Washington State Development Thread

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Des Moines seeks ideas on downtown, marina

Friday, June 19, 2009

Federal Way News.net

AJM STUDIOS.NET Northwest Development News Center

image hosted on flickr

(Current Des Moines Marina.)


Des Moines City Council is holding a public forum to gather the community's thoughts and ideas on what the Downtown/Marina District could look like in the future, what kinds of businesses are needed, and transportation and infrastructure options.

Interested parties are asked to attend a council meeting on Saturday, June 27, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Des Moines council chambers, 21630 11th Avenue S.

"Des Moines Council is reaching out to the community in an effort to find out what is needed to make the Downtown/Marina District the best it can be," said Mayor Bob Sheckler. "We want to hear from residents and businesses in and around the Downtown area, and those who shop or travel through there. Everyone has something to contribute when it comes to thinking about the future. No dreams are too big. We want to hear all the ideas.

"This is a very exciting opportunity. The Marina District is the jewel of Des Moines and we want to make sure that we are headed in the right direction," said Sheckler. "The way to ensure that is by listening to those who live and do business in the area."

More information about the planning work can be found at www.desmoineswa.gov, or by contacting City Manager Tony Piasecki at 206-870-6541.

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Thornton Creek breathes again at Northgate
A new channel south of Northgate Mall in Seattle will filter sediment and clean the water of Thornton Creek. A parking lot used to cover this 2.7-acre creek channel.

By Michelle Ma
The Seattle Times staff reporter


(Thorton Creek now in Northgate.)

AJM STUDIOS.NET Northwest Development News Center

Covered for decades by pavement, Thornton Creek is again exposed in a new development at Northgate. Holding ponds, foreground, filter stormwater runoff. In this view northeast, the creek flows under Fifth Avenue Northeast and into the trees in the distance.

NORTHGATE- Dragonflies alight and swoop delicately from plant to plant. For biologists and project managers alike, the presence of these insects, which are sensitive to pollution, indicates a healthy ecosystem.

That wasn't always so across the stark, paved grounds of Northgate Mall. Polluted runoff from the parking lots and neighborhood streets had nowhere to go except directly into Thornton Creek, a stream that weaves through Shoreline and North Seattle and empties into Lake Washington at Matthews Beach Park.

But with enough community pressure and compromise, change can happen.

A large, paved lot once devoted to overflow mall traffic and RV parking has been replaced with a landscaped, open space that allows the beginnings of Thornton Creek to flow above ground for the first time in decades. Before, a large underground pipe diverted the water to an outfall several blocks away.

This project now lets water in the creek's south fork flow as it should above ground and nourish its new stream bed before exiting under Fifth Avenue Northeast into the existing creek.

"If you look at it 10 years from now, it will be the defining development that helped transform the whole neighborhood into a different place," said John Lombard, a Northgate resident with Thornton Creek Alliance.

Seattle Public Utilities recently completed the stream-restoration channel as part of a new development that brings more than 100 condos, 278 apartments, senior housing, a 14-screen movie theater and more retail space to the North Seattle neighborhood.

Lorig and Stellar Holdings say they've rented about 50 of the apartments, which exceeds their goal to date. The market has been slow for the condos, however, with only one unit sold, said Stephen Holt, partner at Lorig in charge of the project.

Still, Holt said he's hopeful that as more people discover the area, the condos will find buyers. He said the open space and creek will become a place to gather within the new development.

"I think it is going to put a mark on that as a place, as a neighborhood, that's not just identified by a shopping mall and traffic problems."

The new creek channel is seen by many as the aesthetic glue holding together Northgate's new development.

It's also the key compromise that allowed the building project to move forward after residents strongly opposed an option that didn't include stream restoration, said Janet Way, a Shoreline City Council member and president of the Thornton Creek Legal Defense Fund, an advocacy group.

"It took incredible courage for everybody to get on board," Way said.

The new channel spanning nearly 3 acres helps to filter and clean almost all runoff from more than 600 acres around the project, mostly from neighborhood streets.

It also stores and slowly releases water to Thornton Creek, providing a holding place during heavy rains.

Seattle Public Utilities designed the channel to naturally filter pollutants in stormwater runoff from streets and parking lots.

Runoff enters the channel on one end, then flows through four chambers. Small rocks and sediment settle and can be removed by the city using trucks with large vacuums. Aquatic plants help to capture and remove pollutants, similar to how a wetland functions.

The water exits the channel into free-flowing Thornton Creek at Fifth Avenue Northeast and Northeast 103rd Street.

