Friends of Marymoor Park

May 23rd, 2012 Meeting Summary

-- see also the April 25, 2012  meeting summary 

1.    Welcome and Introductions: 

Norah Gaynor – King County; Sam Skenandore – Marymoor Community Gardeners Association;  Jack McKinnon –  MCGA; Michael Hobbs – FOMP Secretary and Eastside Audubon

2.  Event/Activities Updates - Norah presented a list of events that will have large traffic impacts and/or amplified music or speech.

• June 9: Flying Wheels Bicycle Event - expect traffic 6-10 a.m., and a few amplified announcements

• June 14: Concert: Primus - expect traffic 5:30-8:30 p.m. and 10-10:45 p.m.  Concert will run 7-10 p.m.  Venue capacity is 5000 people, which is typically 1200-2000 cars.

• June 15-17: Brewer's Festival - expect traffic 3-10 p.m. Friday, 10 a.m.-10 p.m. Saturday, 10 a.m.-7 p.m. Sunday (traffic expected an hour before to an hour after the event hours).  There will be stages with music through most of the festival, but the volume levels will be lower than for a concert.  King County Sheriff's deputies on-site.

• June 17: Ride to Conquer Cancer - expect traffic 10 a.m. - 6 p.m.

• June 21: Concert: B52s - expect traffic 5:30-8:30 p.m. and 10-10:45 p.m. Concert will run 7-10 p.m. Venue capacity is 5000 people, which is typically 1200-2000 cars.

• July 11: Movie in the Park: Grease - expect traffic 6:30 p.m. to dusk.  Movie will show at dusk; over at 10 p.m.

• July 15: Tri-Rock Triathlon - One way traffic through park, from East to West ONLY, 6:30 - 10:30 a.m.  Triathlon runs 6:00-9:00 a.m.

• July 18: Movie in the Park: Hugo - expect traffic 6:30 p.m. to dusk. Movie will show at dusk; over at 10 p.m.

• July 25: Movie in the Park: Crazy, Stupid, Love - expect traffic 6:30 p.m. to dusk. Movie will show at dusk; over at 10 p.m.

• August 3: Concert: Last Summer on Earth Tour - expect traffic 5:00-8:30 p.m. and 10-10:45 p.m. Concert will run 6-10 p.m. Venue capacity is 5000 people, which is typically 1200-2000 cars.

• August 4: All Day Music Fest: Vans Warped Tour.  15,000 attendees expected.  Traffic expected 9 a.m. - 11 p.m., parking will cover the entire park except Lot D.  Concert will run 11 a.m. - 10 p.m. on multiple stages.

• August 8: Movie in the Park: Moneyball - expect traffic 6:30 p.m. to dusk. Movie will show at dusk; over at 10 p.m.

• August 10: Concert: Dead Can Dance- expect traffic 5:30-8:30 p.m. and 10-10:45 p.m. Concert will run 7-10 p.m. Venue capacity is 5000 people, which is typically 1200-2000 cars.

• August 15: Movie in the Park: Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory (1971 version) - expect traffic 6:30 p.m. to dusk. Movie will show at dusk; over at 10 p.m.

• August 18: Concert: Norah Jones - expect traffic 5:30-8:30 p.m. and 10-10:45 p.m. Concert will run 7-10 p.m. Venue capacity is 5000 people, which is typically 1200-2000 cars.

• August 22: Movie in the Park: Raiders of the Lost Ark - expect traffic 6:30 p.m. to dusk. Movie will show at dusk; over at 10 p.m.

• August 26: Possible concert date

• August 29: Movie in the Park: The Princess Bride - expect traffic 6:30 p.m. to dusk. Movie will show at dusk; over at 10 p.m.

• September 1: Slavic Festival - expect traffic noon-2 p.m.  Festival hours 11 a.m. - 4 p.m.  There will be food, music, and dances from the region.

