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LAST CALL! Admiral Neighborhood Association hopes you’ll answer these questions

The Admiral Neighborhood Association may be best known for bringing you Summer Concerts at Hiawatha every year – just wrapped up last week – but that’s only part of what ANA’s about. Earlier this month we mentioned the survey the group opened in hopes of getting your answers to questions like the ones above. If you haven’t answered it yet – last call – it’ll close soon so the all-volunteer group can evaluate the results and chart a course. The survey starts here!

SERIES FINALE: Caspar Babypants at Hiawatha on Thursday

August 20, 2019 1:52 pm
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 |   Fun stuff to do | Neighborhoods | West Seattle news

(WSB photo, August 2018)

Though tomorrow will likely bring rain, it should be gone by Thursday night’s grand finale of this year’s Summer Concerts at Hiawatha series, presented by the Admiral Neighborhood Association. The kid-geared rock of Caspar Babypants will undoubtedly fill the east lawn at Hiawatha Community Center as usual, so don’t be late. 6:30 pm start time, free, BYO chair/blanket/kid(s)/picnic, along Walnut south of Lander. P.S. Mr. Babypants has a new album out – “Flying High.”

SUMMER CONCERTS AT HIAWATHA: Ranger and the Re-arrangers, plus a special guest

(WSB photos/video unless otherwise credited)

Cloudy and a bit cool last night, but that didn’t keep the audience away from this week’s Summer Concerts at Hiawatha show, with Ranger and the Re-arrangers.

As usual, there was dancing:

Here’s a sample of the music:

And a longer clip, courtesy of Mark Jaroslaw:

Another highlight of the night – a guest appearance by Katy Walum. She founded the Admiral Neighborhood Association-presented series a decade ago:

WSB is proud to have been a community co-sponsor of the series since the start! Two more shows left on this summer’s lineup – The Highsteppers, next Thursday (August 15th) and Caspar Babypants the week after that (August 22nd), both shows at 6:30 pm, free, on the east lawn of Hiawatha Community Center (along Walnut south of Lander).

AS-IT-HAPPENED COVERAGE: Night Out 2019 in West Seattle and beyond

6:32 PM: Night Out is here, and hundreds of block/building parties have begun! We’re starting our annual rounds at a park party – in White Center, at Steve Cox Memorial Park, and heading north from here. If you’re having a party, send a pic so we can include in our coverage – westseattleblog@gmail.com or text to our 24/7 hotline, 206-293-6302 – thanks!

6:45 PM: Thanks to Jon for that pic from his neighborhood’s party in the 4800 block of 46th SW. … Some parties have live music, like the one at 36th and Charlestown where Athena reports the tween musicians of OK-ish are getting ready to play:

Athena says this is only their second gig – their first one was opening for Carrie Akre at Easy Street! (added) Video of the musicians, who she says study with School of Rock:

6:57 PM: We stopped in Arbor Heights, where JoDean and neighbors are gathered for their ninth annual Night Out party:

We asked about the menu highlights: Fried chicken!

7:11 PM: Just visited the annual “South Park Putts Out” community Night Out party in the 800 block of South Thistle. Mini-golf is the highlight, including artist-designed holes:

We’ll add a few more photos later. More photos:

This party had an SPD visitor too, Community Police Team Officer Powell – police and firefighters are out visiting some of tonight’s events.

7:44 PM: The Seattle Police Pipes and Drums just performed at the 36th/Dawson block party. Video later. Video:

Group photo, too:

Meantime, this aerial view was just texted from the 34th SW party between Andover and Charlestown:

We have one more stop to make before we have to switch gears to election-night mode …

8:03 PM: Thanks to Walter for inviting us to visit his neighborhood party at 48th/Dawson (above)!

10:30 PM: Adding more of your photos – first, from Pete Spalding, the big annual party on Pigeon Point:

Pete reports:

We had well over 100 Pigeon Point neighbors come out tonight. We had a visit from SPD in the form of Lt Steve Strand and former precinct commander Steve Paulsen. We also had a visit from Engine 36.

