September 22nd, 2004 Meeting Summary
-- see also the
August 2004 meeting summary
1. Introductions -
new attendees:
Judy - a new attendee, from Woodinville. She attended a King County Council
Town Meeting and is concerned about changes at Marymoor.
Jeff Shilling, event producer, interested in doing an event next summer.
2. Updates and Issues
A) Pet Garden - public meeting held Sept. 15th. Bobbi gave a
short presentation and had preliminary plans. Eleven people attended.
She handed out a draft advertising pamphlet. Bobbi is compiling oral
and written comments for presentation to management. Most comments
have been positive, though some people feel it is not appropriate.
Grants are being applied for; a consortium of non-profits (Community
Gardeners Assn., FOMP, SODA) will be the grant applicants and will manage
the project.
Some gardeners are unhappy with the development of the area, simply
because it will become a developed site instead of being open.
Some gardeners have also expressed reluctance to spend a lot of time working
on the new garden.
The project is still subject to review and approval by parks management.
B) North restroom - project now underway - contractor is onsite;
old restrooms are slated for demolition 9/23. New ones scheduled to be
completed within 90 days. These are new-concept restrooms with six
individual roomettes, all unisex, all with individual doors, etc. Two
will have changing tables, 2 are ADA-accessible. Concession stand will
be built on one end. Each unit has an electronic lock, allowing them
to be remotely locked to prevent after-hours entry. Lighting is on
timers as well. The building is set up so that half of the units can
be closed seasonally.
C) Development Criteria - project has been put on hold, as Robert
Foxworthy's contract hours have expired. More work still needs to be
done, including the development and refinement of a set of threshold
questions that must be satisfactorily answered for a project to continue to
be considered. This should allow some streamlining of the process,
since unsatisfactory projects will be screened out sooner in the program.
There should be at least one more round of meetings. Status should be
clarified within 2 weeks. FOMP feels strongly that this process needs
to be finished soon, and before any additional development occurs.
D) Soccer fields 7-9 Rehab - Radio-controlled watering system is
currently being installed in the grass fields north of the Interpretive Lot.
They sprayed it with round-up and will soon plow and hydroseed the area.
It will be ready for Spring of 2006. It is envisioned that this area
will be suitable for adult athletics and for large, corporate picnics.
Impetus for this work was a question of safety (the fields were in very bad
condition) and to attract the picnic events.
E) Covered Area near Climbing Rock - A portable, temporary canopy
had been set up southwest of the climbing rock to supply replacement picnic
areas lost to the concert stage. A new pre-fab picnic canopy is being
installed just north of the temporary canopy. Two ADA parking slots
are being added to the velodrome parking, and a paved ADA-compliant path are
being installed. The new shelter will have a concrete pad, a metal
roof, barbeque grills, tables, etc. There is no power or water
available. This shelter is reservable (typically $85 for a smallish
group on a weekend reservation). The shelter will be finished in six
weeks. The roof will be "Forest Green". A similar shelter can be seen
at
http://www.classicrecreation.com/ProductImageHighRes.asp?ProductID=4
The temporary canopy *may* be moved to near the tennis court restrooms
and play area.
F) Interpretive Trail Lookout - work has been completed. Two
new concrete piers were placed. The lookout is approximately 25'x3',
jutting out into the mouth of the slough. The far end rests on the new
piers. The lookout is wood with an extensive railing. The
decking is metal grating. Michael Hobbs alerted Norah that the deck
grating needs to be fastened down better at the point that the lookout
intersects the boardwalk.
3. New Proposals and Projects
A) Redmond Rotary would like to install 2-5 automatic defibrillators,
probably near some of the parking meters (a good choice, since they would be
available for maintenance). These kinds of units are already installed
in various county buildings, at the airport, etc. This would be the
first installation in an exterior, unguarded area. These units do not
need any special training for use. Additionally, Public Health is
offering training for park employees, coaches, etc. They are
investigating connecting an automatic notification to authorities when the
unit is opened.
