March 2009

Captain Howie Dickerman cruises up the Duwamish off South Park.

Because the land we should not fill
With remnants of our daily swill
Our Mayor says to prove we’re green
The garbage sort must be pristine

Which means your bones and table scraps
Unless you have a dog, perhaps
Will now combine with yard proceeds
To rest in peace with grass and weeds

So einy, meiny, miny, mo
You have three bins where you can throw
Your trash, once you consult the stars
On how to handle lids of jars

Don’t get me wrong, I think it’s great
But question how, one who’ll create
A two mile trail with rubble strewn
Can whistle such a loud “green” tune

For though our Mayor acts so chaste
About reducing landfill waste
No clean green or recycling bin
Will hold the Viaduct’s scraps within

Carol Smith

The North Highline Unincorporated Area Council is seeking applicants for council positions.  Candidates must be 18 years and older, a resident of the area, and/or a business/property owner in the area or an official representative of a non-profit in the area.

The council represents residents and business/property owners of the North Highline Unincorporated Area in their dealings with King County and surrounding cities. Some issues of concern include human services, parks, public safety, roads, annexation, land use and projects to improve the quality or delivery of county services.

The council is comprised of 13 members representing the communities of White Center, Top Hat, Boulevard Park, Shorewood, Salmon Creek, Beverly Park, Glendale, Riverton Heights and South Park. The area is divided into four legislative districts with two representatives from each district.  The five remaining council members serve as at-large representatives of the community.

To obtain a Candidate Filing Statement or to learn more about the open positions contact Christine Waldman cwaldman@northhighlineuac.org  Filing deadline is 6 p.m. on April 6, 2009.

Not often does the halftime show steal the stage, but the 6 to 11 year-old “Tootsy Rollers” did their best during Season five, Bout two of the Rat City Rollergirls roller derby competition at Key Arena March 7.

The second match of the season took place one month to the day after the Rollergirls opened their 2009 season skating for the first time at the Key Arena.

Many of the nearly 5,000 fans in attendance sported mushy grins as the charming little Tootsy Rollers rolled onto the track at halftime in the first of two competitions. They belong to the Seattle Derby Brats, which also has a slightly older Junior League of 11 to 17 year olds. The Junior League rolled out at halftime between the two competitions.

While not quite as rough-and tumble-as their grownup counterparts, the little ones seemed tenacious and took a few gentle spills. Chris Hunter, a West Seattle resident with a daughter in the Junior League, helped organize the Brats and their halftime high jinx.

Sophie Maskill, age 6, who attends Stanislo Elementary School in West Seattle, goes by the stage name “Brady O’Flyer,” and plays for the team, Turquoise Terror.

Join Woodland Park Zoo, National Wildlife Federation, Seattle Audubon, Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife and Washington Native Plant Society at Camp Long for a workshop on creating a backyard wildlife habitat.

Meet experts and get hands-on experience that will show how to attract birds and other wildlife to your backyard, select and care for native plants, recognize and remove invasive plants species, conserve water, manage your backyard without the use of chemical herbicides and pesticides, place feeders and bird houses, get your backyard, schoolyard or community garden certified as a Backyard Habitat.

This is a four-part workshop:

- Tuesday, March 10, 2009 from 7 to 9 p.m.
- Tuesday, March 17, 2009 from 7 to 9 p.m.
- Tuesday, March 24, 2009 from 7 to 9 p.m.
- Saturday, March 28, 2009 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Cost is $75 scholarships are available for members of West Seattle Garden Club and local neighborhood associations

To completely rebuild a section of 1st Avenue South, a travel lane will remain open in each direction between South Stacy and Hanford Streets, with two lanes allowed in the northbound direction Monday through Friday from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Parking may be inaccessible on either side of the street as crews install a new water main in the center of the roadway. Traffic and parking restrictions between South Stacy Street and Horton Street will continue from now until completion, scheduled for September 2009.

