Brief update on Morgan Park

There has been community support expressed that the new park in the Morgan Junction business area be named for Tim St. Clair. At the last SW District Council meeting, a motion was approved to send a letter to the city requesting that consideration, even though current park naming policies would not allow it. See these related articles on the West Seattle Herald http://www.westseattleherald.com/articles/2008/09/12/news/local_news/news02.txt and West Seattle Blog http://westseattleblog.com/blog/?p=10193 for more details, and this will be discussed at the next MoCA meeting on Oct 15. Current schedule for construction of the park looks like the Parks Dept will be completing review of the 100% complete construction documents and final project approval by October, so construction may begin in early November.

 

Radar Speed Signs in Morgan Junction

In 2007 MoCA submitted a request through the Neighborhood Streets and Cumulative Reserve Fund program to install two radar speed signs in the neighborhood, similar to the one down by the Fauntleroy Ferry dock. Here’s the latest correspondence from the city on that request (ed note – I have no idea how his email is dated Sept 15^th when today is Sept 14):

From: "Luke Korpi" < This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it >
To: < This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it >
Subject: Fauntleroy Way SW Radar Speed Signs
Date: Mon, 15 Sep 2008 00:01:35 +0000
> Steve,
>
> As a follow-up to our telephone conversation, here's more information on the rationale for siting the new radar speed signs. My final proposed locations are southbound on Fauntleroy Way at SW Brandon St, and northbound on Fauntleroy, about mid-block between SW Fontanelle and Othello.
Generally, of course, the goal of the project is to reduce both northbound and southbound speeds on Fauntleroy Way SW approaching the Morgan Junction commercial area near California Ave SW. In considering locations, I evaluated the same types of things that go into radar speed sign siting decisions on all corridors:

1. Speed data that has been collected on the corridor
2. The presence of existing pedestrian or traffic signals. The goal is to locate radar speed signs in such a way that they do not distract drivers from being attentive to the signals (or features such as marked crosswalks, flashing beacons, etc.) In addition, all things being equal, we look to locate signs along "wide-open" portions of street corridors, where drivers aren't forced to stop or slow down because of congestion or signals.
3. There must be good sight distance from drivers to the sign, and vice versa. I usually try to take advantage of intersections to provide sight distance, consider the location of trees and utility poles, etc.

4. The location must either have access to electrical power, or be sited where solar panels will function properly during the winter months. In this case, my plan is to go with solar powered units.

In this particular case, I also believe that the signs should be located in advance of the curves that provide a natural traffic calming effect near the Juneau and California intersections. The speed data we have in this area also does show that speeds are relatively low near those intersections in comparison to locations further in advance of the intersections. As we discussed, for the northbound sign, the presence of the Kenny House and Gatewood Elementary School are also important considerations.

The documented speed near the proposed northbound sign at Othello is about 36 mph. The documented speed near the proposed southbound sign near SW Brandon is about 41 mph. The influence of the signs should extend from about a block in advance of them through the junction.

I hope this helps. Please let me know if you have any questions.

Luke Korpi, P.E.
Senior Civil Engineer
Seattle DOT - Traffic Management Division
206-684-5069
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

 

MoCA Letter to City Council on Proposed Neighborhood Plan Update Legislation

For the Public Hearing on Neighborhood Plan Update process, members of the MoCA board reviewed the proposed Council Resolution and Ordinance setting policy for beginning the process of updating Neighborhood Plans. At this time, it appears there is no impact to Morgan Junction, so President Steve Sindiong sent the following letter to be part of the Public Hearing information collected at the Sept 8^th Council hearing.

 

MOCA
The Morgan Community Association
Eldon Olson, Secretary

September 8, 2008

To the Seattle City Council:

The Morgan Community Association (MoCA) would like to thank Coucilmember Sally Clark, and the rest of the City Council for providing us the opportunity to provide comment at your September 8 public hearing related to the neighborhood planning process.

MoCA has reviewed the proposed legislation for the updating of neighborhood plans. Our understanding is that the planning process will focus on select Southeast Seattle neighborhoods that will be having Station Area Overlays. MoCA has no objection to this approach. We hope that these first plan updates capture lessons learned so that the neighborhoods that will update their plans in 2011 can benefit from their experience.

