Welcome to Morgan Junction Community Association

MOCA Quarterly Meeting Minutes (January 20, 2010 Meeting)

Wednesday, 27 January 2010 08:26 Steve Sindiong

Deb Barker, Presiding

4 Executive Bd. Members, 10 neighborhood residents, representatives from W Seattle Blog, and Seattle Dept. of Neighborhoods.

Announcements – Deb Barker

Murray Pump Project/Combined Sewerage Overflow - A meeting will be scheduled by King County to discuss the three current project alternatives the week of March 15 – more to come.
Seattle City Light Task Force – The task force goal is to develop solutions for improving the City’s power grid. City Light is looking for volunteers for the task force. If interested, contact Stan Lock (Dept. of Neighborhoods), or MOCA. A resident (Tony Stepan) said he was interested.

Levy Funds – Morgan Junction Allocation – Chip Nevins, City of Seattle

Mr. Nevins is the acquisition planner for the 2008 Parks Levy. The $146 million levy includes $30 million for acquisitions, and $24 million for acquisitions for neighborhood parks. Morgan Junction has been identified as an underserved area. The park sites should be at least 10,000 square feet. The City is seeking input on vacant or underutilized parcels. The Parks Department has heard though the Neighborhood Planning status workshops that improving the Green Crescent was an important need. Suggestions from the community at the MOCA meeting included the following sites: Huling Bros. property (outside of Morgan Jct), vacant site at NW corner of California/ Graham Street, Church on 42^nd at Juneau, Graham at 50^th Avenue, the Eddy Street Ravine, the lot behind Starbucks, Gatewood Elementary School, and developing greenspace within the street rights of way.

Parks Levy 2010 Opportunity Fund – Deb Barker/ Ann Martin

The Parks Department will be allocating $1.5 million for a parks project. Four applications in the Morgan Junction neighborhood have been submitted, including: Orchard Street Ravine property acquisition, the Fairmount Playfield, property adjacent the Green Crescent, and transferring the Eddy Street Right of Way to Parks. Project proposal letters are due Feb 1, and the applications are due in April. A proposal letter is required for all applications.
Ann Martin presented a project for the Orchard Street Ravine. The Friends of Orchard Street Ravine (FOSTR) is asking for street vacations along 38^th Street SW, and Orchard Street, and acquisition of a vacant parcel at 7137 38^th Avenue SW, so that the existing recently developed green space can be protected from potential development of the parcel. A motion was approved by MOCA that supports the Orchard Street Ravine project.

Morgan Junction Festival – Cindi Barker

MOCA is looking for guidance on the festival date. Last year’s festival date in June worked well. The Board is leaning toward the weekend of June 12/13 which is the driest period; another option is June 26/27. No major conflicts were identified. The festival will likely include the “Bite of Morgan Junction” again, and more arts/crafts vendors. MOCA is looking for volunteers to help with the Bite, arranging for vendors, and helping to set up / take down.

SW District Council Update – Chas Redmond

Chas Redmond serves on the SW District Council and spoke to their mission/vision. The District Council meets the 1^st Wednesday of each month. In 2010, the meetings will be organized to have guest speakers during the first hour, and the second hour will focus on a discussion of what West Seattle should look like, in preparation for the Neighborhood Plan updates. This will give the Board time to begin strategizing on issues such as Green Streets, gateways, overlay districts, etc. MOCA has discussed the need for focusing on connectivity, the build form, and open spaces.

Updates

SW Police Precinct – There was a report that there is a rise in car thefts and prowls in West Seattle, and burglaries have also increased.
Kenney Home Expansion – The Master User Permit (MUP) application was filed December 28, 2009, and found complete on January 7, 2010. The project will have a contract rezone from LD to MR, and need a SEPA application and guidance from the Design Review Board. The project will also require an application for the vacation of 46^th Street SW, and relocation of the Seaview Building. The comment period has been extended to February 3. TJ Lehmen (Euclid Development LLC) the Owners representative, noted that the project plans should be available for presentation at the April MOCA meeting. Most of the concerns heard from the public relate to traffic, parking, massing on the west edge, and height/bulk/scale.
Spokane Street Viaduct – The West Seattle Blog has information on the latest closures and detours, and a newsletter was mailed to West Seattle residents.
Orchard Street Ravine Pedestrian Improvements – The Cumulative Reserve Fund (CRF) project that was awarded is mostly complete. The kiosk was recently installed, and the hiker safety signage will be installed in late January.
West Seattle Trails – The Fauntleroy area is the next neighborhood to have signage installed. The City is requiring $1 million in liability insurance for kiosks, and permission from adjacent property owners, as well as a variance. Community input for the Morgan Junction signage will be needed in late February.
Stalled Projects – The project at the 5800 block of California Avenue (west side) is now underway. The site at the NW corner of California at Graham Street is still for sale. A request was made to plant wildflower seeds on the property and have the fencing removed in the interim. Mr. Lehmen will look into the request.
Myrtle Street Reservoir – The plans are 98% complete. The turf has not yet been established yet.
Next MOCA Meeting to be April 21, 2010

