Leadership chosen for the group’s first year – in addition to Szilagyi as secretary, chair Amanda Helmick and a to-be-filled treasurer’s position.

The neighborhoods’ principal areas of concern were outlined as: Metro Transit; SDOT, safety, and infrastructure improvements; community outreach; crime; business outreach. They’ll be looking for members for committees focused on the community, city infrastructure, Metro issues, and group leadership.

There’s a more-detailed list of topics in the full meeting notes – which, again, are here. The council also plans to work on setting up a website at wwrhah.org, which currently redirects to the Facebook group that’s been the hub of WWRHAH online discussion in the early going. And Metro will be the central topic for its next meeting; WWRHAH meets on the first Tuesday of the month, so that will be June 4th, more details to come.

CALIFORNIA/FAUNTLEROY INTERSECTION: Mike Ward from SDOT started off by explaining the safety curb recently installed on Fauntleroy just west of California to keep westbound traffic from trying to pass stopped buses. “For many years an intersection operates a certain way – then we make a change, and a behavior change has to take place … operations felt they had no choice but to do this to modify the behavior.” They have not yet evaluated how it’s working. So far, though, SDOT is not aware of any collisions before or after the curb installation.

Referring also to the bus bulb on northbound California just north of Fauntleroy: “What would it take for SDOT to admit it made a mistake in locating both bus bulbs, and move them” – 50 feet further west, 50 feet further north – asked MoCA vice president Chas Redmond, who ran the meeting. “The AM/PM congestion is not acceptable, and it’s affecting transit – the 128s are waiting two lights to round the corner,” he said, and he also noted that ACCESS buses shouldn’t be stopping at bus bulbs because it takes them quite some time to load their passengers. “They promise 30 second dwell time – there’s nobody who will tell you there’s 30-second dwell time at this intersection.”

Ward said he saw very little chance of a turnabout on the bus bulbs, but he said some change was being pondered, such as: They’re looking to adjust the 128′s route so that its northbound leg could stop on Morgan near California rather than at the busy bus bulb stop on California north of Fauntleroy. Continuing to press the point about the waiting times on northbound California, MoCA board member Cindi Barker asked if SDOT had observed the wait time in that direction; Ward didn’t think they had. One attendee said, is the city trying to get people out of their cars? Ward said he could see why some suspect that, but it’s not a “conversation” that’s being had – more “planning for the future” and working on the Complete Streets vision, he said. “We’re encouraged that Metro realizes there’s an issue,” said Redmond.

Speaking of transportation …

GREENWAYS: Don Brubeck, president of West Seattle Bike Connections, came “to start a conversation about greenways,” standing in for Seattle Greenways, reminding people that they aren’t just about bikes, but also pedestrians and others – “safe, healthy neighborhood streets.” The conversation so far has mostly been focused in east West Seattle, where at least two greenways are in the works. But the conversions cost money, so greenways have to be sought by the people living on the streets they’re proposed for. He explained the concepts of the many forms that they could take. So who decides this stuff? as Don put it – the people who live on the affected streets. Conversions do cost money and so it goes where there’s demand. Barker brought up the Bicycle Master Plan, which is being updated; Brubeck said the greenways would indeed have to work with that. Check out West Seattle Greenways on Facebook.

MURRAY COMBINED SEWER OVERFLOW PROJECT UPDATE: Doug Marsano from the King County Wastewater Treatment Division mentioned some of what’s happened at the site lately, including last month’s Seattle Fire Department training (WSB coverage here), which Marsano said will NOT be followed up by a second round after all – there’s still “hazardous material” in the building that made a “live burn” infeasible. The material will be removed, though, and the county now has permits and is reviewing bids for deconstruction work, starting with that removal. A contractor should start on it in mid-May, continuing for six weeks, with an air-quality consultant on site. Once it’s out, and other recyclable material removed, the buildings will be taken out, but the foundations will remain and be filled in, to maximize stability of the back ledge. The demolition should be done by the end of June; a contractor will be in place by fall and “significant construction will be under way this fall” – they are required to have the storage tank under construction before the year’s out.

