West Seattle, Washington
26 Thursday
Advance word tonight of two big events tomorrow:
DUWAMISH TRIBE RECOGNITION HEARING: 7 am our time, Duwamish Tribe chair Cecile Hansen will be among those testifying to the U.S. House Natural Resources Committee in D.C. regarding the latest proposal to officially recognize the tribe – a designation that happened briefly at the end of the Clinton Administration and was then canceled by the ensuing Bush Administration. We’re told it’ll be webcast live – you should be able to watch it here.
MORGAN COMMUNITY ASSOCIATION MEETING: Tomorrow night’s quarterly Morgan Community Association meeting agenda is jampacked with big topics – from Myrtle Reservoir (about which we reported here last night) to the Viaduct/Tunnel (with new developments today) to RapidRide (with a proposed “branding delay” as reported recently) and much more. 7 pm tomorrow at The Kenney, which itself is on the agenda because its proposed landmark designation goes to the city Landmarks Board tomorrow – read on for the complete agenda, shared by MoCA president Deb Barker:Read More
It would take us all day, maybe all week, to list just some of what’s been made possible by the city Neighborhood Matching Fund, in West Seattle alone – so we want to pass along word of some “mid-year changes” – all detailed here, where you’ll also find word of a workshop in West Seattle, 10 am July 25 at Youngstown Arts Center, for those interested in future applications, and more info on the changes.
We published first word of this on June 8th. But it’s too important to not mention again, since the city’s sending notices around again today. The “Neighborhood Plan Status Check” meeting for West Seattle is July 28th. The plans (find them here), written a decade ago with community involvement, outline not what your neighborhood looks like now so much as what it will look like in the future. Read on for the meeting explanation/reminder issued today:Read More
NEIGHBORHOOD MEETINGS: Both at 7 pm – the monthly meetings of Fauntleroy Community Association (at The Hall @ Fauntleroy) and Admiral Neighborhood Association (at Admiral Church).
DELRIDGE PRODUCE COOPERATIVE: 6 pm tonight at Pearls on Delridge, it’s the next meeting for anyone and everyone interested in jumping into this truly growing effort. As we reported during the Delridge Day festival, DPC is getting a $15,000 city grant for its summer project “Mobile Market” — visit tonight’s meeting to help plan the next steps toward making it happen.
RETIREMENT PARTY: Another school is losing a popular longtime staffer: Schmitz Park Elementary‘s longtime librarian Judi Lybecker is retiring, and students past/present are invited to join in a celebration 3:30-4:30 pm at the school library (more info here).
Concerned about development, quality of life, planning for our community’s future? These are two meetings you won’t want to miss. First – On June 30th, the City Council Planning, Land Use and Neighborhoods Committee chaired by Councilmember Sally Clark will meet at Youngstown Arts Center, 6 pm, for a “review and discussion of issues surrounding townhouses and other lowrise housing.” Second, just forwarded by Delridge Neighborhood District Coordinator Ron Angeles, this invite to a long-awaited Neighborhood Plan “checkup” meeting:
Please join members of the Seattle Planning Commission and the Neighborhood Planning Advisory Committee in the first of a series of two important community meetings.
These two citizen groups want to hear your thoughts. Come and tell us how your neighborhood has changed since your neighborhood plan was adopted. Your comments and input at this meeting will help the City of Seattle complete a status report that will look at how well your neighborhood plan is achieving its goals and strategies.
This first series of meetings will provide an opportunity to learn about your neighborhood plan, the projects that have been implemented, and growth and changes that have occurred since the plan was written in the late 90’s. We will explore issues such as growth, transportation, housing, economic development , basic utilities, neighborhood character, open space and parks, public services, public safety, and other issues.
July 28th: For Admiral, West Seattle Junction, Morgan Junction, Delridge, Westwood/Highland Park, Georgetown
6-8 p.m, Delridge Community Center Gym 4501 Delridge Way SWThe second meeting series, tentatively scheduled for October, will be an opportunity to review the status report.
Want to check out your Neighborhood Plan first (providing you live in an area that has one – there are West Seattle areas that don’t, such as Alki and Fauntleroy)? Go here and choose one from the pulldown menu.
One last round of reminders about these events, from the WSB Events calendar (where even more events for tonight, and way beyond, are listed):
LAST CALIFORNIA PLACE PARK DESIGN WORKSHOP: 7 pm, Alki Community Center. The first workshop was tumultuous; the second one, at which potential designs for park additions were unveiled, was deemed productive; tonight, something closer to a final proposal is presented for discussion and feedback. After that, an entirely different process would ensue if Friends and Neighbors of North Admiral decides to pursue park additions — the search for funding.