Before, all the runoff carrying pesticides, oils and other pollutants was flushed through a pipe and discharged into the creek at the same intersection, said Nancy Ahern, Seattle Public Utilities deputy director for utility-systems management.

"Ultimately, it was the best design solution for what we were trying to do," Ahern said. "The city needed a project that provided benefit to the creek. A do-nothing solution wasn't acceptable."

The city started construction on the $14.8 million creek-channel project about a year and a half ago. Young native plants dot the landscape, and project managers expect vegetation to fill more of the channel and surrounding walls within a year.

The final outcome is acceptable for most supporters of Thornton Creek's restoration. Years of development have encroached and narrowed the stream, causing faster water flow and more stream-bank erosion.

As Northgate and Shoreline have developed, more paved surfaces give stormwater fewer places to naturally sink into the ground, said Dan Mahler, president of Thornton Creek Alliance.

The nearly 12-square-mile Thornton Creek watershed is the largest in Seattle and Shoreline, and about 67,000 people live in homes that send pollutants into the watershed. Coho salmon have been seen in the creek and Mahler recently saw a cutthroat trout in the stream behind his Northgate home.

"Before this (channel), you wouldn't know there was a creek there at all," he said. "What we've got here is a great start. It's serving a very vital function in delivering clean water to the south fork."

Michelle Ma: 206-464-2303 or mma@seattletimes.com

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POSTED: Friday, Jun. 19, 2009

Whatcom County Council to hold hearing on urban-growth proposals
JARED PABEN - THE BELLINGHAM HERALD

image hosted on flickr

(The council will look at urban growth in Whatcom County towns and cities.)

AJM STUDIOS.NET Northwest Development News Center


Whatcom County leaders will hear the public's opinions of recent proposals for urban growth submitted by each of the county's seven cities.
The County Council will hold a public hearing Tuesday, June 23, on urban-growth update proposals from the cities and for Birch Bay, Columbia Valley and Cherry Point.
County government is under a state growth board order to review and update urban-growth areas countywide to accommodate the next two decades of growth. That work must be done by December.

After looking at how many new residents they want to accommodate, and how much developable room they have left, the cities' leaders passed proposals for adding, subtracting or keeping the same acreage of land for urban growth.
Here's a summary of what they're requesting for a percentage of population growth and urban-growth area changes (Cherry Point isn't included because it is industrial and has no residents):
Bellingham: City wants 23,771 new residents over the next two decades, or 27 percent of existing population. The city wants no changes to its urban-growth area.
Birch Bay: 4,329 new residents (82 percent of existing population). Keep urban-growth areas the same.
Blaine: 4,700 new residents (82 percent). Subtract 2,622 acres.
Columbia Valley: 1,076 new residents (27 percent). Net decrease of 150 acres.
Everson: 1,948 new residents (81 percent). Net decrease of 25 acres.
Ferndale: 8,687 new residents (72 percent). Addition of 60 acres.
Lynden: 7,414 new residents (64 percent). Addition of 326 acres.
Nooksack: 1,159 new residents (102 percent). No changes to acreage.
Sumas: 793 new residents (62 percent). No changes to acreage.
Rural and resource (examples include agricultural and forestry) lands: 9,074 new residents (16 percent)
Total growth: 66,875 (35 percent)

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Port renames Parcel 8 Centennial Industrial Park

Friday, June 19 | 11:44 p.m.
THE COLUMBIAN
image hosted on flickr

(Port of Vancouver grain elevator.)

AJM STUDIOS.NET Northwest Development News Center

VANCOUVER- Industrial property owned by the Port of Vancouver formerly known as Parcel 8 has been renamed. Three parcels, originally part of the Rufener farm, are located on the north side of Lower River Road across from the port’s administrative offices. The property includes 108 acres designated for light industrial development and 165 acres that will soon be a port-owned wetland mitigation bank.

Collectively, the property will be know as Centennial Industrial Park, the port announced this week. The name is in anticipation of the port’s upcoming 100-year anniversary in 2012. Active marketing to potential tenants is under way.

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Columbia Street fire ruins historic buildings
By Travis Hay
The Wenatchee World staff writer
AJM STUDIOS.NET Northwest Development News Center

image hosted on flickr

(Downtown Wenatchee, WA.)

Posted June 20, 2009
WENATCHEE — An explosion and massive fire gutted one historic building and damaged another along Columbia Street on Saturday morning.

No injuries were reported.

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives arrived on the scene Saturday and will work with local agencies to investigate the cause of the fire.