FRIENDS OF MORGAN JUNCTION PARK: Sean Gamble, MoCA secretary, says the group’s being formed to address concerns about the park and its upkeep – not to be responsible for all of its upkeep, but to work toward some projects such as urban forestry, “maybe bringing more and better trees to the park,” or even converting the ShortStop grayscape – which the city has been in the process of purchasing – into something green. “Could it include the triangle by Thriftway?” one attendee asked. “It could,” replied Sean. “Maybe it should be called Friends of Morgan Junction PARKS,” suggested Redmond. They need a leader for the new group, though they have a fair amount of volunteer help. “We’ve got some grunts, but we’re seeking leadership,” summarized Redmond, planning to communicate that to president Deb Barker, who could not be at the meeting.

DESIGN GUIDELINES: Cindi Barker is hoping to represent MoCA’s views at an April 29th city hearing about design guidelines. A committee put together the Morgan Design Guidelines in 2007, she explained; then there was a city revision in 2010 that didn’t go so well – and it “went away” – and now the process has started again. However, she says, what they came up with in 2007 has made it through unscathed – except for some deletions, including “everything that set the context of Morgan Junction.” Barker says the city claims that will all go int a ‘reference guide.’ Developers will be required to consult the guidelines – but not necessarily that “reference guide,” she said, showing the pages that were deleted, such as “maintaining its small-town feel,” “greenery integrates well with business,” “vital commercial district,” “closest one can get to living on an island without taking a ferry” … and other descriptive phases. So without those, how do they know “what our character is?” Barker wondered. She is proposing to say “those things that describe our neighborhood need to be part of the document, not a reference guide, but if it has to be (the latter) then something needs to say developers are REQUIRED to read the reference guide.”

MURAL RESTORATION: MoCA says the owner of the building at California/Fauntleroy is interested in keeping/preserving the badly deteriorated mural on the back of the red brick building that now houses Starbucks, Abbondanza, Subway, and other businesses – Bruce Rickett of Nova Scotia was the artist, and MoCA was hoping to contact him, but a longtime local resident whose business used to be in that building says he has passed away.

EMERGENCY COMMUNICATION HUBS DRILL: Cindi Barker, says the biennial drill on May 11th will be at Morgan Junction Park this time around, with everything from Scouts to ham-radio volunteers. They’ll be looking for people to portray “victims,” if you’re interested in helping.

MORGAN JUNCTION COMMUNITY FESTIVAL: The next one is just two months away – June 22nd in Morgan Junction Park, adjacent to Beveridge Place Pub, with booths behind Zeeks Pizza and Feedback Lounge (both WSB sponsors), in the Washington Federal lot across the street. The Bite of Morgan will return – six participants as of meeting night – and they’ll try again for the Bark of Morgan – at least four food trucks so far – last year’s lineup invited back because only two of them got to play because of the downpour. Sponsorship solicitation letters are going out soon, if they’re not out already.

OFFICERS: An all-incumbent slate was introduced, with a chance for anyone to make additional nominees: they were all re-elected.

Next regular MoCA quarterly meeting will be in July – watch morganjunction.org for info.

Seattle Dept of Transportation – Safety, Collaboration, and Q&A

This community has a couple items in particular to discuss with SDOT – 35th in Arbor Heights, the Roxhill Speedway, sidewalks, and the new fleet of Metro busses. Jim Curtin, great guy, W Seattle resident, and SDOT employee will take these questions, answer any others you have, and talk about how to work directly with SDOT in the future. Presented by Jim Curtin, SDOT.

(Thanks to Joe Szilagyi for sharing the news the agenda’s up.) Leadership decisions are also on the agenda – the group has no officers yet. Come help shape this new group and help your neighborhood – 6:30 pm Tuesday in the upstairs meeting room at Southwest Library (35th/Henderson).

