Friends of Marymoor Park

November 16th, 2011 Meeting Summary

-- see also the October 26, 2011 meeting summary

1. Welcome and Introductions:

Glenn Eades – Eastside Audubon; Christina Merten – Marymoor Community Gardens, FOMP Board; Greg Helland – SODA, FOMP Board; Norah Gaynor – King County Parks; Herb Bone – Marymoor R/C Club, FOMP Board; Harley Sheffield – Marymoor Velodrome Association; Michael Hobbs – Eastside Audubon, FOMP Board

2. Day of Caring Tree Planting projects:

At last month's meeting, two large areas near the mansion were identified as being appropriate for additional tree planting.  Norah submitted the maps of suggested planting areas the the county for their respose.  From a historic perservation perspective, planting in those areas would be fine. From an archeological standpoint, based on proximity of known archeological sites, they recommended test holes every 10 meters.  Although Norah has not yet asked for an estimate of costs for doing these test holes, she did cite the cost of previous work done at the park  Six test holes were previously dug and analyzed for a water supply project, and the cost was more than $2500. The areas around the mansion comprise 2 plots, each about 250’ long, 125’ wide – this would probably require 40 holes or more, total. The goal was to get an area pre-screened for archeological purposes, so plantings could be conducted over several year without having to be individually analyzed. However, if the archeological screening costs $8000-10000, unless a grant was available, prescreening the planting areas is not feasible.

In the short term, Norah will move the 3 cedars that were deemed to have been planted in a bad spot to a non-sensitive location, just to get them moved while they still can be moved.

She also wants to get the dead elm removed from south of the windmill, and she will be having the firs, located just west of the stage, evaluated. Greg and Michael asked about snag possibilities, but Norah wasn’t sure they were appropriate locations for leaving snags due to both safety and aesthetics.

3. Off-leash area issues:

A woman’s dog was bitten by another dog a week or two ago, and it raised the question of whether there should be signage about what to do if a dog bites. Currently, there’s no information about what to do after an incident. Concern was raised that posting too many rules/regs would actually put the county at more risks of lawsuits. After much discussion, the suggestion that drew the most approval was to add wording something like “Report vicious dogs to King County Animal Control at 206-296-PETS” Greg also suggested that SODA send an email to their members reporting the incident and supplying information to their members about not bringing vicious dogs to the park and how to deal with an incident. Norah said she’d pass that suggestion to SODA for their consideration.

4. CIP/Project/Facility Updates:

a. Birdloop – With the new trail reroute around the model airplane field safety buffer, questions remained about signage.  After a lot of discussion, Herb suggested that a temporary sign be placed on the temporary barrier on simply stating "Stay on the new trail" with a leftward arrow.  At the north end of the reroute, there should be a permanent, official BirdLoop sign with a right arrow, prominently on a post, to guide people south.  That's because there is a fork in the trail there, with a well established volunteer trail continuing east to the MAR/C parking lot.  Norah wanted to know if Eastside Audubon had a spare BirdLoop sign that could be used there, or if they could provide a graphic.

That volunteer trail also forks, with one branch heading southeast into the model airplane flying area.  Norah had proposed a sign boldly stating "NO PEDESTRIANS PAST THIS POINT - Model Airplane Flying Field Ahead" for this southeastern volunteer trail.  It would not really be possible to block off access to the model airplane flying area, however, as there are many access points.  [I don't recall what conclusions were reached regarding signing that location]

b. Community Garden – Christina did not have final numbers for just how many pounds of produce had been contributed to the HopeLink food bank, but it was a new record.

c. Boathouse project – see http://sammamishrowing.org/newboathouse  Foundation work is proceeding for the new building.

d. East Lake Sammamish Trail – Grand opening of the Redmond section was November 7.  Glenn pointed out that north end of the trail presents a predicament, as old railroad roadbed continues north of the official end of the trail, and deadends awkwardly at SR-520.  People will want to continue into downtown Redmond, but will be unable to do so safely.

e. Interpretive Lot (Lot G) improvements – Michael and Glenn suggested pushing the dirt into a roughly comma-shaped pile that rises gently to the east, providing a  place where one could walk to for views of the East Meadow and Mt. Rainier.  Everyone suggested using barrier cloth to cover the flanks of the pile to try to reduce weeds.  The dirt piles are exceedingly weedy at this time, with invasive thistle, poison hemlock, Himalayan blackberry, and many other weeds.  Glenn stressed that weeds escaping south into the East Meadow have been a major problem despite extensive work by Eastside Audubon volunteers.

f. North playground – Improvements scheduled for Winter 2011. Some updates/repairs to existing. Possible addition of tot-section and adult fitness equipment if funds allow. They will be generally implementing the recommendations made by FOMP a few months ago.

Next Meeting: Wednesday, January 25th, 7 pm, Art Barn.

These notes 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.