The fire destroyed the roughly 100,000-square-foot one-time Stemilt fruit warehouse at South Columbia and Chehalis streets. The warehouse is adjacent to the Go USA building, which should be able to be salvaged, according to officials. Both buildings are on the city's historic register. Other tenants in the complex include Firefly — a company that provides Internet service locally — Tacoma-based architectural firm BCRA and other businesses.

Internet service was disrupted to Firefly customers as a result.

Crews were dispatched to 524 S. Columbia St. around 5:45 a.m. to combat the blaze.

"Three out of the four walls on the warehouse have almost collapsed, but the Go USA building is salvageable. People were allowed to go in and recover items," said Sgt. Cherie Smith of the Wenatchee Police Department.

Smith said firefighters were still working to contain the fire at 9:30 a.m.; some of the east wall of the warehouse was still intact. Crews were working on protecting the Go USA building, which shares its south wall with the warehouse. Smoke damage has been reported on the third floor of Go USA, Smith said.

The World was unable to contact the owners of the buildings.

Along with fire and police, Red Cross volunteers were also on hand to assist fire crews by providing food and water.

Jeremy Vanatta reported the fire to 911.

"I heard this really loud explosion and when I walked out the back door and turned around, I got hit with a blast of hot air," Vanatta said.

Vanatta and Terry Hagen, both managers at a Building Material Outlet that faces Wenatchee Avenue and is immediately west of Go USA, were beginning work when the fire started.

"The explosion blew at least six feet of brick off the top of the building. The debris was all over the place," Hagen said.

Approximately 80 firefighters responded to a general alarm, from Chelan, Douglas and Grant counties.

Fire crews did not ask Venatta and Hagen to evacuate.

"By the time firefighters got here they told us it was an entire loss," he said. "It's a shame too, because there are a lot of good businesses back there."

Travis Hay: 665-1169

hay@wenatceheworld.com

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Contract awarded for Murray Morgan Bridge cable project

By Todd Matthews

The Tacoma Daily Index
image hosted on flickr

(Murray Morgan Bridge in Tacoma.)
AJM STUDIOS.NET Northwest Development News Center


Jun 17 2009
A contract to replace the steel cables on the 96-year-old Murray Morgan Bridge was recently awarded by the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT), according to Tacoma officials.

In a June 11 report to Tacoma City Councilmembers, Acting City Manager Rey Arellano said Rognlin's Inc. $998,704 bid was approximately $500,000 less than the next lowest bid and more than $1.4 million less than the WSDOT engineer's estimate.

The report also notes WSDOT's preliminary schedule includes four to five months for fabrication of the cables and the bridge to be closed for seven weeks in November and December for construction. The bridge closure schedule will be updated after the contractor submits a construction schedule.

The Murray Morgan Bridge was closed to vehicular traffic Oct. 23, 2007, due to safety concerns that arose after weeks of inspection by WSDOT engineers. The state took over ownership of the bridge in the mid-1990s while it constructed State Route 509 from Interstate 705 to Milwaukee Avenue.

In April 2004, the state offered the city $25 million to take over the bridge. The city rejected the offer because it was insufficient to rehabilitate the bridge. One consultant's estimate indicated it will cost approximately $65 million to $80 million to fully rehabilitate the bridge. The City and WSDOT continue to negotiate the transfer of ownership and rehabilitation of the Murray Morgan Bridge, according to city officials.

In 2008, the Washington Trust for Historic Preservation included the bridge on its annual list of Most Endangered Properties.

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Belltown plan set for design review

June 19, 2009.
Seattle Post Intelligencer

Photo Courtesy LMN Architects

AJM STUDIOS.NET Northwest Development News Center


SEATTLE- A proposed Belltown residential building is scheduled to go to the Downtown Design Review Board for early design guidance June 23.

The Schuster Group has proposed (4.64 MB) a 13-story building at 2700 Elliott Ave. It would put about 120 homes above 2,000 square feet of street-level retail space and 122 underground parking spaces.

The image above is the developer's preferred concept for the site. Schuster is seeking departures from design standards for lot coverage, street setbacks, maximum wall dimensions, limits on rooftop features and continuous overhead weather protection on Cedar Street.

The meeting is scheduled to start at 5:30 p.m. in Room L280 of Seattle City Hall, 600 Fourth Ave.

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June 22, 2009
'The Great Urban Debate,' Seattle or Vancouver, BC . . . or Bellevue?
Steinbrueck and Gordon Price, former council member of British Columbia's largest city, wrangle over whether Seattle or Vancouver is the better city.
By MARC STILES
The Seattle Daily Journal of Commerce Staff Reporter

image hosted on flickr

(Bellevue, seen above, got mentioned in the great debate, and find out how below.)
AJM STUDIOS.NET Northwest Development News Center

In a Thursday debate over whether Seattle or Vancouver, B.C., is better, the consensus winner was... Bellevue.

