By now you might have heard that the City of Spokane is giving away 2,000 trees. For free. Under this citywide initiative, Spokane residents will be eligible to receive up to two trees each. A variety of tree species are available between the sizes of four to seven gallons.
The Emerson-Garfield Neighborhood Council has received a limited number of vouchers for these trees to distribute to E-G residents on a first-come, first-served basis and as long as supplies last. Please read that last sentence again to ensure there’s no confusion or disappointment.
To claim their vouchers, Emerson-Garfield residents have two options:
Attend one of the neighborhood’s Greening Grant plantings on Saturday, April 4. More info on that event is here.
Attend the E-G Neighborhood Council meeting on Wednesday, April 8. That runs from 6 to 7:30pm at the Corbin Senior Center (827 W Cleveland).
Your vouchers will entitle you to pre-select your tree species and then pick them up on April 17 and 18 from three local nurseries that have partnered with the City’s Office of Neighborhood Services.
Check the free tree species list (PDF link) to see which species are offered at which location.
To have more mature trees delivered right to your door, Greenleaf Landscaping & Nursery is offering an additional deal as part of the Residential Tree Program. Greenleaf has reserved 300 deciduous and coniferous tree species for residents to purchase at $95 per tree, and Spokane residents are eligible for up to two of these trees. With your purchase Greenleaf will deliver and install your new tree(s) directly on to your property at a time convenient for you.
View the Greenleaf tree flyer (PDF link) to view a list of trees that are being offered.
Not in Emerson-Garfield? We feel your pain. To find out which neighborhood you live in, visit the City’s neighborhoods page.
The Spokane Transit Authority is holding an all-area open house at the STA Plaza (701 W Riverside) from 4 to 6pm on Thursday, March 26 to inform interested members of the public about Proposition 1, a measure that will appear on the April 28 ballot.
Prop 1 is a proposal to increase local sales tax by 3/10 of 1% — the equivalent of three cents on a $10 retail purchase — for public transit. The ballot measure contains a ten-year sunset clause and would expire at the end of 2025. If approved, the funds would be used to maintain existing service levels, as well as provide more and better transit throughout the region.
STA staff will be on hand at the open house to discuss and answer questions about the ballot measure in person.
To learn more about specific projects throughout the Spokane region, visit STA Moving Forward. If you have general questions about Prop 1 that are unanswered by the digital booklet linked above, please contact Brandon Rapez-Betty, Sr. Communications Specialist at the STA, at BRapez-Betty@spokanetransit.com or (509) 344-1879.
STA representatives are already scheduled to speak about Prop 1 at the next meeting of the Emerson-Garfield Neighborhood Council on Wednesday, April 8.
The March 11, 2015 meeting of the Emerson-Garfield Neighborhood Council (EGNC) featured Kelly Norwood of Avista, assisted by Casey Fielder, as its guest speaker. Kelly provided a printed slideshow with some background on the company, its infrastructure, as well as the rate regulations it is subject to.
Of the $2.5 billion investment in Avista, 48% is equity, owned by shareholders, and 52% is owned by bond holders and banks. Avista is asking for a 4.75% authorized return on equity, which, according to the statistics provided in the printed materials, is an average rate compared to other providers. While the cost of electricity has increased 41% over the past 10 years, natural gas has only increased 3%. Over time, the costs to the customers has matched inflation almost exactly.
Kelly took questions from the group and later remained after the meeting to speak with interested attendees individually.
Kelly Norwood of Avista speaks to the EGNC about rate increases.
Next, Alicia Powell spoke about the City’s Greening Grants. In 2014, twelve neighborhoods applied for projects, and there were 17 approved applications, including 117 street trees, five perennial plantings, and one riparian planting. Under the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program, 66 street trees were planted.
Under the Greening Grants program, each neighborhood in Spokane can apply for three grants each at up to $5,000 per grant. On April 17 and 18 of this year, 1,000 trees will be given away to residents for planting. Every resident can receive up to two trees. If residents would prefer to be supplied with larger, more established trees, a landscaping company can deliver and install up to two for $95 each. Vouchers for these trees and pickup locations will be provided to the neighborhood council at the next meeting on April 8.
The neighborhood Greening Grants planting for its successful 2014 applications will take place on Saturday, April 4. More info on that — including times, locations and scope of projects — will be available in a forthcoming blog post.
There were several volunteers for an ad hoc Greening Grants Committee, which will meet briefly over the next month to determine potential locations for plantings and landscaping and apply for one or more of the three possible grants. If you are interested in serving on this committee, please get in touch. You don’t have to be a voting member of the neighborhood council to participate.
Volunteering for the neighborhood council executive positions was encouraged, as elections are in April.
