Following a relaxing January hiatus, the Emerson-Garfield Neighborhood Council meets tomorrow (February11) for the first time in 2015. The meeting starts at 6pm in the Corbin Senior Center (827 W Cleveland).
There are no guest speakers on this month’s agenda, which leaves us ample time to review and vote on the traffic-calming applications that schools, churches and residents have submitted this year for the neighborhood council’s approval. There are two arterial and three residential applications — with the possibility of more arriving between now and the meeting.
We’ll also be voting on a revised sidewalk repair/installation plan after this year’s CDBG eligibility areas shifted.
Beyond the yays and nays, the neighborhood council will be planning events for this year’s Emerson-Garfield Farmers’ Market, hearing about the new seed library at Petunia’s Marketplace, addressing volunteer opportunities, looking at upcoming neighborhood elections and Greening Grants (i.e., tree plantings), and briefly discussing N. Monroe revitalization.
Save a tree, put your tablet to good use, and download the materials as PDFs here:
The state of North Monroe has been a point of concern for residents and businesses for a long time now. This poorly lit, five-lane, treeless thoroughfare physically and psychologically divides Emerson-Garfield Neighborhood. There have been pedestrian fatalities. The doors of parked cars have been ripped off by passing traffic. The current environment is downright hostile to anyone who wants to park and walk from shop to shop, and by the same token, it poses an additional challenge to all the businesses that lack dedicated parking. The number of vacant and decrepit buildings is a good indication of that.
Even this past November, when the Emerson-Garfield Neighborhood Council was actively seeking to fund the installation an STA bus shelter so the growing ridership of the #24 didn’t have to stand in the rain, we could only identify one location with sufficient sidewalk in the stretch between Indiana and Grace.
For all these reasons, North Monroe featured heavily in the EGNC’s Neighborhood Action Plan, which had the support of residents, businesses and even the full City Council. And it’s been an ongoing focus of many parties outside of the neighborhood council — including the North Monroe Business Association, the West Quadrant Tax Increment Financing District (WQ TIF), several members of the City Council, the STA, and the City of Spokane.
Because the funding necessary to comprehensively overhaul North Monroe was so great, most everyone thought that the timeframe for this kind of project was about seven or ten years away. But that’s changed.
This past summer, engineers from the City applied for two ambitious grants with the goal of improving North Monroe. At the start of the year they got word that those applications were either successful or highly ranked for approval.
Image from WSDoT application: N. Monroe (Indiana to Kiernan) showing sidewalks and curb bump-outs.
The first comes from the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDoT). It has awarded the City $3,773,200 through the federal Highway Safety Improvement Program, which, according to this overview, is to:
Convert to two lanes with a two-way left turn lane and wide curb lanes. Install curb extensions and pedestrian lighting and upgrade sidewalk and traffic signs and signals.
Images that accompanied this grant application are provided above and below. They show the current conditions — narrow parking insets, narrow travel lanes, sidewalks as narrow as 5′ — and sketches of the proposed improvements with wider sidewalks, wider travel lanes, wider parking insets, a wider center turn lane, improved lighting and better natural stormwater mitigation using trees.
The second grant is through the WSDoT’s Pedestrian and Bicycle Safety Program (this document has more info). The state legislature still needs to formally adopt and fund the list in their 2015 session, but this project ranks high on the shortlist. The remaining $326,800 of the anticipated $4.1 total to revitalize North Monroe would come from this program.
Incidentally, this funding comes in addition to the $300,000 $150,000 that the WQ TIF has allocated as “seed money” to attract large-scale grants for this stretch of North Monroe.
The project scope includes reducing North Monroe from five lanes to three — a “road diet” in urban planning lingo — from just north of Indiana to approximately Kiernan at the top of the North Hill. The existing parking insets will be filled in to make a consistent 12′-wide sidewalk with trees and/or planted swales in some places. Curb extensions will be added at all intersections. The existing outside travel lane will be turned into on-street parking. The traffic signal at Montgomery — the intersection where the Institute for Extended Learning and Caffe Delicio draw considerable pedestrian traffic — will be modified to make it a safer pedestrian crossing. Other marked crosswalks in the corridor will be enhanced with center refuge islands.
Image from WSDoT application: Proposed cross-section.
