Announcements

Significant neighborhood tree program being put together. Grant has been applied for. A walking tour is being planned.

Neighborhood News

Aug 4th Neighborhood Night Out parties very successful. Parties held on Mary Ave , 12th Ave, 9th Ave and 11th Ave.

Aug 16th Crown Hill Park dedication & Small Faces Head retirement combined party. Excitement growing for a community space.

Village concept for seniors staying in own homes. Are necessary services available in Crown Hill and can we support such a program? What can Sustainable do to be a part?

Gardening Support

Lasagna gardening demonstration held in Kit and Dennis Galvin’s yard taught helpful techniques that they and others have used to convert lawn into usable and healthy garden spaces

Gardening supplies available-Carol Kennedy has string and feathers fo those who want to add it to their compost.

The People Helping Horses Manure availability has ceased but the King County Manure Exchange is available at http://www.kingcd.org/programs-farm-manure.htm

Celebrations

Halloween Celebration-Date TBA. Being put together by Danielle Lavilla.

Mary Ave Walkable grant approved for planter boxes. Unfortunately it may not be as traffic calming as originally hoped but will beautify street.

Coming Events & Discussions

Workshops-Native plant workshop planned for the fall to be taught by Doug Gresham

Fruit Harvest-Seeking possibility of a matching grant from the city. Dennis is willing to help write a grant. Who would head the project? How can we be better organized?

Asked at meeting-Is Crown Hill Community Center available for Sustainable meetings? Do we have to pay for the space? Is it a way to gain a presence in the community?
Answered-Yes the space is available for Sustainable meetings for 2 hours once per month.

Next mtg. scheduled for October 11th 5-7pm at the community center. Facilitator will be Lanae Rhoads

July 26, 2009

I. Announcements

1. Feathers for composting: Carol Kennedy can get 50 pound bags of goose down feathers that can be used for composting; feathers are about 14% nitrogen.
2. 18 lb spools of 100% cotton cording/ string: Holly Nilson, who has been delivering the horse manure, has 2-3 spools left to be given away.
3. Horse manure compost: discussion about concerns that the manure compost from the horse rescue could toughen veggies, adds weeds, and takes away nitrogen from the soil due to the wood chips.  It was discussed that green beans are possibly toughened due to the intense sun, that the amount of weeds depends on the load of manure, and a lot of wood chips will pull nitrogen from the soil – so be sure to procure a highly composted load.
4. Deadline for Small and Simple Grant:  CHN is applying for tree survey grant for landmark and historic trees.  Deadline is August 31^st.  There is a meeting with the Dept of Neighborhoods on August 3^rd.
5. Block Parties on August 4^th
6. Celebrate the purchase of the Crown Hill School: August 16^th, 4 PM
7. KCBS, community based radio station is moving away from being community based
8. August 6^th, encouragement for people to attend the neighborhood planning meeting put on by the Seattle Planning Commission on August 6^th
9. Sheet composting workshop at Kit and Dennis’s house, lead by Danielle, Saturday, August 8^th, 9-12

II. AGENDA DISCUSSIONS

A. Meeting Location

Danielle called and suggested that we use the  new    Crown Hill community center as a meeting place for future meetings. Pros and Cons were discussed:

Pros:  More inviting for new people

Cons: Money needed to rent space; Hot in summer

Jean Davis said that she would follow up with the new building manager to find out if “in kind” volunteer work would satisfy the financial fees for room rental.

It was discussed that every other meeting could be at the community center and every other in someone’s home

B. Fruit Gleaning

1. Bert will call people that have been willing to donate fruit in the past and will set up days for possible fruit harvest
2. Workshops- schedules discussed
   1. August: Michael and Martin on Solar heat
   2. September: Solar Fruit Drying: Michael
   3. October/ November: Doug on Native Plants and appropriate trees for urban environment

Next Meeting:

September 13, 2009

Jean Davis

8744 21^st Ave. NW

Sustainable Crown Hill Meeting

July 26, 2009

Where: Carol Kennedy and Doug Gresham’s home: 937 NW 96th St.  206-781-4858

Schedule: 5-5:30 PM, Potluck; 5:30-7 PM meeting

Facilitator: We still need a volunteer to facilitate the meeting, assemble agenda items, etc.

