September 2015

information from OPAL community land trust
 
Almost two months after it was announced that the nonprofit OPAL Community Land Trust would have the first opportunity to raise funds to move the Edith Macefield House from its current location in Ballard to Orcas Island, OPAL has ended efforts to raise the required funds. OPAL had hoped to renovate the house in order to provide a permanently affordable home for a family in need. Regretfully, that will not come to pass.
 
“We were excited by the potential of having Edith’s home provide permanently affordable housing, but there were not enough donations to our online campaign or through personal appeals to make this happen,” said Lisa Byers, OPAL executive director. “We are sad to not be the ones who will care for this house into the future, and thereby honor Edith’s legacy of scrappy independence.”
 
The current owner of the property has offered the opportunity to another interested party in an effort to ensure that the house does not face demolition. The owner is committed to finding a location where the structure can become a home for a local family.

A West Seattle woman was involved in a hit and run motor vehicle incident on the West Seattle Bridge on Tuesday Sept 29 and needs help. Specifically she is seeking any witnesses to what happened.

Her account of what happened follows:

"The police call it road rage. I honked at a car that cut me off on the viaduct. The driver flipped me off. Eventually moved to the other lane and headed toward the bridge. Just past Atlantic, I felt something hit my car (like a small rock). When I looked on the rear view mirror, the same car was on my tail and the passenger was in fact throwing things at my car. As I got onto the bridge deck I had to stop for slow traffic and at that time the car smashed into my car. The driver backed up and took off! I call 911 and as far as I know, these men are still on the road!"

The woman said the car was a silver hatchback/wagon with two males inside and that a Metro bus was right behind the incident but no one stopped to give her assistance. The other car's damage would be on the front passenger side.

if you saw the incident or have any further information please contact her at norbsorbs@comcast.net

Mark Powell, Washington Environmental Council’s Puget Sound Program Director, came ashore at Seacrest Park on Harbor Ave SW Sept. 30 concluding a multi part swim of the entire 85 miles of the Green-Duwamish River – from its headwaters at the crest of the Cascade Range, down to the tidewater in West Seattle. He skipped a few spots but still completed more than 55 miles of swimming and made some observations along the way.

"I set out with the idea that i would hope I would find the heart of the Duwamish River and I think I succeeded. I saw thousands of wild Pink Salmon swimming up the river." He said the fish were so thick and so close, "I reached out and touched a salmon with my hand....I have never seen so many salmon except in videos taken in Alaska."

He did see some troubling sights along the way, noting the well known pollution problems and some places where polluted water still pours into the river. "But the surprising thing to me is that healthy wild salmon run and that to me is the heart of the river."

Seattle Parks and Recreation is hosting a public design meeting for the Golden Gardens Park drainage and stairway renovation project on Wednesday, October 7, 2015 from 7 – 8:30 p.m. at the Golden Gardens Bathhouse, 8498 Seaview Pl NW.

This meeting is an opportunity for the community to learn about the project. Seattle Parks and Recreation staff and the design consultant, Osborn Consulting, Inc., will provide background information and the construction timeline for the upcoming project.

This project provides drainage improvements and replaces the damaged stairway steps in the park from the lower park area to the dog-off-leash area. The purpose of the project is to renovate the existing storm drainage system and replace the damaged steps with a new stairway to improve the drainage system and related impacts such as hillside erosion. The work will be done in accordance with environmental and regulatory requirements.

We anticipate construction to begin by the end of 2015 and be completed in early 2016.

For more information on this project, please visit http://www.seattle.gov/parks/projects/golden_gardens/drainage.htm.

By Marjorie Young

One thing I find difficult to fathom is the yearning for ‘fame.’ Of course, many crave it with a passion, as if ‘being famous’ was an end in itself. As for me, the image of celebrities, pursued by wild mobs of admirers and paparazzi, resembles a vision of purgatory! Becoming an author has changed that to a small degree, since I am now called upon to do book signings, school appearances, etc. I enjoy those events, where I meet fans, learning how much my series, ‘The Boy with Golden Eyes’ means to them. While interviews, podcasts, and other such activities are now on my agenda, they hardly impede my daily life or privacy. And as long as they don’t involve appearing on camera, something I avoid whenever possible, I am happy to participate.

