Alki Community Council: Homestead update; plane talk; Liberty

| Alki Homestead | Alki Statue of Liberty | West Seattle news

From Thursday night’s Alki Community Council meeting: Three major topics – a followup to the Alki Homestead proposal presentation that anchored the last meeting; a report on how an airline’s proposal to change flight patterns would affect the area; and accountability for Statue of Liberty Plaza now that the Plaza Project Committee has phased itself out. Read on for details on all three:

That’s Judy Bentley from the Southwest Seattle Historical Society talking to the group, while ACC president Jule Sugarman and vice secretary Paul Carr confer. She reiterated that her group’s major interest is to see the fire-damaged landmark preserved, and that its belief is that the kitchen and restrooms could be remodeled while keeping most of the rest of the building intact.

As for owner Tom Lin‘s presentation at the last ACC meeting unveiling the possibility of lodging on the site in addition to a restaurant and lounge, Sugarman said there are strong sentiments in the neighborhood on both sides and he’d like to gather a small group to consider the situation and make a recommendation on a position to take. ACC treasurer Larry Carpenter asked Bentley what would happen if the building can’t be restored; she cited the Ballard Denny’s case – declared a landmark, then cleared for demolition – but said the Landmarks Board would have to hear a strong case that the Homestead couldn’t be saved. (They don’t formally come into the picture till changes are officially proposed for the site,

AIR TRAFFIC: ACC member Ed Hanson spoke to the group about Alaska Airlines’ pilot “green approach,” in his role as part of the King County Airport Roundtable. (WSB news partner seattletimes.com took a look at it last month – it would enable planes to turn over Elliott Bay instead of North Seattle because of a change in power levels – here’s animation that accompanied that story:

Hanson said Alaska is already doing this in Juneau, Washington DC and several other locations around the country. While most of the questions he fielded involved how many planes would use the new method and exactly which part of the peninsula they’d fly over, Hanson said Alaska, Horizon, Boeing and the FAA are still working out those details. Will there be a public hearing? he was asked. Only if an environmental-impact statement is required, he replied, adding that the Roundtable will insist on some kind of public hearing if this plan continues moving forward.

(September photo by David Hutchinson)
STATUE OF LIBERTY PLAZA: As announced some months back, the Alki Community Council is entering into a memorandum of agreement with Seattle Parks for the ongoing maintenance of Statue of Liberty Plaza. Sugarman said he got the paperwork just today from Parks project manager Patrick Donohue. We don’t have a digital copy yet, but for those who have previously expressed interest in finding out about the details of the agreement, here’s our transcription of a key section:

III. RESPONSIBILITIES OF PARKS AND THE COUNCIL

A. … the Council agrees to provide the following services:

1. Work with Parks staff to oversee and provide ongoing support for Part I “New Work Tasks” of the Alki Statue of Liberty Work Plan (See EXHIBIT A)*

All Council concerns regarding the “New Work Tasks” are to be presented in writing to the Parks contract person listed in this document. Work with Parks staff to oversee and provide support for Part II “Maintenance Work Tasks” of existing Alki Statue of Liberty Work Plan (EXHIBIT A) and to coordinate periodic volunteer work parties to assist in the ongoing maintenance activities of the statue and plaza.

The Superintendent reserves the right to make the final decision on what maintenance items are required and to expend funds from the Alki Statue of Liberty Maintenance fund accordingly within the limits set below.

All Council concerns regarding the maintenance of the statue and plaza are to be presented in writing to the Parks contract person listed in the document.

2. Work with Parks staff to provide support and periodic volunteer work parties to assist in the ongoing maintenance activities of the landscape beds at the Alki Statue of Liberty plaza and all other landscaped areas in Alki Park as agreed upon by the Council and Parks staff.

3. Work with Parks staff to provide support and periodic volunteer work parties to assist in the ongoing daily maintenance and periodic cleaning activities of the Alki Statue of Liberty plaza as agreed upon by the Council and Parks staff.

4. The Council wth the approval of the Superintendent may promote and sell a maximum of eight 5″ x 7″ new donor plaques to be located in the concrete border along the northern edge of the plaza. The Council may in the future sell additional bricks or plaques as requested by the public with the approval of Parks.

The Funds generated by the sale of the “new plaques or new bricks” will be delivered by the Council to the City. Upon receipt of funds Parks will prepare legislation for the City Council to accept the funds, at which time the funds will be tied to a unique ordinance number and funds account which will be used as agreed upon by the Council and Superintendent to augment and supplement the funding for existing Alki Statue of Liberty Plaza maintenance plan and scope of work as described in Exhibit A, attached.

Funds generated from the sale of the plaques will also cover the cost to supply and install the plaques.

All plaque verbiage must be approved by Parks prior to fabrication and installation.

Installation of plaques to be done by Parks Staff only.

5. Fiscal Sponsor Fee: The Council may retain a 7% (plus any additional direct costs) fiscal sponsor fee for its services in promoting and selling new plaques and bricks. This fee can be charged by Council regardless of 501c3 status, which is in progress, as long as tax deductibility is made clear to the donor.

6. With Parks approval the Council may sponsor, fund, organize, and staff periodic community events in Alki Park which, in some way benefit the Statue of Liberty Plaza and the community’s enjoyment or involvement with the plaza.