How I came by this spool (and there are more spools for the asking):

The deliverer of compost for you gardeners, works at a well known local manufacturer of pillows and comforters. (Names are withheld in case someone cares about this.) They are now having their cording done in China.  She took 5 of these spools out of the garbage.  Each spool is probably 50 lifetimes supply of string.

Just give me a call- there is plenty to go around.

Carol K.  206-781-4858

I Announcements of Upcoming Events

1. June 13^th —Solar energy workshop on photovoltaic’s offered by SPU being held at Carkeek Park environmental education center.

2. June 13^th —Fundraising walkathon organized by Seattle Teen Challenge.

3. June 14^th —Game night and potluck at the Journey Church from 4-8 pm. Bring games to play and potluck dish.

4. June 15^th —7-8:30 PM Safety meeting at Journey Church to discuss crime, graffiti, and other problems in neighborhood.

5. July 18^th—Fruit tree pruning workshop sponsored by Seattle Fruit Tree Society from 11:30-3 being held at Carkeek Park environmental education center; there is a cost to this workshop

6. July 25^th—Crown Hill garage sale.

7. Every Sunday—Bike ride to Ballard farmers market organized by Carol Barber.

8. Free horse manure with truck delivery can be arranged from People Helping Horses. Carol Kennedy will be posting the contact information.

II Celebration Updates

1. June 28^th—Softball game at Crown Hill School little league field. Starts at 3pm with potluck afterward, organized by Danielle.

2. Sometime in August—Mary Avenue dead-enders will invite all to celebrate the first grant project to come out of Walkable Crown Hill’s Pedestrian Plan. This initial grant will cover planter boxes and improvements to the stairway at 103nd St. between Mary Ave. NW and 14^th Ave NW.

III Neighborhood News

1. Traffic circle being installed at 92^nd St. and Mary Avenue. The planting of traffic circle at 95^th St. and 13^th Avenue has been delayed until the fall.

2. Block parties can be arranged anytime between June 15 and September 30 without having to acquire and pay for a permit. Contacting the City (SDOT) at least one week in advance for a street closure.

3. Metro Rapid Ride program is coming to 15^th Avenue and 100^th St. soon, so there will be improvements to accommodate bus stops and pedestrian paths.

4. City of Seattle Pedestrian Plan has recently been updated and can be viewed on-line.

IV Permaculture Workshops

1. Sheet Composting workshop being taught by Danielle in July. This workshop will be combined with a work project to assist Kit and Dennis in preparing part of their back yard for more gardening/ landscaping.

2. Solar system workshop offered by Martin and Michael in early August.

3. Solar fruit drying workshop offered in September or October.

4. Native plant landscape design workshop offered by Doug in October or November.

Next meeting on July 26 :

Carol Kennedy’s and Doug Gresham’s.

937 NW 96^th St.

Seattle, WA 98117

206-781-4858

Facilitator to be determined

The Sustainable Crown Hill meeting is coming up this Sunday.  Bert will be giving his 2nd talk on permaculture starting at 3 PM, around 5:30 or 6 we will break for our potluck, and then start the meeting.

Location:
Heidi and Bert’s house
9524 – 1/2 12th Ave NW
(on the paved alley off 12th south of 96th St)

Please send any agenda items to me, Carol Kennedy.

See you this Sunday,

Carol K.

  It’s taken me a month and a half, but I finally set up an online resource for people interested in painting their intersections. I know we had talking about a mailing list, but I felt that there may be a more useful social-networking type framework. So I scoured the Interweb and decided to set up a “Ning” site. A ning site allows users to join, blog, post photos, events, discussions, etc in a much more dyanmic way than a traditional mailing list.

  My hope is that this site becomes a vibrant, supportive and useful place for those engaging their neighbors in turning spaces into places. But it will only be as vibrant as you choose to make it!

  Please follow the link below and become a member of “Community Corners”. I’ve already added some photos and my lecture notes from the event in January. My hope is that each project will create a “Group” (with their own blogs, forums, etc.) so that other neighbors can easily connect with what’s happening in there area. Please don’t hesitate to contact me with any feedback or questions.

