HPAC June 26 Meeting Cancelled- have a great summer!

School’s out and summer is here, we are cancelling this month’s meeting! Your HPAC eBoard continues working behind the scenes on a collaborative response to the Highland Park Way SW Connection design proposals from SDOT, we’ll keep you posted on those efforts.

Where's the Party, plaque base ready for installation.

Also, super neighbor Matthew is still pursuing resolution of the “Humm” problem from the Cal-Portland terminal equipment. We will let you know if we need folks to start adding their voices to that effort. Hopefully the new muffler(s) will be installed shortly!

If you are in town this July 19th, consider attending this fun, gala fundraiser for the Duwamish Tribe. Food, fun, native arts and a chance to help support the efforts of the tribe’s cultural initiatives.

See you all in September, around the neighborhood, or at the Highland Park Corner Store Thursdays!

HPAC May Meeting via Zoom, 7pm Wed. May 22

Greetings to all. We wanted to send this notice out a bit earlier than usual due to some big planning and events happening soon in the neighborhood!

With the Highland/Holden intersection work almost completed, the Highland Park Way bike lane and pedestrian improvements project is now looking for comments & providing planning opportunities.

As noted on their website: “The Highland Park Way SW Connection project is intended to provide an improved path for people to walk, roll, and bike between the Highland Park and Riverview neighborhoods and the Duwamish River Trail.”

Besides connecting bikes and walkers from our ridge to the trail, this route serves as a major vehicle arterial in and out of West Seattle at large, carrying an important part of area traffic loads. So far planners are focusing on narrowing the Highland Park Way hill to three lanes of vehicle traffic to make this connection, if you have other ideas or suggestions we encourage you to be involved now.

SDOT has some preliminary plans posted online, and representatives will be attending our May HPAC meeting at 7pm on May 22nd. We will be using Zoom this month. You can log in to our meeting via the link below.

In addition, there will be SDOT folks at Highland Park Corner Store events on May 16 and 23rd for in-person conversations, as well as other nearby events, the West Seattle Bee Festival in High Point on May 18th, and Spring Fling at the SCC Campus on May 22. Times are found on the project webpage. SDOT encourages you to Share your thoughts by June 15!

Other News and Opportunities:

If you are looking to pitch in and help out the community, the One Seattle Day of Service on May 18 has multiple opportunities in Riverview and South Delridge! Come on out for planting, traffic circle restoration and neighborhood outreach events. More information and signups are found here.

If you were not able to make it to our discussion in April, the Highland Park/Delridge Healthy Streets project is still under review and open for comment(s). Three sections of the closures are under consideration for more permanent traffic restrictions. At the meeting we heard a lot of feedback about the SW Trenton St. section, if you have thoughts on 15th SW or 21st SW portions we encourage you to respond to SDOT via the contacts on the project page here.

You can read more about the planning process and get maps of the changes being considered via this West Seattle Blog coverage.

HPAC Coalition Hopes you can join our Zoom meeting:

Time: May 22, 2024 07:00 PM Pacific Time (US and Canada)

Join Zoom Meeting Link:

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89554704576?pwd=NEptdHlTZnZOVnhUYTd2aTFXa3lSdz09

Meeting ID: 895 5470 4576

Passcode: 418913

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In addition, there
will be SDOT folks at Highland Park Corner Store events on May 16 and 23rd
for in-person conversations, as well as other nearby events, the Bee
Festival in High Point and Spring Fling at the SCC Campus. Times and locations
are found on the project
webpage. SDOT encourages you to Share your thoughts by June 15!

Next HPAC Meeting – IN PERSON April 24 *6:30-7:30 at the Southwest Branch Library

(*note early start time due to library location hours)

As folks are starting to get out and about, gearing up for spring and summer walking and rolling, SDOT will be our guest this month to talk about the future for the Delridge/Highland Park Stay Healthy Street network. All users of the routes in question are welcome, regardless of where you live.

