It’s time for our neighborhood to plant the trees and landscaping awarded by our successful 2014 Greening Grant applications. Devotees of Emerson-Garfield news and beautification efforts will recall that this is a rescheduling of the planting event that was cancelled last autumn on account of an early freeze.
This neighborhood-wide event will take place on Saturday, April4 from 9am to 1pm.
Please note that there are two simultaneous locations on either side of the neighborhood! Volunteers are needed for both. Anyone who wants to help beautify Emerson-Garfield is welcome to participate.
The first planting is on the east side of Garfield Elementary (222 W Knox) next to the playground. This is part of a larger “guerrilla” tree planting up and down the length of Atlantic and one block of Stevens — dubbed “guerrilla” because the original plan was to have volunteers plant a tree for anyone who wanted it right there on the spot. But Spokane Urban Forestry doesn’t work that way. Which is probably for the best, since the trees should be planted with professional care to ensure their longevity.
Roughly 15 volunteers will be needed here to plant the trees in the ground and distribute mulch. It will be light physical labor for all ages and abilities. Feel free to bring tools like a wheelbarrow, shovel or rake.
Social media fans can RSVP for the Garfield planting on Facebook or Nextdoor.
The second planting is on the west side of Emerson-Garfield at the median strip near 3114 N Maple. Approximately 15 volunteers will be needed to move ten yards of soil to the holes, then plant yuccas and horizontal junipers around the existing trees and along the soon-to-be-installed sidewalks. As above, feel free to bring basic garden tools to help the effort.
Keep in mind that you don’t have to wield a shovel or stay the full five hours to contribute. Bringing some cookies and drinks for the volunteers is as greatly appreciated as helping to put trees in the ground.
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!
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.