Seattle's Peter Steinbrueck and Vancouver's Gordon Price, both former members of their city councils, squared off in what was more of a friendly discussion than “The Great Urban Debate,” which was how the event was billed. In a twist, Price argued for Seattle, and Steinbrueck for Vancouver.

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June 21, 2009 in Business
Deer Park Airport sets sights on growth
Bert Caldwell
The Spokesman-Review
AJM STUDIOS.NET Northwest Development News Center


Penni Loomis runs the Deer Park Airport, and she has her hands full doing so.

DEER PARK - But adjacent to the airstrip are 450 acres she would like developed by companies with jobs that would keep the community’s graduates working nearby instead of Spokane. Loomis figures it will take more than $8 million in road upgrades and new water and sewer mains to make that vision a possibility.

So Loomis and the airport’s board hope to tap Economic Development Administration grants that have funded $15 million in Spokane-area community development efforts.

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May 21, 2009
Spokane building projects rise to $1.7 billion
Bert Caldwell
The Spokesman-Review

Deb Halstead’s fourth-grade class at Garfield Elementary School got a lesson in adding big numbers Thursday.

Greater Spokane Inc. had prepared a banner touting $1.5 billion in area construction projects. But the total had grown to $1.7 billion when her students unfurled the message before business and education leaders celebrating commitments made to build or reconstruct schools and roads, banks and seminaries, pools and auto dealerships.

The solution? Paper over the “5” with a “7.” And smile for the cameras.

GSI President Rich Hadley said more projects came to the organization’s attention after the banner was ordered. And there may be as much as $500 million more in nonresidential work out there, he said, adding that some of the construction may be a few years away.

Not every project listed is a certainty. Sacred Heart Medical Center needs state approval for a $175 million expansion. And Whitworth University has not completed funding for a $37 million science building, Vice President Brian Benzel said.

But Spokane Public Schools has $325 million committed to school construction. The Washington Department of Transportation is working on $236 million in Spokane-area projects. And the Kalispel Tribe of Indians is working its way through $222 million worth of Northern Quest Casino expansions and upgrades.

On a smaller scale, Lincoln County is working on a water park for Davenport, and Liberty Lake has a new $550,000 library and public safety building.

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June 19, 2009
Second-story addition set at Schade
Project to attach 5,000 square feet of office space
By Mike McLean
The Spokane Journal of Business

Baker Construction & Develop-ment Inc., of Spokane, plans to construct a second-floor addition to the historic Schade Towers east of downtown, says Kirk Ledbetter, a project manager for Baker.

The project will add 5,000 feet of office space to the 70,000-square-foot, five-story building, at 528 E. Spokane Falls Blvd., Ledbetter says.

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Published: Monday, June 22, 2009
Monroe shops for big-box store for North Kelsey development

With city land standing vacant, a developer advises officials to offer it to Wal-Mart, Costco or Target.

By Debra Smith
The Everett Herald Writer

image hosted on flickr


AJM STUDIOS.NET Northwest Development News Center

MONROE -- Wal-Mart may be coming to town.

Monroe city leaders are talking with a developer about building a big-box store on a former gravel processing site at the intersection of Chainlake Road and N. Kelsey Street.

The developer, Sabey Corp., is considering buying the land and shopping it around to big-box retailers, including Wal-Mart, Costco and Target.

The city land is part of Monroe's North Kelsey planned development, a shopping center north of U.S. 2 that was envisioned as a walkable, vibrant retail hub for the town.

That vision was put on hold when the economy tanked and a major developer backed out. The city is still trying to find a buyer for that land.

The big-box store would be north of the Lowe's home improvement store on an area recently vacated by Lakeside Gravel.

Sabey is a well-respected company in the Puget Sound region and its willingness to do business in Monroe is good news, Councilman Kurt Goering said.

"You've got somebody at the door who is a serious player," Goering said after the meeting. "That's definitely something to be excited about."

Sabey, based in Seattle, owns or manages about 4.2 million square feet of commercial real estate with an emphasis on tenants in health care and high tech. Its development projects stretch across the state and include the Swedish Medical Center's James Tower in Seattle and the redeveloped Northtown Mall in Spokane.

Executives pitched their ideas to the City Council last week.

The company hasn't settled on which retailer they would bring into town, but they know it's a big-box store, said John Sabey, a senior vice president.

