The Parking Lot Party is one of COHBC’s many popular, family-friendly events that is open to the wider community. They usually have a bouncy castle, live music, carnival food, face painting, games, raffles and prizes, and lots more.
It was another banner year for the Spring Cleanup event, which was held on April 18.
In under four hours, 21.20 tons of trash were collected and hauled away. That saved Emerson-Garfield residents $3,957.30 in dump fees and helped to clean up many yards, garages, alleys and attics in the neighborhood. A total of 3,920 pounds of metal were collected for recycling.
Those figures weren’t quite as high as last year, but there were other numbers that far exceeded any previous Spring Cleanup — namely, the number of volunteers. There was a rough head count of about 60 at one point. To put that in context, the first Spring Cleanup event in 2010 saw approximately eight volunteers.
During the course of the event, the volunteers helped direct traffic, unload vehicles, serve snacks, hand out neighborhood information, and make trash runs for those who weren’t able to come to the site themselves.
Below are some photos of the event and the volunteers who spent their Saturday morning helping out the neighborhood in a big way. Many thanks to Lani Boldt for the photos.
Spring Cleanup 2015
Spring Cleanup 2015
A huge and special thanks goes out to Faith Bible Church. They partnered in a big way this year, bringing a crew of volunteers plus snacks for drivers to make their wait in line more pleasant. Yep, that’s right — at this year’s Spring Cleanup, you not only got to dump your refuse for free, you also got fed! FBC was also generous enough to hold a pizza party for volunteers after the event was over.
As in years past, the Salvation Army and a Geiger work crew were also on hand to help e-cycle still-functional electronics and help with the unloading process.
If you missed this event but still have refuse to offload, don’t panic. Starting in June, ten dump passes worth $20 each will be made available to Emerson-Garfield residents on select dates of the Emerson-Garfield Farmers’ Market. Those dates are June 5, July 10, August 7, September 4 and October 14. You can claim the passes at the central market booth on a first-come, first-served basis.
Knox Presbyterian Church in partnership with the Emerson-Garfield Neighborhood Council, C.O.P.S. North Central and Spokane Hope Christian Reformed Church (스포켄 소망교회) is holding its first-ever Neighborhood Extravaganza on Saturday, May 9 from 9am to 2pm in the church parking lot (806 W Knox).
At this combined fundraiser event to benefit C.O.P.S. North Central and the two churches, you’ll find food, homemade soaps, plants and starts, crafts, jewelry, chair massage, vintage items — plus yard sale and secondhand items. It will be a great chance to shop for a unique Mother’s Day gift and meet your neighbors.
Want to buy a booth for your crafts or secondhand items? Just $10 gets you a 10′ x10′ space (BYO table or canopy). The deadline for reserving a booth space is Monday, May 4.
Call Nedra on (509) 328-7540 with questions or to reserve a spot. Be prepared to leave a message with your name and phone number.
Emerson-Garfield will be holding its 2015 neighborhood-wide Spring Cleanup on Saturday, April 18 between 9am and 12:30pm.
This popular annual event organized by the Emerson-Garfield Neighborhood Council is designed to help you get rid of all the junk that’s been cluttering your garage, backyard or basement — as much as you’ve got, and it’s all for free.
Just like in years past, there will be a roll-off container site at Faith Bible Church (600 W Cora) where you can pull up in your car or truck and dispose of the following:
“Clean green” and general refuse. This includes untainted green waste (e.g., leaves, grass cuttings) and everyday trash.
The Salvation Army collects reusable goods and e-cycle items — functional, gently used electronics such TVs, digital cameras and printers.
Metal recycling. Under this category falls microwaves, stoves, small lawn mowers — that is, any 99% metal items with a few tiny non-metal tidbits (but no items that contain freon or liquids).
A couple of caveats to keep in mind:
Household hazardous waste (e.g., paints, solvents) will not be accepted this year. Ours was the only neighborhood to make regular use of that offering, so it got cut from the program. Bummer.
No construction items like concrete and drywall. There are a variety of reasons for this, one of them being that they disproportionately inflate the container weight.
Emerson-Garfield residents only. If you don’t actually live in the neighborhood, you can’t offload your stuff.
If you appreciate or make use of this free event, you can give back by volunteering. Just send an e-mail to Karl Boldt and request either a loading or non-loading task. Loading requires someone strong and physically fit. Non-loading includes responsibilities like traffic control, ID check, or conducting the annual “wants and needs” survey.
Volunteers will need to be onsite from 8am to 1pm. Oh, and they’ll get treated to a pancake breakfast free pizza afterwards.
Social media buffs can RSVP to Spring Cleanup on Facebook or on Nextdoor.
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.
