9/14 Monthly Meeting Notes

[Teresa Damaske]

Hi all,

Here are notes from tonight's meeting. 

WHAT: Greenwood-Phinney / Licton-Haller Greenways joint monthly meeting 

WHEN: Tuesday, September 14 from 7:30pm to 8:30pm

WHO: Tom, Lee, Justin, Robin, Teresa, Doug M., Doug S.

WHERE: Online via Zoom (see below for link)

AGENDA:

·  Admin updates

• Tom will need to hand over some responsibilities as he’s expecting a new family member in November.  
• Tom will try to be available to start the meetings. Will need help with the agendas and running the meetings.
• Our meeting is scheduled for the first Tuesday of the month.
• Tom will look into getting a zoom link we can use each week.
• New meeting / fundraising venue options     
• Brock organized a fundraising event at Razzis a few years ago.
• Tom has been talking to Flying Bike Brewery – they have a weekly fundraising event with $1 per pint going to a non-profit.  
• A new brewery, Halcyon, is opening in the old Naked City space.
• St Andrews Pub has a large public backroom. Would need to purchase beer. No one under 21 allowed. Could be a good space for ARC to try out first.
• Epic Life Church has several rooms too – they are located on 105^th near Aurora
  
  

·  Updates from around the neighborhood

o New crosswalk at 83rd/Greenwood

o NE Greenwood Home Zone project

• SDOT delayed for 6 months before telling us we can do the project but under very strict rules. One of the issues right now is lack of storage space for the barrels. This project will hinge on weather, potentially workshop space, and if we can find a place to store the barrels.
• Status looks unsure. Tom is looking into an extension for the project.  Will ask for through next summer.

o Aurora Reimagined Coalition

• Had an in-person event in late August at Lantern Brewery. Had a good turnout and good conversations. Had 280+ responses on public survey. They are partnering with a non-profit to do an in-person workshop in Spanish. They have also translated the survey into Spanish, and it can be found on got99problems.org
• Monitoring mayoral race and pending 2022 state budget, and state legislature.
• The Spanish Outreach meeting will be at North Seattle College. Tom will send the date of the meeting when it is set.
• What’s the status of sidewalks on Aurora. Ask for sidewalks in two pieces – new ones and ones to repair. Need to identify small scale or medium scaled things to see if we can get CM Juarez’s interest in sponsoring them. Lee observed hundreds of Ingraham students waiting for the E line at 130^th and is trying to think about what to suggest. There are immediate things that can be done without spending too much money. There are a number of early (30%) plans for the area. This is a major pedestrian area without sidewalks. This is both a WSDOT and SDOT problem. It’s a state highway managed jointly with Seattle and it’s a disgrace. In the $2 M SDOT study for Aurora,  there is money for small, immediate projects and plans to apply for grants. Aurora and 130^th will be a major transfer point when the 130^th light rail station opens in the future.
• ARC will be talking about their advocacy strategy at their next meeting tomorrow.
• There is a new development (Amazon) going in that isn’t improving sidewalks because they said it’s a minor renovation. Each permit submitted expanded the project and they avoided sidewalk improvements.
• Sidewalk maintenance is just as important as new sidewalks.  
• These sidewalks are ADA illegal – it’s the City’s obligation to provide ADA accessible sidewalks.
• North Aurora is one of the fastest growing census tracts is in this area.
• Slowing down traffic on Aurora would make it safer and easier to live nearby. General population doesn’t want to slow down traffic on Aurora.

o  Planned sidewalks on Greenwood Ave N

• Lee sent an email to the SDOT team asking for an update and hasn’t gotten a response yet.

·  Upcoming Events to plan

o Opening of the Northgate Light Rail Station - Oct. 2

• We could organize a family friendly bike ride to and over the new bridge
• Max is organizing tabling at the event.
• SDOT is having an opening ceremony between 10 and noon at the west approach to the bridge.
• Lee will email the Northgate organizing group to state that we’d like to get involved and help. Northgate doesn’t have a greenways group and they could join the Licton Springs group.

o World Day of Remembrance - Nov. 21

• Sunday before Thanksgiving. Day to acknowledge traffic fatalities in the city. Planning to set up a long table with empty place settings showing number of people who have been killed the past two years. May also do other physical installations. City’s Vision Zero group is going to contribute funding.  

Cheers,

Teresa