West Seattle, Washington
01 Monday
BRIDGE RAMP CLOSURES: This is more like tonight/tomorrow: The high-bridge ramp closures for drain cleaning start at midnight tonight, continuing up till 8 am tomorrow (at the latest; one sign says 6 am but the city has repeated “8 am” so 6 may just be a typo). Here’s our original story, including a list of what’s closed/open during this work.
BUS SCHEDULES: Metro is on the “partial holiday” schedule one more day.
TRASH COLLECTION: Here’s the Seattle Public Utilities explainer. If you’re usually Thursdays, they’re getting you picked up tomorrow. If you’re usually Fridays, they’ll get you on Saturday. If you were missed again Mon-Wed this week, call.
COUNTY OFFICES/FACILITIES: Most are closed tomorrow – it’s a “furlough day.”
CITY OFFICES/FACILITIES: Open tomorrow.
Thanks to Courtney for e-mail that reminded us, we haven’t provided much information about Christmas tree recycling so far this year. We’re almost out of the post-snow-coverage daze, and heavens, we don’t want to let the scene above happen in YOUR house (or ours), so we’re rounding up the scoop. First, here’s the official city info:
Between December 26 and January 11, Seattle residents can recycle their trees and greens for free. All residents can recycle up to three trees at Seattle’s Recycling and Disposal stations. The tree sections must be cut to eight feet or less in length, and the trunk must be four inches or smaller in diameter. Only trees without flocking or decoration may be disposed of free of charge.
Seattle food and yard waste subscribers can also recycle trees and greens for free. Trees should be cut into sections, six feet long or shorter, with branches trimmed to less than four feet to fit into the collection trucks. Bind with string or twine (non-plastic). Trunks should not exceed four inches in diameter. Flocked, plastic, or trees with tinsel will be collected as extra garbage at a rate of $6.00 per item.
Your next question, we know, will be “When will the yard waste get picked up, after all the Snowmare ’09 trouble?” From the latest city update: “Yard waste service — including Christmas tree pickup — will be resumed next week for residential customers. Check your schedule for your next yard waste pickup date. Extra yard waste will be collected at no additional charge, through Friday, Jan. 16.” If you prefer the less-cutting option and go to the Recycling/Disposal Station, the nearest one is in South Park. The city has a map here but it doesn’t address getting there from WS, so here’s a map you can use (choose the “get directions” option). Meantime, we know of one group offering tree recycling as a fundraiser – from the WSB West Seattle Events calendar:
The West Seattle Rainbow Girls will hold their second annual Christmas tree recycle fundraiser Saturday, January 3, 2009 at the Alki Masonic Hall, 4736 40th Ave. SW (map) from 11:00 – 3:00. Suggested donation $5.00. No flocked trees please. For more information, please contact Jan Hunter at 206-849-7906. Check out the Rainbow Girls by going to www.gorainbow.org
If you know of another tree-recycling fundraiser in West Seattle (or White Center), please let us know so we can help spread the word – editor@westseattleblog.com – thanks!
Just heard back from City Council President Richard Conlin (left), after e-mailing him to ask what kind of inquiries/hearings will ensue regarding Snowstorm ’08-related woes. We decided to ask him because he runs the Environment, Emergency Management, and Utilities Committee, so trash — among other things — would be under his auspices. He says a “more formal response” is coming out later today, but since we asked. First, a “full council briefing” is planned a week from today, January 5th. Next day, Tuesday 1/6, a joint meeting of his committee and the Transportation Committee (chaired by Councilmember Jan Drago, overseeing roads and snowplows among other things), “at which point we will go over the situation in detail and also have a public comment opportunity,” Conlin says, adding, “After that, we will lay out a set of issues to review and work on, and determine how we will involve the public and carry out the review. Our last review (after the 2006 windstorm/flooding) involved a set of joint meetings between EEMU and the Energy Committee, including an evening public comment time, and resulted in a work plan for the Utilities that made an important difference in the performance of City Light in particular in this situation — outages were relatively few (thanks to some proactive tree trimming and other preparation), and were handled and reported back to the public promptly (thanks to some better preparation and organization).” So if you want to address the council personally at your first opportunity, sounds like 1/6 will be your first chance. To e-mail or otherwise contact them now, seattle.gov/council will point you in every possible direction; Conlin’s info is here; Drago’s info is here; EEMU Committee info here; Transportation Committee here. We’ll let you know when times and places are set for the aforementioned meetings/hearings (and any others), and they’ll be on the WSB Events calendar (where we list meetings large and small, outside WS too when it’s of WS relevance like this, as well as other types of events). 2:48 PM UPDATE: The detailed “formal response” promised by Councilmember Conlin has just arrived in our inbox and we suspect many others – read on for the full text, which includes some times (will add to our calendar shortly):Read More
(Map updated as of 4:02 pm with areas where WSB’ers have reported trash and/or recycling pickup)
As we reported last night, Seattle Public Utilities says it’s going to try to reach Monday-pickup homes today — for trash/recycling, NOT yard waste — and that would mean the first pickup in three weeks for West Seattle’s Monday neighborhoods. We’re opening this post for any updates on the trash situation during the day – both your sightings of trash trucks (leave a comment, or e-mail us) and also any new information we get.
