News~Apr08

April 2008

Walkability Update

Graffiti Update

Membership & Board

Community Announcements

Our Healthy Steps grant work is about to begin!

You've already given us great ideas for our NE Olympia Walkaround Guide. As we prepare our destination map and wayfinding signs, we'd like your input about local parks, businesses, and other places you frequent.

We're assembling a few hearty volunteers to take a walk with City Sidewalk and NeighborWoods staff to discuss where sidewalks, crosswalks, curb cuts, and street trees should go. This 2-hour walk, which will take place in the morning on May 16, is vital to kick-start planning for sidewalks to our neighborhood schools and parks. Interested in joining us? Please e-mail melinda@neneighborhood.org. Thank you!

Make a Difference Day & Plant Sale!

Saturday, May 17 from 9 to noon

At Roosevelt, we do not use pesticides to help with weed control. So, a few times a year we call on the community to help us pull, yank, and whack the weeds into submission.

Plus, the Roosevelt PTA holds a fabulous plant sale in front of the Time Garden! Come over and stock up!

Roosevelt's Centennial Celebration is coming!

An Open House for the entire community with ties to Roosevelt over its 100-year history is being planned for Thursday, May 15 from 6 to 8 pm.

More details are available on the Roosevelt website

Walkability Update

San Francisco Street Sidewalk Project Phase II: Quince Street to Easy Bay Dr.

April 18, 2008

Earlier today, it seemed certain that the City would postpone the completion of the San Francisco St. sidewalk from East Bay to Quince until at least 2010. But thanks to some definitive and insightful moves by Peter Guttchen and our hero on the City Council, Joe Hyer, the Finance Committee has found a way secure the money needed to complete the project this year. The Council will vote on this funding package on May 6. Stay tuned!

March 10, 2008: Update from the Project Manager, Sheri Zimny:

PSE will be removing two of the trees along San Francisco St. This is being done so that they can relocate three or four poles, in preparation for the sidewalk project. The tree removal work is scheduled for this Wednesday, March 13th which means that there may be some intermittent road closures between 9am and 3pm for them to drop large tree sections. The two trees planned for removal are right at the end of the driveway for 812 SF Street behind the existing power pole.

After the tree removals, PSE/Potelco will be setting new poles and moving their lines (mostly likely this week or next). Comcast and Qwest's work will follow in the next 4-6 weeks.

For details on the project, you can visit the City's project web page at SF Sidewalk Phase II.

NENA about to begin work on another Thurston County Public Health STEPs grant!

In this work, we will be promoting fun and interesting walking routes in our neck of the woods by creating wayfinding signs for key walking routes. We will also continue our work to research and apply for grants to fund projects like the Roosevelt School parking lot improvements. In addition, we'll be partnering with the City of Olympia and the Woodland Trail Greenway Association to identify where sidewalks, crosswalks, and street trees are needed to make our neighborhood safer and more pleasant for pedestrians.

Roosevelt School Parking Lot Improvements

We've met again with staff from the Olympia School District and Roosevelt's Principal Domenico Spatolla-Knoll to refine the new parking lot design. NENA will use grant money from our new Thurston County Department of Health Healthy Steps grant to have this design engineered by Parametrix, and will then make the design available for everyone to review. Once we receive formal support from OSD, NENA will pursue grant funds to get this work DONE before more tempers flare and we suffer any more near-misses as kids walk to the school entrance.

Graffiti Update

Through persistence and significant creativity, we are making progress in clearing graffiti from our neighborhood. You can help us stay on top of this problem by reporting any graffiti you see. Please go on-line (directions below), post your graffiti sightings and photos, and view and comment on what others have posted. Below is a note from our Graffiti Busters coordinator and NENA board member Valerie Adrian with directions on how to access our new blog.
Thank you!

Hello everyone,

In our effort to track down and erase graffiti from our neighborhood, we are asking people to report it for removal.

Please go to http://www.xanga.com/signin.aspx and sign in.

Username: Nena_Oly

Password: adrian

When you are signed in, click on "New Weblog Entry" and enter the addresses or intersections for new graffiti. If you can take a picture and upload it to the entry, that would be helpful. Please be as specific as possible about where the graffiti is located, so it can be easily found by our clean up crews.

Please email me at ourcityonahill@yahoo.com after you have updated the site so I can make sure it gets reported to the right folks. Also, email me there if you have any questions about using the blog.

For detailed information about graffiti removal and reporting, visit the City's Web site at City's Graffiti Removal Information

NENA Membership & Board

We will NOT be having a NENA board meeting this month. If you're interested in specific issues affecting our neighborhood, would like to help NENA accomplish current goals, or lead NENA in new directions, please consider joining us!