Fauntleroy Community Association: New wildlife-advocacy group’s debut; neighborhood survey; more

By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor

Sixteen people filled the board room at Fauntleroy Schoolhouse last night for the Fauntleroy Community Association‘s monthly board meeting. One of the major items of business was something YOU can help with right now – if you live and/or work in the Fauntleroy area:

THE SURVEY: To find out more about how best to serve the community, among other things, FCA is conducting a survey right now. It was announced via their website and Facebook page, as well as via postal-mail postcard, and more than 180 responses have come in so far. As the group gets ready for its annual membership meeting (more on that shortly), they would love to get hundreds more – since it asks about a wide range of community issues and concerns. If you have ties to Fauntleroy, here’s where the survey begins.

Ahead – a new wildlife advocacy group debuted at the FCA meeting, and the group was briefed on two big King County Wastewater Treatment Division projects in the area:

(2009 Lincoln Park owlet photo by Trileigh Tucker)
ALLIANCE FOR LINCOLN PARK NATURE: FCA board member Trileigh Tucker introduced Cass Nevada, who talked about the roots of this group, growing fromi last year’s fight against the scrapped Seattle Parks plan to bring a commercial zipline attraction to Lincoln Park. “It was a galvanizing event for us,” Nevada said – and they came to the FCA board to introduce their group. Artist Denise Dahn also spoke about the new alliance, saying their goal is to make sure that Lincoln Park is treated with the proper respect, which they don’t feel it’s getting, as both an area with an illusion of wildness, and as a habitat area. “The zipline made me realize that not enough importance is being given to the park and to protecting it … so that’s why we’re here,” said Dahn.

She also showed photos to underscore their concern about an increasing number of “social trails” appearing in the park, along with maintenance areas, while shrubs and even trees are disappearing or being potentially damaged – with trucks being parked right over large trees’ roots, for example. A meeting attendee who said he moved here from the Discovery Park area spoke up to say he is aghast that Lincoln Park has no “control” and no strong advisory groups, and says he has been talking with Seattle Parks management but “getting nowhere.”

The new alliance’s reps said that in the future they might even work toward establishing an official wildlife sanctuary. Discussion ensued encouraging finding a way to have regular meetings with Parks – which even the Fauntleroy Watershed Council, whose jurisdiction includes the smaller Fauntleroy Park, has.

FCA will discuss how best to support ALPN’s work as the new group gets launched.

Also last night:

BARTON PUMP STATION UPGRADE PROJECT UPDATE: Kristine Cramer from the King County Wastewater Treatment Division says “the next month is going to be really busy” for the project next to the Fauntleroy ferry terminal. The jet grouting is almost over – a crew from Japan has been working on that and should be done by February 21st. Excavation work will follow; the adjacent ferry-dock lane will remain closed until mid-May. Another big thing that’s about to start – above-ground pipes will be installed so that the pump station can be bypassed. It won’t be “oozy or stinky,” Cramer promised but installation, four days in March will mean 24 hours a day of work, including at least one generator and above-ground pumps. The bypass will be in place for the rest of the project. She asked those present for comments on how the round-the-clock work could go more smoothly than the utility work not too long ago that drew many complaints. Advance notification and clear explanation would help, Cramer was told.

BARTON COMBINED SEWER OVERFLOW PROJECT: Cramer also brought an update on the Barton basin’s raingarden/”green stormwater infrastructure” project, with construction to start in earnest early next year, she said. “The entire basin will be eligible for the volunteering-incentive Rain-Wise” as of next month, she said, which offers incentives for raingardens and cisterns on private property – separate from the publicly funded infrastructure that is to be installed on public right of way. Everyone in the basin will get a postcard in the next few weeks. Cramer was asked if there would be a public-art component to the Barton Basin project, and she said no – it hadn’t hit the price-tag threshold for that.

CELEBRATE LINCOLN PARK: Planning continues for this event set for April 23, an opportunity for people to learn about Lincoln Park, its history, its attributes like wildlife and vegetation, and how to get involved with it (the new ALPN group, it was noted, will dovetail perfectly). As it takes shape, it’s likely to run about an hour and a half, with a maximum of four presentations (in addition to open-house features), said FCA’s Carolyn Duncan, who’s leading planning for the community event.

FAUNTLEROY FOOD FEST: This membership event for those who are FCA members or are planning to join (encouraged for all Fauntleroy residents and businesses) is set for Tuesday, March 19. They’re still reaching out to local food providers to see if they’d like to be part of it; more than half a dozen are signed up so far. They will reach out to neighbors in attendance to offer opportunities to get involved with the community.

LEADERSHIP: Elections are part of the Food Fest meeting, and longtime president Bruce Butterfield says he’s ready to make way for new leadership. Nominations will be open at the event; it was announced last night that FCA vice president David Haggerty is planning to run.

The Fauntleroy Community Association board meets second Tuesdays, 7 pm, at Fauntleroy Schoolhouse.

4 Replies to "Fauntleroy Community Association: New wildlife-advocacy group's debut; neighborhood survey; more"

  • Jennifer February 13, 2013 (1:52 pm)

    Can you live elsewhere in WS and be part of the ALLIANCE FOR LINCOLN PARK NATURE? I love there is a group forming to take on these issues but I don’t live by Lincoln Park anymore. Is there any way to get more info on the group or do we need to wait until the April 23rd Celebrate Lincoln Park day?

  • Cass Nevada February 13, 2013 (4:44 pm)

    Great to hear your enthusiasm, Jennifer! We will be building contact points soon, but if you want to shoot me your email address, you can do it through a blog I write, currently dedicated to Lincoln Park (SeaCat.wordpress.com). Thanks Tracy for the great coverage, as always!

  • G February 13, 2013 (5:59 pm)

    Btw, the young barred owl (photo) is not a native of the PNW, it is an eastern migrant that has been sifting into the West for the past four to five decades and their populations are exploding.

    There were no Barred Owls in Seattle when I was growing up, and if there were, very very few. The Barred Owl is probably largely responsible for diminishing Spotted Owl populations, and other native owls.

  • Trileigh February 14, 2013 (9:34 am)

    Tracy, thank you for your always-excellent coverage of West Seattle events and projects! As Cass notes, ALPN is in the process of setting up ways to communicate and keep informed and will let the community know as soon as possible. It’s so good to know how much our community cares about beautiful Lincoln Park.

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