Pedestrian lighting is included to some extent. In line with their recently adopted Moving Forward initiative, the STA also intends to incorporate bus stop and other high-performance transit improvements into the project.
There are many modeling and case studies (see here, for example, or here, or here) that show these improvements will not only make North Monroe safer and more attractive to pedestrians, they will also improve traffic flow while increasing business visibility. That might seem counterintuitive, but the proof can even be seen locally in areas like East Sprague, South Perry and Market Street in Hillyard. More lanes does not necessarily equal better traffic flow and better business.
As for the timeline: This is no longer a seven- or ten-year pipe dream. Planning will likely take place throughout 2016, and the conditions of the funding stipulate that the construction contract must be out to ad by September 2017. This means construction will take place in 2018 — just three years from now. On the scale of construction projects, that’s just around the corner.
In due course the EGNC will be working with these City engineers, the City Council, the STA, the North Monroe Business Association and other organizations to ensure that the redevelopment of North Monroe takes place in a way that aligns with everyone’s priorities.
The December 10, 2014 meeting of the Emerson-Garfield Neighborhood Council began after its Holiday Potluck. Three new voting members and 14 guests were in attendance, as were three firefighters from Spokane Station No. 2.
Despite scheduling a spot on the agenda, no one from Spokane Public Schools was present to speak about the proposed bond and levy that will be on the 2015 ballot.
Two representatives from a new charter school, PRIDE Prep, spoke about their mission and enrollment process. They are located in the old Social Security Administration building at 811 E Sprague and will be opening in the fall of 2015. Their curriculum is hands-on and makes ample use of technology. There will be a maximum of 120 students for the upcoming school year; the enrollment deadline is Wednesday, February 25, and they are already 80% enrolled.
The vote was 14-2 (with several abstentions) in favor of foregoing the January meeting. This means the next E-G Neighborhood Council meeting will be on Wednesday, February 11.
Alicia Powell informed the council that the City would like to plant edible fruit and nut trees on the neighborhood’s newly annexed land near the TJ Meenach Bridge. The Water Dept. will install irrigation and the public will be allowed to glean. The EGNC will work with the City over the next few months to arrange a spring planting.
Following the EGNC’s funding allocations in November, the status of Community Development Block Grant applications was discussed. Timothy Diko and Sara Kimball were applauded for their involvement with filling out the CDBG applications. Monroe, on Dalton, will receive a new bus shelter. Fulcrum Institute and the West Central Community Center have both verbally thanked the EGNC for its support in the upcoming year.
The two new traffic circles on Montgomery were discussed briefly. They are having their intended effect of slowing speeding cars; however, some careless or uninformed drivers have been seen simply riding over them or not making the proper left turn and instead cutting the “round” out of the roundabout. The roundabouts themselves will be more noticeable by next spring once vegetation has been planted.
Karl Bolt reported that seven tons of garbage was collected in 2014 because of the dump passes we distribute at the Emerson-Garfield Farmers’ Market. This past year record total of $6,964.95 was spent on cleanup efforts of more than 41 tons of waste. The next roll-off event — aka Spring Cleanup — will be on Saturday, April 18.
This past season saw $41,458.28 in total sales at the Emerson-Garfield Farmers’ Market. About one-third of the vendors have direct ties to Emerson-Garfield, so the sales generate some neighborhood return. A total of $1,951 was spent using SNAP (EBT) funds. Every $5 spent at the market using an EBT card exchanges for $7 in market tokens (the supplement is called Fresh Bucks), with the $2 difference being reimbursed by Catholic Charities; more than $700 in Fresh Bucks was issued this season to eligible patrons.
In addition to the support from Catholic Charities, the market also arranged collaborations with Project Hope; Knox Presbyterian, which supplied the location; Spokane Hope Christian Reformed Church, which shares the building with Knox and sells Korean food from inside the church; and Audubon and Garfield Elementary Schools. The farmers’ market also recently won a marketing award from Community Assembly.
Candace Mumm reported on issues that Spokane City Council has been debating. Among other things, the Salvation Army warming shelter is the only shelter funded this year, and therefore they have requested that bus passes to the shelter be included in the budget.
Paul Kimball gave credit to the firefighters who attended for part of the meeting, and discussed some of the developments at the Fire Department.