9:40 AM UPDATE: Thanks for the updates! MargL sent the first “photographic proof” from Arbor Heights, when recycling pickup showed up first:
We’ve also received e-mail about sightings at 47th/Erskine and 64th/Hinds. Crunching a quick Google Map just to note where they’ve been so far. 10:36 AM NOTE: It’s REALLY windy out there right now … hope the accumulated, not-yet-picked-up trash/recycling is well-battened-down.
11:22 AM UPDATE: This note from Cass in Gatewood:
I just spoke with my recycling guy, who did pick up *all* my recycle. I asked him if he got paid for the 2 weeks he had to take off because the city wouldn’t plow the streets. NO PAY. He said he was new, so he didn’t have any accrued vacation time. It’s not HIS fault that he couldn’t work, so I don’t think he should’ve had to take vacation pay anyway. I told him they should sue the city for lost wages, and he looked at me like I was nuts. How many people lost wages because of this fiasco????? And the retailers who went broke?
11:39 AM UPDATE: Noted this in the comment section, but we’ve had a sighting in our neighborhood (this was on Sullivan near California):
Keep the sightings coming, and we’ll keep updating the Google Map that’s now atop this post. 2:14 PM UPDATE: Another truck has just passed through our neighborhood. By the way, a few scattered people around WS have reported yard-waste pickup too, though city reps had told us that was going to wait till after they caught up with trash and recycling. 2:33 PM UPDATE: Scott C sends word of a truck sighting along Alki Ave’s condo row – and a photo:
5:23 PM UPDATE: We just came back from a drive around some of West Seattle’s main streets. Saw a truck heading southbound on the south stretch of Beach Drive. Meantime, the latest official news release from Seattle Public Utilities came in while we were out – read on (note the update on yard waste):Read More
As mentioned at the bottom of the previous post, after our conversation with Seattle Public Utilities, they were working on an official update to put the new information into news-release format — so here it is, in its entirety, just out of the WSB inbox, cut-and-paste of the Word doc they sent (we’ll add the link when it appears on the city website, which SPU’s Andy Ryan says will be late tonight or early tomorrow):
Seattle Garbage Collections Back on Near-normal Schedule
Missed Garbage, Recycling to Be Picked This Week; Yard Waste Will Be Delayed
SEATTLE — Seattle Public Utilities’ (SPU) garbage and recycling contractors resumed full garbage collections today, along with extra recycling service. Weather permitting, SPU hopes to be caught up with garbage service by this Saturday, Jan. 3.Yard waste service — including Christmas tree pickup — will be resumed next week on a near-normal schedule for residential customers. Check your schedule for your next yard waste pickup date.
This week, garbage and recycling will be collected from all Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday customers on their regular day. Contractors will also send out additional crews on Thursday, New Year’s Day, to collect any missed locations. Customers missed this Monday through Wednesday should leave their waste out through Thursday, January 1.
Collections regularly scheduled for Thursday and Friday (Jan. 1 and 2) of this week will be delayed by one day due to the New Year’s holiday.
Garbage and recycling that has not been collected by Saturday, Jan. 3, should be reported to Seattle Public Utilities (SPU), at 206-684-3000.
“Volumes will be big, but contractors are planning to collect all of Seattle’s garbage this week without substantial misses,” said Hans Van Dusen, solid waste contracts manager for the city. “But even though contractors will be bringing on special crews, they can’t physically handle all uncollected garbage and recycling without making temporary adjustments in the yard waste schedule.”
All commercial routes serving businesses and apartments are being operated today [Monday], collecting missed and scheduled accounts. Contractors are using extra staff to access and move blocked containers.
