September 22nd, 2010 Meeting Summary
-- see also the
August 25, 2010 meeting summary
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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)
2.
Park Tree Inventory and Plan - Michael read part of Ella Elman's
status email. She and her team have counted over 3000 trees,
skipping certain "restoraton areas", such as the wetland just east of
the turf soccer fields, and Snag Row. She also proposed leaving
the aspen grove unsurveyed but delineated ("over 1000 stems per acre").
Another area, along the southeast edge of the Dog Meadow, she decided to
leave unsurveyed, though she noted that it was in need of some
restoration.
3. Brush/Dirt Piles - Norah is wanting to clean up
the dirt piles and compost pile area that is immediately east of Lot D.
There are several piles of dirt that were removed from the ballfields
that were converted to Field Turf. She's concerned that these
piles are an attractive nuisance, and she was proposing getting rid of
them as soon as possible. Some of the dirt might be used to fill
in holes in athletic fields. The rest would be trucked down to
Renton.
There are also a couple of older large piles of dirt, and these may be
removed too.
The piles of ground rubber mixed with sand will need to go to the
landfill. This will be costly (~$10,000), but there really doesn't
seem to be an option. This material was removed from around the Climbing
Rock (they replaced it with a shredded wood material which doesn't get
so compacted).
The dump stations for compostable materials will be moved near the new
maintenance shed at the east end of the park, sometime in 2011.
There was a bit of discussion about what to do with this very weedy site
once its use a dumping area is over. It is a prime spot, with
awesome views of the park. Norah believes that the old Master Plan
called for a picnic shelter there. Michael has noted that the ugly
piles have traditionally been very good spots for finding birds, though
that fluctuates possibly with the species of weeds, etc. Finding some
way to turn it into an attractive native garden would be wonderful.
4.
CIP / Project Updates:
a.
BirdLoop: The bicycle racks have been installed, but still need
work before they are functional. Michael noted that they look more
like art than bike racks, and people may feel reluctant to use them as
racks, or may even not recognize that they are racks at all.
The owl nest box has been installed southeast of the mansion (between the
mansion and the stage, close to the old box that was removed). One
idea is to try and get a webcam of the box. Norah also suggested the
same for the osprey nest north of the velodrome.
b. Maintenance and Art Barn Renovation –
exterior painting is in progress.
c. NE Marymoor Way Paving Work - Work order in for
centerline painting. Hopefully will be completed this year, but it
will be done on whenever the crew has a spare half-day, rather than as a
scheduled work item.
e. Garden Loosestrife Control Project –
Spraying has been completed for the year, and appears successful (though
that won't really be able to be determined until next year)
f. Pet Garden - Gardeners Association will plant shrubs
to block openings on October 23. 2-3 plants will go into each opening
in the wall. Jack brought a photo of an old bit of pipe that needs to
be removed from in front of one of the openings, and Norah said she'd try to
get that done.
g. Community Gardeners Association - will hold their Fall
Clean-up on October 23.
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. This year's work will stop
before winter water levels rise - (Nov. 1 or Nov. 15, Norah thought).
i. Stage Seating Area - No plans at this point to
expand the hard surface. The paved center pathway and the grassworthy
seat carts saved 10 hours per set-up, which was a significant savings.
5. Events:
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Friday, 9/24 Microsoft Day of Caring - 60+
volunteers will work on removing blackberries along the
Sammamish River near field 5
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Sunday, 9/26 Gold's Gym Fitness in the Park - At
the velodrome picnic area. Gold's Gym Northwest invites
the public to take part in a community-wide outdoor workout,
from 10:00a.m. to 11:30a.m. Face painting and other fun
activities for children will be available during the program.
See
http://redmond.komonews.com/content/get-fit-marymoor-park
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Tueday, 10/5 Clise Mansion Open House - for those
considering renting the mansion facility for a wedding or other
event. The open house will run 5:30p.m. - 7:30p.m.
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Saturday, 10/9 S.O.D.A. Hog Fuel Workparty - this is the
biggest dog area work party of the season, and they will be
spreading those huge piles of hog fuel onto the paths. Big
group expected.
5.
Other:
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Michael brought up a series of things. One was and idea for a
project for FOMP - A beautification of the windmill (currently
looking very ratty, with a crumbling brick wall, a mess of weeds,
and a lamp fixture falling off the side). Norah said that
Parks would actually be able to address these issues
But this led to a further discussion about how to (a) raise money
for FOMP, and (b) increase interest in FOMP with the goal of
attracting a few more committed volunteers. Michael suggested
having a booth at next year's concerts. Norah indicated that
booth space is limited, but that there would definitely be space
within the King County booths for a FOMP representative. This
could be a good place to showcase what FOMP has accomplished, show
what we're trying to do, and raise some money through a donation
box. Concerts and other special events often draw a
substantial number of people from Seattle and other outlying areas.
To try to find volunteers, Christina suggested a booth at the movie
nights, and maybe at things like the youth soccer games and the
Russian festival.
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Norah has responded to a researcher at MIT who is wanting to install
a demonstration station where dog poop can be deposited into a
digester that then generates methane gas to be used as fuel.
One of these demonstration stations has been installed in a park
back east (Boston?), and the researcher is looking for a few other
cities. Marymoor would seem like an ideal choice.
Corn-based poop scoop bags would be used in place plastic bags.
Scooped poop would then be dropped into the digester, where the bag
and poop would be turned into compost and gas. The gas would
be captured for use as a fuel.
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Norah also mentioned again that Marymoor will be at the end of the
pipeline for reclaimed water from the Brightwater treatment plant.
This water will be used for irrigation of sports fields, etc.
The pipeline will run along the Sammamish River Trail, so 60 Acres
will also be able to use the water.
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One of the FOMP Board members, Christina, will be taking a class
Wednesday nights for most of the next year. WE WILL BE
CHANGING THE DAY OF OUR MONTHLY MEETINGS. At this point, it
appears that at least through May, we will be meeting on the 4th
THURSDAY of each month. If this is a problem for anyone, please let
me know immediately by emailing BirdMarymoor AT gmail.com.
Next Meeting:
THURSDAY October 28, 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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