By Peggy Sturdivant

At 10:40 a.m. on the Saturday morning of the last weekend of summer at the corner of Ballard Avenue NW and NW Vernon two walking tours of Ballard almost shared the same corner. One group crossed to the west side of the street and moved north. I was left in the middle trying to lock my bicycle to a post at the corner.

Susan Reinhard was leading a tour of the Ballard Avenue Historic District heading southeast. The Urbanist Walking Tour led by Caelen Ball had started to the south and was headed north of Market to look at newer buildings with the perspective of a third generation Ballardite, structural engineer and self-declared urbanite.

A day earlier I had been unaware of the blog, The Urbanist.org. However a regular contributor Sara Oberklaid, an Urban Planner originally from Australia had ‘tweeted’ a photograph of one of my Park(ing) Day spots. Her photo led me the announcement of an Urbanist Walking Tour with Caelen Ball for the following morning, “Ballard: A Walk Through Time.”

By Gwen Davis

The Delridge Action Plan Workshop, at the Delridge Community Center on Tuesday, asked participants: What would you like to see for yourself and others in the Delridge community?

Previous feedback from community members and organizations had been put together in detailed, colorful posters, which were displayed at six workstations. At each table, participants talked about two key topics. People had the opportunity to provide feedback, ask questions and add their two cents. Around 100 people attended.

Many of the participants were from city departments, as well as community members. All attendees were asked: What are your priorities? What does success look like? Who should we involve to make sure these plans happen?

Four main issues were addressed:

—>healthy food accessibility
—>transportation
—>economic development
—>supporting strong communities

At the beginning of the workshop, participants at each workstation received green dot stickers, and put them on respective posters to indicate what particular issues needed the most urgent improvements or addressing, in their opinion.

The Seattle Department of Planning and Development (DPD) will hold five community meetings this fall to solicit public comment on the Draft City of Seattle Comprehensive Plan. Entitled Seattle 2035, the Draft Plan was released for public comment on July 8, 2015. The updated Comprehensive Plan will be our roadmap for Seattle’s next 20 years.

The meetings will include open house displays and a presentation to provide a broad overview of the Draft Plan, highlight major changes and get feedback on proposed village expansion areas, especially areas near meeting locations. Since some of Seattle 2035’s policies about affordable housing will be implemented as part of the City’s proposed Housing and Affordability and Livability Agenda, there will be information and opportunity for feedback at the meetings.

The King County Sheriff's office is alerting the public to a phone scam being attempted in our area. They say a high volume of fraudulent calls are being made, allegedly from the Sheriff's office claiming there is a warrant out for your arrest for now showing up for jury duty or nonpayment of back taxes. They state clearly "This is a scam!"

The Sheriff’s Office does not solicit for funds over the phone under any circumstances.

Criminals are able to use false or “spoofed” numbers to make it appear that the call is coming from the Sheriff’s Office phone number, or from the Courts.

If someone contacts you and tells you there is a warrant out for your arrest because you missed jury duty or that you owe back taxes, this is a scam. Discontinue the call immediately.

In this scam the caller says that they are from the King County Sheriff’s Office, or from the Courts of King County, stating that because you missed jury duty and there is a warrant for your arrest. They will tell you to pay hundreds of dollars to avoid being arrested. They use high pressure tactics to get you panicked and are very professional sounding. This is a scam!!!

Soon commuters from Ballard could take a water route downtown because King County is looking into expanding their water taxi services to Ballard.

King County recently released an interim expansion report from their Marine Division, which states that taxis could move passengers from Pier 50 (downtown Seattle) to Shilshole Marina.

The report states that both Pier 50 and Shilshole require “minimal” amount of work to become operational. At Shilshole there would need to be work done to the dock for loading and unloading purposes. There would also be the addition of ticket machines, signage and some security hardware.

The route would cost the least to become operational compared to other routes, which include from Kirkland (Marina Park) and Kenmore (Log Boom Park) to the University of Washington (Waterfront Activity Center).

Last year the King County Marine Division developed a strategic plan that would layout water taxi services for the next three to five years. The plan identified partnering with other transportation services to increase financial stability for water taxi operations.

So why Ballard?