"We don't know who yet, but we have a couple in mind," he told the council.

The name of the computer file for Sabey's presentation briefly flashed onto a screen in front of the council: It read "Monroe Wal-Mart."

Several on the council questioned the Sabey executives about the possibility of bringing in several midsized retailers instead. The big-box stores are the only retailers doing well enough to open new stores, Sabey said. The company has already talked with potential retailers but can't do much more than that until they seal an agreement with the city.

"It's not a big secret," Sabey said. "Target, Wal-Mart, Costco -- let your mind go through the guys doing those things today."

City leaders want whatever company that comes into that space to adhere to the feel and look of the pedestrian-friendly development they envisioned.

"It's probably inevitable there will be a big box," Hiller West, the city's community development director said. "Our interest is ensuring it's done in a way that is compatible with what's on the south half."

The city wants touches such as top-notch sidewalks, landscaping that provides a buffer and people-friendly gathering spots. The big-box store should fit with the rest of the North Kelsey development and include easy access for pedestrians.

"The extent we can avoid this being auto-centric, we are going to try and do that," Hiller said.

Sabey hasn't decided how much of the property they'll buy or if they'll buy it. The City Council and the company are in discussions now, and Hiller said he expects a decision in the next several weeks. Any actual purchase might take longer.

"If you don't grab this, someone else will," Dave Sabey, president of the company, told the council. "These big guys will locate somewhere. They'll find a way to get into this market."

Debra Smith: 425-339-3197, dsmith@heraldnet.com.

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POSTED: Monday, Jun. 22, 2009

Ferndale ready to move forward on Second Avenue extension
JARED PABEN - THE BELLINGHAM HERALD
image hosted on flickr

(BNSF has helped the city of Ferndale.)

AJM STUDIOS.NET Northwest Development News Center

FERNDALE - Crews will widen and extend Second Avenue this year, and they'll wait until next year to install a roundabout at Interstate 5 and Portal Way, officials said.
City officials said they'll hit their July 1 deadline for advertising for bids for the work. The deadline is because the work is receiving $1.54 million in federal economic stimulus money, and missing the deadline means giving back the money.
"It looks like everything is falling into place," said Greg Young, city administrator.

The roughly $4.5 million project, the largest stimulus-funded street project in Whatcom County, was under a tight deadline for getting permits and necessary land. Officials were previously hoping to get the roundabout done this year, but there won't be enough dry working time before winter weather sets in to finish it, Young said.
In 2009, the city will:
• Widen the existing section of Second Avenue from Washington Street north to Eaton Street, adding bike lanes and sidewalks. Full access will be retained for Willard Street, and drivers will still be able to turn left onto Second from Somerset Street, engineer Bill Henry said. But all other streets north of Washington will have their access to Second closed off.
• Extend Second Avenue north through manufacturing-zoned property to connect at Portal Way near I-5's southbound ramps. Portal Way will connect to Second in a "T" intersection, encouraging drivers to use Second. The city expects the connection to entice commuters off congested Main Street.
• Build a gravel access road from the new Second Avenue segment north to access houses between the freeway and railroad tracks. That'll allow BNSF Railway to close the only access those houses have now: the Thornton Street railroad crossing. The railroad has provided the city $500,000 to build the gravel road.
Right now, freight trains must wait on side tracks in Ferndale for passenger trains to pass, but the freight trains are so long they must block either the Washington or Thornton crossings while waiting, Young said. More passenger trains are expected next year, he said, and this will give freight trains more room to wait. The railroad also will close the steep railroad crossing near City Hall Annex along Second Avenue.
In 2010, the city will:
• Build a roundabout near the freeway's southbound ramps, with one leg of the roundabout connecting to the ramps. Henry estimated it would be finished in June or July of next year.
The gravel access road will have to be moved to connect to the roundabout, and it'll require the city trading land with a landowner, Young said. The access road will open up properties between the tracks and freeway for potential development.

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Downtown Vancouver Hilton struggles during tough times
Hotel's profits run 36 percent below projections
Sunday, June 21 | 10:43 p.m.
BY JEFFREY MIZE
THE COLUMBIAN STAFF WRITER

AJM STUDIOS.NET Northwest Development News Center

image hosted on flickr

(Hilton in downtown Vancouver, Washington.)

Hilton Vancouver Washington, Vancouver's city-owned downtown hotel, continues to struggle with a sluggish economy and dwindling group bookings.

During the first five months of the year, the hotel-convention center's profits were 36 percent below what was considered to be a pessimistic budget when it was adopted in late 2008.