These routes were put in place during the pandemic to broaden access to safe outdoor spaces. Most often they were installed along existing or planned Neighborhood Greenways. Streets being considered for changes include portions of 21st Ave SW, 15th Ave SW, 17th Ave SW, 11th Ave SW, SW Webster and SW Trenton noted in dashed purple lines on this map.

We understand that Planners want to hear:

  • What part of the network should be kept and improved?
  • What kind of barriers, amenities and signage are preferred?
  • What part(s) should return to general usage?

We will also expect to have Seattle Police Department representatives on hand to answer community questions and hear any concerns.

Look forward to seeing folks in person!

General announcements:

Just in!! We have an Update on “The HUMM”. From concerned resident Matthew H who has been leading outreach on this quality of life issue:

“I’ve been in touch with CalPortland and they conceded their industrial vacuums are creating noise. The mufflers they installed wore out faster than they thought they would. They assured me that the new mufflers would be installed by the end of the month.”

For those not aware, or new to the area. These huge vacuums are used by the concrete supply companies along the Duwamish Waterway to unload powdered materials shipped here to use in their products. Hopefully they are able to get these repaired shortly as promised!

From SPD:

The Seattle Police Department will be hosting DEA Drug Take Back Day on April 27th 10:00AM to 2:00PM paired with a Shredathon to aid our communities in properly disposing of unwanted or expired medications and unwanted documents ALL IN ONE PLACE! We are thrilled to have partnered with Iron Mountain Shredding, who have generously donated their shredding services to benefit the communities of Seattle. This will be a free event, but we will be accepting canned and dry goods to benefit food banks in each drop-off location’s precinct.

West Seattle location: Southwest Precinct: 2300 SW Webster St, Seattle WA

Next HPAC Meeting Wed., March 27, Zoom drop-in from 7-8pm

With spring starting to role in in earnest, HPAC has a light meeting agenda this week. We won’t have any speakers or presentations, just a Zoom “Open House” for folks to drop in and say “Hi”, maybe bring up concerns or things to share. You’ll find the meeting link below. (We have an upcoming in-person meeting with Councilperson Saka shortly, and will be happy to bring up what we hear from you with him.)

We also have a couple of opportunities to announce:  

First of note, the HUB located in South Delridge is looking for neighborhood residents to volunteer at the site – on the Salvation Army property at 16th SW & SW Henderson.

Email HPAChair and we’ll pass you along to the HUB organizers. If you don’t know about the neighborhood HUB project, check here for more information. Basically, it is a pre-planned site to gather with communication protocols in place to assist in the event of a large earthquake or other infrastructure disruption. Once you have been oriented and been to a practice session or two, it requires little volunteer time, plus you can gain useful knowledge to protect your home and family in the event of a disaster.

We are also interested in connecting with anyone who worked on the Delridge Triangle Park planning, which happened in 2017-18, or lives near the site at 18th SW & SW Delridge. Seattle Parks Department is looking to improve open space opportunities for South Delridge and wants to hear from you in support of expanding this open space for the area.

Meanwhile your HPAC eBoard is working hard on issues to bring up at future meetings – watch for updates on the Stay Healthy Street(s) in our area, planning for bicycle improvements on Highland Park Way, and future updates from Metro on the 125/128 line service improvements. We hope to be in-person for our April meeting, until then we’ll see you online:

HPAC Coalition is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.

Topic: HPAC Monthly Meeting
Time: Mar 27, 2024 07:00 PM Pacific Time (US and Canada)
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82852095585?pwd=SndlK3dwUHJzQUEzWnZ4Vzh1Zmo5UT09

Meeting ID: 828 5209 5585
Passcode: 988035

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Next HPAC Meeting Feb. 28, 2024 at 7 via Zoom

Welcome to spring time in Highland Park! We are gathering on zoom this month for our February meeting. Find the meeting link below.