Customers whose collections have been delayed may set out their extra garbage at no additional charge. When setting out extra waste, customers are encouraged to place perishable food items in their collection containers and set bagged non-perishable items next to the containers.
Customers who have had their collections missed can also take their waste to Seattle’s Recycling and Disposal stations, where it will be accepted at no charge through December 31st. The stations will be closed on New Year’s Day, Thursday, Jan. 1.
We’ll put up an “open thread”-type post in the morning for discussion of trash-truck sightings and any other info that comes in during the day, if you’re interested in checking in on the progress. 10:30 PM ADDENDUM: Via Facebook (where we are WS Blog), Krystal said there was some recycling pickup today “on the west side of Fauntleroy.”
Since “when is my trash going to get picked up?” seems to be the #1 lingering question for so many of us here in West Seattle – particularly those of us who missed the past two Mondays — we wanted to get the very latest from Seattle Public Utilities, rather than awaiting the next official citywide news release. Just talked by phone with SPU’s Andy Ryan, and got some important updates you need to know:
#1 – They are going to have trucks running this Thursday, New Year’s Day, to try to catch up on more of the missed collections. New Year’s usually OTHERWISE is one of only three non-collection holidays each year.
#2 – If you put your trash out this weekend because of the announcement that some Thurs/Fri pickups might still be made over the weekend – but they haven’t gotten to you yet – BRING IT IN TILL NEXT THURSDAY, and they’ll try to get to you then … or by Saturday … because the original schedule was, for both holiday weeks, for Thurs-Fri pickups to be delayed a day. (Confusing, we know.)
#3 – If you are normally Monday-Wednesday collection, they are going to try to get back on normal schedule the next three days, but they admit that this is an unprecedented situation and they’re not sure how successful they are going to be – so there is a chance (we appreciate their honesty on this) some Monday customers STILL might not get picked up tomorrow, in which case they will try to catch up during those special Thursday runs.
#4 – DON’T BOTHER WITH YARD WASTE for a week or so – they are trying to catch up with recycling and trash first.
#5 – SPU **hopes** to be caught up by next Saturday night. In another day or two, Andy tells WSB, they will announce a special number you can use to start reporting missed collections, but so far they know there are more people who were missed than not and they want to get through a day or two of trying to get back on schedule, before they start taking those calls.’
#6 – Andy wanted us to convey to everyone: “We very much appreciate your patience. This is the worst experience in anyone’s recent memory at Seattle Public Utilities – nobody remembers a storm that kept us out of service this long, and we appreciate people being patient while we take the time to pick stuff up safely.”
We’ll check in with SPU again around midday tomorrow to see how it’s going. Hope the above isn’t too confusing; we wanted to write it up fast after that phone conversation. And if you see a trash truck in your neighborhood tomorrow – let us know! since, something like all the recent story-sharing about buses and snowplows and mail-delivery trucks, it may generate a bit of hope.
UPDATE 7:53pm: Just got word that SPU will issue a statement about tomorrow’s pickup in the next couple of hours. We’ll publish it as soon as we get it.
The announcement’s in from Seattle Public Utilities:
Seattle’s garbage and recycling contractors today resumed collections for some residential customers, mostly in Northeast Seattle, whose normal pickup day is Friday.
Today’s collection work is focusing primarily on garbage and recycling (and not yard waste) on streets that provide safe access. Some neighborhoods still cannot be serviced safely; these areas will be collected next week.
For next week, Monday through Wednesday customers are now scheduled to be collected on their regular pickup days. If your pickup is missed, please continue to leave your garbage out and we will attempt to collect it New Year’s Day (Thursday, Jan. 1) or the following Friday or Saturday (Jan. 2 and 3).
Most commercial routes serving businesses and apartments are being operated today, collecting missed accounts as access allows. Contractors are using extra staff to access and move snow-blocked containers.
Customers whose collections have been delayed may set out their extra garbage at no additional charge. When setting out extra waste, customers are encouraged to place perishable food items in their collection containers and set bagged non-perishable items next to the containers.
Customers who have had their collections missed can also take their waste to Seattle’s Recycling and Disposal stations, where it will be accepted at no charge. The stations will be open today through Wednesday, including Sunday, but closed on New Year’s Day, Thursday, Jan. 1.
