The City of Burien is holding an Open House on its Shoreline Master Program update on Monday, Nov. 30th from 6pm to 8pm at the Burien City Hall council chambers.

The city has been awarded a grant fro the state to update its master program, and the city’s program has not been amended since incorporation in 1993. The Shoreline Master Program is a set of goals, policies and regulations managing shorelines within the city of Burien, and this forum is intended to give residents a chance to share their thoughts, concerns and ideas.

The master program specifically addresses land use and ecological functions adjacent to Lake Burien and Puget Sound.

The Burien Shoreline Advisory Committee has been considering input received at the first open house in May 2008 and has assisted in creating a new draft Shoreline Master Program. The Nov. 30th open house is an opportunity for residents to talk with members of the committee, city staff and the consultant team and learn more about the new draft program. In the near future, the new draft Shoreline Master Program will be presented to the Planning Commission for its consideration and possible recommendation to the City Council.

Here are the details:

WHAT: Community Open House Regarding Burien’s Update to its Shoreline Master Program

WHEN: Monday evening, November 30, 2009 from 6:00 – 8:00 p.m.

WHERE: Burien City Hall, Council Chambers, located at 400 SW 152nd Street, Burien, WA 98166

INFO: For more information, please contact David Johanson, City of Burien Senior Planner at (206) 248-5522

Community Open House Format:

Participants are invited to drop in anytime between 6 and 8 p.m. to talk with city staff, members of the Shoreline Advisory Committee and the consultant team. Information will be available on a number of topics, including:

• Shoreline vegetation management
• Buoys/docks/bulkheads
• Single-family construction and additions
• Shoreline restorations
• Shoreline Master Program adoption process.

The draft Shoreline Master Program will be available soon on the City website — www.burienwa.gov – and at City Hall, 400 SW 152nd Street, Suite 300. Comments on the draft should be submitted prior to the Planning Commission public hearing on Tuesday, January 12, 2010.

The Citizens Against Sea-Tac Expansion (C.A.S.E.) is holding their monthly “Sea-Tac Expansion” Meeting on Wednesday, March 4th from 7pm to 9pm at the ERAC offices, located at 15675 Ambaum Blvd. SW (see map below).

Here are the details:

WHAT: CASE Monthly “Sea-Tac Expansion” Meeting

WHERE: ERAC (Highline District Adminstration Office), located at 15675 Ambaum Blvd. S.W., Burien.

WHEN: Wednesday March 4th, from 7pm to 9pm

INFO: “You, your friends and neighbors are invited to attend our March monthly CASE meeting.

CASE President Brett Fish will conduct the meeting and will recognize our elected leaders attending and introduce the speakers. We have two (and possibly three, time permitting) subjects to discuss at the meeting: the SeaTac airport industrial polluted waste discharge 402 Permit (NPDES) renewal and noise pollution resulting from the 3rd runway.”

Speakers identified to date include:

• Ed Abassi, DOE permit writer and RCAA/CASE Consultant Greg Wingard will brief us on the changes that have been incorporated into the renewal of the existing permit. This permit must be renewed every 5-years in order to keep improving the clean water quality.
• Arun Jhaveri, Former Mayor of Burien during the 3rd Runway planning, will give us his comments on the current operational use of the 3rd runway. RCAA Director Stuart Jenner will give us the status us on recent noise measurements.
• Time permitting, Normandy Park City Council Woman Marion Yoshino will discuss her position on completion of Highway 509 to connect with I-5.

Questions and Comments from the floor will be welcome.

View Larger Map

Sustainable Burien is having its next meeting on Sunday, Mar. 8th at the Burien Library, from 2pm-4pm (with doors opening at 1:30pm).

WHAT: Sustainable Burien Gathering; “come join us for learning, exploring and more…”

WHEN: Sunday, Mar. 8th, 2:00pm – 4:00pm (doors open at 1:30pm)

WHERE: Burien KCLS Library, located at 14700 6th Ave SW (see map below)

INFO: Please call Lucy @ 206.242.8378 if there are questions

From their website:

Sustainable Burien is an organization started in January of 2008. We recognize the need to promote and participate in the creation of a sustainable community in Burien. We invite all residents and businesses to participate in creating a sustainable local community by sharing their ideas, passions, knowledge and talents.

At our meetings we will be collecting burned out CFL (Compact Fluorescent Light) bulbs and dead rechargable batteries. People are welcome to bring any extra food items [produce from your garden, fruit from your trees, etc.] that they have and barter with others. Also bring any coupons for food that you get in the mail or from the newspaper, we’ll pass them on to the food bank, who can make good use of them.

