Monty and Marsha are making a second effort at building an Eagle’s nest. Is it an improvement? Will it stand up to six months of heavy use? Take a look and see what you think on:
Have a great day on Union Bay…where nature lives in the city!
Larry
Monty and Marsha are making a second effort at building an Eagle’s nest. Is it an improvement? Will it stand up to six months of heavy use? Take a look and see what you think on:
Have a great day on Union Bay…where nature lives in the city!
Larry
Last week, WSDOT held a public meeting where the department presented new design plans that seek to preserve the Montlake Blvd. Market and limit construction impacts on the market’s property.
The good news is that Graham’s design and proposal will likely cut a year off the project. Further really good news is that it appears WSDOT is conceding it can avoid use of the Montlake Market and Gas Station properties. Graham’s designs eliminate many of the impacts WSDOT sited in their condemnation and demolition plans for the market property. The bad news, however, is that despite proving their ability to avoid the market and shifting construction impacts away from the property, WSDOT is still pursuing a full condemnation in order to use the rest of the property as a staging and storage yard for the next 10-years, throughout the Portage Bay phase. One of their representatives also claimed they needed the properties for the project’s “associated risks,” although he did not elaborate.
Read more about the meeting in this story by KOMO News.
In terms of saving the market, WSDOT estimated that keeping the market operational throughout construction will add an additional 45 days to the project and $20 million to the cost. This may seem like a lot at face value, but it appears to be intentionally misleading. WSDOT presented this figure without any discussion of the cost to acquire the property and avoided mention of other associated costs, such as lost tax revenue from the market, gas station and cell towers, which runs nearly $1 million per year. All told, WSDOT’s costs to acquire the properties could be as high as $33 million, with WSDOT paying an estimated $20 million on top of that to keep the market operational should the agency proceed with a full condemnation. Moreover, they are ignoring the social and other costs they’ll impose on the communities we live in, loss of “walkability/bikeability” to and from the Market, drive time, cost and frustration to get to alternative market and gas locations, reduced property values of our homes from proximity to 10 years of loud, noisy construction, and the elimination of one of our few community gathering spots. And, even using WSDOT’s inflated cost estimate, keep in mind the number is a fraction of the project’s $4.51 billion budget.
These figures amount to what can only be considered as an absurdly steep price to pay, especially in light of WSDOT presenting the new designs last week showing how they can avoid the properties. WSDOT’s only remaining reason for acquiring the Market site appears to boil down to construction staging and storage. The notion of spending $50 million in taxpayer money to turn the heart of Montlake into a construction and equipment staging yard for the next 10 years is unacceptable to the Montlake Community Club. Our neighbors deserve better.
The Montlake Community Club is continuing to engage with our legislators as well as WSDOT to keep staging off of the property and to make sure all options to save the market are pursued. You can help by reaching out to WSDOT Secretary Roger Millar, Speaker Chopp, Rep. Nicole Macri and Sen. Jamie Pedersen at the emails below and carrying this message:
Roger Millar: millarr@wsdot.wa.gov
Speaker Chopp: frank.chopp@leg.wa.gov
Rep. Nicole Macri: nicole.macri@leg.wa.gov
Sen. Jamie Pedersen: jamie.pedersen@leg.wa.gov
We also encourage everyone to take the survey about the market, which can be found here by February 14th at 5 pm.
How are the local Union Bay birds adapting to our snow. See the photos and look for changes in their behavior at:
Have a great day on Union Bay…where nature lives in the city!
Larry
An independent assessment of WSDOT’s environmental testing of the Montlake Market and gas station properties has some good news for the community ahead of WSDOT’s open house on Wednesday, January 30 (Details: St. Demetrios Greek Orthodox Church from 5:30 pm – 7:30 pm). More info on meeting here.
The report’s author observed WSDOT’s environmental testing conducted in December, took split samples of the drilling materials, reviewed WSDOT’s sampling results, and has assessed the potential risks of the contamination levels on the property. Based on the sampling to date, there is no environmental justification for demolishing the market or closing the gas station to clean-up the contamination that WSDOT has identified. The levels of gasoline-range petroleum hydrocarbons exceeding Model Toxics Control Act Method A clean-up levels are “limited to the Gas Station Parcel.” The assessment concludes that, based on existing data, it appears clean-up techniques routinely employed in gas station contamination clean-up actions can be used here to remediate the soil and groundwater contamination under state law, while leaving the existing buildings intact, the Market in operation, and even avoiding closure of the gas station, except perhaps on a short term basis.
A copy of the report’s executive summary follows below, and a copy of the full report is posted here.