Funding to cover the costs for such events may be drawn from “new plaques” funds with the approval of the Superintendent.

7. The ACC may periodically obtain a Parks use permit and hold other events that may benefit the larger community. These optional and other events are outside the scope of this MOA and are not funded by Plaza related funds.

8. ACC may periodically provide volunteers to greet visitors to the statue and plaza and provide information on history of the statue and Alki Park in general and help locate specific donor bricks or plaques.

B. In consideration to the Council’s provision of above services, Parks agrees to the following:

1. Implement all elements of the MOA between Seattle Parks and Recreation and Urban Sparks dated March 17, 2009.

2. Provide all support necessary to allow the Council to provide the support defined above.

3. Parks shall provide Statue, grounds, and landscaping maintenance responsibilities as described in Exhibit A of this MOA.

4. Parks will contineu to maintain the existing benches and keep them in good condition.

5. Parks will remove any graffiti and repair any vandalism that may occur on the statue and its adjacent area.

*The “Exhibit A” work plan is from this past January. Much of it involves work done earlier this year, except for this part:

II. Maintenance Work Tasks

A. Park will provide twice-yearly cleaning and “waxing” of the Statue of Liberty using a Microcrystalline Wax such as Renaissance Walk Polish. This task should be done at the end of the 1st and 3rd quarter of each year.

B. Parks will provide twice-yearly staining of the plaza benches. This task should be done at the end of the 1st and of the 3rd quarter of each year.

C. At the discretion of the CIP project manager and with the concurrence of the Parks Planning and Development Director, this plan allows for the periodic purchase of replacement landscape planting materials as requested by the District.

The Alki Community Council usually meets on the 3rd Thursday of the month, 7 pm, Alki Community Center.

sa October 16, 2009 (10:41 am)

Hopefully the funds will be used for maintenance and upkeep that would be considered “above and beyond” what Parks would normally allocate for this installation.

I fear it would just be used to substitute for public funds already going to this sort of thing.

Also, does anyone know if this includes replacement of bricks that get damaged?

Diane October 16, 2009 (12:37 pm)

is my memory off? I thought the Ballard Denny’s was NOT declared a landmark, after much controversy, many arguments…

Concerned_citizen October 17, 2009 (12:20 am)

Is Judy Bentley living in a world of denial? My understanding is that she never looked at the building closely. She never hired a structure engineer. She has never eaten at Alki Homestead Restaurant. Now she is an expert at construction? My question is what is the bases for her analysis that the rest of the building is intact? Does she have the report about the fire damage? It is so irresponsible to make bold statements without facts. She needs to be more careful about what she says in order to have creditability.

Alki_resident October 17, 2009 (8:30 am)

Well said Concerned_Citizen. Judy Bentley reminds me of Bush and weapon of mass destruction. She is making claims that has no foundation at all. I was at the ACC presentation regarding Alki Homestead Restaurant on Sept 17. In a way I was sad to see what has happended to Alki Homestead, but I was getting the message that it will return one way or the other.
Judy Bentley needs to provide more facts in order to be convincing. I would love to support her claims if she can provide more concrete studies. Maybe a contractor report or engineering report? Anything at all? Helpe me out here. Am I missing something?

Judy October 17, 2009 (9:23 am)

The Ballard Denny’s was declared a landmark but demolished about six months later when the developer was able to persuade the Landmarks Board that it was not economically feasible to save the building.

WSB October 17, 2009 (12:10 pm)

First: A general reminder:
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WSB rules do not allow multiple comments by the same person under different names in one thread. You may choose a different screenname to participate in separate discussions but we have had to sort through too many past incidents of one person posing as 2, 3, or more to create an artificial atmosphere of “discussion.” If you have multiple comments in one thread, that’s fine, but post them under the same name.
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Separate from that, we checked with Judy Bentley re: the contentions of “concerned citizen,” as we are working on a followup re: where all this stands. Her reply: she HAS eaten at the Homestead, toured the inside of the building after the fire, and did put the Homestead’s owner in touch with the architect who restored the Log House Museum.
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TR

Edla October 17, 2009 (7:46 pm)

Fires……unless you’ve been through one, you don’t really grasp what the experience can be like. Had the fire merely been a “kitchen fire” that could have been put out and the kitchen remodeled, it is clear what would have been done with the Homestead. Had it been burned to a smoldering heap of ashes in the center of an old foundation, it would have been clear what to do with the Homestead. Unfortunately, there is a line somewhere between the two that is a line beyond which repair or restoration is no longer an option. That is the difficult part. Finding that line is much more difficult the more complex the structure.

What is needed now is everyone working together for the best possible outcome. Once everyone agrees that it has to work for everyone involved (and not just one person’s particular desires) there are only two questions that need to be asked and answered. First, “What’s so?” Secondly, “What works?” It is Tom Lin’s job to accumulate the information and to assess what can be done.

The results could then be presented to the community. The thing to remember is that the property IS Tom’s and he is the one that has to be able to pay for whatever work is decided upon and still be able to make those repairs pay for themselves. Tom Lin should also remember that The Homestead is a part of the community fabric and that he would be wise to honor that.

This is obviously a very complex and expensive project. It is not wise to rush it. A little trust and patience would go a long way right now. I would suggest that people start enrolling one another in what might be possible for the community rather than making demands based on their personal position.

Sorry, comment time is over.