Friends of Marymoor Park

August 25th, 2010 Meeting Summary

-- see also the July 28, 2010 meeting summary

  1. Introductions:

Norah Gaynor (King County Parks), Herb Bone (MAR/C, FOMP Board),  Jack MacKinnon (Marymoor Community Gardener's Association), Allison Brucker (MCGA), Christina Merten (MCGA, FOMP Board), Michael Hobbs (Eastside Audubon, FOMP Secretary), Greg Helland (SODA, FOMP President), Ella Elman (EarthCorps, Eastside Audubon)

2.     Park Tree Inventory and Plan - The tree inventory will encompass the Historic District, the Active Zone, and parts of the Passive Zone (specifically, most of the Dog Area, and the area north of the Dog Area)

EarthCorps will visit each tree, identify its species, measure its height and diameter, make a general assessment of it's health, and mark it's location using GPS.  During the winter, EarthCorps will develop a tree plan that will consider current tree conditions and numbers, and natural regeneration or lack thereof.  A landscape architect will be brought it to consult.

Greg, after having talked with the state, reiterated that all of the work, and all of the paperwork, must be completely by June 30, 2011.The state would also like billing to be handled on a quarterly basis.

Ella will send a work schedule to the Board, and has invited people to join them on their monitoring.

3.   Sammamish Transition Zone Mowing  - August 26-September 1.  As per the usual directions from the Corps of Engineers (ostensibly as part of flood control) the area along the slough, stretching north from the weir for approximately 200 yards, will be mowed.  This year, the west bank will be mowed.  They always leave a very narrow strip of vegetation along the actual watercourse.

4.   CIP / Project Updates:

a.      BirdLoop:  A new Barn Owl nest box will replace the old one near the concert venue.  It will be placed on a tree near where the existing box is hung. The existing box will be taken down.  It's hoped that the survival rate will be higher with the new box and box placement.

b.      Maintenance and Art Barn Renovation – exterior painting is temporarily on hiatus as resources are shifted to another county project.  It will resume when that other project is completed.

c.   NE Marymoor Way Paving Work - Work order in for centerline painting.  Hopefully will be completed this summer.

e.      Garden Loosestrife Control Project – EarthCorps got a grant from King County to survey and map the infestation of Garden Loosestrife, an invasive yellow flower, prior to control efforts.  This will allow an assessment of the efficacy of the control methodology.  EarthCorps found that the infestation covers 23 acres, which is less area than was believed.  However, the infestation is severe, with approximately 100 stems per square meter in places.

They also did some surveying of other species in the area, so that they can measure any negative effects on species other than loosestrife.  Ella noted that, especially in the more isolated areas, there is also a lot of Purple Loosestrife.

Michael remarked that previous efforts at controlling Purple Loosestrife had seemed to allow increased infestation by Garden Loosestrife.  Ella made the point that, where large areas are denuded by pesticides, large-scale planting of native wetland species would be imperative.  Otherwise, the treated area would lilkely be taken over by such species as Reed-Canary Grass.

g.   Pet Garden - Gardeners Association will plant shrubs to block openings in the fall  On August 27, a volunteer work party from Expedia will pull weeds in the Pet Garden.  35 people are expected.  They will return on September 10, either to complete work at the garden, or somewhere else in the park.

h.      Sammamish  Rowing Association boat house – Grading and utility work is underway.  Half of the parking lot, and the entire access path are closed for construction.  A path has been mowed through the meadow north of the ponds to allow pedestrian access to the old boathouse during construction.  Much or all of the tree removal has been completed, and some of the mitigation work has commenced.

i.    East Lake Sammamish Trail - Greg brought in a copy of the Record of Decision, a determination by the federal, state, and county governments.  The Preferred Option was chosen, which Greg believes calls for the trail to follow the rail corridor.  This determination will allow further development of the trail to proceed.

j.    Stage Seating Area - Evaluation of asphalt path vs. full hard surface.  New chair racks with larger tires are making a big difference in chair set-up.  Norah has also been acquiring chairs with larger legs, less likely to fall into holes.  Anti-mole treatment has cut down on holes.

5.   Events: 

  • Note that the Sammamish Kennel Club dates have been revised.  In some earlier event schedules, the dates were wrong.  SKC will be holding their event August 26-29.  To accommodate the AKC event, the Slavic Festival has been moved to the Concert Venue.
    As part of this, LOT D WILL BE CLOSED ON SATURDAY, AUGUST 28.  This is the South Lot, the main Dog Area lot.

  • Cirque du Soleil - May return to Marymoor as early as 2011.

  • A few events were rained out recently and were rescheduled into September.   See the Events page for details.

6.       Other:

  • One of the FOMP Board members, Christina, will be taking a class Wednesday nights for most of the next year.  So we're considering changing the day of our monthly FOMP meetings.  Board members and others interested in attending the meetings can email Michael (BirdMarymoor AT gmail.com) with days of the week that could / could not work for them.  He will try to find the best day.  Thursday has been suggested.  Meetings would still be held during the 4th week of the month - it's just the day of the week that might change.

 Next Meeting:  Wednesday September 22, 2010, 7:00 – 9:00pm. Marymoor Art Barn.  

These notes were made by 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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