Executive Summary
Operations on the north tax parcel (King County Tax Parcel No. 8805901085, the “Gas Station Parcel”) include a gas station building and three underground storage tanks (USTs) and pump islands. The south tax parcel (King County Tax Parcel No. 8805901090, the “Market Parcel”) contains the Montlake Market supermarket building (Market). The small southwest triangular shaped tax parcel (King County Tax Parcel No. 88059010170, the “Triangle Parcel) is part of the parking lot for the Market. The Market Parcel and the Triangle Parcel together are referred to as the Market Properties to distinguish them from the Gas Station Parcel.
Based on the soil and groundwater sampling and analysis conducted on and near the parcels by the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT), there is no evidence of soil contamination on the Market Properties that contains the Market and cell towers. Soil contamination (petroleum related) appears to be limited to the Gas Station Parcel where the gas station and associated UST system are located. Impacts beyond these parcels appear to be minimal and limited to areas north of the Gas Station Parcel. Therefore, based on the available data, soil contamination is limited to the Gas Station Parcel, is not a significant threat to the Market on the Market Properties, and there is no need to demolish or impact the Market building or its operations to remediate the petroleum soil contamination on the Gas Station Parcel to the north. And, given the existing information, it is also likely that the known soil and groundwater contamination can be remediated under MTCA without having to close the gas station. Preliminary figures developed from WSDOT’s contractor’s January 2019 Third Supplemental Phase II report showing a summary of both properties and off-properties soil and groundwater sampling results are provided in Attachment 1.
This information provides a strong backstop for any speculation regarding the extent of the contamination on the property. The good news is that the environmental contamination WSDOT has identified should have no bearing on whether WSDOT can save the Market, the Market property’s cell towers, and even the gas station from the department’s SR 520 construction plans.
WSDOT has indicated they will provide a “property soil-testing update” at Wednesday’s open house, in an attempt to “be as transparent as possible.” They will also be providing design scenarios for avoiding the market and limiting construction impacts on the property in an effort to adhere to the Washington State Legislature’s directive for the department to preserve the market “to the maximum extent practicable.”
The full report is included here.
Can you find the bird in this photo? Find out why it is so ease to overlook in this week’s post on:
Have a great day on Union Bay…where nature lives in the city!
Larry
Valentine Art Pop-Up Shop!
Saturday, February 2, 2019 from 9am – 2pm
FUEL Coffee Montlake – 2300 24th Ave E.
Lots of 4″x4″ Heart Art for $25 each. Great for Valentine gift giving.
Montlake neighborhood Artist, James W. Sutherland, works intuitively
in his unique medium of painted, carved plaster panels.
(Polychromatic Bas-relief)
www.jameswsutherland.com
Do you see the wall which separates these two Bald Eagles? Learn more in this week’s post at:
Have a great day on Union Bay…where nature lives in the city!
Larry
The WSDOT SR 520 Program is hosting a public meeting on Wednesday, Jan. 30.
Meeting topics will include:
Meeting Details:
Date/Time: Wednesday, Jan. 30, from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m.
WSDOT presentation at 5:45, followed by small-group discussions
Location: St. Demetrios Greek Orthodox Church
2100 Boyer Ave. E., Seattle, WA 98112
Parking: Limited free parking is available onsite
Transit: Bus routes 43, 48, 255, 311, and 545 serve the Montlake/SR 520 area. The U Link light-rail station at Husky Stadium is about one mile from St. Demetrios Church
Questions?
Email: SR520Bridge@wsdot.wa.gov
Call: 206-770-3554 (M-F; 8 a.m. – 5 p.m.)
Visit: https://www.wsdot.wa.gov/projects/sr520bridge
Montlake Market Property Q&A from November meeting published
Thank you to all who attended our Nov. 7, 2018, public meeting regarding the Montlake Market. We received many questions from the community that night, and in the following weeks, about the SR 520 Montlake Project and how our construction might affect the market. We’ve compiled those questions and answered them in our latest Montlake Market Property Q&A document, which you can find online.
Why is this local woodpecker, which has a greater percentage of red feathers than any of the others, the hardest to see? Thoughts and photos in this week’s post on:
Have a great day on Union Bay…where nature lives in the city!
Larry
Text-to-9-1-1 is a new service in King County that will help those who are deaf, hard of hearing, speech impaired, and anyone who might be unsafe if they were to be heard by an intruder or abusive partner. While texting to 9-1-1 is a vital tool that increases accessibility to emergency services, the preferred method for those who can speak is to call.
If you do need to text 9-1-1 in an emergency:
There are limitations to text-to-9-1-1 including:
Please help keep 9-1-1 available for those who need it. Do not send test texts. Text-to-9-1-1 is not for anonymous tips.
