheduled to be confirmed as the district’s next superintendent on Wednesday night – will visit Arbor Heights Elementary on Thursday. Banda has been leading a school district in Anaheim, California, but is coming back to Seattle for the board vote Wednesday night, and the AH visit has been announced as one of his two media availabilities for the visit (a photo op rather than a public event, in case you’re wondering) – the other will include interviews after the board vote.
West Seattle Tuesday: From orchard to orchestra
(“Bye Bye Birdie” photo courtesy WSHS Drama)
Lots to do/see/hear tonight, from sports to musical theater to symphonic music to art:
HEALTH AND HARVEST: The weekly tour/work party at the Community Orchard of West Seattle is 2-4 pm Tuesday afternoons (6000 16th SW, north end of South Seattle Community College campus)
LIVE ART BASH: And you can be among the “stars” – bring your project/quest for inspiration to Mind Unwind in the Admiral District for this weekly event, 6-9 pm, explained on the M/U website. (2206 California SW)
WSHS BASEBALL PLAYOFF GAME: There’s only one high-school-baseball postseason game on the schedule in the area tonight and West Seattle HS is in it, facing Liberty at Steve Cox Memorial Park in White Center, 6:30 pm. (1321 SW 102nd)
WORLD PREMIERE ON THE PROGRAM: West Seattle Community Orchestras‘ second of two spring concerts is tonight, 7 pm, Chief Sealth International High School auditorium, with new works including “Fantasies and Fugues” by WSCO conductor Rob Duisberg, Ph.D. Admission free, donations accepted. (2600 SW Thistle)
WEST SEATTLE CRIME PREVENTION COUNCIL: In addition to the monthly police-leadership briefing on crime trends, tonight’s program includes a special guest on victims’ rights. 7 pm, Southwest Precinct meeting room (southwest side of building, off Webster west of Delridge)
‘BYE BYE BIRDIE’ ADDS TONIGHT: You’re invited to the WSHS theater at 7:30 tonight for an added night of the school’s spring musical (last Friday was a last-minute scrub, so this week’s run starts a night early). Ticket information is on the Westside Drama website.
More on the calendar – including what’s up tomorrow, next week, next month …
West Seattle 5K this Sunday: Not in it? Volunteer!
Summer starts Sunday! 9 am by the Alki Bathhouse, hundreds of people will be off running and walking for the West Seattle 5K. If you’re not planning to walk/run with them, event organizers would love to have your help for at least part of the time:
West Seattle High School is looking for adult volunteers this coming Sunday (May 20th) to help with the 5K race. If you are able to help Sunday morning between 7:30 am and 12:00, or anytime inbetween, it would be much appreciated. Please send an e-mail with your name and time you are available to wshs5kvolunteers@gmail.com – Any and all help will be much appreciated.
The run is followed by the Seattle Summer Streets street party till 5 pm – the activity/entertainment list is taking shape here.
An “upswing” in auto theft. Lt. Davis said the most recent week tallied 19 thefts, more than double the usual average. (Apparently a regional problem, as that also is the biggest problem in White Center and environs right now, according to a King County Sheriff’s Office briefing at a 
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