They let all of the kids climb all over the fire truck. Then we had a large contingent of DOC officers pay us a visit as well. In one of the pictures you will see that one of our neighbors was helping the kids make rocket ships out of construction paper and then they were launched into the air.

What a great neighborhood we have with so many caring folks that came out to meet their neighbors tonight.

From Michael Taylor-Judd in North Delridge:

Engine 36 stopped by their party too:

From 41st SW, Gary Potter reports “a fun group, from the newest neighbor to the oldest”:

Clay Eals sent this photo from Palm Avenue, taken by Pamela Quadros:

As the photo shows, their party had SPD visitors. Now over to 40th/Edmunds, a texted photo:

Also texted, this view from 55th/Dakota:

Thanks again for all the community contributions!

PARTY TIME: Hours left to register your Night Out street party

August 5, 2019 1:28 pm
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 |   Neighborhoods | Safety | West Seattle news

Procrastinating on signing up your Night Out block/building party? Almost forgot it’s tomorrow (Tuesday, August 6th) night? As long as your street isn’t an arterial, you can still sign up for the right to close it to traffic tomorrow night – 4:30 pm today is your deadline. Just go here! And then when you’re out in the warm, clear weather, enjoying the night with your neighbors, please send us a pic so we can include in our coverage (we’ll be roaming but we’ll also be covering Election Night so we won’t get to make many stops ourselves) – westseattleblog@gmail.com or text to 206-293-6302 or if you’re on Twitter, @westseattleblog – thanks!

P.S. Putting your party on SPD’s online map is optional; go here to see where parties are already mapped.

Live, work, shop, dine/drink in Admiral? This survey’s for you

August 4, 2019 5:35 pm
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 |   Neighborhoods | West Seattle news

In our coverage of last month’s Admiral Neighborhood Association meeting, we mentioned ANA was working on a survey meant to help ensure the group can better serve the community, and to find out what people would like to see in Admiral that’s not available/happening now. The survey’s ready for your replies – go here to answer it!

Party time! Just one week away…

July 30, 2019 9:24 pm
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 |   Neighborhoods | Safety | West Seattle news

IMG_6240(SFD Ladder 11 visiting 39th SW during Night Out 2016)

Having a block (or building) party for Night Out next Tuesday (August 6th)? If you register it, you have a chance at an SFD or SPD visit. Here’s the one-week-to-go reminder from Southwest Precinct Crime Prevention Coordinator Jennifer Danner:

If you are planning a Night Out event and have yet to register, there is still time. Night Out is a national crime-prevention event promoted by Seattle Police Department Crime Prevention to heighten crime prevention awareness, increase neighborhood support in anti-crime efforts, and unite our communities.

Here is the link to register, download materials and to get additional information: http://www.seattle.gov/police/community-policing/night-out.

Night Out is a great opportunity to connect with your neighbors and engage in your community. We hope you participate and we hope to visit as many of your events as we can. Hope to see you next week!

The SW Precinct currently has 212 registered parties! Let’s surpass our numbers from last year :)

We’ll be out and about too as always – let us know where YOU will be partying (westseattleblog@gmail.com) and/or send a photo that night (same address or text to our hotline, 206-293-6302)!

FOLLOWUP: Admiral Congregational Church’s open letter with ‘the facts as they presently exist’ about its future

(King County Assessor’s Office photo)

Last December, we reported on Admiral Congregational Church pastor Rev. Andrew Conley-Holcom speaking to the Admiral Neighborhood Association about his church’s future, saying “changes” were inevitable for its underutilized 27,000-square-foot site. While no specific plan has yet been crafted, the pastor wanted to share an open letter today to address “rumors” and “misunderstandings”:

Greetings to our neighbors in Admiral-

I have heard from a few of our immediate neighbors that a number of inaccurate rumors are rapidly spreading regarding the future of the oldest church in West Seattle, Admiral Congregational United Church of Christ, located at California and Hill Street in the North Admiral District. We would like to correct those misunderstandings and give everyone the facts as they presently exist.

