Report on Clean Seattle Initiative

Cleanup:  South Park

Date of Cleanup:  January 24 & 25, 2003

Boundries:  South Park (River to River, Director to 7th Ave Southwest)

Departments:  Parks, Department of Neighborhoods, Seattle Transportation, City Light, Seattle Public Utilities, DCLU, Arts Commission, Department of Corrections, SPD Crime Prevention

Cleanup Activities:

• SDOT Traffic Signs and Markings crews removed graffiti from 26 signs and replaced 16 damaged or missing traffic signs.



• SDOT Street Maintenance crews swept 15 curb miles, hauled away 7 loads of debris and trimmed and cleaned the pathway that runs along highway SR599 between South Henderson and South Trenton streets.



• SDOT Pothole Rangers patched 17 potholes using 2 tons of asphalt.



• SDOT Street Maintenance crews trimmed overgrowth and spread and compacted several tons of grindings in the alley on the north side of the South Park Community Center between 7th Ave S and 8th Avenue South



• Graffiti Rangers painted out 27 instances of graffiti on city property and removed 86 graffiti tags



• Department of Correction crews were on hand to provide litter pickup along the streets, freeways and the bike path. Crews addressed several illegal dumping situations in the South Park area.



• Parking Enforcement staff handed out more than 200 notices informing citizens to remove or move abandoned or non working vehicles. Reports from the community indicate a great number of these vehicles were removed from public property.



• Parks Southeast Division crews delivered 10 yards of mulch to spread on tree pits along Cloverdale Avenue. Cleaned planting beds near the South Park Community Center and pruned shrubs and bushes near the center.



• Parks staff setup the tent at the gathering location and provided rakes, shovels and wheel barrels for the volunteers.



• City Light crews repaired or replaced 45 street lights in the target area and removed 11 pairs of shoes removed from lines.



• Gerry Miyazaki of DCLU addressed six private property cases-four of which are now in compliance and two are in progress. In addition a vacant lot is being cleaned up and is nearly complete. Gerry is working to get a county property cleaned up.

Miscellaneous:

• " Fire Station #26 received 6 yards of bark mulch that was spread by volunteers. The cover of mulch greatly improved the look of the Fire Station yard.

Volunteer Activity

• DON Neighborhood Development Coordinator Glenn Harris recruited 24 volunteers from the community who came out to participate in the cleanup event. These volunteers were split into two groups-one for litter pickup and one for landscaping improvement with bark mulch. It was quite the scene. Volunteers involved in the landscaping with the mulch, donated by Parks, grabbed their shovels, wheel barrels, rakes, pick shovels and gloves if they didn't have their own and spread the mulch in the tree pits along Cloverdale Avenue. Volunteers who removed litter used litter bags, gloves and grabbers provided by SPU. There was great camaraderie among all and everyone had a great time. Mulch left after the tree squares were filled was given to the Fire Station #26.



• Staff wanted to recognize the contribution of a teenager, Elijah Hkeemm Ducksworth. He was just walking by the event and ended up staying for the entire event.



• Mucho thanks to the staff and owners of "MUY MACHO" for lunch which was donated to the volunteers.

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