Friends of Marymoor Park

February 25th, 2009 Meeting Summary

-- see also the January 28, 2009 meeting summary

Attendees: Greg, Christina, Jenny (Parametrix) Norah, Herb, Tony, Steve (SRA)

East Lake Sammamish Trail – presentation by Jenny from Parametrix (last minute replacement)

• Overall intent of the trail did not change from original plan
• 178 comments received to draft EIS – majority approved. Those opposed were more focused on how to make the trail system safe (similar to concerns expressed about Burke Gilman)
• Originally envisioned 5 phases
• 2008 Phase: 30% design for entire trail and complete portion in Redmond
• 2009: construct trail segment in Redmond (roughly from park to N. side of 520), complete design for Issaquah segment
• 2010: construct segment in Issaquah, complete design for Sammamish and south
• 2011: construct south Sammamish segment and finish balance of design
• 2012: finish construction
• Funding may require breaking project into additional phases.
• Federal involvement (FHWA) has caused delays to finalizing EIS
• Advertisement for construction can’t start until Fed funding has been realized – hope to advertise in May
• Risks to project schedule from appeals, political change, increased project costs
• FEIS expected to be issued in April 2009
• Several other projects (some related) will be starting near east end of park in next 6-8 months – trail construction coordination will be paramount. Likely to have overall congestion impact.
• Updates provided on KC website (Jenny or Norah to provide address).

 Sammamish Rowing Association (SRA)

• King Co lead entity for the permit application
• Marymoor staff were apparently not up to date either on permit process
• Questions from FOMP came up largely due to lack of notice/information
• Requested extension to allow time to review/comment on application. Comment period runs through next week.
• Rowing association questions why the concern was raised at all, given earlier information provided to group.
• Last presentation was believed to have been in March, 2008. Application materials submitted to Redmond are not substantively different from what was presented at March 2008 meeting.
• 1995 wetland map showed area south of existing boathouse was not considered wetland. Original basis for permit application was 1995 delineation map.
• Pursued initial permits under this premise.
• Had separate, recent delineation performed by Watershed Company. New data indicated area south of boathouse was not eligible for construction. Area north of boathouse also contained small wetland areas that would limit construction opportunities.
• Slightly elevated area east of boathouse existed after the remediation activities, and was identified by Watershed Co. as non-wetland area
• Large cottonwood trees adjacent to proposed pad were targeted by Redmond as trees that needed to be removed due to proximity to construction site. Separate arborist report commissioned by SRA indicated trees were healthy and should be able to survive construction.
• Submitted application documents through Redmond’s “Prep” process, which allows applicant to vet technical information in advance of formal application. Process worked well, per Rowing Association, as allowed for a more iterative process for technical review.
• Mitigation was required by Redmond to be performed within City limits, precluding mitigation in other parts of Marymoor (part of King Co.). All mitigation will be performed in Marymoor West. • Submitted for conditional use permit and shoreline permit in mid-Jan. Now in public comment period.
• Re: size of parking lot compared to size of building: highest use is mid to late afternoon when Juniors program is practicing. Ultimate bottleneck is the size of the dock and the ability to accommodate greater number of juniors. Have no intent to expand juniors program. Therefore, parking lot size will not increase.
• Do, however, expect increase in other programs and private boat storage and use, but these programs/individuals don’t use the facility during the peak period.
• Rowing association would like to see FOMP support of overall project expressed at public hearing (Monday, April 6). Michael is party of record for notice.
• Mitigation monitoring runs for five years. Monitoring period starts when certificate of occupancy is granted by City of Redmond.
• Old boathouse will be razed. Pad will remain and will be used for outside storage of launches.
• Road also has to be widened in sections to comply with Fire access requirements.
• Project also includes turn lane on W. Lk Sam Pkwy.
• Long-term Redmond plan includes acquiring approximately 40 feet of park land along Parkway to accommodate road widening and adjacent bike trail. Will eventually impact rowing club parking lot, but date uncertain.
• FOMP requested copies of mitigation monitoring reports once monitoring starts.

Microsoft Earth Day Projects (April 22)

• Expect approximately 400 employees to work in park on areas including birdloop, re-leaf and misc locations with invasive weeds.

 CIP/Project updates

• Park portion of Marymoor  Connector Trail is open. Plantings have started. Will also, gradually, replace aged cherry trees in road median.
• Ballfields largely finished. A few punchlist items left to do, but fields will be open for use on 3/1.
• Pet Garden. No progress, so cookies provided to the group. MCGA would like fencing completed within next couple of months to limit dog access to fresh compost.
• Birdloop: Preliminary work done on the boardwalk extension during work party 2/14. Planning another work party Saturday, Feb. 28, to build the first section of the boardwalk. Plans underway to use the help of Microsoft employees on Earth Day, April 22, to complete the boardwalk.
• Clise: Dented fixture replaced. Other punch list work in progress, should be all finished by next meeting.
• East Lake Sammamish Trail. See item 1. Will leave on agenda for future updates.
• Roof Replacement: should happen this summer with recycled or composite product. Structural assessment indicates barn is in good condition with minimal updates required.
• Stage seating area: want hard surface to make set-up easier. Gravel surface with plastic grid surface hasn’t been very effective, and grid has aged beyond useful life. Parks doesn’t believe gravel surface alone would be suitable. Porous concrete or asphalt is being considered. Entire area is approximately 12,000 ft sq., and accommodates 1700 chairs. With stage now a permanent feature, pad in front is also desired. Working on estimate for probable cost and exploring permit requirements. Went from 1000 to 1700 chairs in 2008. FOMP requested drawing to better evaluate scale of additional paved area.

Map

• Parks incorporating final comments. Herb requested minor modification related to coloring on R/C flying area.
• Core GIS (contractor) was paid half of overage from original project budget. Balance of funds will be pursued through Parks.

Events/Activities:

• Many new entries compared to last month. Norah to provide updated list for posting to FOMP site.
• Cirque du Soleil probably in June/July/early Aug 2010. Hasn’t yet been confirmed, but highly likely.
• USGA Senior open will overlap end of Cirque. Parking will be a premium

Other

• Turnaround near MCGA still in Karl’s court. Will work with Jack re: details
• Missing sign in MCGA parking lot on order

Meeting adjourned at 9:12.

Thanks to Greg Helland for these notes.  Please contact Greg if you have questions about them.
If changes to these notes are required, please contact Michael Hobbs at fomp@marymoor.org.

Next meeting, Wednesday, March 25, 2009

These notes do not constitute an official record of the meeting.  They may have inaccuracies and omissions.  If anyone has any complaints about the content of these notes, they should direct them to Michael Hobbs at fomp@marymoor.org, and he will endeavor to correct them.