SUNRISE HEIGHTS NEIGHBORHOOD ASSOCIATION: If we were to casually define this area, we’d say, between High Point and Gatewood, mostly east of 35th SW. If you live there, you’ve probably received a flyer about this; if not, check out the group’s website, which includes the agenda (plus word of their Poker Tournament this Saturday). Meeting’s at 7 pm, Southwest Precinct (map).
WESTSIDE BABY “SORTING FRENZY”: Hundreds of local families get clothing and other necessities through WestSide Baby, but before donated items can get to recipients, they have to be sorted, and WestSide Baby has monthly “sorting frenzy” parties with volunteer helpers. If you can lend a hand tonight, e-mail sarah@westsidebaby.org.
Also from Tuesday night’s Admiral Neighborhood Association meeting (see report #1, about a new concert series, here) – what City Councilmember Sally Clark had to say, on what she revealed was her first visit to an ANA meeting, plus a few other notes – read on:Read More
From the WSB Events calendar, two major neighborhood meetings tonight: Fauntleroy Community Association, 7 pm, The Hall at Fauntleroy. Also: Admiral Neighborhood Association, 7 pm, Admiral Church, with guests including City Councilmember Sally Clark.
Much happening this week. Major highlights, from the WSB Events calendar:
MONDAY – Pigeon Point Neighborhood Council. 7 pm, Cooper Elementary. Agenda topics include electing a new chair and discussing public safety in the wake of recent incidents from car prowls to the incident in which police shot a dog.
TUESDAY – Fauntleroy Community Association, 7 pm, The Hall at Fauntleroy. Also: Admiral Neighborhood Association, 7 pm, Admiral Church, special guests include City Councilmember Sally Clark.
WEDNESDAY – Morgan Community Association, 7 pm, The Kenney. Big agenda, including Fauntleroy restriping/repaving, RapidRide, The Kenney, Morgan Festival, Solstice Park, and a guest appearance by Councilmember Tom Rasmussen. Also that night: Southwest/Delridge District Councils‘ joint meeting, 7 pm, Youngstown Arts Center. Plus: “Gutenberg! The Musical” opens at ArtsWest (7:30 pm).
THURSDAY – Third and final “design workshop” for possible additions to California Place Park in North Admiral. 7 pm, Alki Community Center. Previous coverage archived here. Also, Sunrise Heights Neighborhood Association meets at the Southwest Precinct at 7 pm; agenda includes briefings on EC Hughes School and community awareness/education about sex offenders.
FRIDAY – CoolMom Family Movie Night at Camp Long, 6:30 pm, “An Arctic Tale,” free.
SATURDAY – Huge slate of happenings, including Duwamish Alive! Earth Day events (cleanups followed by a festival @ Cooper Elementary), Healthy Kids Day at the West Seattle Family YMCA (WSB sponsor), Alki Garage Sale/Car Wash at Alki Community Center, and a LOT more (full list on the calendar).
If you live in the vicinity of any one of these neighborhoods, tonight’s your monthly chance to see what’s happening and – if you choose – how to get involved. In The Junction, the Junction Neighborhood Organization (JuNO) meets at 6:30 pm at Ginomai, 42nd and Genesee (map), with the agenda including Junction Plaza Park and area crime (Lt. Steve Paulsen from the Southwest Precinct and Susan Melrose of the West Seattle Junction Association will both be there). The other two meetings are both at 7 – Admiral Neighborhood Association‘s agenda (Admiral Church basement meeting room) includes presentations by two city council candidates, Dorsol Plants (of Highland Park) and David Bloom, and the Fauntleroy Community Association (in the old schoolhouse) will discuss topics including the upcoming FCA annual meeting and the state of the Washington State Ferries Master Plan. All these meetings are open to the public — even if you just want to sit in the corner and listen.
By Julia Ugarte
Reporting for West Seattle Blog
The Admiral Neighborhood Association met Tuesday night for its first meeting of 2009. With about a dozen in attendance, including some new faces, the ANA gathered at Admiral Congregational Church, ready to start planning the year ahead.
Lots of updates emerged throughout the meeting – first, two items of news, including the latest on a controversial park proposal:
On Sunday night, we previewed the week ahead – and tonight’s the big one, with five major meetings: The “scoping meeting” for the proposed West Seattle jail site, Brockey Center at SSCC, 6:30 pm; the community meeting re: Cooper Elementary “program closure,” Cooper Library, 7 pm; Junction Neighborhood Organization meets with transit and parking updates on the agenda, Ginomai, 6:30 pm; the Fauntleroy Community Association meets at The Hall at Fauntleroy at 7 pm; also at 7, the Admiral Neighborhood Association meets at Admiral Church.
