August 24th, 2005 Meeting Summary
-- see also the
June 2005 meeting summary
1. Introductions: One new face - Laurie Clinton - new volunteer coordinator
for KC Parks
2. Current Capital Projects
- Recreation and Event Area - currently in permitting process. Has
received a mitigated Determination of Non-significance. SEPA
requires that a number of issues be considered as to what impacts a
project will have - water, air, traffic, historical heritage, etc.
Once this analysis is done, mitigation measures are considered, and
a determination is made as to whether the mitigated impacts are too
significant. In this case, the determination has been made that the
are not too significance. For this project, comments on this
determination are due by Friday, August 26th, 2005.
Greg's reading indicated that storm water would be one of the more
significant issues. Water will be drained through storm drains placed in
the pad and directed to a bioswale southwest of the pad. Another issue
is soils. The existing soil is not suitable for structural use, and a
large amount will be removed. Some will be cached in the park for other
uses; most will be hauled away. Jack mentioned that some might be useful
for the strip between the Community Gardens and the Pet Memorial
Garden.
- Velodrome Restrooms - Construction will start in September, sharing
the construction window of the REA. Should be finished by December. Plan
and footprint are the approximately the same as the recently-built
"tennis court" restroom (concession area will be 2 feet longer). Design
will have some upgrades from that earlier building. During construction,
water and power will be extended to the nearby picnic shelter.
- Synthetic Turf Fields - Construction of the four turf fields
replacing the four "all-weather" dirt fields is scheduled for late
spring 2006. All fields will be closed and remodeled simultaneously.
Target opening is for fall 2006 season. Vis-a-vis the fencing issue that had been discussed several months ago
at a FOMP meeting, the seemingly unnecessarily large amount of fencing between
fields will allow use for lacrosse. The minimum required for lacrosse will be
used. Greg was concerned about the height and extent of the fencing. Greg
suggested that a removable netting that might be winched up for lacrosse usage,
but that would normally not be up, might be desirable, even if it needed to be
up for a whole season at a time.
- Ruff House - the dog washing concession - Norah did not have an update; last
month they said they were hoping for next spring.
- Wi-Fi and Automatic Light System - Wi-Fi is up and running, though there have
been a few hitches. The system will be leveraged to allow automatic control of
lighting (for both security and athletic field lighting). This will allow remote
administration over the internet. Hopefully this will result in reduced expenses
of sending people over to reprogram control boxes, as well as providing
additional control. Hopefully will be ready for winter season, and maybe even
the end of the fall season.
- The Dasani Bicyle Program kicked off. This provides free bicycle "rentals" at
the velodrome. Cyclists need to remember to bring their own helmets. More
information is available at
http://dnr.metrokc.gov/dnrp/press/2005/0817BlueBikesprogram.htm. Parks is thinking of
moving five of the lockers to one of the bus parking spots in the tennis court
lot, providing easier access to the Sammamish River Trail (especially during
construction activities for the event pad). Redmond Cycle is performing the
maintenance on the bicycles.
- Sammamish River Trail - has received a DNS for plans to widened (2 feet of
gravel, 1 foot of pavement) the trail from Marymoor to Hollywood area. Our
recollection is that this will close the trail for a while, though nobody knew
details.
- East Lake Sammamish Trail - Groundbreaking was held on July 30. A contractor
is being selected currently. Gravel surface work will begin in mid-September;
master plan for a paved trail will go to the council in 2006. The trail will be
opened as a gravel trail pending approval.
- Maintenance Building - groundbreaking will begin this fall, but Norah did not
have a date. Mitigation work is pending. 3. Vegetation removal at the Rowing
Club parking lot - Blackberries are being removed from both sides of the chain
link fence that separates the parking lot from the road. This is being done at
the recommendation of the police department as part of work to deal with a
rampant car prowling problem in that lot. Barbara is concerned that the
neighbors will be inundated with headlight glare this winter. The inherent
conflict between the desirability of screening the lot for aesthetic reasons and
removing screening for security reasons was discussed. The parking lot
improvement plans call for screening the lot... Greg suggested that the
situation might want to be examined this fall.
3. Event Updates 2005 - New item - Sharon's Ride.Run.Walk for Epilepsy,
Sunday September 25. See the events page for more information. Also newly added
to the events listing is the Star Crossed Cyclocross (Sunday, October 1), an
annual event.
4. Control-line Model Activities - that is, flying gas or electric model
airplanes tethered to the human operator. There were 3 designated flying areas until the
very early '70's, and there is a move to reestablish this usage. Entailed is
construction of a circular flying area with a paved central hub where the
operator stands with a control line connected to the plane. There is also a
paved runway. Herb, from MAR/C, discussed that the problem with control-line models is that
the planes fly in a circle and are very noisy. It is an annoying noise,
since from any vantage point, the noise is repetitive RAUWwwwwRAUWwwwwRAUWwwwwRAUW. The old location, Herb pointed out, is
particularly unsuitable both from a noise and a safety perspective. Michael
voiced his concern about noise, citing existing model airplane use as being
already a significant detractor to birdwatching. Michael also expressed concern
about placing this activity near the Osprey nest as it could be disruptive for
the birds.
5. Other:
- Salmon fencing went up in the dog swimming areas along the river
about 10 days ago, and will remain up until around November 15th.
- Michael raised
the issue of dogs swimming at the first fishing access south of the dog area.
Greg will talk with SODA about whether a sign can be put up there.
- Barbara asked
about the red trailer at the Rowing Club; it contains some of their gear used
for regattas, and it keeps it safer than it had been when out in the open.
Next meeting: Wednesday,
September 28, 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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