We would strongly encourage the City to not waver from continued attention to implementation of the rest of the neighborhood plans while these first steps at updating are taken. The City should provide a status on existing neighborhood plan implementation on a regular basis, possibly bi-annually, so as to keep focus within the departments.

Again, thank you for the opportunity to provide our input.

Sincerely,
Steven Sindiong, President
MoCA

 

Morgan Junction information for the SW Precinct:

At the 9/4/08 SW Precinct Advisory Council meeting, In response to Captain Kesslers question of what are our neighborhood’s top two public safety concerns, Cindi Barker, the MoCA representative summarized based on the feedback she received from her email request. The top issue people responded with was traffic safety and speeding cars. (Coincidentally, this meeting was on the same day as when the teenage girl was hit by a car on 35^th). The second top concern was sort of a combo – equal concern was expressed for car prowls and home/garage burglaries. There was a specific suggestion given that the department look at hiring additional traffic officers as there seems to be data showing that full time traffic officers actually pay for themselves. Cindi will provide that data (from Councilmember Licata’s staff) to Lt. Paulsen.

 

Camp Long Advisory Council Members Sought

An advisory council is a representative group of community members who define common goals, make recommendations, and identify community needs. Camp Long's advisory council is working for you to help provide an Environmental Learning Center that is a resource for the community. Camp Long aspires to be the place where our neighbors go for information and to discuss issues of the day; to socialize with each other, have fun, and build a strong community; and to get outdoors, learn about our natural world, and share ecological knowledge so we can implement positive change in our neighborhoods.

 

The function of any advisory council is to give advice. What differentiates advisory councils from boards is that councils do not make final decisions. For several decades, with the encouragement of Seattle Parks and Recreation, advisory councils in various Seattle communities have sponsored programs and activities at City facilities. The Associated Recreation Council was established in 1975 to provide financial management, accounting, and material support for Parks and Recreation advisory councils. In 1976, a City law authorized the Superintendent of Parks and Recreation to recognize and support advisory councils and to promulgate rules and regulations to guide advisory councils. The law also authorized the Superintendent to contract with the Associated Recreation Council to help manage the advisory councils.

 

The law was recently updated and now the role and responsibility of each party in this partnership has been re-established and clarified. Parks and Recreation is accountable to the City's elected officials for the success of all recreation services and the management and maintenance of recreation facilities. The Associated Recreation Council provides marketing, development, and central services support for recreation programs. And councils provide connection to the community, find local support for, and advocate for, the success of recreation services for the constituents they represent.

 

The partnership between Parks and Recreation, the Associated Recreation Council, and its member advisory councils allows for expanded public recreation opportunities and provides for a strong community connection. Advisory Councils help with events, raise funds, and participate in other work that takes lots of strategic thinking and people-power.

 

Advisory council members are ambassadors to the larger community and emissaries from that larger community to the park and environmental center. It's a continuing activity and advisory council members are looking out for the park or environmental center in their other interactions with the community and helping bring that larger community into contact with the park and environmental center. If you know someone who could help on Camp Long's Advisory Council, please get in touch with us. Call Camp Long at 684-7434 to volunteer.

 

Grant Money Available

Seattle Public Utilities (SPU) is now accepting applications for the WASTE PREVENTION & RECYCLING MATCHING GRANT 2008-2009 funding cycle. The grant provides funding for businesses, non-profits, community and neighborhood groups, schools, meal programs, and other organizations and individuals interested in making a difference in the community by increasing waste prevention and recycling in Seattle.

APPLICATION DEADLINES:
- If you are ready and eager to start your project and start receiving funding in 2008, apply by October 8, 2008.
- For projects starting in 2009, apply by November 5, 2008.

EXAMPLES OF POTENTIAL PROJECTS:
- Business waste prevention
- Community outreach
- School or youth projects
- Food recovery projects
- Sustainable landscaping
- Green building
- Greening events
- Product stewardship
- Market development and expansion

FUNDING:
- Grant awards range from $2,000 to $25,000.
- Grant recipients match the City's investment with a 1/2:1 match through a mix of donated time, materials, professional services, cash, and other non-City grants.
- Award recipients will receive funds on a reimbursement basis.
- Up to $200,000 in total funding is available for the 2008-2009 funding cycle.

