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Mayor Recognizes E-G, Announces Tree Initiative

Mayor Recognizes E-G, Announces Tree Initiative

Yesterday Spokane Mayor David Condon launched a new initiative to beautify neighborhoods with the addition of trees and green infrastructure.

The line of new trees next to N. Maple.That initiative, called Forest Spokane, is an effort to plant, protect and appreciate the trees that paint a canopy of vibrant colors in our city. The goal is to plant 10,000 new trees over the next two years as part of a broader integrated stormwater management effort.

Spokane was also honored today as a Tree City USA community by the national Arbor Day Foundation. It is one of 3,400 cities so recognized for the time, focus and commitment to establishing, maintaining and growing its urban forest.

As a jumpstart to Forest Spokane, the City will hand out 300 seedlings to City Hall visitors next week. The mayor also announced the reinvigoration of the Tree of Life program as another way to add new trees to our neighborhoods across the City.

The Tree of Life program traces its roots back nearly 20 years as a community effort to replace aging and damaged trees and add to Spokane’s colorful canopy. Over the years, school students, community organizations and corporations have rallied efforts to plant trees.

Names of contributors are commemorated on a carved wood and bronze Tree of Life sculpture at the top of the stairs to the City Council Chambers in recognition of their efforts. The mayor added a golden leaf to the Tree of Life to recognize the work of a dozen Emerson-Garfield neighborhood volunteers who planted trees on North Maple Street last Saturday as part of Spokane Gives.

Information about how to get involved in the tree planting effort is available at SpokaneUrbanForestry.org.

Suspect in Garage Break-ins

Suspect in Garage Break-ins

The young male in the photo below is a suspect in at least one area garage break-in and may be responsible (along with a group of others) for several more.

bike_thief

The photo is taken from the security footage at Wheel Sport when the suspect attempted to bring a bike in for inspection that had been stolen on Sunday night.

If you have any information on the suspect’s identity, please leave a comment below or get in touch through our contact form.

2014 Spokane Regional Construction Map

2014 Spokane Regional Construction Map

The Spokane Regional Transportation Council (SRTC) has released the Spokane Regional Road Construction Map for 2014. The map includes all construction projects county-wide that will impact traffic.

This year the map will only be published online and in an interactive format. While that means no more paper maps, it also means you can now access it on your smartphone or other handheld devices. The online format also allows you to zoom in on smaller projects, such as those in your neighborhood, and click on projects to read their descriptions.

The infographic below shows some of the features of the new interactive online map.

2014 Construction Map Infographic

To create the Spokane Regional Road Construction Map each year, SRTC staff works with staff at their partner agencies (City of Spokane, Spokane Valley, Spokane County, the Washington State Department of Transportation, Spokane Transit, and small cities and towns) to put all their construction projects that will impact traffic on a single map.

More SRTC map resources are available here.

Tree Planting on Maple Street

Tree Planting on Maple Street

Thanks to the legwork and support of engaged residents, one of the corners of our neighborhood that has become a priority for the Emerson-Garfield Neighborhood Council is the Maple Street area — specifically, the two-block stretch where it curves and splits into a residential/arterial street.

The oddly shaped (shoestring-thin in the middle, bulbed at either end) piece of land that divides the residential stretch from the arterial is a problem for a number of reasons. It’s untended and generates dust. It doesn’t offer a contiguous pedestrian pathway. It is a frequent accident site on account of speeding and adverse weather conditions. And it’s ugly as sin.

The proposed tree-planting site.
The proposed tree-planting site in all its dusty glory.

To start addressing some of those problems immediately, we’ve recently arranged to have street trees planted on the strip. The proposed locations and tree varieties (e.g., ponderosa pine, lilac, wireless Zelkova, tuliptree) are pictured below. These will help root some of the dust and provide a natural sound and sight buffer between traffic and the nearby homes.

Proposed varieties and locations for street tree planting on Maple Street. Click for a larger view.
Proposed varieties and locations for street tree planting on Maple Street. Click for a larger view.

The next step will be to have some native grasses or flowers planted and sidewalks installed. Later we’d like to see a pedestrian crosswalk across Maple and Ash in line with Euclid. This is a tricky spot, though, so we have met with city engineers and are working with them to figure out the optimal solution for vehicles, residents and pedestrians.

It’s taken the involvement of quite a few organizations and individuals just to get this far: Maple Street residents, the EGNC, Spokane Urban Forestry, the city traffic department and the Office of Neighborhood Services. The EGNC alone is contributing about $3500 from its Community Development Block Grant street-tree fund to help things along. The reassuring news is that, ever since the project gathered steam, it has seen very rapid progress.

As things stand, the site will be prepped for planting on April 17 or 18, and then the trees will be planted by neighborhood volunteers on Saturday, April 19 under the supervision of a certified arborist. This will be kinda sorta part of the wider Spokane Gives initiative.

If you’re interested in learning more about this neighborhood improvement or you’d like to lend a hand during tree planting, please leave a comment below or attend the next Emerson-Garfield Neighborhood Council meeting on Wednesday, April 9. And we not only welcome but encourage similar proposals from residents all over Emerson-Garfield.

Vendor Application for 2014 Emerson-Garfield Farmers’ Market Now Available

Vendor Application for 2014 Emerson-Garfield Farmers’ Market Now Available

Like the headline reads, the vendor application for the 2014 Emerson-Garfield Farmers’ Market is now available. Download it here as a PDF.

E-G Farmers' Market logoThis season the market will run from June 6 to October 17. Just like last year, it will be held in the parking lot of Knox Presbyterian Church (806 W Knox) every Friday from 3 to 7pm.

The full-season rates this year are just $100 prior to April 30 and $125 on May 1 and later. That makes a total of 20 dates, and the early rate actually works out to less per market than the 2013 rate. Booth spaces per diem are still $15. And there’s still no application fee.

This year will bring some fun and important changes. Most important among them is that the market will be accepting EBT (aka Quest, SNAP) as a payment method in addition to standard debit/credit cards. The market will be participating in Fresh Bucks incentives, too — so every $5 in tokens purchased with your EBT card gets you an extra $2 for spending. And we’re also getting things in place to take WIC family and senior vouchers.

The collaboration with Project Hope will be stronger as well, so you’ll see kids and teenagers from Emerson-Garfield and West Central who are participating in the program selling their locally grown veggies at the Riverfront Farm booth. We’re also working on holding a market poster contest within the local schools as well as some cool tie-ins with First Friday events and Summer Parkways.

If you aren’t familiar with the Emerson-Garfield Farmers’ Market, please check out this photo gallery as well as this photo gallery. We think they capture the unique spirit of this grassroots market in a concise way.

One more thing: In the coming weeks, once some details are sussed out, the application will become a joint application with Project Hope’s West Central Marketplace. That means you can use a single application to apply for one market or the other — or better yet, both!