(With the mayor at 47th/Admiral, Alki Mail’s Don Wahl at left, Karl de Jong at center)
From transportation to development to education, Mayor McGinn‘s one-hour-plus visit to Admiral today, organized by the Admiral Neighborhood Association, touched on most of the hottest topics in town. No big promises, but during the finale of the visit, a sitdown conversation with attendees who had followed him to Alki Mail and Dispatch, he promised to take another look at the status of the longstanding request for a signal light right outside, at the 47th/Admiral intersection where Tatsuo Nakata was killed more than six years ago. Jerry Whiting from Jet City Orange video’d the group crossing the road:

The tour started on the California SW side of Admiral Safeway, with initial remarks by both the mayor and ANA president David Whiting as well as development discussions – including concerns about the proposed 400-foot-long apartment building at 3210 California SW, which goes to Design Review next month:

Next stop, the Lafayette Elementary playground, where Sean Reynolds explained the proposal for Phase 3 of playground (and vicinity) improvements that have been years in the making:

As you can hear Reynolds explaining to the mayor, the project has not made the draft cut for the Parks and Green Spaces Levy Opportunity Fund; the mayor suggested the next Parks Levy (being readied for 2014, according to what City Councilmember Sally Bagshaw told the Delridge District Council this week) might be worth aiming for.

The tour proceeded westbound through residential neighborhoods and made two stops – first, to talk about bikeability in the area, with ANA president Whiting yielding the floor to Don Brubeck of West Seattle Bike Connections formed after, as ANA’s Whiting prefaced, it was noted that West Seattleites hadn’t been providing much input for the revision of the city’s Bicycle Master Plan:

Not too far west of there, the group paused for another development topic – the changing face of neighborhoods, with old houses coming down, and big ones, sometimes more than one per lot, going up:

And then it was on to the 47th/Admiral intersection, where ANA has been trying to get a stoplight, but has been told both that it’s very low on the SDOT priority list – and that it should try for an SDOT grant. Toward the end of the subsequent roundtable discussion inside Alki Mail’s coffee-shop area, ANA past president Katy Walum (who helped lead a demonstration/tribute at the site in November 2011) eloquently made the case. You can hear her at 11:41 into this next clip, after other issues – starting with the recent cuts in bus service, and continuing with a question about West Seattle and light rail:

The conversation continued past the scheduled 2 pm cutoff, and as the mayor acknowledged, it could easily have run much longer, but he was past due at his second West Seattle stop of the afternoon, Southwest Pool (WSB coverage here).

Meantime, as the mayor (a former neighborhood-council leader) said more than once during the tour, getting involved with your neighborhood council is the best way to have a say in what’s happening and what’s being planned; if you live or work in the Admiral area, ANA meets the second Tuesday of each month, usually at 7 pm in the lower-level meeting room of Admiral Congregational Church (California/Hill).

(West Seattle Block Watch Captains’ Network founders speak to the new WRAH council)
By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor

The second meeting of the new Westwood-Roxhill-Arbor Heights Community Council drew more than 20 people, from a retired police officer voicing concerns about city politics, to educators from local schools, to representatives of community groups including the West Seattle Block Watch Captains’ Network and West Seattle Crime Prevention Council.

Crime prevention was the spotlight topic during the Wednesday night meeting at Southwest Library, with the Seattle Police crime-prevention coordinator for the Southwest and South Precincts, Mark Solomon, first up, after around-the-room introductions and words of greeting from facilitator Mat McBride, chair of the Delridge Neighborhoods District Council.

Solomon explained that while Block Watch formation is in his purview, he doesn’t get the credit for organizing neighbors – neighbors organize themselves, and call him in for help and guidance.

He opened the floor to questions almost immediately. One early question: How do you get people involved in community councils and other groups? Often, he acknowledged, it takes a hot issue to bring people out, and the challenge is to keep them involved even after it’s resolved. Support your neighbors, he said: “You’re not the only one affected,” for example, when there’s a nuisance house on the block, and “the more people you have working together, the more impact as a community that you have.” It “doesn’t mean you have to patrol with baseball bats and flashlights,” he said – communication is an important tool. Even something simple like “the power of hello” when you see people on the street – neighbors or not; even if there’s someone unfamiliar in your neighborhood, you’re letting them know you see them.