The project registered a $103,000 operating loss for those five months, said Janet Frank, Vancouver accounting manager, during last week's meeting of the Vancouver Downtown Redevelopment Authority board of directors.

Tax subsidies to the project also are down. Through the first five months of 2009, $842,600 was netted from the city's lodging tax and from two 0.033 percent state sales tax credits that flow through Vancouver and Clark County.

That's a 14 percent drop from how much those three taxes generated during the same period in 2008, a reflection of a sagging economy that not only has driven down lodging but consumer purchasing as well.

Frank said it likely will take the entire year to reach a $1.96 million cap for returning excess tax revenues to the county under the project's complicated financial structure.

Last year, those taxes exceeded a slightly lower cap, $1.91 million, by Oct. 1, Frank said.

Hint of good news
There is a glimmer of good news. The Hilton's revenue topped $1 million in May, the first time since October 2008 the hotel-convention center reached a financial plateau that tends to differentiate between a good and bad month.

Revenue for June also are expected to exceed $1 million.

Tom Morone of Warnick and Co., the firm the city hired to look out for its interests and to work with Hilton, said the business is hurting, albeit not as much as hotels nationwide.

Budget projections were based on a pessimistic assessment for the first half of the year followed by an expected uptick during the second half.

"We're not out of the woods yet," Morone said. "Our year is still dependent on a good summer and fall."

Group bookings for conventions and other events remain the "bread and butter" of Hilton's business, he said.

During this year's first five months, Hilton's sales team signed up 4,485 group room nights, a 65 percent reduction from the 12,893 room nights booked during the same period in 2008.

"There's no silver bullet on the horizon," Morone said. "If that booking doesn't come back, we are going to be anemic in our performance."

The hotel recently lost out on a group booking to an unnamed competitor that was willing to go as low as $50 per room night.

"As supply will increase and demand will diminish … you are going to see prices change," said Gerry Link, the hotel's general manager. "They will come back."

With a lousy economy, it becomes even more imperative to control expenditures, something that Morone said Hilton is doing.

"We continue to think Hilton is doing a good job at looking at every dollar they spend," he said.

The Hilton's best month came in October 2007 when it generated monthly revenue of $1.45 million.

Its worst month was last December, when revenues were less than half that amount, roughly $700,000.

The Hilton celebrated its fourth anniversary last week. The 226-room hotel, which has 30,000 square feet of convention space in two ballrooms and nine meeting rooms, opened on June 15, 2005.

The operation employs about 190 people with a 2008 payroll of $5.6 million.

Jeffrey Mize: 360-735-4542 or jeff.mize@columbian.com.

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June 22, 2009
Bavarian-style hospital coming to Leavenworth
By THE SEATTLE DAILY JOURNAL OF COMMERCE STAFF


Image courtesy of NAC Architecture
AJM STUDIOS.NET Northwest Development News Center

Chelan County Hospital District No. 1 is planning to pump new life into its aging Cascade Medical Center in the Bavarian theme town of Leavenworth. The 1960s-vintage concrete block hospital will be modernized and an addition will nearly double its size.

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June 22, 2009
Makahs building gym in Neah Bay
By J / The Seattle Daily Journal of Commerce
AJM STUDIOS.NET Northwest Development News Center





The Makah Tribe is developing a 14,500-square-foot multi-purpose facility on the tribe's reservation in Neah Bay. Construction bids are due by July 2.

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Navy Wants to Build Explosives Handling Wharf After All

By Ed Friedrich
Sunday, June 21, 2009
The Kitsap Sun
image hosted on flickr

(Bangor, Washington is home to a major naval yard in the United States.)
AJM STUDIOS.NET Northwest Development News Center


BANGOR —

The Navy, after rethinking for a year whether it needs a second explosives handling wharf at Naval Base Kitsap-Bangor, deemed that it does, and is beginning the lengthy environmental process required before building one.

Three meetings are scheduled this week for the public to learn about the proposal, suggest areas to be studied and offer other options. Bangor is home to eight Trident ballistic-missile submarines. Each can carry 24 D-5 missiles. Each missile can be armed with eight independently targetable nuclear warheads, or 192 per boat. The subs stay hidden undersea for months at a time, deterring enemies from attacking for fear of a counterstrike.

The 560-foot-long subs pull into Bangor’s explosive handling wharf to load and unload missiles and torpedoes. Trucks haul weapons to and from the wharf via trestled roads.