Over the past 12-18 months, our congregation has come to realize that we are too small in size and our building is too expensive to maintain for us to continue with “business as usual”. We have thus embarked on discussions amongst ourselves and with others about what types of change might provide for long-term sustainability and health. One option we needed to seriously consider was to sell our property and move to some other location. Our congregation has overwhelmingly decided that we DO NOT want to sell our property or leave our neighborhood. We love being Admiral’s church.

Therefore, we have engaged the services of an architect and design firm to conduct a feasibility study for our property. We have asked them to give us insight on possible uses based on our needs, those of our mission partners (A Child Becomes pre-school, numerous 12-step recovery groups that use our facilities, and other community users), and other income-generating options. We have also started conversations with the West Seattle Chamber of Commerce and the Admiral Neighborhood Association about the needs of the North Admiral area in terms of housing, green space, and other services/amenities.

We want to stress that we are in the very preliminary stages of gathering information. We are endeavoring to be as transparent as possible, and we want community input on how we move forward together. At the same time, we are also clear that we cannot continue to serve this community without significant changes to how we operate. We hope that this information will address some of the rumors we have heard.

As pastor to this neighborhood, I keep community office hours at the Admiral Bird on Wednesdays from 1:30-3:00pm. If you have questions, concerns, praises, or pastoral needs, please feel free to meet with me there or contact me by call/text at 206-512-7537 if you’d like to schedule a meeting.

In Peace and Solidarity,
Pastor Andrew
www.admiralchurch.org

The church’s site at 4320 SW Hill is zoned Lowrise 3.

Park project updates, policing, politics, more @ Morgan Community Association

Toplines from tonight’s quarterly Morgan Community Association meeting, just wrapped up at The Kenney (WSB sponsor).

MORGAN JUNCTION PARK EXPANSION: Karen O’Connor from Seattle Parks followed up on the presentation of park design concepts at last month’s Morgan Junction Community Festival.

(WSB photo from park project booth @ June festival)

As mentioned here last week, a survey is now open on the city website. The survey is expected to stay open until next Monday. Other updates: SDOT will give up jurisdiction of the street end that’s between the current park and the expansion site; A schematic design will soon go to the Design Commission and then to another community meeting. Asked about soil mitigation that will have to be done at the site (which previously held businesses including a dry cleaner), O’Connor said that likely will be discussed at the community meeting (which will probably be held in September).

LOWMAN BEACH SEAWALL: Barker read a late-breaking update from Seattle Parks’ David Graves. They’re now at 60 percent design. Plans will be up online by the start of next week. He said the city has received Aquatic Lands Enhancement grant from the state, so the project is fully funded. He also wrote that the West Seattle Tennis group headed by Lisa Corbin is looking at a replacement for the tennis court that’ll be removed because of the project. Construction is expected next year. He’ll bring updated designs and more info to MoCA’s next quarterly meeting October 16th.

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NIGHT OUT: Registered your block party yet?

We are now less than three weeks from Night Out 2019, a night to gather with your neighbors and celebrate community while reflecting on safety. Southwest Precinct Crime Prevention Coordinator Jennifer Danner is reminding you to register your block (building) party – a requirement if you plan to close a street (non-arterials only), but appreciated even if you don’t. August 6th is the night; deadline for registration is August 4th. (And if you wouldn’t mind us stopping by to photograph your party, email us before Night Out – westseattleblog@gmail.com – thanks!)

Concert series about to start, and other Admiral Neighborhood Association toplines

July 17, 2019 3:13 pm
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 |   Neighborhoods | West Seattle news

That’s Sway Wild, which you’ll see tomorrow night at the first of this year’s Summer Concerts at Hiawatha. The six-concert series has been presented for a decade by the Admiral Neighborhood Association, so it was on the agenda when ANA held its semimonthly meeting last week. Stephanie Jordan coordinates the series for ANA and reported everything’s ready to go – you might have seen the posters/promo cards that debuted last weekend:

You can find out more about the six-Thursday-night lineup on the ANA website. Ahead, other toplines from the July 9th meeting:

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Lincoln Park 4th of July patrol secret revealed & more @ Fauntleroy Community Association