Gatherings are held on the second Sunday of each month, – from 2:00 – 4:00PM at the KCLS Burien Library (doors open at 1:30PM). For more information, go to: http://www.sustainableburien.org.

Sustainable Burien is having its next meeting this coming Sunday, Feb. 8th at the Burien Library, from 2pm-4pm (with doors opening at 1:30pm).

WHAT: Sustainable Burien Gathering; “come join us for learning, exploring and more…”

WHEN: Sunday, Feb. 8th, 2:00pm – 4:00pm (doors open at 1:30pm)

WHERE: Burien KCLS Library, located at 14700 6th Ave SW (see map below)

INFO: Please call Lucy @ 206.242.8378 if there are questions

From their website:

Sustainable Burien is an organization started in January of 2008. We recognize the need to promote and participate in the creation of a sustainable community in Burien. We invite all residents and businesses to participate in creating a sustainable local community by sharing their ideas, passions, knowledge and talents.

At our meetings we will be collecting burned out CFL (Compact Fluorescent Light) bulbs and dead rechargable batteries. People are welcome to bring any extra food items [produce from your garden, fruit from your trees, etc.] that they have and barter with others. Also bring any coupons for food that you get in the mail or from the newspaper, we’ll pass them on to the food bank, who can make good use of them.

Gatherings are planned for the second Sunday of each month – from 2:00 – 4:00PM at the KCLS Burien Library (doors open at 1:30PM). This is a new day and start time. At our November meeting it was decided that beginning in January 2009 meetings will be on the second Sunday of each month, except for April 2009. For more information, go to: http://www.sustainableburien.org.

View Larger Map

The Citizens Against Sea-Tac Expansion (C.A.S.E.) is holding their monthly “Sea-Tac Expansion” Meeting on Wednesday, Feb. 4th from 7pm to 9pm at the ERAC offices, located at 15675 Ambaum Blvd. SW (see map below).

Here’s more info:

WHAT: CASE Monthly “Sea-Tac Expansion” Meeting

WHERE: ERAC (Highline District Administration Office), located at 15675 Ambaum Blvd. SW

WHEN: Wednesday February 4th, 2009 from 7pm to 9pm

INFO:

Hello Friends and Neighbors against the environmental damages from expansion and operations of the SEA-TAC Airport:

You, your friends and neighbors are invited to attend our February monthly CASE meeting.

CASE President Brett Fish will conduct the meeting and briefly update us on the DOE draft release of the NPDES Permit that requires the Port to obey (treatment) when releasing polluted airport storm water into waters of the state.  A future Public Hearing will be held later.  Brett will recognize our elected leaders attending and introduce the speakers.

The main purpose of this meeting will be to give any additional impacted people a platform to vent their disappointment and anger caused by their loss of quality of life, including financial loss of property value, resulting from use of the 3rd runway to increase normal airport operations rather than to reduce bad weather operations as planned.

At the January 8th meeting of the Highline Forum to discuss the issue of 3rd runway operations and increased airport noise, the limited hour of public comments proved that many Highline residents are very much impacted and should receive immediate mitigation.  With the current plan, mitigation will be many years away, if ever.  We need to keep the pressure on the Port and FAA to mitigate all those impacted and restore our lifestyle and the quality of life to that prior to operations with the 3rd runway.

Members of the Port staff and Port Commissioners have been invited.

Questions and Comments from the floor will be welcome.

If you have questions or need directions, call me on 206-824-6589.

Thanks.

View Larger Map

According to Robert’s Rules of Order, “parliamentary procedure” is based on the consideration of the rights:

• of the majority
• of the minority (especially a large minority greater than one-third)
• of individual members
• of absentee members
• of all of these groups taken together

“The application of parliamentary law is the best method yet devised to enable assemblies of any size, with due regard for every member’s opinion, to arrive at the general will on the maximum number of questions of varying complexity in a minimum amount of time and under all kinds of internal climate ranging from total harmony to hardened or impassioned division of opinion.”

With that in mind, here’s a great way for you to learn more about Parliamentary Law – a free workshop being conducted on Saturday, Jan. 24th, from 10:30am-Noon at the Southwest Branch Library:

WHAT: A Free Public Workshop Presented By POINT OF ORDER PARLIAMENTARY LAW UNIT; The Secretary and Treasurer: Minding Your Minutes, Money, and More. Facilitated by: Robert Dolan, PRP (Robert is Treasurer for the National Association of Parliamentarians and has served the Washington State Association of Parliamentarians as Treasurer, President and Parliamentarian).