The Navy began the environmental process last June 10 and canceled it 20 days later “to allow the Navy the opportunity to review and validate other alternative solutions to the proposed construction,” according to the May 15 Federal Register. “After a thorough review, the Navy has now revalidated the requirement for a second EHW.”

Naval Base Kitsap spokeswoman Sheila Murray said the project wasn’t ready for consideration in the Navy’s budget cycle last year, so there wouldn’t have been any funding.

Bangor has homeported eight Trident ballistic submarines since the mid-1980s. There are six more at Kings Bay, Ga. Bangor’s were converted from C-4 missiles to bigger, more sophisticated D-5 missiles a few years ago. Murray said Friday that there are no plans to add or lose Tridents at Bangor.

Though it doesn’t appear that Bangor will have to service more subs, the Navy says that “today’s missiles are more complex and take more than twice the time to maintain and handle, thus requiring additional explosive handling wharf facilities.”

The Navy has drawn up two alternatives for the wharf — a deep-water trestle and onshore trestle. For both, the new wharf would be in deep water 600 feet from shore. It would include a covered operations area that is 600 feet long and 250 feet wide and an uncovered wharf extension that is 700 feet long and 35 feet wide. Navy officials prefer the deep-water trestle because it would be less damaging to the uplands, and in-water construction would present fewer obstacles and cost less than trying to work from a steep shoreline bank.

The Navy anticipates that the work could affect endangered and threatened fish, marine mammals and one kind of bird by creating underwater pile-driving noise. The piles would take away underwater habitat and affect fish migration.

The work is expected to take four years to complete.

All the meetings are in open-house formats and are from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. They are:

Tuesday at the Poulsbo fire station, 911 NE Liberty Road.

Wednesday at Port Ludlow Fire Station 31, 7650 Oak Bay Road.

Thursday at John Stanford Center for Educational Excellence auditorium, 2445 Third Ave. S, Seattle.

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Thursday, June 18, 2009 at 12:00 AM

National Lacrosse League's San Jose Stealth will move to Everett

(New Team logo.)
The Seattle Times
AJM STUDIOS.NET Northwest Development News Center

After six seasons in San Jose, Calif., the Stealth professional indoor lacrosse team has announced its plans to relocate to Everett.

The Stealth, a member of the National Lacrosse League, is coming off a 2009 campaign in which it advanced to the West Division finals before being ousted by eventual NLL Champion, the Calgary Roughnecks.

The franchise will play at the Comcast Arena in Everett. The 8,300-seat arena is also home to the Western Hockey League's Everett Silvertips. The team's new name will be announced at a formal news conference in Everett next week.

"We are very excited about our move to the Comcast Arena at Everett and to introduce the region to the thrilling and fast-paced sport of professional indoor lacrosse," said Stealth owner Denise Watkins. "It is a wonderful opportunity for the franchise. There is a strong lacrosse community already present in Everett and the greater Seattle area. We look forward to becoming an active partner and helping to continue the growth of lacrosse with local high schools and clubs."

The National Lacrosse League is the premier professional league in the sport of lacrosse, and features the world's best lacrosse players. The 2010 season will begin in January, and will mark the league's 24th year of pro indoor lacrosse.

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Revamped bus routes to carry commuters to Mount Baker light-rail station
As Metro prepares to shorten bus routes, Sound Transit hopes light rail will attract bus riders and motorists alike.

By Mike Lindblom & Ellen Banner
June 22, 2009 at 1:31 PM

AJM STUDIOS.NET Northwest Development News Center
The Seattle Times

image hosted on flickr


SEATTLE - In a city said to be at war with the automobile, the Mount Baker Station is designed as a refuge.

The elevated station overlooks South McClellan Street and the X-shaped junction of Rainier Avenue South with Martin Luther King Jr. Way South, where 45,000 car drivers and well over 6,000 transit riders pass each day.

Sound Transit hopes more South End commuters will leave their cars at home after the light-rail line from downtown Seattle to Tukwila opens July 18.

To coax bus riders onto trains, King County Metro Transit will shorten some routes in September, so they will end here. Notably, the Route 48 coming from Ballard, the University District and Capitol Hill will halt at Mount Baker, instead of going on to Rainier Beach.

A huge, brightly lit bus plaza, for eight routes, will open in September along Rainier Avenue on land that used to be a Kentucky Fried Chicken. From there, people will walk across Rainier and ride up an escalator to catch trains every 7-½ minutes at peak times, 10 minutes most hours, and 15 minutes in the wee hours.

"We think people will see a reliability benefit. The amount of service, the frequency will be pretty high, compared to some of the [bus] routes we have," said Katie Chalmers, a Metro service planner.