Still have questions? We’ve covered the trash situation in so many posts over the past 12 days, they probably need a coverage category of their own – but if you have a question that hasn’t been answered, post it and we’ll either dig up the info or see what we can find out from SPU. Some West Seattle neighborhoods, as you are likely well aware, haven’t been picked up for THREE weeks, since our area got hit so hard by the 12/13-12/14 snow that West Seattle was skipped on the 12/15 Monday runs as well as 12/22.
(one of two storm drains near WSB HQ, cleared, and receiving plenty of runoff/rainwater)
Another announcement just in from Seattle Public Utilities, with helpful info on what to do if this type of flooding turns up in your neighborhood – don’t wait for it to get to crisis level:
In anticipation of warming temperatures and continuing precipitation, Seattle Public Utilties (SPU) has activated its Urban Flood Response Plan — staging extra drainage crews and equipment throughout Seattle, and deploying storm observers to various at-risk sections of the city.
This afternoon’s decision to implement the city’s flood plan was purely precautionary, officials noted, and is intended to head-off potential problems before they develop. Calls from SPU customers asking for assistance with drainage issues have been light over the past 24 hours, with a total of only 14 calls recorded.
Under the flood plan, SPU’s 16 drainage truck crews drop their normal maintenance duties and stand by to field emergency calls. If the volume of calls becomes high enough, additional crews can be brought in from the SPU’s drinking water operations section and other areas of the Utilities.
To report flooding or blocked drains, please call (206) 386-1800.
Seattle Public Utilities has been asking for the public’s help in keeping Seattle’s 78,000 street drains — the city’s first line of defense against storms — free of snow and other debris. But only shovel that drain, SPU said, if you’re sure you can do it safely.
Learn more about adopting a city street drain, at: www.seattlechannel.org/videos/video.asp?ID=7010819
If you wondered the same thing one of our Twitter contacts wondered … we asked SPU if there is any online resource for locating the storm drain(s) nearest your house, and we just got the answer back: No. (Anecdotally, we can tell you they seem to be close to corners, so if you have to start somewhere, start there if you’re near one.)
(WSB’er photo from during Snowmare ’08 – sorry we don’t still have the name for the credit!)
Just in from Seattle Public Utilities, with trash piling up around the city:
Special Saturday and Sunday pickup is being scheduled, conditions permitting, for the city’s residential garbage, recycling, food and yard waste customers, Seattle Public Utilities said today.
Due to continued inclement conditions, today’s customers (Friday, Dec. 26) are scheduled to be collected tomorrow (Saturday, Dec. 27) and Thursday customers (Dec. 25) will be collected on Sunday, Dec. 28.
Thursday and Friday customers are advised to leave their garbage at the curb through Sunday. Collection contractors will inspect neighborhood routes throughout the weekend for service opportunities. Customers scheduled for Monday through Wednesday pickup should set out their materials on their normal appointed days, next week. There will be no additional charge for setting out extra garbage.
Despite inclement conditions, the city’s collections contractors have been running limited commercial routes around the clock this week, providing service to urgent commercial accounts where containers are accessible. Contractors are running 40 commercial trucks today to serve locations on major arterials and utilizing extra staff to access snow blocked containers. Approximately 40 percent of Seattle’s business accounts have been collected this week.
“We are eager to resume residential services as soon as possible, but safety with our large trucks is our first priority,” said Hans Van Dusen, Solid Waste Contracts Manager for Seattle Public Utilities. “Warmer weather is forecast for this weekend and next week, and we expect that will make it safer to send big trucks back into Seattle’s neighborhoods.”
Customers whose collections have been delayed by a week can set out double their normal amount of garbage at no additional charge. When setting out extra waste, customers are encouraged to place perishable food items in their collection containers and set bagged non-perishable items next to the containers.
Customers who have had their collections missed can also take their waste to Seattle’s Recycling and Disposal stations, where it will be accepted at no charge. Seattle’s Recycling and Disposal stations will be closed on New Year’s Day, January 1.
We’re still doublechecking on whether this means that, if you were missed last time, you set out trash AND recycling AND yard waste – stand by. 10:21 AM UPDATE: Glad we asked. Andy Ryan at SPU says they’re FOCUSING ON RECYCLING AND TRASH – SO JUST PUT THOSE TWO OUT. And remember, SPU told us they’ll be “liberal” in allotment for extra pickup because of missed service, so don’t get panicky about just putting out “exactly” two bags or whatever. 2:37 PM UPDATE: Answering a question posed by WSB’ers, Brett Stav from SPU says the “no charge” time period at the transfer station will extend THROUGH NEXT WEEK – but bring proof you are a Seattle customer, preferably your bill.