Early signs of spring are popping up everywhere, including these signs from metro King County looking for input on dropping stops on the 125, 128 & 60 bus lines between Westwood Village and SW Holden, theoretically to speed up and make service more timely. Be sure to write to Metro at BusStopSW@kingcounty.gov to let them know what you think about the stops selected for closure. Comments have now been extended through March 14.

Metro will have a representative at our meeting and will be looking for Community thoughts on these proposed service reductions.

We will also be bringing you updates on the Sound Transit Delridge station planning process (and possibly new information on the south Delridge triangle area).

We are also asking for updates from public safety and outreach personnel on encampments on 1st Ave at South at Myers Way and Delridge across from the police station. Feel free to bring any other public safety concerns.

And what about the Hum??? Is the famous Highland Park hum back? Let us know what you hear from your block.

Finally, big congratulations to the Highland Park Improvement Club for making it through the strenuous city Master Use Permit process and moving us one step closer to rebuilding the heart of our neighborhood!!

HPAC Coalition is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.

Join Zoom Meeting

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88989484864?pwd=czU4VUFzNFE0eGRJcUQ1TzdiMXkzQT09

Meeting ID: 889 8948 4864

Passcode: 270816

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Meeting ID: 889 8948 4864

Find your local number: https://us02web.zoom.us/u/kPlaVEeh4

January HPAC Meeting- Wed. Jan. 24 at 6:30PM- IN PERSON

Greetings and Happy New Year to all – friends and neighbors of Riverview, Highland Park, and South Delridge and looking forward to the upcoming Lunar New Year of the green wood Dragon!

HPAC announces our first gathering of 2024. We are meeting this month in person on Wednesday the 24th at the Southwest Library Branch, the meeting begins at 6:30- and will conclude by 7:45. This is a bit earlier than usual, due to the library open hours. We promise to have some snacks on hand for any coming directly from work. We know that location is a bit far from our parts of West Seattle, but we are trying out some alternative places to meet this year while the HPIC hall goes through rebuilding!

Seattle Public Utilities staff working on the Holden Natural Drainage System project at 17th and SW Holden will update meeting attendees on their work adding a swale and natural drainage to this area, as well as improving traffic safety on SW Holden. Here’s a link to their webpage.

Marcus White, co-chair of the City of Seattle Community Involvement Commission has generously offered to come and talk about the commission and their work. The Community Involvement Commission advises the Mayor, City Council, and the Seattle Department of Neighborhoods on equitable public engagement strategies with a focus on underrepresented communities.

Your HPAC eboard is also working to have representation from the new Cares Team branch of 911 as well as an officer from Seattle Police Department in attendance, schedules permitting.

Looking forward to meeting and seeing folks in person – hope you can make time to attend. Bring your ideas and concerns!

General Announcements:

We encourage all who may not have heard about this opportunity to comment on the Public Art component of the West Duwamish Wet Weather Storage Facility to do so by Jan. 26. Artist Ann Marie Schneider was selected to create the piece. This art will be a part of the fencing that King County will have around the facility to protect the installation, but it will also be a great opportunity to express public hopes and dreams for a cleaner, healthier Duwamish River.

October HPAC Meeting – Wed. Oct. 25 at 7pm – IN PERSON

In the community room at the Southwest Police Precinct building ~ 2300 SW Webster St, Seattle, WA 98106

Hope all are still enjoying the warm fall weather and looking forward to meeting with folks in person this month. Since the HPIC building remains in the SDCI permitting process, SPD has offered us the use of their community meeting room for this month.

Special guest for the evening will be Seattle City Attorney Ann Davison to answer your questions about her office’s work around public safety. Here she answers questions at last month’s Admiral Neighborhood Association meeting as reported in the West Seattle Blog.

Some folks may have noticed these signs up around Highland Park Playground and parts of South Delridge. Neighbor Jack Conness of South Delridge is asking the community to weigh in regarding his ideas for more traffic calming and pedestrian/bike infrastructure in the area. Have a look and comment here. He plans to submit these to SDOT before Oct. 23rd.