APPLICATION DOCUMENTS:
See the attached Guidelines, Application and Budget forms, or download the documents from SPU's web site:
http://www.seattle.gov/util/About_SPU/Management/SPU_&_the_Environment/SPU01_003926.asp
CONTACT INFORMATION:
For questions and advice on project ideas and applications, contact Veronica Fincher, Waste Prevention and Recycling Program Manager, at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or (206) 233-2534.

Morgan Junction information for the SW Precinct: For the past 3 years, MoCA has a seat at the Southwest Police Precinct Advisory Council, which I (Cindi) have been filling.  At the August meeting, Captain Joe Kessler requested that each representative bring back more specific monthly reports of the top public safety concerns from each neighborhood.   Soooo, I don't exactly know how to go about hearing about top concerns on a regular basis, especially since MoCA only meets quarterly.  It will take us a bit to set something in place.  For now, I will ask that if you have a concern that you would like expressed to the SW Precinct leadership, please drop me a line at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

 

Enhancements to the MoCA website: Our website is not the fanciest in town, but it has been very serviceable for our purposes.  But we're trying to expand some our capabilities and the first step was a version change, which was recently completed by our fabulous webmaster Paul Sureddin.  It's got a slightly different look, and some reorganization about how we group our projects and information, but is very similar.  The biggest change is that we now just list the calendar of events on the front page, with the full calendar available as a link. 

The end point that we are aiming for is to develop the capability to do online matching fund pledges.  We've been involved in many projects where we applied for Neighborhood Matching Fund grant money, and a required element is demonstration of community support.  This usually is in the form of a pledge to match granted money with equivalent volunteer hours or in-kind donations.  So if we can figure out a way to collect those commitments on line (as well as the traditional form), it would sure speed up the process!  And we see no reason why we couldn't make that feature available on our site to other groups who are doing the same thing.  So stay tuned while we experiment.  Check out the new look at http://www.morganjunction.org/

(attending: Sindiong, Olson, Barker, 4 guests, 7 from neighborhood)

Public Campaign Financing: Ron Richardson Advocacy group for Public financing of WA Political Campaigns – Washington Public Campaigns (www.washclean.org - 206 784-2522). A current proposal by the City Council will be on the ballot in 2009. Ron is available for any other community groups for Voter-Owned Elections.

13^th Year Promise Scholarship: Renee O’Donnell, SSCC Foundation South Community College is again seeking donors for scholarships for incoming students from Cleveland High School. Contact This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . The goals of the fund are to provide scholarships to all HS graduates, expanding to other high schools in the area. Last year 50% 0f Cleveland HS graduates applied for 2008 scholarship.

Community for Youth: Martin Moore, Mentors are needed for at-risk Freshman youth from Ranier Beach, Sealth, and Cleveland High Schools. Mentors are selected and trained for a one-year commitment, renewable for four years. Contact Martin Moore at 206 325-8480. For more information, contact www.CommunityForYouth.org

MoCA Neighborhood Parks:

Virginia Hassinger, Project Planner

Re. Myrtle Reservoir Park: The SPU reservoir is still under construction. The site will soon be available to Parks Dept. Pathways are being re-designed – construction will begin in Spring, 2009. Fences will be removed once the grasses take hold. There are no more public meetings scheduled, but the community will be informed of any revisions to the plan. The decision was made in May – there will be no Skateboard facility at this site.

Re. Morgan Park: No name has been decided for the park – perhaps it will remain un-named for awhile. The park is scheduled to open late in 2008 or early 2009. Beveridge Pub will build a fence at the edge of their parking area. A kiosk (with a Wayfinding station) will be designed for the park, to coincide with design of other neighborhood Wayfinding kiosks.

Re. Sidewalk in front of Morgan Park. A proposal has been made from the city Cumulative Reserve Fund for pedestrian safety crossing, new sidewalk, and other pedestrian concerns. This proposal is now priority # 2 being submitted to the city. West Seattle priority # 1 is for speed signage along Admiral Way, # 3 is for a sidewalk along 44^th Ave SW, # 4 for pedestrian improvements for access to Orchard St. Ravine Park.

