Spring Cleanup 2018 Recap
The entrance to Spring Cleanup
Volunteers wait for cars.
The metal recycling bin. Close to 3 tons of metal were recycled.
The line of cars waiting for entry.
The inside queue starts to fill up.
Spring Cleanup 2017 (May 20)
Just a final reminder that our annual Spring Cleanup is this Saturday (May 20) from 9am to 12:30pm, rain or shine. If you live here in Emerson-Garfield, you should have received a postcard in the mail recently with all the details.
Spring Cleanup is your chance to clear out all the junk from your attic, garage, alley, basement, yard, closets or wherever else it might have been accumulating over the winter. All you need to do is pack it up into a car, truck, van or trailer, then haul it up to the parking lot of Faith Bible Church (600 W Cora). Volunteers will then direct you to the dumpster and help you toss it. You can make as many runs as you like — there’s no limit.
A couple of things to bear in mind:
- You’ll need ID to show that you live in the neighborhood. Here’s a map of the neighborhood boundaries.
- Please break up large items such as furniture. Everything has to be heaved over the dumpster wall.
- Only bring ordinary household waste. That means no drywall, concrete, nail-embedded wood or hazardous waste (e.g., paint, oil, turpentine).
- The Salvation Army eCycle van will be there to collect your old computers, VCRs, TVs, telephones and other consumer electronics.
- We’ll gladly recycle mostly-metal items like microwaves, water heaters and even lawnmowers. But please drain them of oil and other fluids first!
If you’ve got questions about Spring Cleanup or would like to volunteer to help, please call Karl at (509) 325-3031.
And if RSVP’ing on Facebook is your thing, please head over to the event page to indicate you’re going and share it with your neighbors.
Cleaning from the Corridor – Saturday, April 29th from 9am – 12pm
Spring is around the corner and so is the city’s annual volunteer event, Cleaning from the Corridor (CFTC).
This year the event CFTC will be focusing on the Monroe corridor and the Emerson-Garfield Neighborhood with some satellite projects north and south along the corridor. CFTC aspires to create projects that leave a lasting impression and impact for those who live, work and play in the area we focus on.
In addition to volunteering, CFTC is holding a month long donation campaign, there will be a donation boxes at City Hall located on the first floor as well as other select locations along the Monroe corridor and at the Downtown and Shadle Spokane Public Library. On April 29th the donations will be counted and sorted as part of the larger event. If you can’t volunteer, donate!
Volunteer Projects Opportunities Include –
- Landscaping
- Public art (murals)
- Planting raised garden beds and
- Trash cleanup
Sign-up to Volunteer by going to www.VolunteerSpokane.org > click on Spokane Gives and then select the CFTC logo.
We look forward to seeing you at this year’s CFTC event in Emerson-Garfield Neighborhood!!
Let your friends and neighbors know! Feel free to post this flyer.
Spring Cleanup Tomorrow (May 21)
A quick reminder that our neighborhood’s eighth annual Spring Cleanup is tomorrow (Saturday, May 21). The event is held in the lot adjacent to Faith Bible Church (600 W Cora Ave) and runs from 9am to 12:30pm.
You’ll need some form of ID to show you live within the Emerson-Garfield boundaries.
At the moment it looks like some scattered showers are forecast for tomorrow. The volunteer crew will be there no matter what, so make it worth their while and don’t let a little rain stop you from cleaning out the clutter from your yard, attic, basement, garage or storage room – all for free and without having to truck it over to the solid waste facility.
What can you offload? Here are some categories:
- Clean green: Bagged grass clippings, leaves, pine needles, etc. Branches must be less than 3″ in diameter and under 6′ in length. No sod, rock, gravel or animal feces.
- Refuse: Everyday junk. No food items, drywall, concrete or nail-embedded wood. All items must be in small, manageable pieces. No large furniture or mattresses.
- Recycling: Any mostly metal item, such as empty water heaters, stoves, washers/dryers, lawnmowers (drained of oil) or microwaves.
- Salvation Army: Donations of clothing and furniture. You can also e-cycle your old computers, TVs and electronic gear.
