It was a nice cool morning with a light rain overnight, so the soil was nice and soft for pulling weeds in the Gemenskap Park rain gardens this morning. Thank-you to Jody from Seattle Parks who provided us with tarps, tools and cones to get us started. Thanks to neighbors, Linda, Mary Pat, Veronica, Stevie, Casey, Erin, and John who volunteered a couple hours of their time this morning to make a difference in the park. By noon, we had successfully filled the bed of Jody’s truck! The park is looking great for our Aug 6 Potluck! check out more pics here.
Night Out is a national event promoted in Seattle by Seattle Police Department Crime Prevention. It is designed to heighten crime prevention awareness, increase neighborhood support in anti-crime efforts, and unite our communities.
The park is looking lovely, but the weeds in the rain gardens are getting out of control. Join your neighbors at Gemenskap Park on Saturday, July 27, between 10AM and 12PM and help us get the gardens looking pretty again. We’re also seeking neighbors who’d like to organize the next work party. Reach out to us at eastballard@gmail.com or talk with us on Saturday if you’re interested!
A big thank you goes out to our vigilant neighbor and resident Master Gardener, Peggy Cooper, who identified poison hemlock (a noxious weed) growing in the rain gardens at Gemenskap Park. She posted the information on NextDoor and it was picked up by KIRO-TV. They came out to interview her and brought along folks from the King County noxious weed control program as an opportunity to spread the word on a recently launched noxious weed mobile app, called “King County Connect“, that allows users to report potentially noxious weeds. See the full KIRO interview here.
King County successfully removed the the poison hemlock plants, but we have not confirmed how they found their way into the rain gardens. Peggy believes that seeds may have been introduced in the potting soil of some of the shrubs planted in the rain gardens. We have informed Seattle parks, and they will be contacting the contractor who installed the landscaping.
According to the King County website, “poison hemlock is a Class B noxious weed, is a widespread toxic biennial plant in the Carrot Family often found in open sunny areas, fields, vacant lots, and on roadsides. Eating even a small amount of any part of this plant can kill people, livestock, and wildlife.“
Although all of the poison hemlock plants have been removed, we ask that you be vigilant, like Peggy, and use the “King County Connect” app to report any new growth (or email us at eastballard@gmail.com and we’ll report for you).
Upon reviewing the Board’s motion, the following options, plus a new alternative are going to be included in the Environmental Impact Statement:
Movable bridge with 15th elevated station – From elevated Interbay station, continues along 15th Avenue W and crosses Salmon Bay via a movable bridge west of the existing Ballard Bridge. Continues in an elevated guideway along 15th Avenue NW. Terminates at an elevated Ballard Station on 15th Avenue NW near NW Market Street.
High fixed bridge with 14th elevated station – From elevated Interbay station, continues over 15th Avenue W, crosses Salmon Bay via a fixed bridge east of the existing Ballard Bridge and continues in an elevated guideway on 14th Avenue NW. Terminates at an elevated station on 14th Avenue NW at NW Market Street.
Tunnel with 14th or 15th tunnel station – From Interbay station, descends into a tunnel beneath Salmon Bay. Terminates at a tunnel Ballard station with station options beneath 14th Avenue NW or east of 15th Avenue NW at NW Market Street.
New Alternative from public feedback:
Tunnel with 20th tunnel station – Scoping comments suggested interest in a station farther west in Ballard with a tunnel crossing under Salmon Bay and tunnel station at 20th Avenue NW.
In the coming months, you can expect additional maps and information to be posted on the project website. If you’d like to stay informed on this project, we encourage you to subscribe to updates on the Sound Transit site.
Thank-you Scarlet, Giulian, Nola, & Estelle for making 14th look so nice and helping us eat the yummy donuts donated by Top Pot!
Although it had rained throughout the week, the sun shone this Saturday as we set out to clean up 14th Ave NW! We had over 25 volunteers who picked up trash and weeded the medians and rain gardens along 14th. Coffee, donated by Woodland Coffee and donuts donated by Top Pot, kept us fueled as we picked up trash from NW 65th all the way to Leary Ave.
Big thank-yous go out to the following volunteers who went the extra mile to support this great event. If you want to be on the volunteer call-out list for next time, reach out to eastballard@gmail.com
Peter for organizing the crew
Peter for posting flyers and Linda for taking them down after the event
Linda and Peter who helped load up the car, set up the event, work the event and then break it down. Whew!
David and Cynthia at Blowing Sands Glass for letting us set up in front of their business
Loryn and Shelby for coordinating the refreshments
Linda for washing the work gloves afterward
…and thank-you to Rachel, Giulian, Scarlet, Nola, Estelle, Pam, Roxanne, Susan, Felix, Mary, Erin, John, Casey, Indu, Banu, Ellen, Leon and more who showed up and made a difference by helping us keep the neighborhood looking so nice!
Thank-you Roxanne, Susan and Felix!
Check out more pics in our Flickr album to see all the fun we had! Thank-you neighbors and we’re looking forward to seeing you again in the fall for our Clean Sweep event!
Join the EBCA as we clean up 14th Ave NW (now including Gemenskap park!) and tidy up the medians and planters. Bring your friends, bring the kids, we’ll bring the rest! This will be a rain or shine event, so come dressed for the weather and bring your sunscreen!
What: EBCA Spring Clean Where: Blowing Sands Glass (5805 14th Ave NW) When: Saturday May 18, 10AM-1:00PM
…the following is from from Groundswell NW’s May Newsletter
Greenways are a key component of the 2014 Seattle Bicycle Master Plan and provide people of all ages and abilities with safe, calm and attractive residential streets for bicycle and pedestrian travel priority. A group of Ballard neighbors supporting the 6th Avenue NW Greenway project have submitted this project to the Your Voice Your Choice program for public approval. It involves a section of 6th Ave NW that extends from NW 43rd Street to NW 50th Street, connecting to the Burke Gilman trail at NW 43rd Street. The first phase of the twopart decisionprocess involves public “scoring” which is available online (for people 13 years and older) through the YVYC website. Please consider voting for this project at this voting link. The voting link is available from May 1 through 31 for scoring. Scoring can also be done manually and for those 11 years and older, at the Ballard Branch Library, 5614 22nd Ave NW, Seattle, WA 98107 on May 20 from 5:30 pm to 7:30 pm.
Left to right: Holly, Casey, Peter, Scarlet, Stephanie
This past Sunday, the Friends of Gemenskap Park Steering Committee got together to fill eggs for this Saturday’s Inaugural East Ballard Spring Fling in Gemenskap Park. Let the party begin! If you’re interested in working with these fine neighbors to plan the next park event, please reach out to gemenskap.park@gmail.comor come by on Saturday and speak with one of our volunteers!
Join us from 10AM-1PM this Saturday April 20 at the south end of Gemenskap park for an old fashioned egg hunt for all ages. We’ll start off with the youngest kids around 10:15AM and then phase in the older kids after that. We’ll also have face painting, coffee and treats from the Ballard Market and games at the north end of the park. Bring your neighbors, friends and family, and enjoy a fun morning in the park. Bring the sun with you too while you’re at it!
WHO:: Families and friends of East Ballard & Gemenskap Park
WHAT:: East Ballard Spring Fling in Gemenskap Park with an egg hunt for all ages, refreshments, face painting, games, and community. Bring your kids and furry friends too!
WHEN: Saturday, April 20th, 2019 from 10:00am – 1:00pm
