(WSB photo, this morning)

The Morgan Junction Park addition site, north of the park [map], has been an agenda item for the Morgan Community Association at dozens of meetings since the city acquired the site a decade ago. But last night’s meeting brought some big news, plus updates on several other matters. Here are our toplines:

MORGAN JUNCTION PARK ADDITION SITE CLEANUP: Seattle Parks‘ Kelly Goold told MoCA that the date is finally set for the start of long-planned soil cleanup work (a dry cleaner was one of the two businesses formerly on the site, and auto work was done nearby). Thursday, August 8, is the date it’s scheduled to start, with work expected to last about seven weeks, 7:30 am-3:30 pm weekdays. Five days will involve heavy-equipment use, Goold said. The work will involve two dirt containers on the site, and multiple trucks hauling back and forth. Once the soil has been removed – the contamination is about 15 feet down – it’ll be replaced with clean fill, and hydroseeded, so that the site can potentially serve as open space before park construction next year. If you live/work nearby, look for signage and notices the week before cleanup work starts.

FUTURE ALL-WHEEL AREA: When the addition goes into construction, an all-wheel area – aka “skate dot” – is planned for the south side of the current park, and the community group MJAWA continues working on that. MJAWA’s Matt Johnston said the group’s Summer Fest outreach went well, and their next milestones involve meetings with Seattle Parks – a design review on August 15, and a technical review later in August. (Here’s our recent report on their design progress.)

POLICE: Officer German Barreto had no major Morgan-specific news but said Southwest Precinct (West Seattle and South Park) crime is similar to a year earlier, with upticks in two categories – robberies and gunfire. He also noted that some juvenile carjacking suspects were arrested earlier in the day in South Park (we’re following up with SPD’s media office in hopes of finding out more).

DEVELOPMENT: MoCA has been working to stay updated on the future StoryBuilt development site at 41st/Graham [map], planned as more than 30 “stacked townhomes” (here’s our 2022 report). Its developer was not at the meeting but has been in email contact with MoCA president Deb Barker, who said there’s no indication of construction any time soon but the developer continues monitoring the property and is asking neighbors to be watchful too.

PREPAREDNESS: Cindi Barker from the Emergency Hubs says their work with Gatewood Elementary (which we featured last year) continues, so that the school has a preparedness plan in case of catastrophe. They’ve been working with nearby neighbors who are committed to helping with communication while school staff focus on keeping the kids safe until they can be reunited with their families.

NEW BUSINESS SPOTLIGHT: David Hancock told MoCA about West Seattle Wildscaping, his ecologically friendly landscaping and horticulture business. He offers landscaping and landscaping consulting along with small tree (25′ or less) work, rainwater systems, and some small pathway work. In August he’ll be putting in a bulk order for native plants. If interested, you can contact him.

WHAT’S NEXT: MoCA meets on third Wednesdays in July, October, January, and April. Watch for updates at morganjunction.org.