WHEN: Saturday, January 24, 2009, 10:30 A.M. – Noon

WHERE: Southwest Branch Library, located at 9010 35th Ave SW, Seattle (see map below)

INFO: http://ptoforder.googlepages.com/thesecretaryandtreasurer

Everyone is Welcome!

View Larger Map

by Gina Bourdage

Tuesday night (Jan. 6th), the City of Burien held their third public “Open House” meeting to discuss the progress of the Projected Annexation Project at Shorewood Elementary School.

Residents of the affected neighborhoods turned out to express their concerns about various issues, including the potential change in coverage of fire and police services, surface maintenance and budget for the entire project.

“The most important thing is continuous and consistent safety services.” said Burien Councilmember Rose Clark.

King County Fire District 2 serves the Burien/Normandy Park areas, and the North Highline Fire Department covers the White Center and Burien neighborhoods. Burien City Manager Mike Martin and Fire Chief Mike Marrs assured the residents of a “seamless transition” in regard to fire services. Should Seattle annex the North Highline Station, Burien would continue to be covered until 2012 when a new station would be built and available. The details and location are still being addressed for a potential new fire station; residents were assured that public safety is at the forefront of every decision.

North Highline currently contracts police services through the King County Sheriff’s Office. The only change community members can look for will be the same familiar faces of officers in new Burien uniforms and police vehicles.

Response times for both fire and police will be equal to the current service levels, if not better, according to Mike Martin.

The roads and maintenance departments may very well see a facelift in the annexed area of Burien as smaller cities have a faster turnaround time and “…higher standards…” said Martin. When accessing the neighborhood’s current budget need for improvement the City of Seattle assessed the area as a $13 million dollar project where as the City of Burien assessed the same area as a $59 million dollar project.

Shorewood resident Cindy Traynor said “I am glad they are finally doing something. We moved to the area so that we would not be a part of Seattle, the taxes are much higher there.”

“We want to be a part of Burien.” said resident Shirley Leonard.

The worries about budget strains on the City of Burien for taking on an additional 14,350 new community members were put to rest by an independent review firm out of Portland. They found that the projected revenue from the annexed area would offset the cost of the City for the project.

Residents can expect to see two historically-linked communities reunited should the annexation pass. They will have direct access to their local government and officials by being part of a “smaller city.”

“Becoming part of Burien, your voice will be heard and have more power.” Said City official Karen Keane.

The final decision on the proposed annexation areas will be brought to the voters to residents to decide in a vote in the Summer/Fall of 2009.

[EDITOR'S NOTE: We'd like to welcome aboard Gina Bourdage, our newest Writer, who makes her B-Town Blog debut with this article. Gina is a Communications graduate from WSU, and is a longtime area resident who lives right on the cusp of the proposed annexation area. Look for more of her work here soon...and welcome Gina!]

They say that great things come in threes (unless of course you live under the new flightpath and you’re talking about airport runways…), and this coming week is no exception, as there will now be THREE meetings scheduled to discuss the third runway and the Port of Seattle!

The latest will be put on by CASE, aka Citizens Against Sea-Tac Expansion, which has a long history of battling the Port of Seattle over the airport expansion.

Well, they haven’t given up yet folks, and their next meeting is this coming Wed., Jan, 7th, from 7pm to 9pm. Here are the details:

WHAT: CASE Monthly “Sea-Tac Expansion” Meeting

WHERE: ERAC  (Highline District Adminstration Office), located at 15675 Ambaum Blvd. SW,  Burien (near Azteca & Hi-Line Lanes)

WHEN: Wednesday, Jan. 7th, from 7pm to 9pm

INFO: From the invitation sent out by Brett Fish:

You and your friends and neighbors are invited to attend our January monthly CASE meeting. CASE President Brett Fish will conduct the meeting and briefly update us on the DOE draft release of the NPDES Permit.  The main subject of this meeting will be to hear additional comments on the airport noise caused by the new flight patterns currently being used with operations with the 3rd runway.

Speakers at this meeting will include new voices from North, West and East of the airport.   Many of these neighbors do not have noise insulation provided by the Port because of the different predictions of flight operations and/or calculations by averaging noise over time by the Port.  These neighbors have measured the noise levels to be “equivalent to that of a motorcycle level” in their back yards.

One neighborhood mother complained that “her baby used to sleep through the night but now wakes up every half-hour”; another “It feels like we’re in a war zone,” said Miriam Bearse, who lives north of the third runway in Burien. “It feels like bombers going overhead every five minutes at low altitude.”