  Here’s the link :  http://paintthetown.ning.com/

In community,
Eric Higbee

Sponsored by SDOT

Jan. 31, 2008

Presenters:

Erik Higbee: h_i_g_b_e_e@yahoo.com, community organizer behind street painting at 49^th and Burke discussed: 1. Process of involving community; 2. Process of designing paintint; 3. How to implement (paint) the design

Jane Rebelowski: jane.rebelowski@seattle.gov, SDOT civil engineer specialists discussed SDOT’s regulations, scope of assistance, and time frames

Brian Dougherty: brian.doughterty@seattle.gov discussed other funding

Jennifer Britton: Jennifer.britton@seattle.gov discussed Dept of Neighborhood funding

Crown Hill attendees: Carol Kennedy & Doug Gresham

There is no “one” way to build community, but Erik Higbee recommended Placemaking Guide Book by City Repair (Portland). He said it is about the process more than the end product.

May need to start with other activities, such as tree planting, block parties, to initiate getting neighbors together.

Usually there is a core group of people that gets things done.

1. Neighborhood Flier. Jane Rebeleowshi can provide the map of what neighbors need to be contacted for a particular intersection. When fliering, knock on doors and talk to people, get e-mail addresses. Include everyone, even if they don’t have an e-mail address or are opposed to the idea.
2. Neighborhood Design Charette: brainstorm ideas, create a “to scale” drawing of the intersection, have pens and markers for children and adults to draw out their ideas encouraging simple designs, straight lines, outline edges, solid bright colors. One person suggested using a stencil of street art for a simple pattern. Another suggested sponge painting. Have all of the drawings on a wall and give people three dots to vote for their favorites. (Someone with design/ graphic art skills can than develop it further into a final form.)
3. First SDOT Review: small sketch of design (it does not have to be the final form); they are reviewing it for cultural sensitivity and ensuring it does not extend to sidewalk, etc. takes about 1 week
4. SDOT puts the Petition Together for Neighborhood: Officially we need 60% approval with all 4 houses immediately at intersection approving; Jane believes they will be upping the approval necessary to at least 75% – 80%. In Wallingford they had 90% approval. Contact every single person. Need approval of home occupant, ie renter versus owner. Schools count as one vote. For apartment complexes, the manager or owner can count as one vote, or poll every resident. They are in process on how to count condo complexes. Keep the “no” people involved with the process.
5. SDOT Permit: If all of the concerns that SDOT raised after first review are addressed and there is adequate approval of neighbors, it costs $103 and takes about 10 days to get the permit.
6. Planning Date: Jane will determine if there are any projects for street repair in the area. Alternate routes need to be determined for police and fire. The city will close the street Saturday AM, but they only have one set of barricades for this use. If they are already reserved, we could rent barricades from National Barricade company for about $70, they deliver the barricades. Typically the neighbors will clean/ powerwash the street on Saturday, paint Sunday morning, and the street will be open by Sunday evening.

Notes regarding Neighborhood Approval:

Keep all naysayers involved with the process.

Reasons people were opposed in Wallingford: one person was afraid that it would draw more people into the neighborhood to hang out at the intersection; concern for property values; opposed to the “funky” aspect

SDOT’S REGULATIONS

1. It cannot be offensive to any particular group of people
2. Cannot extend up on curb, gutter or sidewalk
3. There is so much interest in painting around a traffic circle, SDOT is considering this; currently this is not officially approved.
4. Cannot have fluorescent, reflectors, or glass beads in paint
5. It cannot look like an official sign, ie no STOP signs painted, and no crosswalks painted.