To accommodate the South Seattle Intermodal Access Project, the northbound lane of Occidental Avenue South will be closed at Edgar Martinez Way 24 hours a day for paving and sidewalk construction until March 13.

The left westbound lane and eastbound left turn lane of South Atlantic Street will be closed west of First Avenue South 24 hours a day for paving. Left turns from eastbound Atlantic Street onto northbound First Avenue South will not be permitted. A detour will be provided. These restrictions will also be in place until March 13.

More than two dozen neighbors donned gloves and shovels and braved near freezing temperatures and a light dusting of snow to help plant hundreds of small plants at Ballard Corners Park March 8.

"We never thought we'd have this many people out here," said David Folweiler, co-chair of Friends of Ballard Corners Park.

Getting those plants into the ground on the east side of the park, located at Northwest 62nd Street and 17th Avenue Northwest, is one of the final steps before the park can be officially opened to the public.

The contractors must be finished with the park by April and then the new grass has to be mowed twice before the fence surrounding Ballard Corners can come down, Folweiler said. He said the grand opening of the park will be later in the spring, but no date has been set yet.

Gabriella Moller, the major organizer of the planting party, said she was concerned by the snow but the turnout was great.

"There is a ton of enthusiasm for this park," she said. "If you ask anyone in the neighborhood, they are so excited for the park."

Ballard Corners Park will be an important gathering space and an important green space for the neighborhood, Moller said.

Possibly the most unusual Ballard property on the market went to auction Saturday, March 7, at 3453 Seaview Avenue NW.

The former boathouse rests completely on wooden pilings in the tidelands and is located just a stone’s throw west of the Great Northern Railroad bridge. About 5,000 square feet of land butts up against the structure, zoned both commercial and residential, depending on how it will be set up.

All bidders required to come with a $5,000 cashiers check. Had they bid successfully, the check would be cashed, and they’d have 30 days to finance. If they could not, they forfeit the check and the next highest bidder would be in line.

But today, the highest bid, $405,000, was not enough to make a sale. The offer was subject to owners approval, and the owners on record, Janet Kongslie and Patricia Bayer, hold a $350,000 mortgage and were hoping for a higher bid. That, according to their realtor David V. Sheean of GVA Kidder Mathews in Tacoma. He was on hand with his partner on this listing, professional auctioneer JR Wikane, also of Tacoma. The owners were not present.

The date for the 2nd Annual Sustainable West Seattle Festival has been announced as Sunday, May 23 in the Alaska Junction.

Event organizer Scott Marlow is calling now for exhibitors and sponsors through March 23 from sustainably-minded organizations.

Last year, over 2,000 attendees visited the festival, where more than 60 exhibitors presented information about food, transportation, green building, and other sustainability topics. This year’s event features more interactive workshops and presentations.

Exhibitors at the 2008 festival included Duwamish River Cleanup Coalition, MC Electric Vehicles, Solar Washington, West Seattle Nursery, Zipcar, Neighborhood House, Cedar Grove Composting, Seattle City Light.

A limited number of tables and booths are available on a first-come, first-served basis:

Nonprofit/civic table rates start at $25 (fee waivers available)
For-profit table rates start at $100
Sponsorships, including tables, start at $250

(Editor's note: The following article is from Richard Conlin's Making It Work Newsletter.)

On Monday, Feb. 23, the council approved my ordinance to establish new interim tree protections that will limit tree removal on virtually all single family and commercially zoned properties in Seattle (only single family properties of less than 5,000 square feet are exempted). The new tree protection ordinance will help to conserve our rapidly disappearing tree canopy – the reason Seattle was nicknamed the Emerald City.

The council vote was 8 to 1 (Richard McIver voting no).

The council has previously adopted a Comprehensive Plan policy goal of reversing the decline of Seattle's tree canopy cover, now measured at about 18 percent of land area, and grow it to 30 percent over the next few years.