Montlake Elementary School is looking for tutors for the remainder of the 2019 school year. As a paid tutor you can work up to 19 hours a week. Tutors assist in one or more classrooms. Tutors do a variety of tasks including working with students one-on-one, assisting with lesson preparations, facilitating small group activities, playground supervision and more! Tutors are such a great asset to our teachers and Montlake as a whole. If you are interested, please contact Principal Julie Pearson at jepearson@seattleschools.org.
What exactly is a Pigeon Hawk and how does it handle an American Crow? Details at:
Have a great day on Union Bay…where nature lives in the city!
Larry
This week’s post focuses on the male Anna’s Hummingbird. I hope you enjoy it!
Have a great day on Union Bay…where nature lives in the city!
Larry
Burn off those holiday calories and take a walk on the new Interlaken Stairway connecting Interlaken Blvd and Boyer Ave E at E Howe Street. You can also bring your bike and try out the new runnels on the stairway. The newly opened connection is thanks to funds from The Seattle Parks and Recreation Activating and Connecting to Greenways program, in partnership with Seattle Department of Transportation.
Many thanks to Project Manager Mike Schwindeller who creatively resolved many design challenges and Park Staff members Michael Shiosaki, Frank Cammarano and Karen O’Connor for hosting a great celebration. Special thanks to Ngoc Ngyen for the great photos.
Go take a walk!
What is Marsha eating? Has she changed her look? Find out in this week’s post on:
Have a great day on Union Bay…where nature lives in the city!
Larry
From all of us at the Montlake Community Club, thank you! On Monday we gave the University District Food Bank a check for $30,000, the net proceeds from the Montlake 5K Turkey Trot & Kids Run. Said Paul Yunker, Development Director of the Food Bank, “It goes without saying that $30,000 is a tremendous donation. We are aware of the amount of work and the support necessary to achieve a donation of that size. Thank you Montlake Community Club and community!”
At left: Bill Lowie, food bank Assistant Director; Sharsti Sandall, MCC President; Paul Yunker, food bank Development Director; Leah Ball, food bank Board President.
We raised $7,000 more than last year, which we attribute to 3 things: increased corporate sponsorship, raffle earnings–which were enabled by fantastic sponsor donations and generous participants, and increased 5K participation. Consider visiting these local businesses who sponsored the race and donated the prizes: Earth + Wind + Fire Yoga, Glam & Tonics AVEDA Salon, Café Lago, Wilcynski Partners Real Estate, Oculus Eyecare, Montlake Blvd Market, Little Lago, Audi Seattle, Bad Cat Events, Darcy LaBelle Real Estate, KHBB Law, Stokes Lawrence, Rivalry Events, Arboretum Dermatology, Sound Community Bank, Meditate Seattle, HDR, Molly Moon’s, Mont’s Market, and Capitol Hill-Montlake Dentistry.
Our volunteers were essential to the race. Volunteers helped with everything from hanging signs to course monitoring. To all of you who helped, thank you!
Thanks to the Arboretum and the Arboretum Foundation for letting us have the race in this beautiful treasure. The MCC has given a donation to the foundation to show our appreciation, and we encourage you to do the same.
What bird would you consider to be the exact opposite of a Trumpeter Swan? See my choice, and more swan photos, in this week’s post on:
Have a great day on Union Bay…where nature lives in the city!
Larry
Please join the Montlake Community Club for their annual LIGHT UP THE NIGHT Fundraiser this Sunday at Cafe Lago. Along with the special treats Cage Lago has in store for you, the MCC will be raffling off some pretty amazing items – just in time for the holidays. Included will be our BIKE MONTLAKE donation – a Cannondale Trail 16 Single-Speed Bike in Turquoise donated by the Montlake Bike Shop, our LUXURY IN MONTLAKE gift basket containing a fabulous assortment of Aveda Products donated by Glam & Tonics. Check out our two baskets containing our newly released MONTLAKE WEAR including our high quality Montlake branded sweatshirts, tees and ball caps. Or, bid on our GET LIT donation and a chance to sit back and relax next holiday season while Holiday Spirit Lighting lights up the exterior front of your home, or finally, take advantage of our HOME BAKED basket with the promise of five delicious baked fresh holiday treats delivered to your door this holiday season. Raffle tickets $5. To make dinner reservations, visit cafelago.com and note LIGHT UP THE NIGHT fundraiser in the notes section so the staff will be sure to treat to some extra holiday cheer! We can’t wait to see you! The Montlake Community Club
Hi All,
This is Frank Cammarano. I am the Coordinator of the Greenways Initiative.
We will have the opening at the Interlaken stairway sight on December 8 at 9:30 am, with a celebration from 10am-noon at Montlake Community Center.
At this time I have scheduled a face painter for the children, and music from local buskers.
We will have coffee, tea, hot water for cocoa, and a number of treats for your enjoyment.
Thanks all. I look forward to meeting you on December 8th.
Frank