We are inviting representatives from the Port of Seattle and the FAA to attend the meeting and to respond to the complaints and the plans to fix them and who will be responsible.

Bob Sheckler and the Port have announced that the postponed Special Session of the Highline Forum on aircraft noise has been rescheduled for Thursday, January 8th.  Members of the Highline Forum will meet at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport’s Conference Center from 2:00 to 3:00 PM to discuss aircraft noise connected to the new third runway.  Mark Reis, the Airport’s Managing Director, along with Port staff will provide information and answer questions from the members of the Highline Forum. The public is invited to observe.   At 3 PM, we will adjourn the meeting of the Highline Forum and dedicate the next hour as a Port of Seattle public comment period.  Members of the public will be invited to provide remarks. The public comment period will end at 4 PM.

Questions and Comments from the floor will be welcome.

If you have questions or need directions, call me at 206-824-6589. 

Thanks.

View Larger Map

Curious about how Burien plans on annexing parts of North Highline and White Center?

The City of Burien is holding its first in a series of informational open houses next Tuesday, Jan. 6th from 6:30pm – 8:30pm at Shorewood Elementary School, located at 2725 116th Street in Burien (map below).

Here’s what the city says about the meeting: “Informational open house will provide information about what annexation will mean for the people within the proposed annexation area.”

Format:

• There will be a presentation followed by a Question and Answer session.
• Refreshments will be provided.
• Interpreter services can be arranged if requested 72 hours in advance.

WHEN: Tuesday, Jan. 6th, from 6:30pm – 8:00pm

WHERE: Shorewood Elementary School, located at 2725 116th Street in Burien (map below).

INFO: Annexation Info Line: (206) 436-5555; Email: annexation@burienwa.gov

View Larger Map

The Municipal League of King County will hold a forum this Tuesday, Dec. 2nd, to review the options for replacing the Alaskan Way Viaduct and the process that led to the current choices.

Panelists will include:

• Grace Crunican, Seattle Department of Transportation
• Patrick Gordon, Chair, Downtown Seattle Association
• Cary Moon, People’s Waterfront Coalition
• Dave Freiboth, King County Labor Council

WHEN: Tuesday, Dec. 2, 6-8 pm

WHERE: Seattle City Hall, 1F, Bertha Landes Room

Gov. Christine Gregoire, Mayor Greg Nickels and County Executive Ron Sims have set a goal of Dec. 31st to decide on a final plan. Meanwhile the official stakeholders’ group is settling on guidelines designed to narrow down the choices.

The Municipal League Foundation is the research and education arm of the Municipal League of King County. The Foundation’s mission is to conduct research and educate the public on matters of community interest and to encourage the development of civic participation and leadership in King County.

More information available at their website: http://www.munileague.org

View Larger Map

We recently upgraded our Commenting functions, this making it easier to Comment on stories, and we invite all our Readers to try them out and see how they work.

Our goal at The B-Town Blog has always been to create an open, interactive online community where all Readers have the power to speak up and share their thoughts, and this is another step in that direction, so we hope you give it a try.

Some simple rules to be aware of when it comes to Commenting:

1. Please be civil and respectful. We still control what Comments get posted/deleted.
2. Spam filters are still in effect, so don’t even think about spamming us.
3. Other Readers can rank your “Reputation Value” up or down. This serves as a quick overview of a Commenter’s history and reputation, and is based on the quantity and judged quality of the comments.

Here are directions on how to Comment on a story:

• Click on the text link “Comments” posted at the bottom of each story.
• On specific story pages (ie: this link here), scroll down to the very bottom of the post, where you can now easily Comment on each story. Here’s an example of what the Commenting section looks like:

• You can just type in your thoughts, click on “Submit Comment” and your comment will show up – it’s that easy.
• You can create a profile (even include a photo) that other Readers can view by registering when you post a Comment.
• You can also get the RSS Feed for Comments on specific stories and follow discussions that way.
• You can vote on and rank other’s “Reputation Value” by clicking on the little thumbs-up or thumbs-down icons on the right header of each comment.
• We reserve the right to delete inappropriate comments and spam, so please don’t try anything funny.

It plays a huge role as part of Burien’s “secret passageway” to downtown Seattle, and it often allows one to get into town within 15-20 minutes.

We’re speaking of course about the Alaskan Way Viaduct, which will be the topic of a public meeting on Monday, Dec. 15th, from 5pm to 7:30pm in downtown Seattle.

Everyone has an opinion on how best to deal this aging behemoth, and this meeting will be a good opportunity to not only learn about the final options for replacing the viaduct and seawall, it’ll give you a chance to speak your mind and propose your amazing ideas.