Lots going on this week. This is all on the WSB West Seattle Events calendar too, in case you lose track:
MONDAY
–City Council briefing on snowstorm response, next steps: 9:30 am, City Hall (live online or on TV)
–County Council briefing on snowstorm response, 9:30 am, County Courthouse (live online or on TV)
–Denny Middle School Site Redevelopment Design Team, 7 pm, Denny Library
TUESDAY
–“Scoping meeting” for proposed West Seattle jail site, Brockey Center at SSCC, 6:30 pm
-Community meeting re: Cooper Elementary “program closure,” Cooper Library, 7 pm
–Junction Neighborhood Organization meeting with transit and parking updates, 6:30 pm, Ginomai
–Fauntleroy Community Association meeting, 7 pm, The Hall at Fauntleroy
–Admiral Neighborhood Association meeting, 7 pm, Admiral Church
WEDNESDAY
–2nd Delridge Skatepark meeting, 6 pm, Youngstown Arts Center
–34th District Democrats meeting and reorganization election, 7 pm, The Hall at Fauntleroy
THURSDAY
–Mayor’s “open house” promising one-on-one chats with citizens about snowstorm response, 6:30 pm, Southwest Community Center
–City/county-led public meeting about Seacrest dock changes to facilitate year-round Elliott Bay Water Taxi, 7 pm, Alki Community Center
Again, this is not EVERYTHING that’s happening, but those are the biggest events on the radar, so far. (Know of something major we somehow missed? Please let us know — thanks!)
Before we launch our Sunday night edition of snow coverage, wanted to mention this – since it turned out to be particularly timely: Saturday morning, hours before the snow hit, volunteers from neighborhoods all over West Seattle got together to test emergency radios that could be used for West Seattle-wide info-relaying in case of catastrophe – the photo above shows preliminary results (broken lines are iffy, solid, better) – here are photos taken before participants fanned out for the actual test:
That second photo is Ron Zuber, a radio expert who coordinated the test (and the one we mentioned on Night Out in August) — that test had mixed results, so this time, they tried more powerful radios. Cindi Barker from the Morgan Community Association reports, “Not a perfect result, but there were enough inter-neighborhood connections that we think we can stick with family service style radios, and that way Block Watch and SNAP groups can hear our communications. Alki and Fauntleroy will be our biggest challenges, we may have to get a repeater to boost the signal all the way from end to end.” They’ll meet again next month to further develop the plan.
No shortage of big news last night – from the Alaskan Way Viaduct “scenarios” getting narrowed down to two, to Cooper Elementary parents and teachers meeting to plot strategy to save their school (our report’s coming up later this morning), to Snow Watch. But one event that some might have overlooked contained big news all its own – because of neighbors from all over West Seattle celebrating community projects that received city $. (And taking home reusable shopping bags, shown above!) The periodic Neighborhood Matching Fund celebration brought people from all over the city to Alki Elementary – and a WSB reporter was there too – story and photos ahead, along with information that can help you seek out this kind of grant for your own neighborhood project:Read More
The school-closure-related meetings already reported here weren’t the only newsworthy, West Seattle-related events happening last night; we had a reporter at the Admiral Neighborhood Association‘s monthly meeting too, and she’s sent in an update including the latest on California Place Park — read on:Read More
From tonight’s Alki Community Council meeting: Crime prevention was the major topic on the agenda, as the ACC held its last scheduled meeting of the year. Southwest Precinct crime-prevention coordinator Benjamin Kinlow had been invited to speak as a followup to a meeting last month with neighbors in the 1500 through 1700 blocks of Alki SW. That in turn was a followup to a late summer wave of break-ins in those two blocks (which spawned this WSB reader report at the time). Kinlow gave an abbreviated version of his standard Block Watch presentation, saying he hoped to return with more detailed information tailored to both the neighborhood and the residences involved. He said the security issues involved in a condo building are very different than those of single-family residences, noting that the neighborhood had both. Also he encouraged the Council to have an informal meeting prior to Night Out next August so that neighbors could meet and share information about what they see going on in their neighborhoods. ALSO: The ACC gave out recognition awards to former board members of their board. Receiving personalized coffee mugs and gift certificates to the Phoenician restaurant were Jackie Ramels, Gary Ogden, Peter Stekel, and Don Wahl.
That’s the apartment building at 6609 Admiral Way (map), immediately west of Bar-S Playfield, whose fencing you can see on the left. Because of its spot high over Alki Point, this building’s roof has been home to cell-phone antennas for more than a decade (you can see part of the history on the site’s official city-permit webpage) – here’s a closer look at one group on the northeast section of the roof:
In April 2007, we told you about neighbors’ concern over a plan to add more antennas; this past June, we reported that the city had approved the plan to expand a group of Verizon antennas from 3 to 11. (You can read the decision here.) Neighbors challenged that decision, and after various delays, their case comes before the city Hearing Examiner on Tuesday morning, and they sent WSB a letter inviting anyone who shares their concern to show up and support them. Their major concerns are twofold — read on:Read More
TONIGHT: Wherever you live in West Seattle, you can get the lowdown on the latest trouble spots – and a chance to voice your concerns directly to your local police – by showing up for tonight’s West Seattle Crime Prevention Council meeting. 7 pm – but not the usual location; it’s at Denny Middle School (30th and Thistle; here’s a map) this time.