Re. Solstice Park: The CRF funds requested in 2007 have been awarded. No progress has taken place, although MoCA would like to be involved in the design and planning of Park improvements.

For further information, contact Virginia at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . 206 233-7936.

 

West Seattle Trails – Wayfinding

West Seattle Trails – 2008 Map is now available, listing area walking trails, community resources, and neighborhood features. Contact This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or Feet First 206 652-2310. Sponsors are being sought for neighborhood kiosks.

Announcements:

Seattle Multi-family Housing regulations is now published, available through the West Seattle Blog.

Morgan Festival will not be held this year.

MoCA Yahoo site has now been established at Y-mail.com, accessed through the MoCA web-site.

Clean-up project from Fauntleroy Entrance Ramp to the “Walking on Logs” Sculpture, Saturday, September 13, 9:00 to 3:00. rsvp to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Seattle Night Out – 2008, sponsored by the Seattle Police Dept. will be August 5, 2008. For more information, contact SW Seattle Precinct

Family Promise, A program of W. Seattle churches to house newly-homeless families in church facilities has now begun operation. To volunteer or donate, contact 206 937-3765.

MoCA 2007 Accomplishments, a list of activities of the MoCA Neighborhood Association is available from Steve Sindiong, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

 

Next Meeting: October 15, 2008 – The Kenney

Eldon Olson, Secretary

If you’re not in the parade already, and you do any amount of volunteer work - you (and any family members who want to join you!) are invited to be in the first-ever “Volunteers of West Seattle Grand Parade Marching Unit” (more like walking the 2-mile route) WSB is helping organize for Saturday’s West Seattle Grand Parade. Here’s all you have to do: Show up at California/Lander (here’s a map) around 10 am. Look for the “Volunteers of West Seattle Grand Parade Marching Unit” sign (if you can’t find us, call the WSB business number, which your editor here will be carrying, 206/293-6302; program it into your phone, might come in handy someday for something else!). Bonus reward if you wear some costume element related to your volunteer work (T-shirt for a school where you volunteer? sprig of ivy if you pull weeds at parks? or? as for me, maybe I’ll make a hat out of an old keyboard): You get a FREE BEER OR SODA at West 5 afterward. We’re not planning fancy maneuvers - just celebrating the volunteers who keep West Seattle’s engines running (speaking of which, we have a Mini-Cooper to lead the unit!). We’ll have signs, but you’re also welcome to carry a handheld sign for the group you volunteer with, if you’d like.

Calling all volunteers who live or work in West Seattle – you deserve some recognition and fun!

If you're not already in the West Seattle Grand Parade on July 19th during the Hi-Yu Festival, you are hereby invited to frolic/march with us. Why the parade? Just because! (Haven’t you always wanted to be in a parade?)

We’re not organized, scheduled or in any way coherent for this event, just like your average volunteer activity. The one thing that is firm:
If you show up decorated in anything that remotely resembles your volunteer activity, we will buy you a beer or soda at West 5 after the parade. Silliness and giant leaps of imagination are encouraged, have fun with your topic. Afterwards, you’ll be trying to explain yourself - networking at its finest, eh?

No need to RSVP or pre-register, though we'd like to hear from you, so if you think you might be interested drop us a line at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

If you decide at the last minute you can come along, just show up and join the Volunteers in West Seattle Grand Parade Marching Unit for the recognition you so greatly deserve. No meetings will be held along the parade route, in case you were wondering.

Meeting place and details to come; watch morganjunction.org, and we'll e-mail you updates if you RSVP to us at the email above. Just save the morning of Saturday, July 19th and get that outfit ready now!

Your kids are welcome to be in the parade with you, consider a wagon or stroller for the wee ones.

No motorized things; we will have a Mini-Cooper already in the parade to carry our sign and play snappy music.

Don’t bring candy to toss, parade rules say no to that.
Cool costume = West 5 ticket

Questions? Cindi Barker is making up the rules, so contact her at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Let us know about your interest at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Info will also be posted at www.morganjuction.org