October 2009 MOCA Meeting Minutes

Sunday, 03 January 2010 13:02 Steve Sindiong

Morgan Community Association Quarterly Meeting

October 21, 2009 – The Kenney

Deb Barker, Presiding

3 Executive Bd. Members, 10 neighborhood residents, representatives from W Seattle Blog, and King County.

Announcements – Deb Barker

Fauntleroy Paving Project: An overview of the project status as provided by Jessica Murphy, SDOT. Project is substantially complete with some outstanding issues including conflicting pavement markers. Question was raised about signal phasing at Edmunds Street. Project will be completed in approximately two weeks.

Myrtle Reservoir – Project status provided by Virginia Hassinger – SPU will turn the facility back to Parks after the grass is established. Contract work is scheduled for late November/December, and construction to begin in February 2010.

Power Outage – City Light has looked into the West Seattle infrastructure and would like to come to a future MOCA meeting to talk about the power grid and improvements that are needed.

Kenney Home – The Seaview Bldg. was approved as a Seattle Landmark. The owner is working with the City on identification of regulated portions of the building. An Early Design Guidance meeting will be held tomorrow (Oct 22) at 6:30pm at the Youngstown Arts Center. Discussion will focus on the transitions around the building.

Homestead Restaurant – Since the fire in January, the owners have made proposals to the Alki Community Council. The SW Historical Society has written a letter asking the owners to restore the building to pre-fire construction, and asked MOCA to join in the letter. The MOCA board declined any position on the matter at this time.

Spokane Street / Rapid Ride projects – A report was provided by Jack Latteman (King Co.); SDOT’s portion of design work for Spokane St. was delayed by environmental review conditions. Work will proceed soon. On Rapid Ride, design is proceeding for the West Seattle route, including civil and electrical design. ITS design is mostly complete. Two demonstration stations will be in place by September 2011. At that time, the Route 54 service will be ramped up as mitigation for the viaduct (10-15 minute headways during peak).

Neighborhood Park Update – At the last MOCA meeting, Frank Taylor asked for interest in developing a park on a private lot for sale. The owner of the lot must now sell sooner than expected, so a park on the site is unlikely.

Lowman Beach Pump Station – Martha Tuttle, King County

Martha Tuttle provided an overview of the project and the Combined Sewerage Overflow program. The goal is to reduce overflows to once per year by 2030. The County would like to know the best way to get people interested in the project. While the Barton basin is moving forward, the Murray basin has been delayed due to budget constraints. The electrical and wet well work have been completed. A new odor control and emergency generator is to be installed. An open house was held two weeks ago, with little turn out. The County is working on alternatives, including storage tanks, convey and treatment, onsite treatment, and peak flow reduction. A public meeting will be held in February 2010, and the alternatives will be presented. There was discussion on ways that the information can be made more interesting to the public, including use of web sites, working with Sustainable West Seattle, a demonstration project, and use of public information.

Neighborhood Plan Update – Cindi Barker / Kate Stineback

A successful open house was held last summer at the Youngstown Arts Center. The Morgan table had a very high turnout. A summary of the results of the open house and survey are now available. The next public meeting will be held on November 5 (6-8pm) at Mercer Middle School on Beacon Hill. The City will provide an assessment of the key themes for neighborhood plan updates, citywide initiatives to inform the plans (ie, the Pedestrian Master Plan), and use the meeting to determine what else is needed for the planning process.

Orchard Street Ravine Pedestrian Safety Project – Cindi Barker

The project is moving forward. It will include signage to warn motorists of pedestrians, and a kiosk at the top of the road near the trail that provides pedestrian safety information.

HUB Exercise – Cindi Barker

Morgan Junction was one of the West Seattle Communications Hubs that participated in both the West Seattle wide Hub drill on Sept 18^th and the Citywide drill of the Auxiliary Communication Service on Oct 10^th. Deb Barker has now been trained as a Morgan Junction responder, so the full MoCA board stands ready to provide backup to the main operator.

Stalled Projects – Deb Barker

The Live/Work Units at the corner of California and Graham have been delayed while the owner looks for a new owner. The other Live/Work Units at 6031 California (one block north of Graham) were delayed because the sheer walls needed to be redesigned and submitted. The project will be moving forward soon.

