Friends of Marymoor Park
 

March 22, 2023 Meeting Summary

-- see also the February 22, 2023  meeting summary

1. Welcome and Introductions:  Greg Helland, FOMP President; Chris Jordan, Marymoor Park Administration, King County Parks; Shane Berry, Cascade Music Collective; Shai Hinitz - MAR/C representative; Michael Hobbs, Bird Survey, FOMP Secretary; Glenn Eades, Eastside Audubon Bird Loop, neighbor;  Jamie Brown, Parks employee at Marymoor
   
   
2. Vandalism & Increased Night Activity:  Chris reported that there have been several instances of shenanigans at night: Partying and driving donuts; worst was trashing of the cricket fields.  Parks thinks it's mostly high school kids.   They are looking at some more elegant concrete blocks that will be as effective as EcoBlocks to keep vehicles contained.  Greg asked about security cameras - Chris replied that there is a lot of process involved in authorizing cameras.  Shai suggested signs saying there are cameras, just to scare people off.  Greg noted that the park is officially closed at night, so there should be no expectation of privacy at night.
   
   
3. Holi - Festival of Colors - Recap:  This festival returned for the first time since 2019 on March 18th. Attendance was much greater than organizers implied.  Parks was trying to cap attendance at something around 6000 people, but 10000 arrived n a 5-hour span.  This grossly exceeds the spring-time capacity of Marymoor.  It also grossly exceeds capacity of the street infrastructure in surrounding areas.  Cars were parked on all of the streets and many parking lots within several miles of Marymoor.   Shane also noted that the sound volume was high.
   
   
4. Cricket Stadium Update:  Recent article in the Puget Sound Business Journal implied that a Marymoor stadium was in the works.  Soon, there will be an article in the Seattle Times, and Greg suggested contacting them to get some balance in their coverage.   Chris reiterated that there is, currently, no deal with Major League Cricket.  There has been no movement with the transfer of land from City of Bellevue to King County Parks.  There are many areas of investigation before a cricket stadium could be approved.  Still nothing scheduled in terms of public comment.  Step one appears to be King County acquiring the property from City of Bellevue Utilities, and on if that were to be accomplished would be a feasibility study.  But if the county is intent on going ahead with a stadium, Shai is worried that (despite the potential of public comment), it might effectively become a done deal before public comment is considered.  Shai asked about whether FOMP should directly contact Claudia Balduchi, and there was general agreement that FOMP should do so.
   
   
5. CIP/Project/Facility Updates:
   
   a.    Eastside Audubon: Back into first-Saturday-of-the-month work parties, but attendence has been lower than pre-COVID.  Focus is on the East Meadow, pulling back a bit from pre-COVID realms.  Scotch Broom removal remains a high priorty  But European Hawthorn removal is also a focus.  Eradication is difficult with hawthorn, as they keep sprouting from the roots even if you cut them down.  As summer arrives, the East Meadow is off-limits due to nesting birds, focus will switch to Snag Row.  But EAS does not have large resources available to adopt additional scope from the Viewing Mound east.
   b.    Community Garden (MCGA): Preseason deliveries are arriving.
   c.    R/C Field (MAR/C): Swap meet last Saturday with 200 non-members in attendence.  They were able to send out notification to people telling them to arrive early due to the Holi festival.  Re: New buildings:  Geo-tech study held no surprises, so they are hoping there should be no issues in proceeding with final permitting, and with construction this summer.  Shai also noted that there is a lot of concern amongst MAR/C members about proposed cricket field.  Shai also asked whether there is any way to have a tree removed; there is a large cottonwood just south of the air strip that planes hit.  The belief is that, within the native growth area, there is no way to remove trees unless they are an immediate danger to people.
   d.    Off-leash area (SODA): The heronry has been fenced, and more than 50 pairs are back already
   e.    Cascade Mountain Collective (Concert venue): A new Box Office is being built, and should be finished within the next week or so.  Hoping that they can get fiber optic cable to provide internet to stage, box office, food booths, etc., as part of the Ziply cable being installed to Clise Mansion and Parks buildings.  This can possibly been done quite inexpensively if done now.  Shane is working with their contractor, county, and if necessary Ziply to get this done.  Shane also mentioned a small additional fence section near the security gates (no FOMP objections), and to bring in a couple of their container buildings early (April) to provide a space for carpentry to be done (again, no objections).  Stage roof should go up mid-April and fencing in early April
   f.    Maintenance Items:
   
   1. Ziply fiber line has been installed towards the park office.
   2. Maintenance yard expansion is underway but some of the fencing won't be done until 2024.
   3. Water line replacement is scheduled for the nights of April 6th and 24th.
   4. Shai asked if grading can be done on the MAR/C parking lot.  For Lot G, Michael suggested speed bumps` on the N-S access section.
   g.    Park Office: Will be reopening mid-April, on Tuesdays and Thursdays.
   h.    Masterplan: General assessment and analysis is the next step.  Actually getting to hiring a contractor could be delayed.  Some concern that there may not be money to actually produce a masterplan.  Greg reiterated that FOMP can be a significant resource during the general assessment/analysis process, as well as later portions.
   
   
6. FYI:   Lake Hills/NW Lk Sammamish Sewer Upgrade Project - See updates at: https://kingcounty.gov/depts/dnrp/wtd/capital-projects/active/lake-hills-nw-lake-sammamish.aspx
   
   

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