Minutes of Board Meeting: October 18, 2000, NSCC President’s Board Room

Present: Liz Kearns, Jerry Owens, John Meerscheidt, Bob Messina, Debra Willendorf, Jan Brucker, and Ellen Beck.

Absent: Wanda Fullner and Sheryl Stich.

Visitors: Leah Weathersby (Jet City Maven), Marianne Kastanas (friends of Mineral Springs/North Seattle Park), Harold Schmidt, Pam Larsen (City Light), John Labovitz (Historic Committee Chairman), Jenny Benz (Seattle Parks Department Urban Forester), Evelyn Lemon, Nancy Sharp, Joanna D’Asaro, Bert Bradley, and Wally Fosmore (NSCC).

President Liz Kearns called the meeting to order at 7:07 p.m., and those present introduced themselves.

Minutes: The September 20, 2000 meeting minutes were approved as presented.

Liz announced that she had received Randy Elder’s resignation. Randy has resigned as a director because he and his wife are going to buy a home in Lynnwood. Liz encouraged all directors to bring (director) nominees to our November meeting.

Treasurer’s Report: Debra Willendorf gave a Treasurer’s report showing the beginning balance of $891.92 as of January 1, 2000 and receipts and expenditures to October 16, resulting in the LSCC present checking account balance being $724.01. Our EIF account currently has a balance of ‑ $188.60, but Debra reported that the deficit will be paid off when we have received reimbursement for a Daily Journal of Commerce expense and also have submitted another bill for reimbursement which was previously overlooked. Our savings account has a balance of $11.60. Debra requested consensus allowing this account to be closed and the balance moved into our checking account. There was agreement to do so.

NEW BUSINESS:

Licton Springs Park: Jenny Benz, Seattle Parks Department Urban Forester, made a presentation to us concerning the plans for Licton Springs Park. She gave an overview of the Park and history of the reforestation program in the City of Seattle. She told us that the Urban Forest Restoration Program was established in 1994. The goal of the program is to assess citywide what exists and then identify projects for restoration. The goal is to eventually have a sustainable forest. Ms. Benz talked about the vegetation that exists at Licton Springs Park and answered questions. She had a drawing illustrating the Park and several trees close to the play area had red stars on them. She explained that these trees had been identified as hazardous and would be removed. She stated that the budget for the project, including the initial study was $70,000.00. [Note: This figure corrected downward to $48,000.00 by Jenny Benz subsequent to our meeting.]. Ms. Benz said that there would be opportunity for the community to have input on the project. The plan is to begin planting in the spring.

There is a public meeting to discuss the Licton Springs Vegetation Management Plan scheduled for November 2, 2000, from 7:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m., at Wilson-Pacific School, Room 307.

There is a work party scheduled for November 4, 2000. Parks people (including Jenny Benz) will be there, as well Tree-mendous Seattle people, and they will lead the work party volunteers in cleaning out invasives.

Jenny Benz noted that the bridges in the Park were scheduled to be worked on in 2002; any work that SPU does at the Park will take place in 2004-2005.

Jan Brucker noted that it was good to be using the Wilson-Pacific facilities for the November 2^nd meeting. She said that we should take every possible opportunity to have a presence at Wilson-Pacific.

Jenny Benz said that her original interest was in endangered species. She said that an awareness of wildlife would be incorporated into all the work she did. She noted that there were a lot of birds in the Park.

OLD BUSINESS:

Mineral Springs/North Seattle Park: Marianne Kastanas reported on how the project was going. She passed out “News from Friends of Mineral Springs/North Seattle Park” which highlighted current goings on. She also answered questions. There was some discussion about the Kelm house. Harold Schmidt said he was against selling the house and he didn’t think it had been done legally. Marianne said that the plans for the park included a proposed water feature that would use the foundation from the Kelm house as a sort of cistern. It was pointed out that the purchase contract required the buyer to fill in the foundation after removal of the house and the contract could not be changed after the fact.

Marianne mentioned that Ann Paisley had talked to the committee about her experiences in Lake City and how they managed to create Cedar Park from a former parking lot - years of hard effort paid off.

