November 2001

October 2001

September 2001

Minutes of Board Meeting:
September 19, 2001
NSCC President's Board Room

Directors Present: Liz Kearns, Debra Willendorf, Wanda Fullner, J.J. Avinger-Jacques, Bert Bradley, and Ellen Beck.

Board Representatives Present: Ken Thompson (North Precinct Representative), Jan Brucker (Greater Licton Arts Council), and Wally Fosmore (North Seattle Community College).

Visitors: Dr. Ron LaFayette (President of North Seattle Community College), Liz Ellis (Certified Arborist, Seattle Transportation, NTS Urban Forestry, Landscape Services), and Brenda McDonnell.

President Liz Kearns called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m., welcoming everyone. We then went around the table and all present introduced themselves.

Minutes: The July 18, 2001 meeting minutes were approved as presented.

Treasurer's Report: Debra Willendorf submitted a written Treasurer's report showing LSCC having a balance of $491.84 as of September 18, 2001. Debra noted that we will again be receiving funding through Cynthia Sullivan's office for Newsletter costs. Debra and Ellen were questioned by Liz regarding their need for stamps.

NEW BUSINESS:

Dr. Ron LaFayette, President of North Seattle Community College. Dr. Ron LaFayette, the President of NSCC since July, introduced himself to the group. Dr. LaFayette has years of experience in the community college system, serving (i) for 15 years at Seattle Central Community College, (ii) at Spokane Community College, and (iii) at the State Board. He says he is very happy to be at North Seattle Community College. He envisions the College being a part of the community and wants everyone to work together. He wants the College to be looked upon as a community facility/asset.

Dr. LaFayette said that one of the first areas he saw needing attention at the College, were the College grounds. Staff and facilities employees all worked together to pull weeds and it made a big difference. Dr. LaFayette suggested organizing a once-a-year cleanup of Meridian by the College and the neighborhood. This suggestion was well received.

Dr. LaFayette also mentioned the Central Plaza being near completion. He acknowledged the hard work of Wally Fosmore on this project. Finishing touches are still being worked on, but he said that he would let the Council know when the dedication ceremonies would take place.

Liz Kearns noted that the North Park Committee had approached Elroy Christensen about participating in the planned sculpture project at the Park. She said the Committee and the Council were very pleased that Mr. Christensen is willing to take part in the sculpture project.

Wanda Fullner told about the Pillings Pond Committee's work to preserve the Pond for the community. She said that the Pillings Pond Committee had approached Seattle Community Access Network (SCAN) for assistance in making a promotional video. She said that they had gotten excellent assistance from Peter Lortz and Ellie Cauldwell. Wanda said the video was outstanding.

Dr. LaFayette said that the College was going to have a studio on site and be part of SCC TV (cable). This creates many possibilities for future cooperation.

Dr. LaFayette asked about chamber of commerce or other groups he should contact. Liz Kearns mentioned the Aurora merchants. Jan Brucker added that there is a newly-formed Northgate Chamber of Commerce, which meets the third Wednesday of the month.

Dr. LaFayette mentioned that the College was still on the list of possible sites for a community center. If chosen, the property to be used would be that at the south end of the campus, bordering 92^nd. The College also has undeveloped land available for athletic fields. However the Parks Department has said that they do not have funding for a community center with athletic fields. Dr. LaFayette and Wally Fosmore both said that they didn't believe that the College was at the top of the list of possible sites.

Liz Ellis said that a group of University of Washington students had in the past had the upkeep of the center median in front of the College as a project. She said that she would check and see if there was a chance that another group of students would want to take on the project and work along with the College and community volunteers.

Northgate. Jan Brucker passed out flyers for an October 1^st community event on the development of the south parking lot at Northgate. This event will be held at Nathan Hale High School. She urged people to attend to show City officials present that there is strong support of the daylighting of Thornton Creek and the plans that the new buyers have for the 12-1/2 acre site. The new buyers have agreed to devote over three acres for daylighting Thornton Creek. Jan said some City funding will be needed to make the proposal more viable for the buyers. Jan said that the City will also, possibly, consider tax increment funding for the development of the site.

Wilson-Pacific. Jan also told us that in the response she received back from the Parks Department regarding the Matching Funds for the landscaping project at Wilson-Pacific, there had been a second page on which there was a statement that the School District would not support community involvement at Wilson-Pacific. She apologized for not noticing this statement earlier, but stated she felt it was poorly done by the School District not to formally tell us of their decision.

Jan stated that she opposes siting the community center at the college because that would take the focus away from Wilson-Pacific and make it impossible for us to go forward in our work to have a community presence at Wilson-Pacific, which is part of our Neighborhood Plan.

Liz Kearns stated that Kathy Johnson and Lucy Morello will be coming to our October meeting. It was suggested that Steve Brown and Barbara Peterson also be invited. Liz said she would contact them to invite them to join us.

Wanda Fullner said that the Pillings Pond Committee has obtained the services of a land use attorney, Keith Dearborn, who will donate his time pro bono and work on the conservation easement issue.

