Hawthorne Hills Community Council

April 16, 2008

The meeting began at 7:30PM with introductions and notices.
Election of new officers – all were approved.
Carolyn presented the Treasurer report fro the period beginning February 28, 2007.

Ryan thanked those trustees who have stepped down for their time and effort.
7:45pm - Kim introduced Tim Gallagher, the new Parks Superintendent. Tim discussed his background and stated that his core concerns are 1) sustainability and 2) childhood health and fitness.

Draft of Parks Department Strategic plan is out and will guide the policy over our next 5 years.
Tim opened the discussion up to Q&A (the following does not completely cover all of the discussion, but here are some highlights):

There was a question regarding the wetlands situation at Magnuson, to which Tim said he could not comment, due to an ongoing lawsuit.
A concern was expressed regarding hinderances to the flow of walkers through the park. Tim said that the department will look at the concern within the context of the master plan.
Another concern was raised as to the fact that some things raised in earlier processes were left off of the master plan, specifically the need for more public pool access. Tim’s answer is that they are in fact looking at demographic studies and doing their own studies to determine best use, i.e. balance of therapeutic use and sports.
There was a request for Tim’s comments on the commercialization and housing at Magnusen. The criteria used to evaluate options are 1) Is there cost savings to the taxpayer? 2) Is there a community need for the service? The commercial concessionaires will be responsible for upgrading and maintaining the facilities.
Tim finished his time by saying that he is available for Q’s and comments – timothy.Gallagher@seattle.gov , BUT any messages in CAPS will NOT BE READ.

8:22pm - Katie Moller with the city’s urban forestry program was next to speak. She discussed the 20 year plan for Seattle’s urban forests, which intends to restore 2500 acres of urban forest in over the next 20 years.

She discussed the partnerships formed to work toward this goal, the most important being that with the city’s citizens.
Progress at Ravenna Park as an example of what is working and what they are trying to achieve.
Plans are in process for connecting citizen-driven projects, stating with a survey.

8:30pm - Linda Mead from SDOT’s Urban Forestry Program came to talk to us about the planiting of trees along 40th Ave NE, a project she credited Bonnie Miller for “encouraging” SDOT to do.

They will get water bags soon, which SDOT will fill 1x per week, but we can help, especially when it is dry.
She said there are more trees available, but that they are looking for areas that have 5ft wide planting strips, and can support 100+ trees.
The homeowners do have input as to the variety they prefer, from a list of sizes (6 types)

8:45pm - The floor was then opened up to discussion of other topics of interest/concern:

Pat , works to help citizens through the property tax appeals process, and can be reached at (206)296-3496. They also have a pamphlet available to provide information.

8:51pm - Bill Talbot informed us all of an incident of vandalization of a neighbor’s home, which contained racial content. The homeowner was out of town and the nearby neighbors cleaned up the mess and expressed their support. He proposed that we pass a motion of support, draft a letter to the homeowner, and include commentary in the next newsletter. The motion passed unanimously.

Arden Forrey has been following the ongoing 520 Bridge Mediation and asked us all to take the effort to become educated on the options so we can be a part of the discussion. He also said that the HHCC has expressed support of the “South of Pacific Ave.” options.