Barbara also suggested having emergency alert sites added, perhaps in
conjunction. (These are installed in most college campuses, for instance,
and consist of a post with an emergency button, a blue flashing light, and a
communication phone).
B) ADA Parking Lot Improvements - Proposing to add 3 pairs of
paved ADA spaces to the South Lot, as well as near the Art Barn. These spots
need to be paved to allow safe operation of wheelchair lifts.
C) ELWAS Trail Adoption - East Lake Washington Audubon Society is
preparing a proposal to adopt the interpretive trail and East Meadow.
ELWAS would like the East Meadow, immediately east of the dog area, to gain
additional protection as an important conservation area (it's grasses and
forbs are different than in any other fields at Marymoor, and attract a
special set of birds). In adopting the nature trail, ELWAS would
provide guided nature walks and signage. ELWAS would like to install
more benches along the trail. A long-term goal would be to make the
entire interpretive trail accessible to wheelchairs. ELWAS would like
to modify the lake lookout platform to have a larger end viewing area.
Additionally, ELWAS would like to extend the official Interpretive Trail to
include the slough trail through the dog area, and to include a connecting
route along the snag row. ELWAS puts a priority on protecting some of
the riparian areas along the slough trail within the dog area, and is
proposing to fence some areas. ELWAS would also like to work to remove
Scot's Broom from the East Meadow, and English Ivy and English Holly from
the more forested areas along the trail. ELWAS will be coordinating
with SODA in hopes that they will become partners. ELWAS will then
bring the proposal to the County.
4. Other
A) Plan for the Park - Judy wanted to know whether there was a
plan for the park. Greg and Michael explained the history, including
the Master Plan, the conclusions of the Metropolitan Parks Task Force.
She then asked about ways to find out what's going on. Since almost
everything is discussed at FOMP meetings before it is finalized, these
meeting notes are a useful resource (http://www.marymoor.org/summaries.htm).
Also, the FOMP email list can be useful (contact Michael Hobbs,
birdmarymoor@gmail.com) to join.
B) Jeffery Shilling's Event. Jeffrey has provided support
for a wide variety of high-profile festivals, trade shows and corporate
events such as Bumbershoot, The Seattle Arts Festival, The Bite of Seattle,
Summer Nights at the Pier Concerts, CoffeeFest Tradeshows and Cirque du
Soleil. The non-profit 4D Theatrics wants to produce a celtic-inspired event (Northwest CelticFest) aimed generally (not just targeting
people of that heritage). There could be Highland Games demonstrations.
Another
of the events would be the Lowland Games, a participatory celtic-inspired
2-day event. Also, he would like to do a 5-a-side kilted
soccer tournament, and a Whiskey Barbecue competition (i.e. Irish vs. Scottish).
Would like to have a beer garden. Hoping for a weekend day date in
August 2005, and attendance of 1500-3000. This might become an annual
event. Limited food vendors.
Jeffery was interested in the kinds of issues that FOMP would be
concerned about. Greg provided him with the usual list: noise and sound, traffic and parking, limits on alcohol emphasis, family
focus.
Jeffery stated that he would continue attending FOMP meetings.
C) Focus on Redmond recognized FOMP's support of RASP's Poets in the
Park. Also, Marymoor was listed as a great place to meet, because of
the open spaces and history.
D) Concern about access to Marymoor West - Barbara says someone is entering the driveway just south of the Rowing
Club parking and driving around in the fields. She requests ecology blocks
or other methods to restrict vehicle access.
E) Rowing Club public meeting - 9/29 at 10:00 Redmond Public Council
Chambers - Public Safety Building. Public meeting for an appeal of the
determination of non-significance. The public is welcome, though only
the appealing party will be able to testify.
F) Star-crossed Cyclo-cross event at velodrome - Anne Lipe
recommends this one as being a great spectator event. October 2.
A report on last year's event is at
http://www.cyclingnews.com/cross.php?id=cross/2003/sep03/starcrossed03
The next meeting will be October 27,
2004.
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. |