MargL in Arbor Heights got that photo of crows doing what city-contracted crews haven’t been able to do for the past two Mondays — pick up the trash. Last Monday, you may recall, it was just a West Seattle situation, as our roads were still iced over from the preceding weekend’s snow; they vowed to try again the next day – that didn’t work – so the message was, set out double the amount the following Monday. That was today, and even last night, as we reported in our ongoing coverage, the city said pickup was unlikely. So now what? And why can’t those trash trucks make it around, some asked? Brett Stav and Andy Ryan of Seattle Public Utilities did a media tour late today – and offered to come out to WSB HQ too for a video interview – we’d usually go downtown for a briefing on some big issue like this, but we’ve been a little tied to headquarters by the continuous coverage. Re: why not try pickup, here’s how Stav answered:
(We chose a neighbor’s trash can and holiday lights as a scenic backdrop, in case you were wondering, there at screen right.) We also asked how they make the decision of whether they can make the rounds on a given day or not – wondering if it’s the same way Seattle Public Schools bus drivers make the call, doing an early-morning test run:
Now, the practical stuff. They’re going to try again tomorrow. So you can have double your trash AND recycling AND yard waste out, if you were supposed to get pickup today. If they don’t make it – or if we get word in the early am that they aren’t even going to try (and as he said, you’ll hear it here) – then the following Monday, it’s TRIPLE the amount. We asked whether they would be stingy or liberal with what constitutes “triple the amount.” He said, “Liberal.” (Too short to bother with uploading but we DO have it on video!) But don’t go rogue and try sneaking it into somebody else’s dumpster. If you have any way of getting to the transfer station in South Park, that offer for free disposal there still stands. Read more in SPU’s latest news release (same one we published here earlier today). And let us know if you still have questions – because we can seek answers tomorrow by e-mail or phone.
…A MAJOR DISRUPTIVE WINTER STORM WILL AFFECT MOST OF WESTERN WASHINGTON LATE SATURDAY AFTERNOON THROUGH SUNDAY… A STRONG FRONTAL SYSTEM WILL SPREAD PRECIPITATION INLAND OVER WESTERN WASHINGTON STARTING SATURDAY AFTERNOON AND CONTINUING THROUGH MUCH OF SUNDAY. A COMBINATION OF BLIZZARD CONDITIONS… HEAVY SNOW…STRONG WINDS AND ICE BUILDUPS ARE EXPECTED.
Still suspect that weather warning will turn out to be for naught? Don’t count on it (although this is NOT expected to be among the windiest areas). If you’ve been in West Seattle at least two years, you know what a windstorm can do. Browse back through our coverage of the December 2006 windstorm, archived here; we were just starting to cover neighborhood news at the time, so our coverage then was nothing like what it would be now, but you can still get a sense of just how serious it was. Much of West Seattle was without power for days; more than 3 days at WSB HQ in Upper Fauntleroy, though we still were lucky, losing no more than a fridge full of food and “Psycho Pleco” the pet fish, while some elsewhere lost their lives. Anyway, that whole ordeal leads us to take the prospect of wind TREMENDOUSLY seriously.
First, the official information from city webpages:
Preparation advice here
(206) 684-3000 to report non-life threatening problems with power, water, sewer or drainage
Food, shelter and other human services: 2-1-1
Falling Trees that are endangering public roadways or power lines: 206-684-8733
Roadway obstructions (SDOT): 206-386-1218
Traffic signal problems (SDOT): 386-1206
Landslides: 206-684-8950
Electrical outage hotline (after 6 pm) (Seattle City Light): 206-684-7400
Live Wire Warning
Keep your distance from any downed line. Anyone seeing a downed line should immediately report it by calling 684-3000.
Darkened Intersections
Treat all darkened intersections as a four way stop and to be cautious of drivers who may not stop.
Apartments without Fire Alarms
Apartment buildings without power for prolonged periods of time will lose their fire alarm systems and should conduct a fire watch to keep residents safe.
Carbon Monoxide Poisoning
Do not bring barbecue or other open flame sources into the home. The smoke from open flame indoors can lead to death or injury from carbon monoxide poisoning. For more information: www.kingcounty.gov/health.