Megan Kennedy reported on the City-hosted open house for North Monroe business owners that she attended on the morning of March 10. She said that the City employees took the concerns of the business owners very seriously. One of the main concerns for owners was the length of the street closure. If a full closure, there would be 3 to 5 months of construction as opposed to 2 to 4 years if a partial closure. The City is also adjusting an additional levy source that could bring further improvements to the road surface.
Community Frameworks recently provided their architectural plans to the EGNC’s chair and vice-chair, requesting their opinions regarding the development of affordable housing at 315 West Mission.
The City is currently in negotiations for a site in Emerson-Garfield that would house an additional drinking water well. This well would provide a safe source of drinking water, especially in light of the risks associated with some of the current drinking water wells in industrial locations.
The neighborhood website was recently migrated to a new server, and is now (clearly) back online.
The Movin’ and Groovin’ Fair of the Corbin Senior Activity Center will be held on Saturday, March 14 from 8am to 2pm. There will be 75 vendors. Lunch will be served for $6. Corbin’s sound system, valued at $500, was stolen, and the Center is considering a new locking system.
Karen Colvin and Carol Anderson spoke on behalf of the Spokane Community Oriented Policing Services (C.O.P.S.) shops. The North Hill and North Central C.O.P.S. shops should be merging, with volunteers relocating to the North Central location (630 W Shannon). The North Central location is open Monday through Friday, 10am to 2pm.
As C.O.P.S. receives limited funding, there will be a flea-market fundraiser market on Saturday, May 9 from 9am to 3pm at Knox Presbyterian Church (806 W Knox). C.O.P.S. North Central and Knox Presbyterian will be collaborating with the Emerson-Garfield Neighborhood Council to plan and augment the event.
Al Steuart briefly reported on the planning for composting demonstrations and other activities during the Emerson-Garfield Farmers’ Market. There are currently additional volunteers for canning and dehydration/desiccation demos. If you would like to coordinate one of these events, please e-mail Al directly.
On the news that previous organizer Eline Helm was stepping down, Timothy Diko and Melissa Parker volunteered to organize this year’s Concerts in the Park. The date will depend on the availability of the band but could be timed, like last year, to coincide with Summer Parkways.
Karl Boldt reported on the Spring Cleanup scheduled for Saturday, April18 from 9am to 12:30pm, the annual dumpster roll-off event that allows residents to dispose of household and yard waste for free. Faith Bible Church will provide beverages and snacks to all those who participate, plus pizza for volunteers after the event. Unlike previous years, we will be unable to gather hazardous waste materials. This is a good opportunity to clean up alleys with your neighbors. Tires are acceptable at the roll-off event, but dump passes may be provided for construction materials that should be taken directly to the dump.
Barb Biles reported on the Land Use Committee, which is considering changes to bicycle lanes, rental properties regulations, and an easy-to-use outline for application processes.
Tim Musser reported on the Community Development meetings, which are working to determine how neighborhoods will receive and allocate CDBG funds in the coming years. The intent of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), the source of the funds, is to improve the standard of living for lower-income residents, so the committee used that goal to formulate a proposal for a point-based system of resource allocation. Generally speaking, if a CDBG block has 75% or more of low-income households, it receives four points. With 60–75%, two points, and 50% to 60% receives one point. The Community Assembly is set to assess and vote on that proposal.
The Emerson-Garfield Neighborhood Council meets tomorrow (March11). The meeting starts at 6pm in the Corbin Senior Center (827 W Cleveland).
Representatives from Avista will be this month’s guest speakers. They’ll be talking about the rate increases as well as other local energy-related initiatives.
Following that, we’ll hear about upcoming Greening Grants opportunities and possibly brainstorm some ideal locations in the neighborhood for new landscaping and street trees. We’ll also hear a recap of this morning’s open house for N Monroe business owners, updates on the traffic-calming applications submitted earlier this month, and news on development big and small around E-G including Pura Vida, a new drinking water well and 315 West on the southern tip of Emerson-Garfield.
As always, you can download the materials beforehand as PDFs:
These meetings are open to anyone who lives, works or owns property in Emerson-Garfield. There are no dues or fees to participate. It’s a great way to stay informed, meet your neighbors and take an active, grassroots role in shaping your neighborhood for the better!
The February 11, 2015 meeting of the Emerson-Garfield Neighborhood Council began with a review of this year’s traffic-calming applications. Three residential applications and two arterial applications were submitted for the EGNC’s approval. The locations are shown below.
Each applicant, if in attendance, was given an opportunity to describe the traffic problem, its threats to safety and quality of life, and their proposed improvements. Later in the meeting, to facilitate the voting process, individual street views and an overview of the locations were displayed with a projector. Each voting member was allowed to cast one residential vote and one arterial vote.
