Take the STA Moving Forward Survey

Take the STA Moving Forward Survey

STA Moving ForwardSTA Moving Forward is the Spokane Transit Authority’s draft ten-year implementation plan that proposes to sustain existing service levels and provide more and better transit for the growing region.

As a part of the public outreach period from September through November, the STA has provided an online survey to solicit feedback on the proposed package of transit projects as well as a potential funding mechanism in the form of a voter-approved 0.3% increase in the local sales tax rate. Karl Otterstrom, Director of Planning at the STA, spoke about this at the most recent Emerson-Garfield Neighborhood Council meeting, explaining that a 0.3% increase in local sales tax equals 15¢ on a $50 purchase (fuel and most food products are sales tax exempt).

As part of STA Moving Forward, Emerson-Garfield would be likely to see more frequent service on the N. Monroe route (24) and later hours of operations on weekends.

The STA has asked everyone who’s interested in the future of public transit in Spokane to take that survey (it runs about 5 to 7 minutes) so that their board of directors has a broad spectrum of community feedback prior to making transit decisions later this winter.

To link to it again: STA Moving Forward survey.

Neighborhood-wide Planting (Nov 15) Cancelled

Neighborhood-wide Planting (Nov 15) Cancelled

We’ve put this news out via other channels — namely, Facebook, Twitter and at Wednesday’s EGNC meeting — but wanted to spread the word here too: The neighborhood-wide planting scheduled for tomorrow (Saturday, November 15) has been cancelled on account of the freezing temperatures.

This was supposed to bring street trees to an entire stretch of N Atlantic and a full block of N Stevens along with hardy native bushes to a traffic median on N Maple, but the ground is frozen both in the nursery as well as at the planting locations.

If you’re interested, some background on the nature and scope of the plantings is available here.

The good news is that the planting will be rescheduled for the spring, and it will be a much larger event with a fun educational component about the care and maintenance of trees. Thanks to all those who were prepared to volunteer and assist with this planting, and we hope your enthusiasm will hold out until spring.

Final Korean Food Sale of 2014 (Nov 15)

Final Korean Food Sale of 2014 (Nov 15)

Spokane Hope Christian Reformed Church (스포켄 소망교회) is holding its final Korean food sale of 2014 on Saturday, November 15 from 10am to 3pm. You can find them on the lower level of Knox Presbyterian (806 W Knox).

Final Korean food sale 2014

The menu is available for dining in or take out. It includes bulgogi (BBQ beef), spicy Korean pork, potstickers, bibimbap (mixed veggies), gimbap (vegetarian sushi) and more. Their kimchi is a popular favorite too.

Dishes range between $5 and $10; they also offer multi-meal or loyalty discounts. This sale acts a fundraiser for the church, which has shown itself to be very supportive of the neighborhood in general and the Emerson-Garfield Farmers’ Market in particular.

Their congregation won’t resume the food sale until next March, so this is the last chance to get your fix for a while.

Materials for the Nov 12 E-G Neighborhood Council Meeting

Materials for the Nov 12 E-G Neighborhood Council Meeting

We’re rapidly approaching the second Wednesday of the month, which means it’s time for another Emerson-Garfield Neighborhood Council meeting. It takes place tomorrow (November 12) starting at 6pm in the Corbin Senior Center (827 W Cleveland).

This month we’ll be hearing — no, really this time — from Tim Schwering, Director of Strategic Initiatives at the Spokane Police Department, about the practicalities and policies of police body cameras. This is all the more topical in light of this weekend’s car chase across the north side that ended in a nonfatal officer-involved shooting at the 2200 block of N Post here in E-G. The officer’s body camera was not on at the time.

The major agenda item is the allocation of just shy of $55,000 in Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funding to our neighborhood. As discussed at the October meeting, an ad hoc neighborhood CDBG committee met at Gerardo’s and developed a proposal to split the money in the following ways: $20,000 toward N. Monroe revitalization (in conjunction with the STA), $30,000 toward sidewalk installation and repair, and the remainder to neighborhood nonprofits. This proposal will be discussed and refined by everyone in attendance, then approved by voting members.

To that end, we’ll be hearing brief CDBG-related presentations and requests from the STA, The Lands Council (in partnership with Fulcrum) and the West Central Community Center. George Dahl, Human Services Manager at City of Spokane, will be on hand to answer questions about the possibilities and limits of funding.

This meeting could run a bit longer than usual, but we will aim to finish around 8pm. Considered, forward-thinking allocation of CDBG funding is important, so it’s worth the extra time.

As always, the EGNC welcomes everyone and anyone who has a stake in our neighborhood, whether you’re a resident (renter or homeowner), a business owner, a church leader, head of a nonprofit, or you have a child who attends one of the many schools in Emerson-Garfield.

You can download the November 12 meeting materials as PDFs here:

And if you’re on Facebook, you can RSVP for the neighborhood council meeting on the event page.

Roundabouts Begin on W Montgomery

Roundabouts Begin on W Montgomery

The barriers and detour that have suddenly sprung up on the stretch of W Montgomery between N Monroe and Northwest Boulevard mark the start of construction for the traffic circles (aka roundabouts) that will help to abate speeding.

The chain-link fence in the left of the photo below has been taken out twice in recent years due to speeders.

Start of W Montgomery roundabouts

This post from August shows the engineering designs and also contains links to the long but fairly smooth history of this project. W Montgomery residents and Trinity Catholic School will be helping to landscape and maintain the roundabouts once they’re completed.

As an important side note, this is being paid for through Photo Red dollars (the fines handed out for running red lights), not tax dollars, and it was entirely resident-proposed. Which is to say, if you’re not happy with the traffic situation on your own street, you can put available funding to good use and do something about it.