UNOFFICIAL:
What to do about that fridge full of food, if IT happens? Red Cross tip sheet here (wish we’d had that in 12/06)
Where do you go if the power goes out and you need to warm up? WSB Forum members asked that question; so far, we do not have an official answer, but we can tell you that the city generally points people to community centers. In the 2006 outage, Delridge and Southwest Community Centers were opened as “warming centers.” Generator availability is key – we are hoping to hear from the city about which facilities have them. In the short run, in case information is impossible to come by and you just need to go SOMEWHERE, here’s the city webpage with all community centers – find your nearest one and know where it is.
Charge everything now – and have a backup for if/when that runs out. You can buy battery-powered chargers and hand-crank chargers.
As mentioned above, we lost a fish. We didn’t even think in advance about how he would be affected by loss of his tank’s heater. If you have fish, reptiles, some other kind of not-so-portable pet that requires heat, plan what you’ll do in case of an outage. There’s some fish advice here.
ADDED 11:57 AM: Thanks to Jack for generator advice:
Never back-feed a generator into your house electrical system — this means never build a male-to-male AC cable and feed the generator directly into an AC outlet –this can kill or injure line workers trying to restore power — too late now but have a transfer switch installed so that when you need a generator you can switch your house electrical system off the grid.
Never operate a generator in a building due to fire and CO hazard
Never fuel a running or hot generator — you spill the gas and you have an immediate fire
Got any tips to share, just in case? (Power outage OR “more snow,” since the latter seems to be a sure bet, even if the former is an unknown quantity at this point.)
As mentioned over the past couple days, Monday trash (etc.) pickups in West Seattle were postponed because of the icy neighborhood streets – and Seattle Public Utilities said they’d try again today, but if they didn’t make it, just bring everything in till next week. We sent SPU’s Andy Ryan a note earlier asking for an official verdict, and just received this answer:
West Seattle customers that have not been collected by now should bring their containers in. Next Monday, the City will collect all three waste streams – garbage, yard waste, recycle. Customers can set out double their usual waste.
By size, within the scope of a big-city system, it was considered a “small” outage – but given that it happened in subfreezing weather, the outage last night in Gatewood/Morgan Junction was huge for hundreds of families. We just talked with Scott Thomsen at Seattle City Light, who explained the cause of the three-hour outage, why it took so long to fix, and why that area seems to be hit by outages frequently: “The area that was affected is served by a 4-kilovolt line – that’s some of the oldest wire in the system – standard (nowadays) is 26 kilovolts.” Scott adds that this is one of some “small pockets” in the city still served by that wire, and what went wrong is that it’s not made to handle the kind of demand placed on it when the temperature went way down and the heat went way up. It took crews a while to figure out the problem: “Ultimately they discovered the relays set up to deliver energy into that area were not set up to handle the increased load demand … as people were keeping their heat on. … So it kept cutting out, and tripping the breaker, and finally went out. They wound up feeding the electricity into that area in a different route to keep it from tripping the breaker, and they will keep that in place for as long as (the cold weather continues).” He says upgrading lines like that is part of the infrastructure investment called for in City Light’s five-year plan, but it’s not cheap – it would require new cable and new transformers – so if you live in that area and are tired of repeated outages, you might want to let the City Council know, since they ultimately hold the purse strings.
Got a “media advisory” from Seattle Public Utilities today, with a reminder that the foam-packaging ban passed by the City Council with the plastic-bag ban is taking effect January 1st (the bag ban is on hold pending a citywide vote next year) – and food-service businesses are invited to a “trade fair” this Wednesday, to meet with “sellers of compostable food-service ware” – if you’re interested, read on:Read More
This has come up in comments on other items (like this thread), and in the WSB Forums – what’s up with all the work on Barton, which is a busy thoroughfare for folks traveling to Fauntleroy Church and Fauntleroy YMCA (WSB sponsors) and the businesses in the Fauntleroy Schoolhouse, as well as heading east from the ferry dock and Endolyne businesses? One neighbor pointed out it was gas-line work. We called the Puget Sound Energy media department. Two business days, no callback. So next we tried SDOT, knowing they would at least have had to have issued a permit, and they responded within a few hours. Here’s the information we got back from SDOT communications boss Rick Sheridan:
This work is a major replacement by PSE of part of their infrastructure and is a permitted right-of-way activity. The work will replace more than 8000 feet of pipe and will run through a number of streets in West Seattle. PSE has an approved traffic control plan and we expect them to
be finished by December 6, 2008, though this work can sometime run long.Our permit requires them to notify everyone who may be affected at least 72 hours before the work in the right-of-way begins. This is a standard period of time required for this type of effort.
