Friends of Marymoor Park

July 24th, 2002 Meeting Summary

-- see also the June 2002 meeting summary

Status reports: Bobbi Wallace

  • Dock Rebuild:  Bill Schwartz sent plans to the Army Corps of Engineers mid-July.  The footprint of the dock will be changing, and that may slow up approval.  The Corps should respond in early August.  If the Corps requires a permit, things will have to clear DOE, and HPA, as well as DDES.
  • 20 Napcor Plastic Recycling Bins have arrived and have been placed around the park.  Contamination has already been an issue.  More Info.
  • Ballfields 3, 4, and 5 have been accepted and are now scheduled for second-season games.
  • Luis Palau Volunteer Group:  Over 400 volunteers came in Sunday, July 14, and were broken up into 4 groups which attacked various invasive plants on the Sammamish River and at the Community Gardens.  A group of 50 cleaned up the islands dividing Marymoor Way.  Great work!  Thanks to the local Luis Palau Prayer Rally volunteers and their group leader, Chuck Goodwin.
  • The Puget Sound Festival held a meeting concerning sound issues with Redmond, July 10th.  An agreement was reached on reducing concert volumes if complaints are received.  The compromise relies on cooperation between representatives of the PSF, Redmond police, and the park staff.

Special Events Report:  Bobbi Wallace

  • The Luis Palau Prayer Rally was held on Sunday, July 14, following the park volunteer project.  The rally drew 1,500 people.  It this group is any indicator, the Puget Sound Festival with Luis Palau in August should be successful.  This group left the park very clean and no complaints were received about any facet of the event.
  • The Skyhawks Soccer Jam held on July 13 drew nearly 3,000 participants.
  • State Patrol Softball Tournament: This was the first tournament scheduled on the new ballfields and it apparently went very well.
  • The Velodrome Association hosted a national competition July 12-14.

Upcoming Events: Joyce Williams

  • Movies in the Parks will do the Harry Potter movie as a fundraiser for FOMP on August 24th.  Gates will open at 7:30, with the movie starting around 8:45.  NEC parking should have cleared out before movie goers start arriving.  A $20 donation per vehicle will be suggested.  This will be supported by The Mountain and Seattle Weekly.  FOMP should have a presence.
  • Holiday Lights: Coming Thanksgiving, and running through the first week in January.  This is a different organization than the one which previously had a light show in Marymoor.  Entrance will be at the east end of the park, which will allow access to the west end while the light show is in operation.

August Access issues:

  • Evergreen Classic August 6-11: This event should have minimal impact on parking and access; it mostly just uses parts of the Interpretive Lot and all of the grass soccer field area.  The "cowboy" lot is used for spectator parking.
  • Luis Palau Festival August 17-18: Dog walkers, Community Gardeners, etc. should plan to arrive before 9:00 a.m. or not at all.  30,000-50,000 people per day are expected for this event.  While lots of busses are planned, this event has been very extensively advertised, and it is free.  Parking will consume all available space.  Access to the MAR/C model airplane field should be from the east only after 9:00 a.m.
  • NEC Golf Tournament August 20-25: Expecting 10,000 cars each day, starting at 6:00 a.m.  Best access for other park users is after 6:00 p.m. on weekdays, and after 7:30 p.m. on weekends.   Access at other times may be difficult, but should be possible.

King County Parks Crisis:

I cannot give a good summary of the discussions that followed.  They were wide-ranging, fast, and furious. Part of this discussion was in response to a request for feedback from King County Councilwoman Carolyn Edwards, who met with the Coalition for Parks and Pools (which has since been supplanted by the Friends of King County Parks) shortly before the July FOMP meeting.  Ms. Edwards was particularly interested in our ideas about policy statements that we'd be happy with.  I can simply share a few discussion points, in no particular order:

  • Emphasis on revenue generation will cause real and perceived changes in how regular or casual park users can use the park.  Special events can effectively close parks.  Commercial ventures consume park acreage that would otherwise be available for other purposes.  Park users who pay no fee may either feel that they have less standing than users who pay, or may be treated that way.
  • Non park-related uses of parks should be charged more aggressively than uses which are more in line with the park's missions.  For example, using Marymoor simply to park cars for a non-park event would be a nonconforming use which should be charged higher fees.
  • Possibly, more of the fee for nonconforming uses should remain within the park to mitigate the inconvienience.
  • Some events are park-consumptive - they effectively close the park for the duration.  Perhaps these should be limited to a certain number of days per month.
  • There is a distinction between endorsement and advertising.  People were much more comfortable with something like THE MARYMOOR OFF-LEASH DOG AREA sponsored by SODA and Petco, rather than THE PETCO OFF-LEASH DOG AREA.  Totally unacceptable would be an actual advertising billboard for PETCO - WITH 35 STORES IN WASHINGTON, YOUR PET SUPPLIER.
  • The above-mentioned rule might reasonably have exceptions in cases like the existing ads at the Velodrome.  Someone mentioned the old-fashioned hand-painted Little League outfield signs as potentially acceptable. [These traditionally were hometown businesses supporting their Little League team in exchange for outfield fence advertising; a bit different than if the signs are part of a multinational advertising campaign].
  • Marymoor Park should not bear the full burden of revenue generation for KC Parks.
  • Money raised inside parks should be earmarked for the Parks System.  Possibly some percentage should be tied specifically to the park in which revenue is raised.

It might be possible to get more information about recommendations by emailing info@fkcp.org.

These notes were made by the webmaster, Michael Hobbs, and they do not constitute an official record of the meeting.  They may have inaccuracies and omissions.  If anyone has any complaints about the content of these notes, they should direct them to Michael Hobbs at fomp@marymoor.org, and he will endeavor to correct them.  

 

Home | Mission | Members | Events | News | Maps | Getting There | Contact Us | Links | Search
Meeting Summaries |
Wildlife at Marymoor | Birding at Marymoor Park

Problems, comments, suggestions?  Email the FOMP webmaster at webmaster@marymoor.org