The most-important agenda at the quarterly Morgan Community Association meeting this past Wednesday was the briefing on the then-impending release of the draft rezoning maps for Morgan Junction and West Seattle’s three other “urban villages.” We covered that part of the meeting in this report on Thursday, when the four maps went public for Morgan, Admiral, Westwood-Highland Park, and The Junction. So today, we’re publishing the rest of the toplines from the MoCA meeting, which touched on many other topics, with updates that might interest you even if you don’t live/work in Morgan:

LOWMAN BEACH SEAWALL, WITH A SURVEY FOR YOU

David Graves from Seattle Parks brought an update about the wayward seawall. The King County Flood Control District has given a grant to fund a study of the seawall and what to do about it, and Parks is now working to get a consultant to handle that study. “The thinking is to remove the seawall and create a more-natural beach,” Graves said. But the study will have to address what kind of effect that removal might have on seawalls to the north – if the current one is propping others up, the better solution might be to build a new one. They also want to know how much use the tennis court by the seawall has been getting – that could help determine how far back the potential restoration goes. Parks is doing a survey – you can take it here – and also will be doing some geotechnical work at the site – you’ll see some digging. They expect to “come back out to the public” in the first few months of next year.

ACROSS FROM LOWMAN BEACH – MURRAY CSO PROJECT

MoCA president Deb Barker noted that she’s seen lots of heavy equipment leaving the Murray Combined Sewer Overflow Control project site, where most work is supposed to be wrapped up by year’s end. She’s learned from King County that the million-gallon storage tank is now connected with the sewer system, and road restoration has begun; the Lincoln Park Way/Beach Drive intersection is being fixed. The system testing is under way; landscaping may continue on into the spring. “It still looks like a pretty raw site, but the messy stuff for the large part is over,” said Barker.

MORGAN JUNCTION PARK EXPANSION

The site is now officially landbanked, with the old commercial building torn down two months ago, and a cleanup is ahead because of the dry cleaner that used to be there. So the city is looking at interim uses – “maybe a couple years” – until the park expansion is developed (with money from the Park District levy). Those uses could be: Paid parking lot? Spot for food trucks? MoCA has commented on what it would like to see, and wants to be proactive, so it’s hoping to put together a committee of people interested in facilitating the next step. SW Eddy Street, between the existing 7-year-old Morgan Junction Park and the expansion site, is NOT part of the park, president Barker reminded everyone, so it will remain a street.

Asked why the city didn’t keep the commercial building open (the cleaners moved to Issaquah, the convenience store moved to Milton), she explained the building was falling apart and as the landlord, the city didn’t want to deal with having to fix/maintain it.

PARK DISTRICT MAJOR PROJECTS CHALLENGE FUND

The first round this year wasn’t well-publicized, but Parks is wrapping it up, and invites people with ideas to look for the next announcement of applications in mid-2017.

MORGAN MINUTES (quick updates on a multitude of topics)

–Washington State Ferries‘ Fauntleroy open house, set for 5-6:30 pm October 27th at the Fauntleroy Schoolhouse. President Barker reminded everyone that if they’ve been affected by the traffic – which backed up at times this past summer through and beyond the heart of Morgan Junction – this is the place to go voice your opinions.

-35th SW Phase 2 – SDOT continues to study what to do north of Willow. If you have feedback, the project site can be found here.

-Morgan mural-restoration status: The building owner at California/Fauntleroy has committed $1,000 to the fund to restore the mural; $10,000 is needed, an artist is lined up, and an additional fundraiser will happen between now and the expected start of work in spring.

-California/Juneau pedestrian/bike-safety project: That’s what’s being built there now, with a curb bulb and sidewalk improvements to help make the crossing safer. No overhead lights, though MoCA had hoped for them, Barker says.

-Elections are ahead for next year’s officer slate – almost every position on the board is up for election – talk to current board members if you’re interested.

–MorganJunction.org is being moved to a new host and to the WordPress content-management system, which is easier to work with than what the site originally was set up with.

SOUTHWEST PRECINCT ADVISORY COUNCIL

Phil Tavel is MoCA’s new rep on this group, reporting back on issues raised there. He said the same thing the West Seattle Crime Prevention Council heard the night before MoCA’s meeting – car prowls are the big problem. And police want to know if you see something/someone suspicious. Package thefts are likely to start revving up again as the holiday season nears, so people are advised to start considering how they get their shipments delivered.

MICRO-COMMUNITY POLICING PLAN

Jennifer Burbridge, the Seattle University grad student who’s been at the SW Precinct as a researcher for almost two years, talked with MoCA about the planThis area’s micro-policing plan, first released last year, was just updated again last month. To keep influencing its evolution, Burbridge said, answer the new Seattle Public Safety Survey, which, as we’ve reported here multiple times, is open through the end of next month.

August through October, Morgan Junction averaged about 60 911 calls a week. The most common type of call: Suspicious circumstances/person, with 57 such calls over the three-month period. Disturbances were second. She also featured the crime-stat dashboard. 2016 is trending significantly over 2015.

WESTSIDE NEIGHBORS NETWORK

The presentation that’s been going around at local community groups, involving creating a “village” so that people can have support to age in place, made a stop here. If you want to get involved – here’s how. Some wondered if there would be a redundancy between WNN and other organizations, such as the West Seattle Timebank. With that group’s leader Tamsen Spengler on hand since she’s on the MoCA board, she explained that the groups will be working together.

SOUTHWEST DISTRICT COUNCIL

Tamsen Spengler is also MoCA’s rep to SWDC and updated the group on the district council’s status since the mayor’s proposal to cut ties to and end support for SWDC and the city’s 12 other district councils. For one (as reported here), she told those gathered, SWDC has voted to continue, with or without city support, and will have board elections soon. She also noted that, as we reported earlier in the week, our area’s City Councilmember Lisa Herbold is proposing two changes to the mayor’s budget, keeping the $500-per-district-council-per-year financial support, and keeping an advisory role for district councils in the review of several major city grants. She also reminded the group that the Department of Neighborhoods‘ engagement survey is still available online.

MORGAN FESTIVAL’S FUTURE

Fred Madrid said that if the community wants the festival to continue, new volunteers need to join the small core that is continuing. A festival director with program-managemnet experience is needed; somebody to coordinate food vendors; somebody to coordinate the Bark of Morgan pet parade/contest; somebody to coordinate volunteers. Once-a-month festival-planning meetings start in January. “How involved are local businesses?” someone asked. Very, was the reply – contributing money and more. (WSB has been a festival sponsor in recent years.)

MoCA meets quarterly, third Wednesdays in July, October, January, and April. Watch for updates/info at morganjunction.org.