Toplines from the Fauntleroy Community Association‘s board meeting last night at Fauntleroy Schoolhouse:

POLICE UPDATE, INCLUDING THE 4TH: Southwest Precinct operations commander Lt. Steve Strand started with an overall West Seattle update. He said summer emphasis patrols have included speeding vehicles (2- and 4-wheels) leaving the Fauntleroy ferry terminal early in the morning (5:30-ish). One board member said people leaving 4:50 am boat are the biggest offenders. (A later question asked about traffic problems related to ferry lines. Lt. Strand mentioned the state paying off-duty officers to direct traffic at the dock.) The 4th of July included more officers at Lincoln Park including a Gator utility vehicle with lights and a loudspeaker.

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TUESDAY: From zoning to music @ Admiral Neighborhood Association

July 6, 2019 12:57 pm
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 |   Neighborhoods | West Seattle news

Next Tuesday, all are invited to the Admiral Neighborhood Association‘s twice-monthly meeting at The Sanctuary at Admiral, 6:30 pm July 9th at The Sanctuary (42nd SW/SW Lander). ANA’s announcement:

At this month’s meeting, we’ll be discussing:

1. The Seattle Planning Commission’s Neighborhoods For All report;

2. July 4th Kids’ Parade;

3. Neighborhood Outreach Survey; and

4. The Hiawatha Summer Concert Series (starts July 18th!)

Come and meet your neighbors and discuss issues and events in our area!

West Seattle scene: Neighborhood party, the aerial view

(First two photos by Noah Shampain)

The aerial views are a highlight from a neighborhood party last weekend. Pete Spalding tells us Pigeon Point neighbors gathered on the field by Pathfinder K-8 in spots representing where they live on the neighborhood street grid.

At ground level, some more conventional views of the party:

The “Start of Summer” get-together included music.

Pete says, “There were well over 100 neighbors that came out to celebrate our little slice of paradise in the city.”.

From T-5 to traffic @ Pigeon Point Neighborhood Council

By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor

When the Terminal 5 modernization project starts construction next month, Pigeon Point is one of the neighborhoods that will have a front-row view.

So it was one of three major topics when the Pigeon Point Neighborhood Council met this week at Pathfinder K-8.

TERMINAL 5 BERTH MODERNIZATION PROJECT: Before a project recap from the Port of Seattle/Northwest Seaport Alliance, they reminded the PPNC of the pre-construction open house June 22nd at Jack Block Park, 9:30-11:30 am (first noted here a week ago).

Q&A was interspersed with briefing points.

First question was about shore power. No, ships will not be required to plug in. They hope they’ll choose to, “when they have the capability.” They now expect more than 50 percent of the arriving cargo vessels will be shore-power-capable, up from the original 30 percent projection. They are also looking at policies for making it available at other terminals.

What about light pollution? One row of T-5 lights has to be “adjusted significantly,” was the reply. They added that work already has been done to keep the lights aimed down.

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NIGHT OUT 2019: Registration open; grant $ available, too

June 10, 2019 9:58 am
|    Comments Off on NIGHT OUT 2019: Registration open; grant $ available, too
 |   Neighborhoods | West Seattle news

(2018 Night Out party at North Delridge’s Dragonfly Pavilion; photo courtesy Laura)

Eight weeks from tomorrow, on Tuesday, August 6th, neighbors will gather all around West Seattle and beyond for Night Out parties. If you want to close a (non-arterial) street for yours, you need to register, and Southwest Precinct Crime Prevention Coordinator Jennifer Danner sends word this morning that you can do it now by going here. You can also apply for a city grant to support your event – the Department of Neighborhoods announcement with details on that is here.

Junction Neighborhood Organization: Light rail, community planning, and JuNO’s future

Story and photos by Jason Grotelueschen
Reporting for West Seattle Blog

“We have a real opportunity here.”

With regard to light rail and community planning in the Alaska Junction (and in West Seattle as a whole), that was one of the key themes Thursday night at the Junction Neighborhood Organization (JuNO) meeting at the Senior Center of West Seattle.