General Interest From the HPAC Inbox:

  • HPIC/ HPAC and King County Wastewater Treatment team up with Dirt Corps to give away free native trees and shrubs at our 2023 Trick or Trees event – Saturday Oct. 28, 12-4pm – Includes a pet costume contest and fun food and music from the Highland Park Corner Store.
  • If you haven’t driven through the Highland/Holden intersection lately, we are happy to share that all the ground work and paving is finally complete for the installation of the permanent stop lights later this winter. Next month we expect to see the public art piece arrive, “Where’s the Party”, by Artist Matthew Mazzotta.
  • SPU has been in contact us with information about this helpful program for homeowners facing difficulties with their sewers. Many are aging out here in this area and can require costly repairs. A side sewer is the pipe that carries sewage from toilets, showers, and sinks to the city’s main sewer line. Often homeowners are unaware that it is the property owner’s responsibility to maintain and repair the side sewer. Side sewer repairs can be expensive and a risk to your family’s health. As a result, we have a program to help repair your side sewer through grants or loans called the Side Sewer Assistance Program. Learn more about the program here. We also wanted to share a survey for our Side Sewer Assistance Program for program incentives if you as a community member are interested in providing input.

HPAC is Back September 27, 7PM meeting via Zoom

Welcome back to all friends and neighbors from a wonderful long summer. We hope everyone is enjoying the last of the sunny weather and color and gathering themselves for the winter dark. In case you haven’t heard, Seattle Public Utilities has called for voluntary water conservation due to the drought conditions, find information on how to do so here.

All are welcome at our first meeting of the 23-24 season. We will be joined by staff from the Seattle Police Department in conversation with community. We hear so much about crime in the media, is crime really on the rise in Highland Park, Riverview & South Delridge?

We also will have guests from the LEAD program to talk about their recent work in partnership with many other agencies in the resolution of the large encampment on State land off Myers Way. What are the lessons learned and ways we can support these efforts to help insecurely housed folks.

Join us Wednesday, 9/27 via Zoom at:

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86768544902?pwd=dWVlV0RxWGdDTk56ZTdMb2ZXTFpPdz09

Announcements and Upcoming events:

Special thanks to all residents and drivers for their patience as SDOT contractors race to finish the ground work for the new stop light at SW Holden and Highland Park Way SW. Recent pouring of one of the SW Holden concrete panels required the road be shut down to one lane of traffic overnight. Your courtesy and attentive driving are greatly appreciated by workers and neighbors.

Save the date for HPAC/HPIC/HPCS Trick or Trees 2.0, Saturday October 28, from 12-4pm, rain or shine! Like last year, DirtCorps and King County will be giving away free yard trees to residents, there will be treats for youngsters and a pet costume contest at 3pm. The Highland Park Corner Store will be selling food & libations, with music by live DJ’s. Please plan to join the fun!

Upcoming special guest at our October 25th meeting will be City Attorney Ann Davidson. Location to be announced. Do you have concerns or thoughts about Metro Transit accessibility and ADA services? You can take part in a short survey for them here. Responses are due by Oct. 15.

June 28, 2023 Meeting Cancelled – and updates from the HPAC eBoard

Due to vacations and low attendance we are cancelling our June 2023 meeting. Here’s a brief update of some goings on in the area. Hope all are gearing up for a relaxing, engaging summer. We look forward to meeting again in September.

 HPAC eBoard members represented Riverview, Highland Park and South Delridge at the recent West Seattle Blog forum for candidates running for the District 1 seat on the Seattle City Council. We were asked to submit questions that all candidates were asked, and were able to personally speak with many of the candidates about concerns we’ve heard from you all. You can watch coverage of the forum here.