But national experts say some riders are deterred from transit if they have to transfer, rather than remain in one seat for the whole ride. Metro decided to keep certain short-hop routes after public complaints, for instance, that elderly riders need bus service all the way to the Asian Counseling and Referral Service, to the south.

Unlike many big-city transit hubs, the Mount Baker Station lacks dense housing, though it should draw riders from Franklin High School across the street.

More people and traffic should eventually show up after the recession. Around the station, the city allows 65-foot-high commercial buildings, and in some places, mixed-use buildings, as well as four-story housing on several blocks nearby.

To create a community of pedestrians who rely on light rail, the city is allowing shops and housing in the area to be built without parking spaces, and has banned new drive-throughs.

The 35-foot-high Mount Baker Station meets the tracks as they emerge from the tunnel on the east slope of Beacon Hill, before they descend onto MLK Way. Its boarding platforms are 400 feet long, to accommodate four-car trains that won't be needed for many years. Sound Transit now will run mainly two-car trains.

At 30,000 square feet, the structure looms so large that transit rider Paula Evans thought for sure it contained a park-and-ride garage. There is none, because the city government is unwilling to entice cars into the neighborhoods.

Nonetheless, Evans said if she can't drive there, she'll still find a way to take the train to work at Seattle Public Schools in Sodo, "even if it's less convenient."

The site was once known as McClellan Station, because of the cross street. Before the Civil War, when Gen. George McClellan was sacked by President Lincoln for being reluctant to attack, he spent time with the Army Corps of Engineers in Seattle, and proposed a canal linking Lake Washington and Lake Union.

It wasn't until 1917 that a cut large enough for boat traffic was finished at Montlake. In 2016, light-rail trains will take a tunnel under that marine channel, to reach a station at Husky Stadium.

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POSTED: Monday, Jun. 22, 2009

Trees will fall so homes may rise at Lummi tribe's housing project
JOHN STARK - THE BELLINGHAM HERALD
AJM STUDIOS.NET Northwest Development News Center

image hosted on flickr

(Lummi Island Aerial.)
LUMMI RESERVATION - Amid some misgivings about the loss of a dense stand of forest, tribal officials gathered Monday, June 22, to break ground on a 72-unit project that will make a significant dent in the backlog of tribal members waiting for public housing.
"We have to honor and respect our nature that God gave us," tribal elder Ernestine Gensaw said before opening the event with a prayer. "We love our people. That's why this is happening. We love our trees, too."
As the haunting call of Swainson's thrush floated through the cedars along Kwina Road across from the health clinic, those involved pledged that the tribe's reverence for those trees would be appropriately observed.

Lummi Indian Business Council Vice Chairman Gordon Adams said the doomed trees on the site should be honored with appropriate ceremonies, just as the ancestors would have done it.
"The sacrifice that the trees are going to be doing will be a good thing for our people," Adams said.
Tribal Planning Director Richard Jefferson said the nine-acre property has been envisioned as a housing site since the tribe acquired it several years ago.
"The need is just growing, especially with our young population," Jefferson said.
But he said he understood the environmental concerns expressed by many Lummis.
"If we Indian people are not going to be the caretakers of this world the Creator has put us in, who's going to?" Jefferson said.
He noted that the cedar tree was the essential raw material of traditional Lummi life, providing wood for houses, canoes and carvings, as well as fiber for clothing.
"God put those trees there for our use - not our abuse, but our use," Jefferson said.
Tom Black, a tribal housing planner, said the trees on the property would not be wasted. Cedar trunks would be set aside for tribal carvers, and perhaps for construction of a traditional Lummi cedar house, while other trees would be cut for firewood for tribal elders.
The stormwater system on the site will set a high environmental standard, Black said. As he described it, the system will take advantage of unusually sandy soil conditions to create a filtration system to handle the water that is shed by roofs and parking lots. There will be no holding ponds and no runoff.
The first phase of the $7 million project will use $1.2 million in federal stimulus money to build the roads and utilities for the apartments. Black said the tribe will compete for further federal stimulus grants to pay for the buildings. If that process goes well, 36 units will be available for occupancy by July 2010, and the rest would be ready a year after that.
Diana Phair, tribal housing director, said her agency manages about 300 units, including lease-to-own homes, rentals and the Little Bear Creek senior living center. The 72 new homes, consisting of one-and-two-bedroom apartments in a cluster of 12 two-story buildings, will be a significant addition to the tribal housing stock. But the tribe has 200 households on a waiting list for subsidized housing.
"Our waiting list isn't getting any shorter," Phair said.