• September 5: Concert: Slightly Stoopid - expect traffic 5:00-8:30 p.m. and 10-10:45 p.m. Concert will run 6-10 p.m. Venue capacity is 5000 people, which is typically 1200-2000 cars.

• September 6: Possible concert date

• September 7: Possible concert date

• September 14: Possible concert date

• September 15: Possible concert date

Concerts - King County Sheriff's deputies on-site (usual 9-12 officers).  The sound level limit is 95 dB at 100 feet from the stage.

Neighbor Barbara Dickson is concerned that the Vans Warped Tour attendees usually camp out a the tour stops.  THERE WILL NOT BE CAMPING AT MARYMOOR.  Barbara is worried that they will try camping on side streets.  Norah has worked with the tour organizers to make sure attendees know there won't be camping available.  Attendees will get fliers informing them of places to camp away from the park, etc.

Other neighbors were horrified at a concert day lasting from 11 a.m. - 10 p.m.  They feel their house will be unusable for the entire day.  They report that, though they live 3 miles away, their windows rattle and they can hear the concert noise inside their house, and that noise levels are too high for them to listen to their own music within their home.  They asked that noise level limits be set lower.

2.  Grant Letter Review - Christina Merten

FOMP applied to King County for a grant to support the tree planting plan at Marymoor.  The FOMP grant fell short in preliminary review, and perhaps the decisive aspect was that the grant request scored too low on the Habitat / Forestry objectives.  Christina speculated that the money requested for archeological assessment of the mansion area planting sites may have been deemed not sufficiently related to Habitat / Forestry.  Norah suggested that there may be cultural grants that could cover the archeological assessment.  Christina mentioned that (what was Washington Land Conservancy) is doing a program related to carbon-capturing.  They may be a source of trees, which might free up resources for archeological assessment.

a) Reconfiguration of dirt piles near Lot G:  Dump pile reconfiguration started, but may be frequently interrupted by rain. Norah believes there is a boy scout who will do the split-rail fence once reconfiguration is done. Eastside Audubon will supply a seed mix of grass/wildflowers to be used on the dump pile ramp. Half will be hydro-seeded this spring, the other half in the fall. Cleaner dirt has been set aside to spread over the pile, with the idea that weed seeds will be buried under the clean top dressing.

b) Community Gardens:  Food bank plot will be getting going this weekend by MCGA. Tomatoes are going to be planted along the wall for the Pet Memorial Garden. They'll be doing a lot of invasive plant removal (i.e. buttercups) MCGA will be making a 20' demonstration flower garden between the Dog Area and the Pea Patch along the south edge of Pea Patch road. That will also be going in this weekend.

MCGA also expressed concern about portapotty use by non-gardeners. They're asking for a 2nd portapotty. Norah says Parks can provide a 2nd one, at least during the warm weather months. MCGA might be able to provide some money for it, but Norah said Parks will cover it at least for now.

c) Boathouse Project: 2nd floor has been installed, and outer walls are being roughed in.  See http://sammamishrowing.org/newboathouse.  The old, broken chain-link fence along West Lake Sammamish Parkway will be removed in the next couple of weeks.  There is no reason for the fencing to remain, and Redmond Police have asked that it be removed to allow better visibility of activity in the parking lot.  This might cut down on car break-ins.  Some bollards with reflectors may go in at several points to delineate road edge and entrances.  Previously, Barbara Dickson has complained about headlights from cars exiting the parking lot shining into the neighborhood.  Norah said she may consider a tiny bit of hedging of this problem continues, but nothing that would prevent visibility into the parking lot area.

d) Lot G Improvements:  Lot G and Lot D, have also experienced several car break-ins. These are happening during the day, and are usually smash-and-dash. They'll break a window and take things.  To help maintain visibility of cars, some blackberries have been removed from the Snag Row area along the north edge of Lot G.

e) North Playground Upgrades: North Playground improvements delayed because of funding complications, but it might begin in May. Should only take 2-3 weeks for construction.

Next Meeting: Wednesday May 23, 2012, 7pm Marymoor Art Barn

These notes 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.