For the residential improvements, the intersection of Alice and Cedar received 16 votes. Stevens and York received five. Another application regarding residential area improvements had been submitted by Shannon Lawson, the principal of Spokane Public Montessori; it received five votes. The neighborhood council determined that the Montessori application was still valuable, but it could be covered by one or two other funding mechanisms, such as Safe Routes to School, whereas the other residential projects would not.
For the arterial improvements, Lincoln and Indiana received no votes because this intersection is sandwiched between two other intersections with stoplights (Indiana and Post, and Indiana and Monroe). The only other arterial application, Adams and NW Boulevard, received all votes aside from five abstentions. That pedestrian crossing is very close to Spokane Public Montessori, which is expanding to K-7. It would also function as a seed for the larger improvements as mentioned above.
The sidewalk list that was approved in November was rendered invalid by shifting Community Development Block Grant eligibility. Therefore a revised sidewalk list was voted on and unanimously approved. Council member Candace Mumm also explained the possible funding sources that might help to improve the sidewalk project if CDBG funding will not cover a particular area.
New attendee Steven Anderson volunteered to be Emerson-Garfield’s dedicated representative on the Pedestrian Traffic and Transportation (PeTT) Committee. Tim Musser volunteered to serve as the E-G rep on the Community Assembly’s Community Development Committee, which will help to determine how these federal funds are allocated to the neighborhoods via the City of Spokane.
Laura Schlangen, who is now officially a resident, reported on Corbin Senior Activity Center. An elevator is to be installed in the Upper South classroom; the remodel will cost around $350,000. March 14 is the Movin’ and Groovin’ Fair, where a half-price membership to the CSAC will be offered.
Candace Mumm gave a report on the City Council. There might be a slight increase in water bills, and the power bill is about to increase as well. The City of Spokane is committed to charging the lowest rate possible. However, the water pipes are so old that the system loses approximately 20% of the water that is available.
Barb Biles briefly reported on the Land Use Committee, which addresses issues such as cell-phone towers being out of place. There were no urgent matters. Like the E-G Neighborhood Council, there is generally less activity than usual during the winter months.
Karl Boldt also reported on the Spring Cleanup and explained it to the new attendees. Saturday, April 18 has been proposed as this year’s roll-off dumpster date. Karl would like to have an assistant to help with managing this popular event (please get in touch if you’re interested).
This year the cleanup crews will be unable to dispose of household hazardous waste; E-G was the only neighborhood to make use of that cleanup funding. At the first Emerson-Garfield Farmers’ Market of each month in June, July and August, a handful of dump passes (approximately 10) will be handed out on a first-come, first-serve basis. Each pass is valued at $20. Unfortunately, much of what was brought to the dump last year using the pass was valued at only $5, so $15 was wasted by those dump runs.
The council moved on to discussion items. John and Rusty Vlahovich have moved out of the neighborhood and will be missed. John served on the West Quadrant Tax Increment Financing (WQ TIF) Committee and helped secure funding for N Monroe improvements. Megan Kennedy will leave her position as EGNC vice chair in April and fill John’s shoes on the WQ TIF Committee. With her experience in the neighborhood planning projects, and the relocation of her business onto N Monroe, this position will be a good fit. This means the EGNC vice chair position will be available in April (please get in touch if you’re interested in running for the position).
There have already been seven applications for the 2015 E-G Farmers’ Market. Al Steuart has been very active with ideas for various events, which have traditionally drawn a larger crowd to the market. He shared several event ideas, such as a composting and vermiculture; water conservation; student art; reading for children; cooking; canning and food preservation; high-tech gardening gadgets; and do-it-yourself dehydrators and ovens. (Please get in touch if you’d like to organize one or more of these events.) There is consideration for relocating the market onto N Monroe in front of the new Modern Monk microbrewery.
Stacy Blowers with Petunia’s Marketplace explained a seed library that will be provided in the store. The other two libraries in the area are in Hillyard and Otis Orchards. You would sign up for a library card and check out seeds for no cost. They are hoping to benefit collaborations with Project Hope Spokane and Second Harvest through this. The capacity for checkout, still to be determined, might be four seeds of each variety.
In January, an application for $3.8 million which had been submitted by City engineers for N Monroe renovations was approved (please see our previous blog post for more info). There was much discussion about benefits and drawbacks, with insights provided by those who had been involved with Emerson-Garfield’s Neighborhood Planning Committee. All attendees, irrespective of opinion, were encouraged to research road diets and look at case studies locally and nationally.
Jackie Caro from the Office of Neighborhood Services applauded the neighborhood’s tree planting efforts, and explained a ballot for a $5,000 greening grant, which anyone can apply for. In 2014, eight new trees were planted on N Maple, and 64 perennials will be planted this April. All voting members agreed to request an additional $5,000 grant. There were no objections to receiving additional funding.