IMPLEMENTATION OF PAINTING

1. Rodda Pain has approved paint for the streets and provide a 25% discount for these projects: waterbased, very fast drying, and have been formulated for road striping; coverage depends on age and type of street material: concrete coverage is about 80 sq feet per gallon; new asphalt is 150 sq feet / gallon; old asphalt will absorb more; Colors: white, orange, green, red, blue, yellow

Erik said the ladybug took 40 gallons, and cost about $800 to paint

1. Person with graphic skills has placed a grid template over the design; after street has been powerwashed, use chalk to lay out grid pattern on intersection so scale is uniform; use chalk to transfer design from paper to street, spray paint borders of each area and label the color
2. Delegate committees: ie 1. those involved with street closing; 2. those involved with getting paint and all supplies; 3. those involved with staging the paint and supplies – on a big tarp by side of road; 4. those who will actually paint, 5. those who will oversee the painting; 6. those involved with food. Wallingford had about 30 people involved
3. Design suggestions: Simple, Bold, solid bright colors, outline the borders

FUNDING

Dept. of Neighborhoods:

1. Small Sparks Grants: $300; will get a DON project manager; can be acquired any time

2. Small and Simple Neighborhood Matching Grants: $15,000 offered quarterly; matching funds can be done in labor, materials, professional contribution

SDOT

$1,000 available for improving walking routes to public elementary schools; I believe this is money that “reimburses” expenditures, versus money you get up front. This also funds “walking school buses”

MAINTENANCE

The street painting needs to be repainted every year. There is no funding source available for “maintenance”. Also, need to get another $103 permit from SDOT. Erik said that they had enough paint left over to repaint it the second year, but had to do fundraising for repainting it the 3^rd year.

1. Walkable Crown Hill: we received another extension due to the long reviewed by SDOT; no date yet on when it will be finalized.

2. Traffic circles:
- 12th and it 95th will be planted next week: Saturday at 10 a.m.
- 90th and Mary: Bruce and Michael have started a petition to get a traffic circle there
- Mary Ave. between 97th and 95th be getting speed humps installed next year

3. Doug Gresham was asked to lead another guided tour of Carkeek Park while the salmon are running; the walking tour will be the Friday after Thanksgiving at 11 a.m.
4. Northwest Chamber Chorus, featuring our own Michael Huber, will be having a holiday concert on December 8, 2008, at the Phinney Ridge Lutheran Church on 75th Ave and Phinney.
5. We will forgo the December Sustainable Crown Hill meeting in anticipation that we will be celebrating the final “tool kit” report of the Walkable Crown Hill project.
It was discussed that funding for neighborhood projects can now be “sponsored” by the Crown Hill Neighborhood Association, as they have acquired a 501 C3 nonprofit status.
6. Moving Night will be November 22 at Carol Barber’s house. Potluck before movie with locally grown produce (as much as possible).
7. “Downtown Mountain Boys” : concert produced by Dennis through the Seattle Folklore Society, November 29, 2008

Next meeting in January
location to be determined

- Dennis provided a brief update on the Crown Hill School and Park property acquisition work; in short, it’s in process and the school board has yet to act on the offer from the Crown Hill working group; also….

- The Pro Parks levy is on the ballot (last item); 1.2 million for Crown Hill to support park acquisition; flyer distribution happening this weekend and next week; go to ParksForAll.org to learn more; contact Jen to distribute flyers

- Electronic trash and recycling; interconnection.org does recycling; did event in Greenwood going door to door and possibility of doing the same in CH; Bartell’s now recycles CFL bulbs

- Bert talked about Community Fruit Harvest; SCH members did some picking 3 weeks ago and harvested 250 pounds of apples pears and plums; possibility of more picking this weekend perhaps with cider pressing, as well; planning on doing pruning around the neighborhood in winter to increase number of trees to harvest in summer; contact Bert if interested

- Walkable CH nearing completion of this year’s planning process; waiting for feedback and review from SDOT; will be completing planning document by end of October and hope to have celebratory event by end of November

- Danielle updated on Halloween scavenger hunt on October 26 from 6-8 pm at CH playfields; will be by flashlight; costumes must be original to be in contest; looking for help in set up on day of

- Linnae reported on Barb Building Group; Abundant life will be installing community gardens and looking to have SCH members come out to support the construction of beds during the winter so the garden is ready to plant in the spring

- Soapmaking workshop on Saturday, November 15

- Carol Barber hosting a community bike ride down to Ballard farmers market on Sunday, October 12; meet at 14^th ave. entrance to CH school

- Next SCH Movie night on October 25; potluck followed by “Power of Community: How Cuba Survived Peak Oil”

- November 4 election night gathering at Danielle & Michael’s

- Mark is looking for assistance with Urban Gardening Group