Another question: Much of the area in this new council’s jurisdiction borders unincorporated King County, and that means criminals may cross borders, complicating enforcement issues. Solomon said Seattle Police and King County Sheriff’s Office coooperate fairly well, so that’s not an issue, but one tip: When you are calling from a cell phone, “let them know where you are” because you might wind up referred at first to the wrong law-enforcement agency.

Also: Graffiti/tagging – what are signs that it’s gang-related versus simply vandalism? Most of it is not gang-related, said Solomon. (Editor’s note: Those interested in the topic might be interested in a presentation we videotaped at the North Highline Unincorporated Area Council public-safety forum one year ago.) In most cases, the vandals are just trying to get their names out, he said. Some that you see on garages, fences, etc., might be gang-related, but hard to tell – best thing to do is report it, and be sure to provide a detailed description, photograph it, and then paint it out as soon as possible. Another attendee mentioned being told that he couldn’t report graffiti vandalism on someone else’s property. Solomon said, “Report it anyway.” And he advised what we have heard from other police reps – you can call 911 and say “it’s not an emergency, but I want to make a report,” and they will get you to an operator. (Or, if you call the non-emergency line, he said, hit 2 at the first prompt, 8 at the second.)

Shortly thereafter, it was noted that people seem loathe to call 911, but shouldn’t be. “It’s OK to call us,” Solomon agreed. “We want you to call us. If you don’t call us, we don’t know.” But he also acknowledged that calling 911 can be daunting because call-takers want to get down to the facts – and may cut you off, even seem rude. “That’s because of how many calls they get in, they need to determine the information, how many officers they need to send.” Don’t be put off by the way they question you – they need to do that to get their job done and help you.

He also mentioned the NewHolly double homicide earlier in the week, recounting that someone heard gunshots in the middle of the night but didn’t call. Hours later, a police officer noticed broken glass, went up to the car, and found the victims. If someone had called sooner, maybe they would have caught or seen the killer, or been able to help the victims, Solomon said.

The art of calling 911 was then mentioned: Get a description, get the information they’ll ask about. Call as often as you need to – if you call four times a week, they might see a pattern. Solomon added that it’s “more valuable if ten people call once (about a problem) than if one person calls 10 times … then we don’t have a cranky neighbor, we have a neighborhood problem.”

Solomon also noted that while people seem to ask a lot about mail theft at meetings he attends, he is not seeing a corresponding amount of reports when he goes back to the precinct and checks. So, he reiterated, REPORT EVERYTHING. Report mail theft to SPD as well as to the postmaster.

There was also a discussion about watching out for your neighbors. Yes, you can let police know you’ll be on vacation and ask them to come by every so often – but letting your neighbors know is essential, too.

Is a well-lit neighborhood less vulnerable to car prowls? Solomon’s reply – yes, lighting can make a difference for many reasons (including helping police find house numbers), but there are also subtleties such as training a motion-detector light on your car, so that if someone walks up, it’ll go on, and they will have cause to suspect they’ll be seen.

If you want to organize a Block Watch or need other crime-prevention advice information – contact Solomon (find his e-mail address and phone number here).

He was followed by WSBWCN co-founders Deb Greer and Karen Berge, who explained how they realized the importance of communication between Block Watches, and how they try to encourage communication and cooperation between Block Watches. Their meetings are on fourth Tuesdays, 6:30 pm, at the precinct; next one is in three weeks, on Tuesday, March 26th. They also welcome topic suggestions.

Summarizing what the group had heard over the previous hour-plus, McBride noted that the total population of the neighborhoods participating is 18,000 – equal to the entire city of Mountlake Terrace, for example. And a neighborhood council has power, including access to city grants that he says are waiting.

LEADERSHIP: Councils can’t just be run by one or two people – they’ll die. But with the library closing at 8 pm sharp, and the meeting needing to be done by 7:50, which was minutes away by the time this finally came up, there was no time to carry that discussion further; McBride said they’d carry that over till next time. “Go home, think about it think about people i this community that have been kind of rudderless, they want to engage, they don’t know how.” Next month, he exhorted, “Bring some friends.”