There will be a presentation, question and answer session, and opportunity for public comment on scenarios being considered. No word yet on what kind of donuts will be served.

According to a press release we received:

WSDOT, King County and the City of Seattle want to hear from you.

You can learn more about the options or provide comments at www.alaskanwayviaduct.org.

WHAT: Alaskan Way Viaduct and Seawall public meeting/discussion

WHEN: Dec. 15, 2008, 5pm-7:30pm

WHERE: Town Hall Great Hall, located at 1119 Eighth Avenue in downtown Seattle

INFO: 1-888-AWV-LINE or viaduct@wsdot.wa.gov

View Larger Map

In times like these, with a souring economy and loss of jobs, gang activity often starts to escalate. That’s one reason that the Burien Police Department is holding a special Gang Awareness Seminar on Thursday Nov. 13th, from 6-9pm at the Criminal Justice Training Center.

WHAT: Gang Awareness Seminar – Open to the Public

WHEN: Thursday, Nov. 13th from 6:00pm to 9:00pm

WHERE: Washington State Criminal Justice Center (Police Academy), located at 19010 1st Avenue South

Guest Speaker is Detective Joe Gagliardi.

Detective Gagliardi is a gang detective for the Burien Police Department. He is recognized as an expert in gang activity, providing regional training at the Washington State Criminal Justice Training Center and for the King County Sheriff’s Office.

His presentation will give you an overview of gang activities, gang structure and active gangs in the South King County area.  He will be able to answer your questions about community safety and how to address gang activity in your neighborhood.

If you have kids, you need to be at this seminar. Gangs are becoming prevalent in our communities and this information will help you keep your kids out of the growing Gang culture.

For additional info, please call Sgt. McLauchlan at 206-296-3333.

This just in from the City of Burien:

Map of the Northeast Redevelopment Area (NERA)

The City of Burien, in partnership with the Port of Seattle (operators of Sea-Tac International Airport), is studying the Northeast Redevelopment Area (NERA), located north of the recently constructed third runway.

The study will identify ways to help property owners transition their properties from a mixture of vacant, residential, public, and small commercial land uses to uses that are compatible with operations at Sea-Tac International Airport.  The NERA redevelopment strategy and master plan will evaluate options that are flexible and respond to market conditions, as well as propose ways to guide long-term redevelopment in the NERA.  This effort will build upon past planning and environmental studies.

The public is invited to attend a meeting on Thursday, October 23, 2008 from 6:30 pm to 8:00 pm at the cafetorium in the Cedarhurst Elementary School (611 South 132nd Street in Burien – map below) to share comments and perspectives related to strategies that are developing for the NERA.

The evening’s discussion will cover the following topics:

• Market and economic conditions
• Land uses – community and airport compatibility
• Transportation
• Utilities and infrastructure
• Environmental considerations

The consultant team working on the NERA strategy and master plan recently completed the existing conditions analysis, which included identifying the location of Miller Creek, adjacent wetlands and their protective buffers. A detailed market analysis also was prepared. The team has also been working with City of Burien and Port of Seattle staff to identify strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and challenges in the NERA planning area, as well as to identify potential redevelopment scenarios.  The results of this work to date will be summarized at the October 23, 2008.

If you have questions or would like to obtain additional information, you are encouraged to contact consultant team member Kristen Clem at Otak (phone number: 425-739-7959).

You can also send an email to the project email address: NERA@burienwa.gov or check the City’s website at www.burienwa.gov.

View Larger Map

Seattle CityClub (the good folks who hosted the panel discussion on neighborhood blogs that we were a part of) and its partners will host a free “Community Matters Campaign” on Wed., Oct. 8 at the Burien Library (map below) from 6:30pm-7:30pm.

This meeting is meant to explore the ways people are engaged and the barriers that may keep them from engaging fully.

Discussion will center around:

• Volunteering and voting
• Cultural richness
• Public trust

It is hoped that participants from all walks of life will come together to have new conversations with old friends and/or meet people they’ve never met before. They will identify community assets and challenges, learn about new opportunities and take action to build stronger neighborhoods.

What strategies should organizations and government focus on to break down barriers to involvement and strengthen the ties that bind our community? What do you think? Join us.

Open to the general public, and it’s FREE.

Sign up for the event here.

More info on Seattle CityClub here.

View Larger Map

We were honored to be part of a Seattle City Club panel discussion on neighborhood blogs on Sept. 4th, where we babbled incoherently about this here B-Town Blog.

A video of said forum is now online for your viewing pleasure here.