Spring Clean

Here at HPAC, we try to help you help yourselves and your neighborhood- so we’re passing on this information about Seattle’s Spring Clean, which is held each year in April and May. The  city will supply things like garbage grabbers, gloves, bags, safety vests, and paint/supplies to take care of graffiti. All you have to do is get some neighbors together, pick a date, and sign up. We encourage you to take charge and set something up for your block or that little part of Highland Park that you think could use some love. As we hear specifics of time and place, we’ll publish Spring Clean events happening in Highland Park that other neighbors have set up so you can participate without leading an event. Sign up here, it’s easy- and let us know when/where your event is if you want us to include it here.

Westcrest Park Updates and Volunteer Opportunities

We heard from Rick Nishi of Seattle Parks at our last meeting with a current plan of Westcrest Park / West Seattle Reservoir. See the latest plan here. The Kinetic sculptures created by artist David Boyer will be installed in three locations on the site, represented by the clusters of red dots on the plan. The P-patch is currently under construction and could use more volunteers. There is a work party coming up this Saturday and next (March 2 and 9). Come help dig holes, prepare the ground, and plant for the native plants that will that will line the garden’s borders. 10am to 2pm, come for as long as you can. Contact Rhyan Haynie-Lavelle  •  rhyan.haynie-lavelle@seattle.gov  •  # 206-684-4531 for questions.

Gigabit Squared’s Super-Fast Broadband

As reported in this West Seattle Blog article, if you’re interested in faster internet service, sign up here to request it for West Seattle- No obligation, but areas showing lots of interest could move up the priority list.

Please Join us for the Last Meeting in our Police Series

Tonight, February 13th at 7:00 at HPIC on 12th and Holden, the second meeting focuses on Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design. Please join us to discuss the neighborhood with the police, how we can be more empowered, how we can help ourselves improve our part of the neighborhood, and how we can help the police help us. The presentation will be about 45 minutes, followed by your questions and discussion. Officer Kiehn will stay as long as he needs to in an effort to answer all your questions and speak to your concerns.

Thanks to Officer Kiehn

Several of you have asked how we can reach Officer Kiehn’s supervisor to share how much we appreciate his time and relay what a good job he’s doing for Highland Park. He stayed until 10:00 last week to hear and address each and every concern, and is coming back tomorrow and willing to stay as long as he needs to again. Thank you for putting in a good word if you have a chance.  Here is Pierre Davis’s email: Pierre.Davis@Seattle.Gov

Got Ideas?

We’re waiting to hear back on some grants that we think will help improve Highland Park:

• Highland Park Way / Holden intersection improvements
• Highland Park Playground pedestrian access
• A better Cloverdale connection to the dogpark at Westcrest
• And we’re working on figuring out one to apply for a Greenway through the neighborhood, and more trees at Riverview.

These are all ideas that we have heard of from you, our Highland Park Neighbors. If you have ideas for the neighborhood, tell us what they are so we can get them  in the hopper! 

February 27 Meeting Agenda

• discussion with Seattle Parks about progress at Westcrest Park
• discussion with Food Lifeline about their intentions for the property which currently hosts Nickelsville
• nutritionist’s take on how important Vitamin D is in our climate (especially at this time of year)
• quick look at some options we have as a community for pursuing more trees at Riverview
• vote on leadership for HPAC, current leadership was re-nominated in January, and we welcome Nancy Calos-Nakano’s interest in the vice-chair position

Camping in the Greenbelt

We have a commitment from the Mayor’s office to help us get the greenbelt cleaned up, but we need your help and experience to locate encampments: please call the City’s Customer Service Bureau at 684-2489 with specific locations of encampments in the greenbelt. (The more calls the better)

More Trees at Riverview Park

We got positive feedback from the community and from Mark Mead, Senior Urban Forester for Seattle, about adding some trees at Riverview Park. Have an opinion? let us know.

Two-part series with our Community Police Team

Responding to requests and frustrations we are hearing from the community, we are hosting a series of talks with our Community Police Officer. The first one was this week and was a discussion about using the Emergency Response System more effectively. We had great turnout with a lot of new faces and a long discussion with Officer Kiehn about specific concerns in our neighborhood. His email for your reference is jonathan.kiehn@seattle.gov. The most important thing we learned was to call the police. They don’t know about things that happen, suspicious behavior, activity, or problem properties unless we tell them.  

The second meeting focuses on Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design. Please join us on February 13 at 7:00 at HPIC to discuss the neighborhood with the police, how we can be more empowered, how we can help ourselves improve our part of the neighborhood, and how we can help the police help us. The presentation will be about 45 minutes, followed by your questions and discussion.