ROXHILL PLAYGROUND/SKATEPARK: New projected opening date is now March 20th (or so), according to McBride, who said he had talked earlier in the day with Seattle Parks project manager Kelly Goold. (Here’s our most recent report on the finishing touches at the playground.)

ARBOR HEIGHTS OPEN HOUSES FOR WESTSIDE SCHOOL @ HILLCREST PRESBYTERIAN: AH resident JoDean Edelheit reminded everyone that the open houses with Westside School (WSB sponsor) seeking to meet its prospective new neighbors, if its purchase of Hillcrest Presbyterian goes through, are coming up this weekend and next week – 10 am this Saturday; details are in our story from last week.

NEXT MONTH’S MEETING – TRANSPORTATION: Neighborhood traffic liaison Jim Curtin is scheduled to be at next month’s meeting, which will return to the first Tuesday of the month … so be at the library 6:30 pm April 2nd. Here’s the Facebook event page; here’s the council’s Facebook group page.

The Admiral Neighborhood Association, for example, spent a chunk of time at Tuesday night’s monthly meeting talking about the process of becoming a 501(c)3 nonprofit. One major decision: Hire a professional to deal with the paperwork, rather than trying to deal with it themselves. Advantages, as noted by president David Whiting, would include having the pro empowered to deal directly with the IRS as needed. Also discussed at Tuesday night’s meeting: Updates including ANA involvement with the upcoming Hiawatha Community Center egg hunt on March 30th, and collaboration with Admiral merchants to provide prize baskets.

The Admiral Neighborhood Association meets second Tuesdays, 7 pm, at Admiral Congregational Church.

(NDNC co-chair Parie Hines speaks while a heart collage is assembled; foreground, Amanda Leonard holds infant son Harpo)
Eleven adults and a baby comprised the turnout for last night’s North Delridge Neighborhood Council meeting. Having the next generation on hand seemed especially appropriate, since the agenda looked to the future, as well as dealing with the present and past.

Icebreaker question: “What makes Delridge different from other neighborhoods?”

The first reply: “More greenspace per capita.”

One of the other answers: “Longfellow Creek.”

Yet another: “A very low number of snobby people.”

And yet another: “The number of engaged neighbors.”

Likely an offshoot of that: “The sheer diversity of community-driven events and initiatives.”

Closeness to downtown was mentioned too, as were two huge institutions in North Delridge – the Nucor Steel plant, and Youngstown Cultural Arts Center, and last but not least, “The Delridge Move” – explained as, using Delridge’s continuous center turn lane to pass other cars.

They wrote their favorite things about Delridge on Valentine-style pieces of red paper – mentions for Dragonfly Park, Pearl’s Coffee and Tea, flowers in traffic circles, the Camp Long ropes course drew a mention, among others. (A collage resulted – in progress, in our photo above; see the full result on the NDNC website.)

What kind of projects and activities from the past would members like to do again? Building projects – like the playground – with a tangible result; small, social events like cider-press gatherings and ice-cream socials; street improvements (like the recent ones on 25th SW); community cleanups – which led to a side discussion about teaming up with nearby Puget Ridge if possible.

How to improve the neighborhood and strengthen love for it? Block parties, reaching out to neighbors, celebrate Neighbor Appreciation Day, Night Out block parties, organize walks … those were among the ideas offered. Also, periodically singling out a local volunteer for honors.

The community cleanup idea came back around, with beautification chair Lisa Taylor-Whitley suggesting monthly projects, not just the quarterly Adopt-A-Street. Perhaps they could focus on some of the area’s myriad stairways, it was suggested. (Watch the North Delridge Facebook group for event signup and pages.)

RESEARCH: A researcher who is studying this area as part of a UW project titled “Encountering Poverty: Everyday Life in Mixed-Income Neighborhoods” – told the group that she and her colleagues have been talking to people such as social-service professionals, and hope soon to start talking to neighborhood-council reps such as the NDNC members who were gathered for the meeting.

ANNOUNCEMENTS: The DESC project’s Advisory Committee will meet at 6:30 pm Wednesday at Youngstown Cultural Arts Center, with a focus on crime prevention/safety elements in the project’s design … Transportation Committee chair Jake Vanderplas said two new bus stops are supposed to be set up before the Metro service change on February 16 kicks in the intended path for Route 50.