Parks Levy – Cindi Barker

Cindi noted that the Parks Levy will provide funding for a new park in the Morgan Urban Village. She suggested that we see what comments arise related to parks through the Neighborhood Planning process, and use the information to help guide what type of new park facilities are needed.

Last Updated on Sunday, 03 January 2010 15:00

Parks Levy and Opportunity Fund

Sunday, 03 January 2010 12:47 Steve Sindiong

The following information was sent by the City of Seattle Parks Department regarding potential new parks or land acquisition opportunities. This will be discussed at our upcoming January 20 MOCA meeting (7pm) at the Kenney Home.

Opportunity Fund

What park project would you initiate if awarded up to $1.5 million?

Seattle Parks and Recreation is accepting Proposal Letters for the Opportunity Fund until February 1, 2010. This is a great opportunity to get involved in improving your Seattle parks. The first round of the Parks and Green Spaces Levy Opportunity Fund ($7 million) is open for community-initiated development projects and land acquisition opportunities. Technical workshops will be held in early January 2010 to assist the community in preparing their proposals.

The nomination process begins with the submittal of a Proposal Letter, which is available now. Proposal Letters and Opportunity Fund Criteria are available online at http://seattle.gov/parks/levy/opportunity.htm. The forms will also be available at Parks Community Centers, Department of Neighborhoods Service Centers and Seattle Public Library branches starting Monday December 14, 2009.

First Year Levy Update

Learn about the progress made during the first year of the Levy on the Parks and Green Spaces Levy web page

http://seattle.gov/parks/levy/default.htm. The report is directly under the map. If you would like a printed copy please contact Karen O'Connor at:

Seattle Parks and Recreation

800 Maynard Ave. S, Seattle 98134

206.233.7929

Bulletin Sept 23, 2009

Monday, 12 October 2009 20:41 Cindi Barker

Emergency Preparedness - Morgan Junction participated in a recent drill of the West Seattle Communications Hubs. Cindi Barker and Deb Barker staffed the Morgan location, Paul Sureddin stopped in to observed, and we also had two observers from Queen Anne/Magnolia. Due to our proximity to the radio repeater that supports the Hub system, we had good to excellent communication with all the other hub locations from Alki to Fauntleroy. See Debs picture at http://westseattleblog.com/blog/?p=20811.

Neighborhood Plan Update process – we expect the results of both the Neighborhood Planning Status Check Open House and the on-line survey to be posted by early October. Thank you to the 210 people who took the time to give their opinion about Morgan Junction!

Bulletin, July 23, 2009

Thursday, 23 July 2009 21:20 Cindi Barker

As noted in the Calendar, there will be a Neighborhood Plan Status Workshop to see how people think the implementation of the Morgan Junction Neighborhood Plan is going. The background information prepared by the city has now been posted at http://www.seattle.gov/dpd/Planning/Neighborhood_Planning/StatusReports/default.asp#status

(scroll down until you find Morgan Junction). The information in the prepared material is data that is easy for the city to generate from various sources (census, departmental information, etc), but what they don’t have is the opinion of people about things that are harder to measure. Examples of that are things you feel affect your quality of life, how you view sustainability in our neighborhood, changes that are having a positive or negative impact on your mobility around the neighborhood, and so on. That’s why, even if you don’t know anything about the neighborhood plan, you come let the Neighborhood Planning Advisory Committee and the Seattle Planning Commission know what you’re thinking.

However, if you cannot attend, you can go on-line and fill out a survey at http://www.cityofseattle.net/planningcommission/

The basic questions being asked at the workshop are:

Most of the neighborhoods have changed since the plans were adopted 10 years ago. How has your neighborhood changed in the last decade since the plan was adopted, (or since you’ve been there)?
What changes or aspects of your neighborhood are you most pleased about? Most dissatisfied about?
How well are your Neighborhood Plan vision and key strategies being achieved? Are they still the priority?
The city is completing neighborhood plan status reports focusing on demographics, development patterns, housing affordability, public amenities and transportation networks. What should there be more focus on (or less focus on) as the neighborhood status reports are completed in the coming months. Are there any important gaps in the draft status report

MoCA Minutes, July 15, 2009

Thursday, 23 July 2009 21:19 Cindi Barker

Morgan Community Association Quarterly Meeting

July 15, 2009 – The Kenney

Deb Barker, Presiding

4 Executive Bd. Members, 21neighborhood residents, representatives from W Seattle Blog, King County , WSDOT, SDOT, Council candidates, Admiral Neighborhood Association reps.

Announcements – Deb Barker

Fauntleroy Paving Project: An overview of the project status as provided by Jessica Murphy, SDOT.