We will contact PSE to remind them of this obligation and will also send a Street Use inspector to examine the site.
Given how well-used that stretch of road is, you’d expect notifying “everyone who may be affected” would have involved notices to local media, but it didn’t, so far as we can tell. SDOT itself is good about advance notice of road work in the case of most projects of this scale.
The decision is in for the appeal of the city’s approval of a proposal to expand a group of cell-phone antennas atop the Soundcrest Apartments (photo above) at 6609 SW Admiral. (WSB was the only news organization with a reporter at the daylong hearing last month at which neighbors argued their appeal of the decision – here’s our report from that day.) It’s a partial victory for the neighbors – deputy Hearing Examiner Anne Watanabe reversed the “conditional use” approval, saying the applicants didn’t present information to show if this was truly the “least intrusive” location possible for the antennas, consistent with city code. However, she affirmed the “determination of nonsignificance” under SEPA (a state environmental law). We’ll be reading through for further details; we’ll also be seeking opinion from the applicants as to what they plan to do next. Meantime, here’s the full text of the Hearing Examiner’s decision. ADDED 4 PM: Jim Borrow, the neighbor who led the appeal presentation in the Hearing Examiner’s hearing room at the Municipal Tower last month, tells WSB he’s still reviewing the decision.
Scott C just called to report the power’s out in the Jefferson Square area – he says Safeway seems to be running on generator power, but “people are being led out of Bartell (Drugs) by flashlight.” Checking now to see what’s up (or down, in this case). Nothing on the City Light outage website or recording so far. 5:02 PM UPDATE: Co-publisher Patrick just checked out the area – while the Jefferson Square businesses are dark (including the street-level eateries on 42nd) aside from Safeway and the apartments above it, surrounding areas don’t appear to be affected. 6:48 PM UPDATE: Just drove by JS again – the 42nd-front businesses have power, as does Safeway, but the other stores around the upper parking lot still appear out.
Next time you check out the WSB Holiday Happenings page – with frequently updated listings for holiday bazaars, performances, and much more – you’ll see a new sponsor atop the page: Citilights Electric, residential specialists who want you to know this about their business: “Citilights Electric offers full-service electrical contracting. Our electricians are certified, trained professionals able to work in a high-pressure environment 
while utilizing their multi-tasking skills. This assures you that your electrical project is given the enthusiasm and expertise you deserve and expect. We strive daily to provide our customers the highest quality and greatest value. Superior workmanship, fast, dependable service, and complete customer satisfaction are what you will experience as a customer of Citilights Electric. We appreciate the opportunity to bid your next electrical project or troubleshoot your electrical problems.” For a list of some of the services Citilights Electric provides, check out this webpage. Citilights Electric invites customers in West Seattle and vicinity to call 206/937-8495; you can also send inquiries from the company’s website. WSB thanks Citilights Electric and our other sponsors for their support; for the current lineup and info on how to be part of it, just start here!
The forecast for tomorrow night into Wednesday now calls for rain “heavy at times” plus fairly serious wind (up to 45 mph). And that explains why this advisory came in from Seattle City Light – some of it you’ve heard before, but worth revisiting at the start of winter storm season:Read More
Words and their meanings came into play more than once during Tuesday’s all-day hearing downtown for the Alki neighbors appealing the city’s approval of eight more cell-phone antennas for the “nonconforming” apartment building near their homes (photo above; previous coverage here). Dictionary definitions even were introduced as evidence, and the bottom line to the city and cell company’s arguments seemed to be “more” means “less” – read our full report to see why, including dueling simulations of what the new installation might look like:Read More
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
That and other questions about the recycling/yard waste program are posed in a survey that Seattle Public Utilities hopes you will spend a moment taking. We just ran through it; a few possible slogans are offered, including Waste Not Seattle, Everyday Green, Recycling Matters, and Routine Green (or you can suggest your own). The survey starts here.
Another note from last night’s Morgan Community Association meeting (in addition to our Fauntleroy Way paving report; still to come, new information about the Morgan Junction park): Martha Tuttle from King County was there with updates on the Murray Avenue Pump Station project, which will dig up a major chunk of Lowman Beach Park when construction begins – read on to see what she announced:Read More
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