NDNC meets the second Monday of the month, 6:30 pm, usually at Delridge Library, but sometimes elsewhere, so keep an eye on their website at ndnc.org!

In honor of the upcoming Valentine’s Day this week, we will be discussing what we love about Delridge, what we love about previous and ongoing projects of the NDNC, as well as the changes and improvements to the neighborhood that would strengthen our love. This will be a continuation and expansion of the very brief visioning exercise from the December meeting. Also on the docket is a discussion of the NPSF applications and numerous updates about the many things going on in our very lovable ‘hood.

By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor

Two weeks ago, Mat McBride offered in this WSB comment to help the Westwood/Roxhill neighborhood re-establish a community council – a vital step, he suggested, to banding together on issues including safety and crime prevention, top of mind following word of the Roxhill Park robberies.

Last night, McBride, who chairs the Delridge Neighborhoods District Council, shepherded more than 30 interested neighbors onto the path toward making a new council reality.

By the time the meeting convened at the Southwest Branch Library, Arbor Heights neighbors – also without a community council – had been invited too.

As is traditional for many community-council meetings, they went around the room with a few words of introduction from each person present. Some said they were there because they’d been victimized by crime. Some, because they work in the area. A few were from other neighborhoods – including neighboring (and council-less) Gatewood and relatively distant North Delridge – and wanted to observe.

Reps from Seattle Police, Seattle Parks, and the Department of Neighborhoods were on hand too, by invitation. McBride described the event as “meeting number one of an open-ended series,” reiterating that he is committed to help guide the group over the next year, whether it stays one big group or breaks into, for example, Westwood/Roxhill and Arbor Heights. “Who makes that decision?” one person asked. “You do; by being here tonight, you are a founding member,” said McBride.

In the first half-hour, he offered the crowd something of a primer on how community councils work, as well as how the city-mapped “districts” (13 in all, citywide) work – explaining how most of western West Seattle is in the Southwest District, most of eastern WS in the Delridge District:

Regarding individual neighborhoods and their boundaries, McBride noted, “Boundaries are malleable.” He sketched some out on a whiteboard. Discussion rippled over whether Westwood was really a sub-zone of Roxhill, and where Arbor Heights begins and ends.

McBride also noted that neighborhood councils will help amplify voices if the City Council becomes elected by district, the current subject of a petition drive. And they also are the best way to tap into sources of city funding – grants for a variety of projects, including transportation.

“It’s really kind of up to you how you want to build it,” McBride stressed.

“How many people do you need for a meeting?” someone asked. Pablo Lambinicio, who founded an earlier incarnation of the Westwood Neighborhood Council, noted that group was down to 3 or 4 people showing up for a meeting, and that just wasn’t enough.

It wasn’t just about numbers and bureaucracy and technicalities – McBride also said it was about passion. Even anger. “An angry person is an engaged person.” And yet, there is a line: “At the end of the day, these people are your neighbors.”

Many on hand seemed passionately interested in hearing about the recent crimes and where they stood – since that was a major impetus for creating a council. Crime prevention and safety could bind a wider area together, pointed out a local business owner, who said she felt the Westwood/Roxhill and Arbor Heights areas had many things in common – such as, the recent Roxhill Park crime “is all of our crime.”

McBride noted that in addition to neighborhood councils, such issues are addressed in other venues such as the West Seattle Block Watch Captains Network and West Seattle Crime Prevention Council.

But before introducing SPD Community Police Team (CPT) Officers Jonathan Kiehn and Jonathan Flores, McBride cautioned that they weren’t just there to talk about the recent Roxhill Park crimes – but also about what they do, and how the neighborhood in general figured into the crime prevention/safety picture. Kiehn offered an overview about CPT and how “nobody really knows what they do … I find problems in neighborhoods in the precinct that are drawing patrol resources and I’m given the opportunity to creatively deal with those problems” to free up the patrol resources and avoid slowing down the emergency-response system. He noted that SPD’s Southwest Precinct territory also includes South Park. (Here’s the map of the precinct’s “sectors” – for the CPT, Kiehn generally works in the “F(rank)” sectors, Flores in the “W(illiam)” sectors.)

