Friends of Marymoor Park

June 27th, 2001 Meeting Summary

-- see also the May meeting summary

Quick Find:
Marymoor Slough Project, Stool Beds
Special Events
WOMAD
Grant Requests
Dog Walking Services
Other Business

Marymoor Slough Project, Stool Beds

Doug Chin, Doug.Chin@metrokc.gov, from King County Natural Resources, gave a historical account of the slough through Marymoor, and presented plans for a project to reconfigure the slough to benefit salmon.

In 1964, the Corps of Engineers channelized the river for flood control purposes.  The weir (a sunken dam) was installed at that time to maintain minimum water levels in the lake.  The maintenance plan from the Corps called for periodic removal of all vegetation from the flood channel zone, just downstream of the weir, and along the banks of the slough through the north end of Marymoor Park.  Current environmental policies, including enhancement for salmon, bar such devegetation.

Some work has already been carried out to help salmon, including a reconfiguration of the weir, and plantings along the banks of the slough.  However, there is still a conflict between flood prevention and salmon habitat enhancement.

In order to deal with this conflict, and to enhance what has been determined to be an especially critical area for salmon, a plan is in the works to reintroduce meanders in the section of the slough immediately below (north of) the weir.  1400 feet of the river at that point will be twisted to the west then swing back to the east to make an S-shape, resulting in a new flow length of 2200 feet.

Some 37,000 cubic yards of grading will be necessary, with possible "disposal" of the excess fill at the northwest corner of Marymoor (just south of SR 520 and just east of the slough).

This project could start as soon as 2003, and will probably last for at least 2 "fish-window" seasons.  (All in-water and near-water work can only be done during the late summer, when there are no salmon in the river).  Some work away from water may be done outside of the "fish-window" periods.

There probably will be an interpretive trail built into the project.  Design of the whole project will probably be complete by the end of 2001 or 1st quarter, 2002.

There were some questions raised about the need for the project about its cost/benefit balance.

Stool Beds

As an adjunct to this project, a "stool bed" nursery will be built.  Originally planned for the meadow west of the weir, these beds will instead be installed south of the Rowing Club road in West Marymoor, on the property that used to have a house.  This work will begin in July, 2001.  Cuttings from cottonwood trees and several species of willow will be taken from trees and shrubs inside Marymoor.  These will be planted in damp beds at that site, and they will grow over the next several years.  During the slough revegetation following the slough reroute, cuttings from these plants will be used.

Special Events

Norah gave a heads-up about a pair of large picnics scheduled for August 5.

Norah also introduced a possible Special Event for 2002, the Luis Palau Festival.

This would be a free family church event, with concerts and an evangelical speaker.  Attendance would be 20,000-25,000 per day for a two day event.  The dates would be August 17-18.  The Luis Palau Festival, according to Norah, is a highly organized, church supported, event that has been hosted in several other cities.  Large churches would provide busses and shuttles from their church parking lots, so there would be less of a parking impact at Marymoor than for WOMAD.  Hours for the event would be 1-5 p.m.

There were LOTS of concerns raised about this proposed event.  The biggest is that there is PGA parking August 19-25, 2002.  This would mean that for 9 consecutive days, it would be difficult-to-impossible to park for "normal" uses of Marymoor, such as dog walking or tending to community gardens.  There was also concern about another loud event.  Greg Helland pointed out that the guidelines prepared by FOMP for special events calls for spacing of events so that normal usage is NOT disrupted for extended periods of time.  This event with the proposed date would violate that guideline.  The consensus was that the event might be OK for Marymoor if the scheduling could be changed.  September 2002, or August 2003 (when there is no PGA parking) were suggested. Even if they rely heavily on bussing, 25,000 people, at 50 people per bus, is still 500 bus loads each way.

WOMAD

Meg McHutchinson, from The Workshop, was again on hand to answer any questions from FOMP concerning this year's show.  Thank you Meg.  Here's some of what she noted:

• Metro shuttles from an Eastside location (or locations) is on tap for 2002, but not for this year.  Metro cutbacks make this impossible.  Meg is hoping for a corporate sponsor for next year.

• There will be camping on fields 7-8-9.  Neighbors who have concerns about off-site camping on nearby streets may be able to communicate directly with The Workshop during the festival, and they will relay to Redmond police.  Nobody was sure what laws exist vis-à-vis camping on Redmond city streets.

• There is a new noise ordinance (county?  Seattle?) which is very detailed, and will be adhered to.  Artists have been very explicitly informed of the ordinance requirements.  WOMAD/TheWorkshop will be doing better, digital, monitoring of sound, hopefully assisted by computer automation.

Grant Requests

Greg Helland announced that the FOMP board had approved $700 for a pressurized water tank and $500 for a traffic counter, but had tabled the request for $6000 for the LitterVac.  All three of these proposals came from Karl Kostel.  More details on them can be found under Grant Requests in the May meeting summary.

Dog Walking Services

Greg Helland introduced the issue of Dog Walking Services.  These services bring van-loads of dogs to the park, charging owners for the doggy outing.  These services had been a source of numerous complaints during 2000.  Norah reported that complaints were down significantly this year.  Greg discussed the voluntary restrictions and guidelines that the services had self-imposed in order to deal with complaints.  Apparently, these guidelines are doing the trick.

Other Business

Jack passed on to Greg Helland a request that dog walkers be reminded that the Community Gardens parking lot is for permit holders only.

Greg Helland announced that the Sammamish Kennel Club donated $350 to FOMP.  Thanks!

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.