Morgan Junction Festival – Held June 13; Over, 1,000 bite coupons given out. 15 persons signed up for the Friends of Morgan Junction Park.

Solstice Park – Improvements are mostly complete, including the new trail and furniture. Trees are to be planted in the fall.

Myrtle Reservoir – Leaks were discovered inn the membrane. SPU is investigating. Damage is not hazardous to water quality. May need to go back to design commission for more direction.

Skate Park – Will be built at the NE corner of Delridge Community Center. Funds were redistributed from other projects that had cost savings, and levy funds.

Kenney Home – Project was given direction to move forward; will retain Seaview building. The Kenney presented to the Seaview Bldg. and Sunrise Bldg. to the Landmarks Board. They accepted the nomination for Seaview. Next step is designation.

Night Out – To be held on Tuesday, August 4.

Council Candidates

Rusty Williams – Running for position 8. Growth will happen in White Center and North Highline. Major issues include traffic, need for improved east – west connections; want a cap on the housing levy. Neighborhood plans have been neglected. Neighborhoods should determine their own future.

Dorsal Plants – Running for position 4. Endorsed by 34^th District Democrats. Only candidate that is a renter, and a veteran of Iraq war. Want improved communication with city, and restored trust. Ned to reformulate neighborhood planning process, and make legal agreement between city and neighborhood leaders. Protection of neighborhood character is important.

David Ginsberg – running for position 2. Endorsed by 34^th District Democrats. 140,000 people to move to Seattle in next two decades. Need to determine how to accommodate growth while preserving neighborhood character Neighborhood plans provide opportunity to allow zoning to accept density without negatively affecting character. Other important issues include sustainability, including climate change.

Alaskan Way Viaduct – Bob Chandler (SDOT); Matt Preedy (WSDOT)

Project includes 5 partner agencies, and includes many components. Started construction on the Holgate area including surface improvements. Reroutings will occur through 2010. Mainline improvements to start in 2011.Spokane Street project started construction on the south side for the ramp to fourth Avenue. Will open in 2010. Have vides to build parallel structure on the north side. Construction on north side to start in fall and continue through 2011. Impacts to transit routing during construction were discussed.

Rapid Ride Project - Jack Latteman, King County Metro

Staff are recommending that the Rapid Ride move forward with the C Line (West Seattle route). Design has begun by King County Metro and SDOT. The transit stops are at 30% design, and will be at 60% by the end of 2009. Will construct the capital facilities in 2010. On track to get stops completed by Sept. 2011 service change. KC is proposing to start the C line in 2012, but have SR 99 mitigation dollars to provide additional peak service on existing high ridership routes, such as the route 54.

Lowman Beach / Murray Pump Station Project – Martha Tuttle, King Co.

The project is on hold because the County wants to have the project coincide with the Combined Sewer Overflow (CSO) project. Don’t want to impact neighborhood twice. In addition, the county’s budget issues have stalled the removal of the old murray pump station, emergency generator, and odor control. Will be coming to the neighborhood later this year for a public meeting.

Orchard Street Ravine Pedestrian Safety – Cindi Barker

Moca received $10,000 in CRF funding for ped safety project. The neighborhood has been working with SDOT. A meeting was held June 30. Proposal is to provide a sign indicating dead end, a hiker pedestrian sign, and a kiosk at the ravine with pedestrian safety information.

Neighborhood Plan Update – Cindi Barker

Three neighborhoods along the LINK Light rail line are moving forward with their planning efforts. The City is starting to talk about the planning process for other neighborhoods. First set of public meetings to be on July 28 at Delridge Community Center, 4501 Delridge Way SW, (6-8pm). Will provide status on land use. AN online survey is also available.

West Seattle Trails – Chas Redmond

Provided an update on the trails project. Work is beginning on signage and kiosks in Fauntleroy neighborhood. Facilities will be built by October. The planning for facilities in Morgan will start in fall 2009.

New Park Opportunity – Frank Taylor

An opportunity for the use of a 27,000 s.f. lot within a wooded ravine for a future park. Owner is willing to sell to parks dept. The site meets criteria for use of opportunity funds, and meets the Morgan Nhood Plan goals. Currently assessing neighborhood interest. Next step is to get an appraisal, then come back to the MOCA board in October.

Historic Enhancements on California Ave. – Jim Del Ciello, Catherine Barker, Admiral Neighborhood Association

Want to create a comprehensive plan for historic preservation along California Ave. Plan is to identify cohesive elements, preserve historic buildings, and market development. Working with residents and businesses. Looking at opportunities where old buildings can have adaptive reuse, rather than being torn down.

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