LICTON SPRINGS COMMUNITY COUNCIL

Board Representatives Present: Ken Thompson (Liaison to North Precinct), and Kathleen Braden (List Serve).

Visitors: Jean Wirch, Jan Brucker, Christian Rusby (Sustainability Coordinator at NSCC and heads up NSCC P-Patch Project), and Eric Johnston.

NSCC P-Patch. Christian Busby first presented news about the P-Patch at NSCC. He said that the Committee is applying for a $20,000.00 grant, for which the deadline is March 12, 2012. One thousand volunteer hours are required. A sign-up sheet was passed around. A Design Event will take place on Monday, February 27, 2012, from 6:00 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. A landscape architect has volunteered his time in facilitating a charrette.

Christian announced that the P-Patch Committee is looking for a physical sponsorship with an existing 501(c)(3) entity. He said he was comfortable with either Licton Springs Community Council or the P-Patch Trust fulfilling this role.

Christian explained that the P-Patch is a community project. The Sustainability Committee will sit on the “P-Patch Circle,” as well as representatives of the gardeners and community.

Seattle P-Patch Community will coordinate gardeners, provide garden support, deal with conflicts, and pest issues.

The approximate cost for P-Patch gardeners is $38.00 per year. Water use will be monitored. It may be necessary to connect to the main waterline at North 92^nd, but if that is required, a meter will be installed.

The P-Patch will be 10,000 square feet. A tool shed and places to rest/eat are planned. There will be allocated Food Bank plots, as well as plots for specific groups, i.e., students, veterans.

Jan Brucker suggested we could have a “Harvest Celebration” event. We could arrange for speakers, etc. It would be a community building event. Also, we could advocate for sculptures and other art pieces by SNCC art students.

Christian passed around a sign-up sheet for volunteer hours to help meet grant requirements.

LSCC 501(c)(3) Status. We had a discussion about consenting to the P-Patch’s use of our 501(c)(3) status. Liz told about grants received for Licton Springs Park, and Jan told about the grant received for the playground improvements installed at the Park. With grants, there are reports, accounting for hours, timeliness concerns, etc. We would need to have someone willing to take this on. Discussion followed.

It was decided that the P-Patch Project should use the P-Patch Trust, since the Trust is set up to handle situations like this. LSCC would be involved with projects connected to the P-Patch, i.e., artwork, the tool shed, etc.

Edie Whitsett Memorial. A memorial at Mineral Springs Park in honor of Edie Whitsett was discussed. It could be a plaque and/or harmonic chimes (permission may be required from the Parks Department). Jan agreed to do outreach.

Maple Leaf Letter. The February 7, 2012 letter from the Maple Leaf Community Council was discussed. It was decided that LSCC needs to be involved in the planning involving changes at Northgate in connection with light rail’s arrival. There should be traffic studies. It needs to be determined if studies have been done that could be included. It may be that if studies have been done, perhaps they have not been updated.

Blanchet High School Football Lights. Eric Johnston spoke to us about the 70-foot stadium lighting proposed for the football field at Blanchet High School. Eric is concerned that the impact studies are reported to be inadequate by the immediate neighbors who have taken the time to visit the Department of Planning and Development. He reported that his discussions, with members of the design team at the BBHS open house, seem to indicate that there was little or no assessment of the lighting on the dark skies of North Seattle or what the impact on property values by obstructing views from many homes. Eric said that the studies seem to be more concerned with how much light would spill on the ground a few feed from the field, rather than the broader impact on those walking Green Lake at night, or the many households from Phinney Ridge to Maple Leaf and Green Lake to Licton Springs, who will lose their ability to enjoy sunsets, views of the ridges and mountains ranges, because the banks of bright lights will be fixed in their field of view.

Eric also wonders if the school’s primary motivation is to support five to six night football games per year, why do they need a permit which specifically allows use until 10:00 p.m. five days per week and until 6:00 p.m. the other two days per week. He seems to think that they should simply be granted a permit to bring in portable lighting trucks and sound equipment for use on those days. Reducing the impact on thousands of people but still enabling them to support their program. Eric also told us about his efforts to launch a new website for neighbor to neighbor collaboration on issues such as this. Apparently there is additional information on this project published there and he believes it would be helpful if the community were to voice their concern by adding comments on this site. The site is http://OurHood.info. Eric hopes to get members of the design team to post supporting documents there and provide clarification regarding the project and the School’s intent, believing that having a central place for people to voice their concerns, on all sides of the issue will help to insure a better long term solution for our community.

Aurora Merchants. Jan reported attending a 7:00 a.m. meeting of the Aurora Merchants. She said there was a lot of discussion about the North Precinct and the potential of the Precinct being split into two Precincts. The Aurora Merchants are in favor of a precinct being located at 130^th and Aurora.

North Precinct. There was discussion about the North Precinct. It was agreed that the grassy area to the south of the North Precinct should be considered as the location for a larger North Precinct. LSCC needs to be more involved. What other options are being considered?

1 The November 16, 2011 meeting was cancelled. The January 18, 2012 meeting was not held because NSCC was closed due to the snow storm.