THURSDAY: People living in the southeasternmost neighborhoods of West Seattle are also welcome at the South Delridge/White Center Community Safety Coalition meeting, which also focuses on neighborhood trouble spots and crime concerns, with King County Sheriff’s Deputies usually in attendance as well as Seattle Police, to address both jurisdictions. 6 pm Thursday, St. James Place (9421 18th SW; here’s a map).
OCTOBER 28TH: After crime concerns came up while neighbors of California Place, the mini-park at California/Hill (map), were discussing proposed park changes, it was discovered there’s no Block Watch in the general area of California Avenue between SW Walker and SW Holgate (map), and adjoining streets. So a meeting to organize one, with Southwest Precinct crime-prevention help, is set for 6:30 pm 10/28 at West Seattle (Admiral) Library. If you are interested but unable to attend, e-mail info@californiaparkplace.org to get in touch with organizers.
This month’s biggest week of community-group meetings continues tonight: The Morgan Community Association‘s quarterly meeting is at The Kenney at 7 pm; same time, different place (Southwest Precinct meeting room) for the Delridge District Council. A variety of items on both agendas, notably including local parks/rec projects — MoCA will get updates on the parks-in-progress at Myrtle Reservoir and next to Beveridge Place; the Delridge District Council includes a briefing on the West Seattle Stadium private-operation proposal (here’s our most recent report).
Four major neighborhood/community group meetings this week, and really, it’s a huge first step to helping your neighborhood when you just show up. We go to as many of these meetings as we can every month and that’s what the groups’ leaders are dying to see (they’re all volunteers, by the way) … the more people the merrier. And you’d be surprised what you find out. Here’s your chances this week: TONIGHT – The Pigeon Point Neighborhood Council is having what’s been billed as its “most important meeting of the year,” 6:30 pm, Cooper Elementary (map). TOMORROW (TUESDAY): Admiral Neighborhood Association, 7 pm, Admiral Church basement meeting room (map); Fauntleroy Community Association, 7 pm, The Hall @ Fauntleroy (in the old schoolhouse, which itself is on the agenda, after last week’s big news). WEDNESDAY: Morgan Community Association‘s quarterly meeting, 7 pm, The Kenney; Delridge District Council (wireps from eastern West Seattle’s community groups and other organizations), 7 pm, Southwest Precinct meeting room. See our right sidebar, under WEST SEATTLE COMMUNITY GROUPS, for a list of other neighborhood associations who’d be thrilled to see/hear from you. MONDAY AFTERNOON ADDENDUM: One more neighborhood event this week where you would be more than welcome – the Junction Neighborhood Organization‘s quarterly cleanup (free treats!) is this Saturday morning. Help get the streets in shape before winter barrels into us. E-mail JuNO prez Erica Karlovits – erica@wsjuno.com – if you can help (or have a Q). TUESDAY AFTERNOON ADDENDUM: JuNO’s cleanup has been postponed – but e-mail Erica to get you on the list for helping when it’s rescheduled!
We reported last night that the Fauntleroy Community Service Agency has reached agreement on a “term sheet” for purchase of the Fauntleroy Schoolhouse and some of the property around it, months after opening negotiations with Seattle Public Schools, which is selling the property as surplus; FCSA’s Kevin Wooley had told WSB just last week that they weren’t currently negotiating for the entire site (see that report here). Tonight, we have some reaction to the announcement – read on:Read More
That’s one of the signs you can expect to see around North Delridge before the next meeting of the North Delridge Neighborhood Council – purchased with money from an outreach grant, and unveiled at last night’s NDNC meeting. Also discussed last night: They’re still working on next steps for the Cottage Grove “tot lot” playground upgrade, for which they have received a $15,000 matching-funds grant from the city. Expect an official update soon. Meantime, next year’s Neighborhood Street Fund plans for the area were outlined – projects that have been requested for years, as NDNC co-chair Mike Dady pointed out – including a sidewalk along Brandon from Delridge to the park and traffic calming on 26th SW north of Brandon, between Cottage Grove and Greg Davis parks; still some work to be done on projects approved for this year, as well, including calming on the 21st/Dawson hill that’s “supposed to start any day now” (that’s the hill heading down to Oregon, scene of this guardrail crash we covered recently). For the “juicy invitation” and a few more items, read on:Read More
| 4 COMMENTS