JuNO’s guest speaker was Lauren Flemister (pictured above), community planning manager from Seattle’s Office of Planning and Community Development (OPCD), who gave an overview of the processes, how her office works with Sound Transit and how the public can get involved.

Flemister, along with leaders in attendance such as JuNO director Amanda Sawyer and Deb Barker (who was on the light-rail project Stakeholder Advisory Group and is on the West Seattle Transportation Coalition‘s board), agreed that with light rail coming to West Seattle in 2030, this will be a “long process” with many opportunities for public input. When Flemister was asked by Sawyer if the planning processes for the Alaska Junction and West Seattle are likely to be “typical” compared to other regional rail-expansion projects in the past, Flemister said no, because her office expects this latest process to be “much more robust.”

The junction has been a focal point for these light rail discussions — as we reported back in March, an overflow crowd gathered at the Senior Center to hear from Sound Transit officials, and back in November 2017 a top ST manager spoke at a JuNO meeting and promised “an interesting year and a half” ahead. (See our comprehensive light rail coverage here.)

Sawyer kicked off the Thursday meeting by putting in a plug for neighbors interested in serving as a JuNO officer to email juno@wsjuno.org or go to wsjuno.org. The group will be holding elections during their September meeting for the positions of president, vice president, secretary and treasurer. With all of the development and growth in the area, Sawyer said, now is a great time to get involved to “help create a collaborative vision and future for the Alaska Junction.” Sawyer noted that it’s an intentional effort to have a slate of elected officers for JuNO, and that although she’s currently the leader of the group, she wasn’t “elected” officially. She added that the group needs strong voices, representing both longtime residents as well as new neighbors and renters and business owners, particularly as light rail will be bringing transit stations and added density to the neighborhood. “It’s a decade-plus of discussion,” she said, “we’ll have some decisions to make soon but for much of it we’ll be waiting until much later,”

Sawyer then turned things over to Flemister for the remainder of the meeting, to lead the discussion on neighborhood planning and light rail. Flemister acknowledged that she was relatively new to Seattle and that this was her first community presentation of this type in the city, but is no stranger to large regional transit projects in the area, having worked on projects in the Tacoma area and south sound (focusing partially on property value impacts). She stepped through a slide presentation (see below) and took questions from attendees.

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Westwood-Roxhill-Arbor Heights Community Coalition: No new leader yet, but not calling it quits either

June 7, 2019 9:17 pm
|    Comments Off on Westwood-Roxhill-Arbor Heights Community Coalition: No new leader yet, but not calling it quits either
 |   Neighborhoods | West Seattle news

Story and photos by Jason Grotelueschen
Reporting for West Seattle Blog

It’s a time of change for the Westwood-Roxhill-Arbor Heights (WWRHAH) Community Coalition, which met Tuesday night at the Southwest Library to discuss issues and to talk about the group’s future.

As previewed here, it was the last WWRHAH meeting to be led by coordinator Kim Barnes, who is stepping down to focus on other endeavors such as her work to make Delridge Triangle a safer and more usable space for the community, as well as involvement with Roxhill Park along with her fulltime job. She said it “has been an honor to serve our community” and would still be available and ready to help answer questions in the future.

Attendees thanked Barnes (and gave her a hearty round of applause) for her two years of service leading the group, which she has led since Amanda Kay Helmick (who also ran for City Council) stepped down. Although nobody in attendance on Tuesday night signed up to immediately lead the group (at least one person expressed potential interest), several attendees pledged to attend the next two already-scheduled group meetings at Southwest Library on the first Tuesdays of the month (July 2 and August 6) and to see how things go. Group members also committed to keep the WWRHAH email list active, and Barnes noted that their website and Facebook page would remain accessible and would just need someone to maintain it.

Departing WWRHAH coordinator Kim Barnes with Roxhill Park volunteer Scott.

Neighborhood news from the meeting:

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Time for a change – but how will Westwood-Roxhill-Arbor Heights Community Coalition change?

Tuesday night, whoever shows up at the Westwood-Roxhill-Arbor Heights Community Coalition meeting will help decide how it will change. Coordinator Kim Barnes is stepping down. Will anyone step up?