Liz Ellis, Seattle Transportation, Urban Forestry, Landscape Specialist--Traffic Circle Rehabilitation. Liz spoke to us about a new traffic circle contest that will be announced in the next couple weeks. Applications will be available from the Department of Neighborhoods. The idea is to encourage people to improve traffic circle plantings and perhaps win a prize. She said that there are 800 traffic circles in the City and about one third of them need volunteers to take care of them. Liz Ellis had a lot of information and materials which she shared with us. She told us that we have ten traffic circles in our neighborhood. She said that it is possible to apply for Small and Simple grants of $500.00 from the Department of Neighborhoods to improve individual traffic circles.

Liz Ellis also told us the rules and regulations regarding them. She said that people should report traffic circles if the vegetation makes it hard to see pedestrians and bicyclists. She also pointed out that drivers cannot take shortcuts around traffic-calmers in arterial streets. However, in neighborhoods, shortcuts can be taken, but drivers should be cautious and look out for other cars before taking a shortcut. Liz Ellis said that median/traffic circles eliminate 90 percent of accidents where they are used.

General discussion followed.

OLD BUSINESS:

Mayor's Visit. Liz Kearns announced that Mayor Schell will be coming to the neighborhood on October 10, 2001 for a one and one-half hour visit. She asked for three volunteers to ride in the van with the Mayor when he tours the neighborhood. She said that refreshments will be served in Licton Springs Park, for which Phil Fujii will provide the funding. The group will walk from the Park to Wilson-Pacific and finally to Pillings Pond. Liz said she will be sure to get the name and phone number of the Mayor's aide to follow up with on items brought up during the tour.

Andrew Morrison and His Murals. J.J. Avinger-Jacques described the research and steps she has taken on behalf of the young artist Andrew Morrison. Andrew is the artist who has done the murals at Wilson-Pacific and who wants to become an art teacher. J.J. reported that Beth Pflug and Laurie Aimes have both visited the school and been enthusiastic about Andrew's artwork. J.J. said that she would like to apply for a Small and Simple Grant of $10,000.00 for Andrew to begin a series of murals (each of the four sections would require a Small and Simple Grant) on the east side of the Wilson-Pacific gym building that faces Wallingford. The match for the grants would be the school walls, the donated paint, the donated scaffolding, and community volunteer hours. J.J. said that she has, since she began her research experienced broad community support. She showed a notebook that had pictures of Andrew's artwork and also a section where community members had written supporting comments.

The School District has given conditional approval, pending receiving proof of insurance being in place.

Andrew Morrison has an Indian heritage. His father is a Haida Indian from Alaska. His mother is an Apache Indian from Arizona. He envisions the panels illustrating the different ethnic groups in the neighborhood.

Andrew uses Sherwin Williams Krylon Spray Paint. J.J. has contacted Sherwin Williams and is seeking to get them to sponsor Andrew for a National Ad Campaign and to also sponsor his education.

Wanda Fullner moved that the Community Council endorse the Art Mural Project with Andrew Morrison and appoint J.J. Avinger-Jacques as chair of the Committee. This was seconded by Debra Willendorf and passed unanimously. Great work, J.J.!

Transit Meeting. Bert Bradley announced that the Elevated Transportation Meeting would be October 3^rd at City Light. He reported that Steve Church had said he was happy the community was using their facilities.

Bert said that meeting would give community members an opportunity to comment on the route proposals that have now been developed.

After some discussion concerning when the Newsletter would be going into the mail, it was agreed that the date of the Transportation Meeting should be moved to October 10, 2001. Bert said that he would e-mail us when he got confirmation that that date would work for the Elevated Transit folks and City Light.

Licton Springs Community Picnic. Liz reported on the September picnic and handed out a recap/summary. She said that 800 flyers had been distributed in the community for a $200.00 charge. Liz thanked Ken Thompson for arriving early and helping her set up for the picnic and for staying late and helping her take things down and put things away. She said that Janine Van Sanden will provide recycle bins for next year's picnic.

Liz said that next year the community will have to buy paper plates, paper towels, napkins, ketchup, mustard, and ice. Larry's will provide 250 hotdogs and buns and all sodas. Liz pointed out that she had had to buy 50 additional hotdogs and buns (which Larry's cooked). Liz said that she had approached Larry's last year about providing 300 hotdogs and buns, but they had declined. It was suggested that perhaps we could inquire whether Costco would donate 50 hotdogs and buns for our picnic.

Halloween in the Park. Wanda reported that we would again be hosting Halloween in the Park. The event is from 4:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m.

Licton Springs Park Bridges. Wanda reminded folks that there will be a meeting to receive information and give comments on the options we have for bridges in the Park. The meeting is on Wednesday, September 26, 2001 at the Wilson-Pacific cafeteria, beginning at 7:00 p.m.

Pilling's Pond. The first public meeting on Pillings Pond will be held on Saturday, October 20, 2001, from 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. in the Wilson-Pacific cafeteria.

Wanda also announced that the Pillings Pond Committee has hired an engineer, Eric Davido, to assess the water control issues.

The meeting was adjourned at 9:15 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,
Ellen M. Beck
Secretary

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