Neighbors from Morgan Junction want to share this opportunity: Seattle Amateur Radio ‘Field Day 2023’ at South Seattle College

Please join us on Saturday, June 24th to learn more about emergency preparedness, community engagement and service through communication, and the wide world of ham radio!

 http://www.seattleradiofieldday.org/

We have also recently heard from WSOT folks regarding the concerning uptick of campers and litter in the Meyers Way greenbelt east of Camp Second Chance. They have asked us to share out this message:

Dear Arrowhead Gardens Senior Living community and Myers Way neighbors,

I want to share with you information and next steps as it relates to the encampments on Myers Way. The Washington Department of Transportation (WSDOT), Washington State Patrol, King County Regional Homeless Authority and the City of Seattle collectively agree that this site is our top multijurisdictional site to address. Operational teams are coordinating a site resolution plan.

Our teams are working together to determine next steps to address the site and those living there unhoused. This work requires a multi-agency approach as the encampment is spread across both WSDOT and City property and we know from experience that close coordination is the best way to resolve these sites for the short and long term. Actions currently underway include:

Site stabilization

  • WSDOT, in coordination with partners, will assess the location to determine where we might make changes to better manage ingress and egress to the site to prevent further growth and better manage access.
  • The City of Seattle is onsite providing litter picks and trash mitigation at this site several times a week.

Outreach, Housing, and Shelter – KCRHA will:

  • Assess housing and shelter availability and options within the current system.
  • KCRHA’s outreach providers are onsite regularly to engage and work with the people experiencing homelessness, ensure connections with services and prepare for housing when resources become available.
  • Outreach staff will also provide assistance to ensure that any barriers to housing, such as obtaining identification documents, are addressed ahead of time so that people may move into housing immediately when resources become available.

Housing and shelter outreach at this site are in alignment with state legislature requirements that WSDOT and its partners in Right of Way Safety Initiative work to “transition persons residing on state-owned rights-of-way to safer housing opportunities, with an emphasis on permanent housing solutions,” and that the housing offered is a “meaningful improvement over the individual’s current living situation” and “well-matched to an individual’s assessed needs.”

Although the circumstances and conversation regarding the encampment are challenging, I am committed to sharing the parameters in which our agency operates transparently. I also very much appreciate your concerns and understand that you have questions. Please know that we hear your concerns and are working with urgency. We are not currently in a position to share a definitive timeline for site resolution, but we would like to provide timely updates for your community as they are available. I will share more information next week.

On behalf of WSDOT and our partner agencies—Washington State Patrol, King County Regional Homeless Authority and the City of Seattle—I appreciate your time and will be in touch.

Sincerely,

Brian Nielsen, PE

Regional Administrator

WA State Department of Transportation

Northwest Region

PO Box 330310 I 15700 Dayton Avenue North, NB82-101 I Seattle, WA 98133

Office: (206) 440-4692 I email: nielseb@wsdot.wa.gov 

Asst: Eloise Balogh

Next HPAC Meeting In Person!

THURSDAY MAY 25, from 7-8:30PM

Wait, did you just read THURSDAY MAY 25th as the time of our HPAC May Meeting?

The answer is YES! This a special date and time to get folks together in person with David Goldberg from the Seattle Office of Planning and Community Development for further discussion of their work on the South Delridge Action Plan.

We are super excited to be holding our May meeting in South Delridge in partnership with the fabulous Nepantla Cultural Arts Gallery, 9414 Delridge Way SW. Jake Prendez & Judy Avitia-Gonzalez will be our hosts in their terrific Space, just a block north of White Center.

The meeting is open to all residents and business folks in the area. Learn what progress has been made on the City planning so far, and give thoughts on their efforts to work with the South Delridge Community.

What unique issues does this southern-most area of West Seattle face? What can we learn from successes and failures of growth plans elsewhere? How can we keep our homegrown spirit vibrant and healthy, providing food, housing and community for all – while dealing with the wave of development speeding our way? What City services are lacking? How can the City work more closely with unincorporated White Center/ King County to better integrate community services currently provided?

Look forward to seeing you all there! Kay K & Craig R/ Co-Chairs