The robberies remain “under investigation,” was all he really could say, while saying he wants to address “the issues that caused the problem.” He briefly explained WSBWCN and the Crime Prevention Council. For any kind of group, he said, he highly recommends subcommittees, so that people can specialize in the issues they are passionate about handling – transportation, crime, etc. – rather than the entire group getting burned out.

One woman wondered if human-services resources would help address, for example, burglaries during the day. “I’m not so sure that people in need are those committing (the crimes),” Officer Kiehn cautioned. That said, he acknowledged there are resources available for solving problems, often discussed at so-called inter-agency meetings inside city government. He also suggested that people launching this group check out how other neighborhood councils do things.

Do you help set up Block Watches? he was asked. No – that’s Crime Prevention Coordinator Mark Solomon. How does city vs. county law enforcement work, since the city/county border is in this area? Officer Kiehn explained that westbound Roxbury is the city side, eastbound the county side. “And crime prevention isn’t me – it’s all you people.”

One attendee asked about overlapping problems between the two entities and whether there is a council on the other side of the line.

(Editor’s note: It wasn’t mentioned by name, but the North Highline Unincorporated Area Council is the group that represents the area, and in fact, they have a Public Safety Forum coming up tomorrow [Thursday] night, 7 pm, at the Boys and Girls Club, 9800 8th SW in Greenbridge, just over the city/county line – find out more on our partner site White Center Now.)

The group really wanted to know more about crimes including burglaries and car prowls. The former are a daytime crime; the latter, nighttime, clarified Officer Kiehn.

“We came together as a block – and that’s how prevention worked,” interjected one attendee.

As he wrapped up, Officer Kiehn explained that one way he can help the group is to teach them how they can interact with the police department – learn how best to call the police, describe suspicious people/suspects, and much more.

And McBride then reminded the group that it’s important to call in with sightings, crimes, concerns, because then SPD will know there’s an area of concern.

Time was running short – the library loudspeaker had already sternly warned twice that the branch would close at 8 pm, sharp – but Carol Baker, this region’s district maintenance manager for 85 area parks in the Seattle Parks system, took a few minutes to speak too.

She recapped Roxhill Park’s history, having been a wetland and then gone through some restoration plantings in the 1990s. “It’s not the traditional park maintenance that most of my crew does – mowing, edging, litter, Alki …” Citizen park steward Scott Blackstock listened as she spoke about how volunteers help there – “but not always enough volunteers.”

Roxhill volunteer work is often organized through the Green Seattle Partnership, she explained. Baker also said Parks is looking forward to the completion of the skatepark and playground projects, to revitalize the park. One women mentioned that it’s not a safe or comfortable place to walk any more because of so many obstacles. She said Parks prunes at least twice a year, and just completed winter pruning, taking out 15 cubic yards of material “so that people don’t feel like they’re in a jungle.”

McBride, who had co-led volunteer efforts for the playground build, told the group that the playground and skatespot are currently slated for a soft opening around February 24, with an official ceremony around spring break in April.

A few people did bring up the issue of the increasingly extensive bus parking along SW Barton the north side of Roxhill Park blocking the public’s view of park activities (suspicious or otherwise) – and it was agreed that would be brought up with Metro. By whom, it wasn’t clear – but such accountabilities part of what will be forged as the new group moves forward.

Also on hand for the meeting was Yun Pitre, district coordinator with the Department of Neighborhoods, which assists community and district councils as a liaison between them and city government.

The next meeting will be March 6th, also 6:30 pm, also at the Southwest Branch Library (southeast corner of 35th and Henderson). You can stay in touch in the meantime by joining the Facebook group that’s been set up for “WWRHAH” – Westwood/Roxhill/Arbor Heights – find it here.

