Friends of Marymoor Park

March 23rd, 2005 Meeting Summary

-- see also the February 2005 meeting summary

1) NRSN Grant for Pet Garden Plants

FOMP and Marymoor Community Gardeners and SODA applied for and were awarded a $24,000 grant from the Natural Resource Stewardship Network (the same organization which gave us the grant for the cottonwood snag reforestation project). Work began today. Initial work will involve a lot of soil work in an attempt to deal with the comfrey infestation. FOMP will also be applying for a Starbucks grant through their Neighborhood Parks Grant program. FOMP may also enter into an ADOP agreement with the county as a way to leverage additional grant money. ADOP agreements usually require the partner organization to have insurance (which FOMP does not currently have).

The garden plantings will be watered through an irrigation system (not connected to the Community Garden line).

2) FOMP grant request to support the Community Gardens food bank plots (six)

The Community Gardeners Association has six plots in which produce is grown organically and donated to the Redmond Food Bank. As has been done in previous years, they would like FOMP to help with the cost of these plots. The request for 2005 is $612. Greg and others suggested that this request may not be sufficient.

At the meeting, the FOMP board passed a motion to grant CGA up to $900 to use in support of their food bank plots.

3. Wi-Fi in Marymoor

There is a proposal to install a network of wireless access points throughout the park. It would create one of the largest public Wi-Fi access points in the country.

Each unit would be a 14” tall antenna with a small box. They would be mounted on existing buildings and/or poles.

Wi-Fi would be a boon for events like the Pacific Rim Sports Summit, and could be used for web control of lights, sprinkler systems, etc. It would also allow park users to access the internet from within Marymoor.

Bobbi believes it would be a free-access network, not a for-fee service. King County would pay for the hardware and installation.

Norah does not yet have a map of the proposed zones, but it would presumably would cover only the active and some of the passive areas of the park; there would presumably not be coverage in the conservation area.

If approved, installation would begin very soon, with a target date for completion in May.

The only significant concerns voiced were potential aesthetic concerns, and the small size of the antennas and their placement on existing buildings probably means there won't be a problem.

4. Upcoming Events

Dockdogs, the American Diabetes Association Bike Ride fundraiser, and the Walk Far for NAAR fundraiser will all be held on the weekend of May 20-22. The ADA fundraiser will feature a tethered hot air balloon.

Fireworks will not be held in Marymoor this year – instead, Redmond and Woodinville are working on a combined fireworks event to be held in Woodinville. So there will be no Fourth of July celebration in Marymoor this year.

Pacific Rim Update: Ticket sales are going pretty well. Japan has dropped out of softball, and they will be replaced by Canada. Track resurfacing is underway at the velodrome, with a target date of May 17. The track is closed during resurfacing. The velodrome will also be closed for the week before the Sports Summit through the games. Scrimmed fencing will encircle the softball fields beginning the week before the summit, though some installation will proceed during the weeks running up to the event. [Presumably there will be similar fencing around the velodrome area and the grass soccer fields west of the velodrome where the archery competition will be held.  The timeframe for this fencing is probably similar - some peripheral fencing going up in the weeks preceding the event, full enclosure beginning around Monday before the games, fencing removed shortly after the event].

5. Ruff House Dog Wash Proposal

There is a proposal for a commercial venture to install a dog washing facility at Marymoor.

The proposal is in two phases, with the second phase being installed if the demand is sufficient. Each phase would consist of a “manufactured home” building containing seven self-serve dog wash stations. The building would be hooked into the existing water and sewer lines. (The lack of sewer access may prevent placement of the facility in the Interpretive Lot). Target opening would be in September. Two sites are under consideration – either the northwest or northeast corner of the South Lot (the main dog-area parking lot).

The county is not planning to run this through the development criteria process because it has been in the works for a long time.

The northwest corner may have some issues because it is so close to the floodplain and the historical district. Aesthetically, the northwest corner is favored, since the northeast corner would leave the building sticking out in the middle of the field by the entrance to the dog lot. The building might be able to be styled somehow to make it look less like a mobile home, and plantings could be used to hide it.

The consensus at the meeting was in favor of Option 1, the northwest corner site. This might need mitigation work moving or replacing some bushes on that site, as the building would be placed adjacent to the parking lot, not on it.  A fence along the western edge of the parking lot was suggested to keep dogs within the lot. Possibly, a path would be created along the western edge of the parking lot to allow passage from the dog area to the dog wash facility.

The vendor is aware that the South Lot is closed for concert set-up and for concerts; this is OK with them, as they expect their peak business to be during spring and especially fall weekends when there is more chance of mud.

6. Other

Barbara Dickson is concerned with the number and nature of signs on the fence at Marymoor West, and wishes the number of signs and placement of signs could be adjusted to make the exterior appearance of the site. Greg suggested consolidating some signs.

Velodrome improvements (announcer's building and locker facilities) has passed Level 1 Criteria. It is part of the Marymoor Velodrome Association's  ADOP.

The Multi-use Event Area (the “Cirque de Soleil pad”) also passed Level 1 Criteria. What will follow is a site-selection process (the northwest corner is the presumed site, but other sites will be considered without prejudice)

The next meeting will be April 27, 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.