January 26, 2005 FOMP Meeting Summary

Friends of Marymoor Park

January 26th, 2005 Meeting Summary

FOMP 1/26/2005

1. Special Events

Pacific Rim Sports Summit - June 8-12 Softball, bicycling, and archery will be held at Marymoor. The north section of the park, from the east entrance to west of the velodrome, will probably be fenced to control admissions. It may impact the model airplane field access. Security arrangements have not yet be developed, and further restrictions may be forthcoming. Use will be heavy during the event.
Movies in the Park - Produced by King County using the concert venue. Dates to be determined.
Cirque de Soleil - Marymoor is a favored site for them, for Spring, 2006 (April and May). Placement would be in the NW corner of the park, and a pad would need to be installed there on which the tents would be placed. Capacity would be 1600-1800 people. Cavalia, another production troupe, may follow Cirque. Looking at a 5-10 year agreement.
Music Festival - Capital Sports and Entertainment wants to do a festival in July, 2005. This company produces the Austin City Limits Music Festival, and they want to do something similar here. Festival size would be similar to WOMAD, with 20,000-40,000 over 2-3 days. This would be on the grass soccer fields east of the historic district, where the Luis Pulau Festival was held (plus fields 7,8,9). If this event transpires, it would probably be a multi-year deal.

Neighbors raised issues about traffic, noise, dust, etc. associated with ALL of these events (individually and cumulatively). This will be something that FOMP focuses on.

2. Chinook Book Fundraising - Community Garden group entered into an agreement with FOMP and Chinook Books for fundraising, and sold 40 books, making over $300.

3. Starbuck's Grant - Offering a neighborhood parks grant program ($1,000,000 total). Previously, FOMP has realized several thousand $$$ from Starbuck's over the last few years. Organizations can apply for and receive grants for a large variety of projects. March 25th deadline. See http://www.starbucks.com/aboutus/grantsparks.asp and contact Greg Helland to coordinate.

4. Pet Garden - A pet memorial garden would be installed at the east end of the Community Garden area. Large demand exists from the hundreds of off-leash dog area users whose dogs loved Marymoor. FOMP & KC Parks grant has been applied for - $24,000 to cover development of the garden - with a Urban Reforestation Grant program (county/state/federal)

5. East Lake Audubon Society ADOP Presentation - Tim McGruder - ELWAS is working with KC Parks on an ADOP agreement to adopt the East Meadow, Interpretive Trail, and the slough trail to form a Marymoor Park Birding Loop. ELWAS is interested in this loop because of the high number of bird species seen along the loop (~180 species), the rich diversity of habitats along the loop, and the general interest level among the birding community. Marymoor has recently been featured in two guides to birdfinding in Washington.

ELWAS would like to install interpretive signs, extend the boardwalk approximately 100-150 feet to cover the section of trail that is frequently under water in winter. ELWAS would also like to upgrade the boardwalk to barrier-free accessibility for wheelchairs (ADA compliant). Additionally, ELWAS would like to expand the lake viewing platform to about 200 sq. ft. with one or more benches. An informational kiosk in or near the Interpretive Lot and another in the South Lot and a series of directional signs to guide walkers around the loop would also be part of the proposal. Additional protections for the East Meadow would also be included, with changes of status, new fencing, and work to remove non-native plants and replace them with natives.

Greg asked about prioritizing these tasks, since this is a lot of work. Tim replied that some of these items may fall outside of the realm of an ADOP and may be handled through CIP or other channels. The above-mentioned Starbuck's grant is something that should be looked into. Starbuck's also has employee work-group parties that might be available for deveg-reveg projects in the East Meadow. Jobs for the Environment was also mentioned (or other similar orgs) as possible resources for "heavy lifting". The boardwalk improvements and lake platform work, if started soon, may be able to leverage the recent environmental reviews done for the recent platform reconstruction.

Bobbi suggested that ELWAS may want to find a corporate sponsor who would be recognized on some of the signs in exchange for a yearly contribution to the upkeep of the birding loop.

6. Capital Projects

Development Criteria Update - Neighbors, especially, raised the issue of evaluating income generation and prioritizing events such that some underperforming events might NOT be held just to cut down on special events. As part of the ELWAS ADOP discussion, the issue of use zones was raised.... The DC process is being revised and is getting close to being finalized. Several projects will be guinea pigs and will be test-run through the system to check how it all works. Steve asked about whether some time limit mechanism might be instituted to
"Tennis court" restroom will be opened in about a month. Subway is due in or around April. Permitting is beginning for the velodrome restroom, which could be opened by fall. The velodrome restroom will be the same design. Currently no concessionaire has been identified for the velodrome restroom.
South Lot ADA improvements
Artificial turf soccer fields - conceptual plans are being drawn up for a seven-field complex. However, only four fields will be built at first. Norah will bring plans as soon as they are available
Several concessionaires have contacted KC Parks about pet-oriented commercial projects located in/near the dog area. Nothing specific is in the works yet.
For the PRSS, 4 white poplar trees would need to be removed from along ballfield 8 to allow placement of bleachers. Replacement trees would be planted after the event, maybe different kinds of trees, and maybe in somewhat different locations (so that bleachers could be placed again in the future). Bellevue has given approval on condition that FOMP gives written OK to the idea. Replacement trees would be sizable and/or more than 4 trees.

7. Other business

The Community Gardens is wanting a 6' fence along the south edge of the gardens to keep dogs out. Michael requested that they consider a 5' fence instead of 6', because of view issues.
The KC Landmarks Commission is considering a request from King County to install the necessary seasonal fences, tents, towers, etc., in the concert venue area to support the 2005-2008 seasons. At a meeting in January, the mood on the commission seemed to be against approving this request. The commission does not have final word on this, however, and the King County Council has the ability to approve these facilities should the commission say no. There will be a public hearing before the KC Landmarks Commission on Thursday, February 10, 2005 at 7:00 p.m. at Clise Mansion, Marymoor Park.

The next meeting will be February 23, 2005.

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.

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