The school-closure-related meetings already reported here weren’t the only newsworthy, West Seattle-related events happening last night; we had a reporter at the Admiral Neighborhood Association‘s monthly meeting too, and she’s sent in an update including the latest on California Place Park — read on:

By Julia Ugarte
Special to West Seattle Blog

The stalwart core of the Admiral Neighborhood Association met at Admiral Congregational Church last night for their last monthly meeting of 2008. With about a dozen in attendance, the table was full enough to foster some productive discussions and plans for 2009.

EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS IN ADMIRAL – Area resident Vicki Baroch spoke on behalf of the project leader, Cindi Barker from Morgan Junction, regarding updates in emergency preparedness efforts involving a neighborhood radio test scheduled for this weekend and the start of a “community emergency bag” kit.

The West Seattle wide radio test will take place this Saturday starting around 9:30 am and will last a few hours; the test will determine if the newer, heftier radios will carry signals further throughout the area. The test site for the Admiral neighborhood is Hiawatha Park. [As yet, a volunteer has not yet been confirmed for the radio test, so if you have some free time, and are willing to be a guinea pig, Vicki and Cindi would appreciate the help; e-mail WSB and we’ll forward your note.]

Also, the subject of a community emergency bag was raised. Vicki circulated a list and asked that people rummage over the holidays to see if they have any available supplies for donation to the bag (list attached for link) and to please bring them to the February ANA meeting. Additional discussion was raised regarding a secure location for the bag at the Hiawatha Center, be it inside or out. [Please coordinate the donations of any materials with Vicki.]

FOOD & FITNESS INITIATIVE – ANA president Mark Wainwright gave a brief outline. Food & Fitness is a national initiative of the W.K. Kellogg Foundation; the King County Food & Fitness Initiative (KCFFI) is a community coalition supported by the national initiative that “envisions vibrant communities that provide equitable access to affordable, healthy locally grown food and safe and inviting places for physical activity and play.” Delridge is one of nine communities (also including White Center) selected to benefit from the program. Currently, the Delridge Organizing Committee is calling for volunteers to aid in the process. Requirements from their informational sheet include:
• Must live, work or play in the Delridge neighborhood
• Commit to serving on the committee until August 2009
• Ability to attend monthly meetings for 6-8 months
• Desire to make a change in Delridge

The ANA hope a KCFFI rep will attend the January meeting to flesh out the Delridge Organizing Committee’s plans for the Food & Fitness Initiative. [If you like additional information or would like to be involved, contact Phillippia Goldsmith, DNDA Community Builder at phillippiag@dnda.org.]

ADOPT-A-STREET – Dates for the 2009 quarterly Adopt-a-Street Cleanup sessions are as follows: January 24th, April 25th, and tentatively, July 25th and October 24th. Wainwright and the other officers strongly encourage as many participants as possible to come out and support the program as attendance has been sparse at recent events. There’s always good food as incentive, so mark your calendars now!

Discussion, which had started in the opening social chat, was then fully opened up regarding additional potential community events to both raise awareness about the ANA and also encourage mixing, mingling and meeting neighbors within the community. Ideas raised included visibility at the annual Seattle Night Out, arts performances (music, theater) in Hiawatha Park and a town hall type event. The January meeting is the benchmark for concrete planning of these events.

CALIFORNIA PLACE PARK – Area resident Ann Limbaugh from Friends and Neighbors of North Admiral relayed that of the eight responses to the RFQ, the committee has narrowed their choices down to three companies to interview: SB & A Landscape Architects, Karen Kiest Landscape Architects, and Barker Landscape Architects, P.S. All of the chosen candidates have strong relationships with the Parks Department, and all have extensive experience with parks and public projects. Limbaugh added that one of the major things the committee is looking for is, “people that could come to the table to help us through…what we think is one of the biggest challenges, which is bring[ing] the community together and finding some common ground.” Interviews will take place next Wednesday, and the committee hopes to have a selection shortly thereafter. Once a company is hired, dates can be set for public meetings. A total of four public meetings will be held for the project; the first was led by the public parks department and the next three will be led by the hired landscape architect beginning the second week of January, with two more subsequently in February and March and a wrap up in April (dates to be determined). Due to the tight timeline dictated by the city grant, the design project must be completed within six months.

ADMIRAL SAFEWAY – To the knowledge of the ANA meeting attendees, minutes have not yet been released from the second early design meeting for the Admiral Safeway project. Additionally, Mark Wainwright has not had any contact with Safeway representatives since the meeting. Basic points of the proposed project were reviewed: Topics covered included the following: possible rezoning of part or all of the designated parcel; additional possibilities for the site; and the short term versus the long term vision for the parcel. Wainwright spoke passionately about the need for the community to understand what benefits could be reaped from the project, saying, “as people understand more and more about the project, they’ll be able to see the opportunities that are provided for even better things to happen.” He went on to mention the possible housing on the site, the pros and cons of larger versus smaller retail spaces, and notably, spawned a discussion about the “give backs” or benefits for which the community could lobby, like beautification, pedestrian amenities and the like. No timeline has yet been established for the project, and the date for the next early design meeting is still up in the air.

OTHER NOTES: Dennis Ross noted that the sidewalk running from approximately Walnut to 39th was completed in late October/ early November.

Ann Limbaugh discussed the Nature Walk and Activities event this Saturday, December 13th at Hiawatha Community Center from 10 am to noon. Led by volunteers from the Children’s Garden at Seattle Tilth, the two hour event will involve scouting for pinecones and small friendly park creatures outside, and then cocoa and crafts inside. The event is sponsored by the Friends and Neighbors of North Admiral.

The next ANA meeting is scheduled for January 13th, 2009.