Historical Project: John Labovitz (telephone 851-1051), chairman of the Historical Committee, gave a report. Suggestions for sources of historical information were offered. He said that the proposed contract with Carol Tobin and Mimi Sheridan had been approved by the City and we were very close to having it executed. John said that next Thursday, October 26, 2000, there will be a community meeting in the President’s Board Room from 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. and Mimi and Carol are especially hoping to get access to old journals, diaries and photographs.

John told us that our consultants will produce (i) a written history of our area of about 20 pages; and (ii) a folded brochure (11” x 17”) that would be a combination of printed history, graphics, and photographs.

Community Planning: Jan Brucker passed out a memorandum directed to Liz Kearns and the Licton Springs Community Council from David Hemmelgarn (City of Seattle, ESD Facility Services) regarding City-owned properties in the Aurora-Licton Springs neighborhood planning area. Jan said that Board members should review this memorandum and it could be discussed at our December Board meeting.

Northgate: Jan Brucker handed out a flyer and told about workshops to be held October 26-28, 2000 and December 1-2, 2000. Jan urged interested people to attend these sessions, which are entirely open to the public. Discussion will take place regarding siting the public facilities for the Northgate area.

NSCC: Wally Fosmore answered questions about the College. He was given input on effects of putting the RPZ in place. It was reported that parking in the neighborhood had improved and ticketing is taking place. He said that the college has sold more permits for parking in their lots. The cost of these permits is on a sliding scale, depending on how many hours the student is taking, or the employee working.

Harold Schmidt questioned the cell tower the College was putting it. He objected to it and thought it would cause harm to residents.

Jan Brucker asked Wally is there were any plans for a performing arts center. Wally said that it was not on the horizon. He said that the Arts & Sciences Building remodel had been approved by the Legislature and the College was waiting to see if the $5 Million capital project funding would be approved in the next legislative session.

Wally told us that the Interim President of the College is Dr. James Ford. Dr. Ford had previously retired after being the president of Skagit Valley College. Wally said that former President Noble had been reassigned and the business manager had resigned after problems surfaced earlier this year. Wally explained that many items were involved in the financial problems of the College, but a large part had to do with offering too many classes spanning an overly broad time period. This required longer hours by the teachers and the enrollment did not increase as had been anticipated. He said part of the problem also had to do with a pay dispute with part-time teachers and a retroactive pay increase given to the part-time teachers. He said that the College was now offering the same range of programs as before, but fewer sessions. He said they had had to reduce grounds crews by 60 percent effective July 1^st. This was a problem because the areas to keep up have increased with the recent expansion. Maintenance crews have also been reduced causing a similar problem for the buildings.

An inquiry was made concerning the Indian Heritage students. Wally said that they were in three classrooms and there were a total of 65 students. He thought they were doing well. He noted that it had taken a big effort on the part of teachers and volunteers to get the Indian Heritage students and accompanying materials moved over to the College.

Alternative Sidewalks: Debra Willendorf stated she was interested in alternative sidewalks for 100^th and wondered who should be contacted. Jan Brucker explained that SeaTran was the place to start. A discussion followed about where alternative sidewalks can be seen.

Future Meetings: Randy Elder has communicated that we should invite Police Chief Gil Kerlikowske to one of our meetings. It was thought that the Police Chief should be invited to a larger forum. It was noted that Mayor Paul Schell was at the Maple Leaf Council meeting tonight. Discussion followed. It was suggested that we invite Mayor Schell to our November meeting and invite Chief Kerlikowske to a meeting arranged in conjunction with other communities.

Greenwood Park: Bert Bradley talked about the new Greenwood Park. He said that they were looking for volunteers and input. The greenhouses are scheduled to be demolished and the park is in an area fairly close to our neighborhood between Fremont and Evanston and 87^th and 90^th Avenues North.

Sierra Club: Brochures were available for an Urban Watersheds Forum to take place October 30, 2000, at REI on Yale Avenue. The forum will focus on Thornton Creek.

The meeting was adjourned at 9:00 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

Ellen M. Beck
Secretary

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