By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor

On a blustery night like tonight, summer might seem far away.

But city departments are preparing for Alki Beach’s summer season, as the Alki Community Council heard at its March meeting. That’s part of what guests from SPD and Seattle Parks discussed; ACC also hosted guests from the Northwest Seaport Alliance and Port of Seattle, with a status report on the Terminal 5 project.

SPD UPDATE: Lt. Dorothy Kim was there on behalf of the Southwest Precinct. As she had told the Fauntleroy Community Association a week earlier (WSB coverage here), SPD stats show auto theft is way up, so the precinct is working to activate a second vehicle equipped with Automated License Plate Readers.

How are thieves stealing cars? asked an attendee. Often, with “shaved keys,” Lt. Kim replied. As she had also told the FCA, she said current popular dumping areas for stolen cars include Seola Beach and South Park. Cars are mostly stolen to get from Point A to Point B, she said. Asked about Alki’s recurring problem with racing and spinning, Lt. Kim said they’ve been working to take measures such as ensuring the gates to Don Armeni Boat Ramp – a hot spot – are closed after hours, and asking for Community Response Group help when available, She also said that she and colleague Lt. Chris Johnson have a deadline of March 31st to present an operational plan for how police will address the problem this summer.

SEATTLE PARKS: Regional manager Carol Baker talked about her department’s Alki focuses. She said her crews are on duty 6 am-8 pm; there’s a “small evening staff” to address tasks such as checking Alki for overflowing trash cans. The mayor’s office is spearheading a litter-pickup event later this month, she added. When an attendee complained about dead plants, Baker mentioned some irrigation projects are in the works. But the biggest news she mentioned was that seawall work is ahead at Alki. How much, and where, has yet to be determined; they are just getting into “scoping work” to figure that out, but it will be a “major project” – not immediate, as it’s part of a “six-year cycle.” (We’re following up on this.) One more note – if you spot a Parks problem that needs attention, such as litter, calling it in is usually better than Find It Fix It. The Parks maintenance line is 206-684-7250.

TERMINAL 5: The Port and NWSA (the Seattle/Tacoma authority that oversees cargo shipping) brought a team of people to present updates and answer questions about the West Seattle project, now estimated to cost up to $380 million. We covered their appearance at this month’s District 1 Community Network meeting (WSB coverage here), so we won’t recap this one in its entirety, but some key points. in case you’ve forgotten: T-5 was a two-berth cargo terminal until 2014. The modernization project will enable it to handle ships carrying up to 18,000 TEUs, as rare as those visits might be; NWSA’s Steve Balaski said, “I don’t know that we’ll see that size of ship, but we want to have that capability.” Project manager Emma Del Vento noted again that the new cranes are due in June, and the rail for them is under construction now. Work on the first berth is basically at the halfway point, with – as announced last month – the opening of that first berth (on the north end) now delayed until early next year.

Speaking of rail, will the new tenant use it for transporting offloaded cargo? Eventually, said NWSA’s Lindsay Wolpa, but for starters, trucks will continue to be the means of transport. That led to a discussion about the West Seattle Bridge closure and the state of the low bridge; it was eventually noted that the port was a contributor to the construction of both bridges, and that the port and city are meeting regularly to talk about traffic. Next scheduled major briefing on the project will be at the NWSA managing members’ meeting in July.

NEXT ACC MEETING: The group meets online on the third Thursdays most months, 7 pm; watch here for announcements.