If you’d like to put Spring Cleanup in your Facebook calendar, you can RSVP to the event there.
And remember, this year the neighborhood council is organizing a separate curbside large furniture pickup for items such as sofas, easy chairs and mattresses. You can register for that tomorrow at Spring Cleanup or by calling Karl at (509) 325-3031. Pickup will take place around the third week of June. You must preregister by Saturday, June 11.
We hope to see you (plus all the refuse you want to bring) tomorrow!
Recap of the May 2016 E-G Neighborhood Council Meeting
This is a brief recap of the Emerson-Garfield Neighborhood Council (EGNC) meeting that took place on May 11, 2016, led by newly elected co-chairs Carlie Hoffman and Tim Musser.
Guest speaker Kate Burke of the Spokane Edible Tree Project talked about how her organization searches the city for fruit and nut trees that aren’t being harvested and then takes on that task. The harvest is then donated to area food banks. They are currently mapping trees they can harvest and encourage both mappers and volunteer harvesters to get in touch with them. The organization is holding a Volunteer Kickoff event on Thursday, May 26 at the Saranac Building.
David Steele of the City’s Parking Services Department was scheduled to speak but was not in attendance.
The City is looking to revise and improve the way it deals with the repair and construction of sidewalks. Potential models might be found in cities east of the Mississippi, where municipal governments handle sidewalks differently. The opinions of the various neighborhood councils are being solicited concerning a coordinated comprehensive sidewalk program responsible for sidewalk replacement and repairs. This would most likely involve an increase in fees and/or taxes. A discussion took place about how the group felt; the consensus was that the City should actively being researching alternatives in order to gain a better idea of what the costs would be.
The neighborhood council will be submitting funding applications to the Community Assembly for the Emerson-Garfield Farmers’ Market and Concerts in the Park.
Heather Schelling volunteered to be the neighborhood and district representative on a Solid Waste Collection task force that could improve garbage pickup routes.
Barb Biles, who serves as Emerson-Garfield’s representative on the Land Use Committee, reported that this group is looking for ways to increase density within the city rather than sprawl at the periphery. They are looking for people to join a focus group on infill housing. They would like responses by Thursday, June 23 to prepare for the focus group’s first meeting on Thursday, June 30.
The 2016 season of the Emerson-Garfield Farmers’ Market starts on Friday, June 10. After considering a few other proposed locations, the market will be moving to the parking lot of the Adult Education Center (2310 N Monroe) at the intersection of Montgomery and Monroe at the start of this season. Volunteers are needed – please sign up! A sponsorship program was also launched.
Bri Musser, who stepped forward last month to take over Concerts in the Park, proposed several possible dates and said she was still looking at bands.
Spring Cleanup is on Saturday, May 21 from 9am to 12:30pm at Faith Bible Church (600 W Cora). Bring your wretched refuse, yearning to go to the dump.
An improved pedestrian crossing island is being installed this summer where Adams/Knox crosses NW Boulevard to make it safer for schoolchildren on their way to nearby Trinity Catholic and Spokane Public Montessori.
Laura Schlangen reported that the Corbin Senior Activity Center is still working on the revised plans for the elevator. There are no plans on when it will be built. They have applied for another grant to pay for elevator. Tea in the Afternoon was well attended but Corbin’s town hall meeting was not. The annual Corbin Golf Scramble will take place Saturday, June 4. Golfers and sponsors are still welcome to apply.
Tim Musser reported that that CA Community Development is compiling a list of “readymade” projects that will be easy for neighborhood councils to select and implement.
As for other reports, no Pedestrian Transportation and Traffic (PeTT) meeting was held this month. The neighborhood’s Community Assembly rep was absent. The Rental Housing Stakeholders group is still looking for a neighborhood representative (preferably a renter) to serve on it. Building Stronger Neighborhoods is not meeting until later in the month.
City Councilmember Candace Mumm talked about the recently approved North Monroe Corridor Advisory Group. In other news, she said the council is moving forward with an investigation concerning the dismissal of Police Chief Frank Straub. They are working on transparency and gaining access to roughly 7,000 documents that have not yet been released.