By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor

Besides big summer celebrations, this past week also brought two community-coalition meetings.

One, we’ve already reported on – the monthly Fauntleroy Community Association board meeting. Now, here’s what happened at the other, the Morgan Community Association‘s quarterly gathering, both in-person at Alki Arts (which is how we attended) and online:

UPDATE FROM POLICE: Some of what Southwest Precinct Operations Lt. Pat Daly reported – the West Seattle-wide crime stats – were the same as what he told the FCA the night before. He had Morgan-specific trends, saying major crimes were down “significantly,” including rapes and gunfire (each category had 1 incident year to date compared to 2 last year), aggravated assaults, burglaries (down 55 percent), and auto theft. SPD is touting a new monthly citywide newsletter; in the first edition, Lt. Daly said, the Southwest Precinct (WS and South Park) was noted for a steeper crime drop than the four other precincts.

In Q&A time, a family asked about crashes on the Fauntleroy Way curve just southwest of the Morgan Junction business district, including one recent crash. They were interested in seeing something to slow traffic through that stretch. One member of the family had done research and said that area has seen more than 50 crashes in 20 years. MoCA president Deb Barker, leading the meeting, noted that an SDOT rep was due at their October meeting.

A local businessperson talked about trouble with street disorder and fear for their safety. Lt. Daly said police can’t address some things, such as loitering, but they can address some kinds of law-breaking behavior, so do report it. 911 also can dispatch Community Service Officers to offer people resources; CSO Jamie Heslin also was at the meeting and said CSOs work in shifts stretching from 7:30 am to 10 pm.

Last community concern surfaced in the discussion with police was fireworks. On the Fourth of July, they won’t respond unless there’s an “imminent safety threat,” but the rest of the time, “DO call us,” said Lt. Daly – then adding that it’ll still be “low priority” unless there’s a “specific safety (concern).” Nonetheless, he said, “if you call us now (post-holiday), we’ll come, it just might take us a little while to get there.”

CITY PROJECT UPDATES: Barker said Park got approval from an in-house review team to proceed to 60 percent design with the Morgan Junction Park expansion project, which will include an “all-wheels area” (aka “skate dot”) thanks to relentless community advocacy. Parks’ project manager is also continuing to work with other departments (such as Seattle Public Utilities for stormwater-management issues and SDOT for the undeveloped street end between the current park and the expansion site to its north). Barker also recapped where the EV charging lot project was – but that was superseded by City Light’s announcement the next day (as reported here) that work had to stop because of a design problem, as yet unexplained.

KING COUNTY WASTEWATER TREATMENT DISTRICT PROJECT UPDATES: Three reps from KCWTD were in attendance to update work that’s under way at and near Lowman Beach. First they offered a primer on what they do (treat 183 million gallons of sewage a day). A valve replacement at the pump station beneath Lowman is complete; now they’re working on a “force main,” explained as 250 feet of pressurized pipe, including installation of two air valves to reduce corrosion. Some of the work has required Beach Drive lane closures. This coming week, they’ll be lining the repaired pipe, which is actually one of two “force mains” running through the area. Construction will be done by the end of summer, and restoration work will follow in fall. That includes part of the park and some area that will be fenced off while replacement grass grows.

EMERGENCY HUB ACTIVATION: A big event at Morgan Junction Park is just a few weeks away – the drill to “activate” the Neighborhood Emergency Communication Hub there is happening 10 am-1 pm Saturday, August 15. The scenario will be a major earthquake; volunteers will play different roles such as residents seeking information on how to get services. The hubs – West Seattle has 15 – are pre-determined places where volunteers would spring into action in case of catastrophe, to “help bridge the gap between a disaster and when help can get to you,” said Cindi Barker, long a leader inn neighborhood-preparedness efforts. Two upcoming sessions next Wednesday and Sunday will offer training for would-be hub volunteers. They’re open to all, to either get trained or refresh your training.

BE A CASA: Speaking of volunteering, the meeting closed with a detailed presentation on the project that recruits CASAs – court-appointed special advocates – for children who wind up in the foster-care system because of circumstances in their lives. 334 kids are waiting for CASAs, so the need for volunteers – who get comprehensive training – is great. A law, social work, or child-welfare background is helpful but by no means mandatory. There are onthly info sessions online, noon on second Mondays. A CASA joined the presentation to tell her story, saying this volunteer work “fills (her) heart.” You hace to be at least 25 but there’s no upward limit; right now, there’s a volunteer in her mid-80s. The kids range in age from babies to age 11. The most important part of the work is to just listen to them and think about what their best interest really is. Interested? Find out more here.

WHAT’S NEXT: MoCA will meet on the third Wedesday in October, which means 7 pm October 21, location TBA.