Meeting purpose:

• To bring together and engage the community, know your neighbors, and make connections
• To share knowledge, ideas, resources, talents, and skills
• To communicate with city departments and staff about current and upcoming events, and in the spirit of collaboration educate them on the specific needs and desires of this community
• To build up the community through projects, grants, and initiatives

Agenda:

6:30pm – Introductions and announcements

Good meetings begin warmly, so we start by saying hello. This is also a time to give a brief update, announcement, shout-out, or congrats to something or someone locally that didn’t make the agenda.

6:40 pm – Department of Neighborhoods and the Neighborhood Council

Seattle’s Department of Neighborhoods and the community structure it created is a model other municipalities envy and try to emulate, for good reason. We’ll spend a little time discussing how the system works in Seattle, the neighborhood geography of West Seattle and the south Delridge District, the benefits of a neighborhood council and how to best leverage them. Presented by Mat McBride and DoN District Representative.

7:00 pm – Seattle Police Department – Community Policing

Brief status updates on current events in this community. Additional information will be delivered on CPTED (What does this mean? Come find out!), establishing a Block Watch, and other actions a neighborhood can take to build a relationship with SPD and be proactive. Presented by Community Police Team Officer Jon Kiehn.

7:25 – Seattle Parks Dept – Balancing Environmental and Social Needs

Roxhill Park has a rich history of community involvement, including the bog, “The project created a forested wetland at the site, which is a unique peat bog buried since the late 1960s and the headwaters of Longfellow Creek. In 1992 the City adopted the Longfellow Creek Watershed Plan, and one of the specific goals was to re-establish the wetlands at Roxhill Park. The community and the Westwood Community Council embraced the plan and the effort, and applied for and received a $100,000 Neighborhood Matching Fund award to get started. Then the project received $412,000 in funding from the 2000 voter-approved Pro Parks Levy. The restoration improves water quality, enhances the creek, improves salmon and is low maintenance.”. Parks will discuss what’s been done lately, and what’s planned for the future. Presented by Seattle Parks Dept South Park Resources Manager Robert Stowers.

7:45 – Next steps and clean-up

7:55 – Adjourn

There’s a Facebook group too – you can join it by going here.

SEWER-OVERFLOW-CONTROL FACILITY AT LOWMAN BEACH: Doug Marsano from the King County Wastewater Treatment Division brought an update on the Murray (Lowman Beach) combined-sewer-overflow-control storage-tank facility planned across the street from Lowman Beach Park. As shown in our photo above, he brought renderings from the final design – which made the deadline to be submitted to the state by the end of 2012 – which includes some additional view spots for the public related to the wall (as shown in the materials from the December 11th community advisory group meeting). Regarding the timetable – by the time MoCA meets again in April, Marsano said, the buildings on the site will be gone. In the meantime, the county will go to bid soon for the major work on the project, which is expected to be completed by mid-to-late 2016.

SW MORGAN BIKE LANE? The shelved plan (WSB coverage here) came up during a presentation on the city’s Bicycle Master Plan Update (part of which we missed because of breaking news, but our other crew caught it later at the Delridge Neighborhoods District Council, so the overview update will be in that report). Comments are being taken now, MoCA was told, and then work will likely start in the spring. MoCA’s focus now is to participate in the process to get concerns addressed – one big concern when the plan previously was proceeding without public comment, was how parking removal would affect businesses in the heart of Morgan Junction.

MORGAN JUNCTION COMMUNITY FESTIVAL: June 22 is the date for this year’s festival, and a city grant for $1,200 will help pay for performers. Got suggestions about musicians? Contact MoCA through its website (morganjunction.org). Organizers are already meeting monthly, and would like to line up some volunteer help early, for helping with setup and takedown. MoCA board members think this would be a great idea for a Scout troop or another sizable group seeking a volunteer opportunity.

TREE AMBASSADORS: Two cleanups have ben held in the area, including one near Fauntleroy/Juneau, where president Barker said lots of junk and trash was removed, and flowering cherry trees were planted, possibly in time for blooming this spring. (The Tree Ambassador program was discussed during last July’s MoCA meeting.)

The Morgan Community Association usually meets the third Wednesday of January, April, July, and October, at 7 pm in The Kenney’s lower-level meeting room; inbetween meetings, watch morganjunction.org for updates on community issues and opportunities.