Please join us on Tuesday, June 4th, 6:15 pm upstairs at the Southwest Library, 9010 35th Ave SW.

After two years of coordinating and hosting meetings for WWRHAH, it’s time to relinquish the role to new faces with a fresh vision. At the June 4th meeting, I will be happy to answer questions about the routine tasks and outline the support tools and documentation. The community will then decide how if it wishes to proceed with the appointment of a new coordinator, or if it will adjourn until a new coordinator is identified. This meeting is open to anyone interested in the future direction of WWRHAH.

It has been an honor to serve our community.

Roundabout cost jump, + neighborhoods team up, @ Highland Park Action Committee

By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor

$7.3 million.

You could almost hear the proverbial jaws drop last night when SDOT announced that new estimated cost for a Highland Park Way/Holden roundabout. It’s more than triple the long-cited estimate.

SDOT’s James Le presented the update to the Highland Park Action Committee meeting. Past chair Michele Witzki, who has long worked on advocacy for the project, could barely contain her shock: “I am so frustrated right now. I am beyond frustrated. … It’s almost impossible to get money when you keep on moving the target. … You keep on putting more roadblocks in the way of making this happen.”

As the one-sheet distributed by Le (PDF here, embedded below) says, there’s an option – a $3 million signalization plan.

But that’s not funded either.

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Admiral Neighborhood Association: Outreach, library, preparedness, concert-lineup update, more

Story and photos by Jason Grotelueschen
Reporting for West Seattle Blog

Neighbors and community leaders gathered Tuesday night at the Admiral Neighborhood Association meeting to talk about neighborhood outreach, music, the local library, emergency preparedness and other topics.

The ANA meeting, held at The Sanctuary at Admiral, was the group’s first meeting since March, and was led by president David Hancock. Highlights below:

COMMUNITY NEEDS ASSESSMENT & ADMIRAL UCC CHURCH SITE: Hancock gave an update on efforts that have ramped up in the past 4-6 weeks to do a full “community needs assessment” of Admiral residents and business owners, the goal being to identify ways to make the area a better place to live and work. Hancock said the approach would be to do a “deep dive” survey, likely a combination of doorbelling and tabling at events along with an online survey, throughout the neighborhood including the Admiral urban village (where there is a higher percentage of renters and businesses) as well as homes across the area (see more about the neighborhood on ANA’s website and the city’s 2018 Admiral Snapshot.)  Hancock said the idea was prompted by discussions with Pastor Rev. Andrew Conley-Holcom, whose Admiral Congregational UCC Church is in the midst of evaluating options for its own future as it relates to how the 27,000-square-foot property could best serve the community, as we reported from ANA’s December meeting.

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TUESDAY: Admiral Neighborhood Association’s invitation

The week ahead brings multiple opportunities for you to dive a little deeper into what’s happening in several local neighborhoods. For one – Admiral! Here’s the announcement:

Admiral Neighborhood Association Community Meeting
Tuesday, May 14th 6:30 – 8:30 p.m.
The Sanctuary at Admiral
(2656 42nd Ave SW)

This month at the ANA meeting, we’ll be discussing:

1. Seattle Public Libraries: learn more about the services you know and love, and find out about some that you’ve never even heard of.

2. Brookdale Admiral Heights: assisted living facility in the heart of the Admiral District.

3. Admiral outreach: ANA wants to know: how do residents and businesses in the community want Admiral to be an even better place to live and work? Find out how we’re going about it, and contribute your voice to the mix.

Come and meet your neighbors and discuss issues and events in our area!

See you there!
-Admiral Neighborhood Association

West Seattle weekend scene: Highland Park community cleanup

Craig Rankin from the Highland Park Action Committee sent this report on, and photos from, today’s community cleanup:

Thanks to everyone who participated in this morning’s cleanup along the south side of Highland Park Way.
The group managed to pick up roughly 20 bags of garbage, and a large assortment of debris including tires, furniture, and a chopped-up Lime bike.

If you haven’t planned YOUR neighborhood cleanup yet, there’s still time to get city support – here’s how.