Just a reminder that there’s an Emerson-Garfield Neighborhood Council Holiday Potluck and meeting tomorrow (December10) starting at 6pm in the Corbin Senior Center (827 W Cleveland).
As always, everyone who lives, works or socializes in Emerson-Garfield is welcome to attend both the potluck and the neighborhood council meeting. This isn’t an exclusive group, and we welcome participation and input from anyone with a stake in the neighborhood. Come one, come all!
The potluck portion will last about 45 minutes to an hour. It’s a great chance to meet your neighbors and find out what’s going on in E-G. Please bring something for sharing, whether it’s homemade cookies, a supermarket salad or a soft drink.
Guest speakers this month are both school-related: Spokane Public Schools Superintendent Shelley Redinger and Marcia Via. Shelley will address the 2015 bond and levy that will be on an upcoming ballot, and Marcia will talk about the mission and enrollment process for PRIDE Prep, a new Spokane charter school.
In addition to that, the EGNC will be discussing planting some edible fruit and nut trees in the neighborhood’s newly annexed land as well as looking ahead to see what 2015 holds.
You can download the December 10 meeting materials as PDFs here:
Here’s a recap of the Emerson-Garfield Neighborhood Council meeting that took place on Wednesday, November 12. Once they’ve been approved, you can download the full minutes from this page.
The first speaker was Tim Schwering, the Director of Strategic Initiatives in charge of civilian oversight for the Spokane Police Department. A sample body camera was passed through the room. He noted a study of camera use in Rialto, CA, which showed a 59% decrease in the use of force and an 87.5% decrease in complaints.
Three sample body camera videos of a single interaction were shown for a demonstration: one from each of two officers involved in handcuffing a man wanted for felony, and a third camera from a distance. The attendees shared their opinions of the videos.
Tim reported that the SPD will introduce 220 body cameras, which will be recharged after each shift, and the data will be uploaded to evidence.com at the same time. Any time a video is reviewed, a record is kept of the time and date of the review. There is an average of 3GB per officer per shift. Between the equipment and record specialists, the estimated cost to Spokane is around $350,000 a year, which would come from the general fund.
Next Karl Otterstrom of the Spokane Transit Authority spoke about High Performance Transit routes. STA predicts a 30% increase in ridership on these routes and will extend its hours of operation accordingly. In the fall of 2015, improvements to the Monroe/Regal corridor would be in the first phase. A sales tax increase of 3/10 of one percent would be needed for this improvement. (For a sample of real-time schedule prediction, visit OneBusAway.org for Puget Sound.)
Rick Harris from the West Central Community Center explained the center’s CDBG funding request to replace some of its carpet with tiles that can be individually replaced. Between 42 and 46% of those who are using the WCCC are from the Emerson-Garfield neighborhood. The total carpeting replacement would cost around $11,000; approximately one-third of that would ideally come from Emerson-Garfield.
A representative of the Lands Council (also on behalf of Fulcrum Institute) requested a $5,000 CDBG contribution from the neighborhood towards a $30,000 greenhouse that would be used for training former inmates at the new facility on N. Ash. Two other neighborhoods have been asked for the same amount and have approved the request. There are 71 people currently in training, so the contribution would be approximately $70 per person. This investment would have a long-term return, as there is a 15-year lease on the property.
The initial proposal from the E-G CDBG funding advisory committee was $20,000 for N. Monroe revitalization, $30,000 for sidewalk installation and repair, and $4254.79 for the WCCC. A motion was made to change the allocation. There was a 95% vote in favor of allocating $25,572.79 to the sidewalk budget, $5,000 to the Fulcrum greenhouse, $20,000 to a N. Monroe bus shelter, and $3,682 to the WCCC for carpeting.
There was a unanimous approval among voting members for the expansion of E-G’s boundaries to include the land ceded by the Northwest Neighborhood Association.
Captain Tracy Ponto-Douglas of the SPD read a record of the crimes for this year compared to this time last year. Compared to last year, overall crimes are down approximately 8%.
Because the temperatures have fallen below freezing, the November 15 tree planting will be postponed until spring 2015 and will be a much larger weekend event.
The Parks and Recreation Department will be installing a new roof on the restrooms at Corbin Park. They are also planning to redo the tennis courts.
Starting January, Corbin Senior Activity Center will have five new board members.
