By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor

A Seattle Parks update on the “skate dot” – mini-skatepark – planned for the Morgan Junction Park addition was the centerpiece of last night’s spring-quarter Morgan Community Association meeting.

The meeting’s location itself was a highlight – first time in six years, since right before the pandemic, that MoCA met at The Kenney, previously its regular in-person meeting site. The meeting also was open to online attendees (which is how we covered it, due to last-minute transportation challenges).

Here’s how the meeting – wrapped up in less than an hour and a half – unfolded:

CRIME STATS: SPD crime-prevention coordinator (a civilian position) Matt Brown came with Southwest Precinct (West Seattle and South Park) stats as well as Morgan Junction-specific stats:

Year-to-date through April 15th, compared to same period last year, SW crime data shows a nine percent drop; in Morgan Junction, the drop is seven percent (total reported incidents 67, down from 76 in the same period last year). Most of those, he said, are larceny/theft. He also had stats on confirmed gunfire – 24 incidents so far this year in the SW Precinct jurisdiction, compared to 25 last year (none in Morgan Junction so far in 2026) . This year’s tally included three incidents in which someone was injured (the SW Precinct had no homicides last year and none so far this year).

Brown also told MoCA that this was the last meeting at which they’d see him, as longtime CPC Jennifer Satterwhite will be back from maternity leave in May.

EV CHARGING LOT: MoCA president Deb Barker had quick updates from Seattle City Light about this project. As we’ve reported, construction work has begun, including trenching across Fauntleroy Way to get power to the site. That work is mostly complete but pavement restoration will take a while. Next, she said, SCL plans to do some work on the SW Morgan side, which means that sidewalk along the project site will be closed. SCL still says the site should be ready to open in August.

MORGAN JUNCTION PARK ADDITION SKATEDOT: Project team leaders from Seattle Parks presented this update on the project incorporating the currently fenced lot north of the existing park – here are their key slides:

The latest conceptual design, Parks said, has no major changes from the previous version, Parks said.

Despite the soil removal that’s been done, the site is still considered contaminated, so the soil piled at the northwest edge of the site needs to stay – “moving it could be quite expensive.” There’s also still a lot of behind-the-scenes technicalities the Parks team is dealing with, such as having to extend the site’s stormwater main, and working out what the status of the SW Eddy right-of-way between the existing park and the addition site – it might not simply be transferred from SDOT to SPR after all. Access to utility poles along the site’s rear alley is being worked on too.

Next steps include a community-engagement event, likely sometime in May, and more design work that should lead to an accurate cost that would help determine whether there could be “additives” to the project such as a “sentinel tree,” a natural play area, or adoptable benches. The newest projected construction timeline is for work to start in “late summer” of 2027.

EMERGENCY READINESS: Cindi Barker from Seattle Emergency Communication Hubs said this year’s West Seattle exercise for hub-volunteer training drill will in fact be at Morgan Junction Park, maybe even utilizing the expansion site if the fences are down by the event date, currently August 15. Watch for other community involvement opportunities before then, all summer long, including opportunities to talk about the hubs at tables during events such as West Seattle Summer Fest in The Junction (July 10-12). And if you don’t know what a hub is or why you should know – this video explains:

West Seattle has 15 hubs, but some are sometimes deactivated because of lack of community involvement, so if you’d like to be part of it, here’s info on getting involved ASAP!

DESIGN-REVIEW REBOOT: The Design Review program, long one of the few ways that community members could get word of and voice an opinion about major development projects, remains on the ropes; Deb Barker is a former Southwest Design Review Board and presented MoCA attendees with the same info she’d given the Alki Community Council about a new push to save and reshape it (scroll to the bottom of this story).

MoCA LEADERSHIP AND SUSTAINABILITY: The group also had some of its own business on the agenda – first, the board election, in which the nominated slate got unanimous approval:

President – Deb Barker

Vice President – Conrad Cipoletti

Secretary – Christopher Miller

Treasurer – Michael Brunner

Business Liaison – Sierra Shea

MoCA is also working on organizational sustainability by working on potential paid memberships. Most other local neighborhoods have them, though they’re generally optional and meetings/events are open to everyone, paid member or not.

REMINDER, NO FESTIVAL THIS YEAR: Sustainability of a different type – the need for more volunteer/community help – was lacking last fall when MoCA’s board had to decide whether to have a community festival again this year, so there won’t be one (as reported here in October).

GATEWOOD ELEMENTARY’S HAVING ONE, THOUGH: In the greater south Morgan Junction/Gatewood area, Gatewood Elementary will be inviting the community to its Gator Fair on Saturday, May 30.

NEXT MEETING: MoCA meets every three months on the third Wednesday, so that means the next meeting is July 15.