Short Announcements by Member Organization Representatives
Please hold announcements to not more than one minute.

City Council Member Tim Burgess
CM Burgess chairs the City Council’s Public Safety, Human Services, and Education Committee. He will discuss progress being made to implement the “Safe City” initiative, as well as priorities he hopes to tackle in the immediate future.

Our Ballard Food Bank (Major Changes for the Future), Nancy McKinney, Executive Director – Ballard Food Bank

What Would Life be Like Without Electric Trolleys in Ballard, Jonathan Dong, Seattle Dept of Transportation

Our Newest Park in Ballard, Alyssa Smith, Friends of 9th Avenue Park

Holman Median Initiative, Ryan McFarland, Crown Hill Neighborhood Association

Report – Executive Committee
· Bridging the Gap Project Review Committee
· Draft letter commenting on city proposal to rezone industrial property in Ballard’s hub urban village
· Members of the Executive Committee will provide holiday food and drink. All are encouraged to join us for a bit of hob nobbery.

Adjourn

Persons attending the December 9th Ballard DC meeting are requested to bring donations for the Ballard Food Bank. Especially needed are personal hygiene supplies including soap, shampoo, disposable razors, toothpaste, and deodorant or other personal care products. Cash and non perishable food donations will also be gratefully accepted.

BALLARD DISTRICT COUNCIL
Wednesday, December 9, 2009
Ballard Library – 5614 22nd NW
(Free parking below building – accessed from NW 56th)
7:00 – 8:30 PM

AGENDA

7:00 Short Announcements by Member Organization Representatives
Please hold announcements to not more than one minute.

7:15 2010 City Budget Takes a Big Hit, Dwight Dively, City Budget Director
Dwight will provide a briefing on the Mayor’s proposed 2010 budget which considers a $72M deficit. He will also provide his forecast of how our recovering economy is likely to influence city tax revenue

7:40 Rezoning Industrial Land in the Ballard Hub Urban Village, Andrea Petzel, City Dept o Planning and Development
Andrea will review her department’s recommendation to rezone approximately 12 acres of industrial land located in Ballard’s central business district.

8:00 Bridging the Gap; Another Opportunity to Finance Costly Public Improvement Priorities in our Community, Therese Casper, Seattle Dept of Transportation

8:25 Election of District Council Officers for 2010, Mary Hurley
The Ballard DC Nominating Committee proposes the following candidates as a slate for the four positions as officers.
· President, Jennifer Macuiba, Friends of Burke Gilman Trail
· VP, Andrew MacDonald, 36th District Republicans
· At Large, Catherine Weatbrook, Crown Hill Business Association
· At Large, Dennis Galvin, Crown Hill Neighborhood Association

Nominations from the floor will be accepted. Eligible candidates include any designated rep from a member organization.

8:30 Adjourn

BALLARD DISTRICT COUNCIL
Wednesday, October 14, 2009 7:00 – 8:30 PM
Ballard Library – 5614 22nd NW
(Free parking below building – accessed from NW 56th)

AGENDA

Proposed Ballard Mixed Use Development by Seattle Compass Center, Greg
Elkerton – Common Ground and M.J. Kiser – Program Director, Compass
Center
Compass Center plans to construct an 80-unit residential facility at
1753 NW 56 Street which will provide affordable housing for persons
transiting from homelessness.

Update on 2008 Seattle Parks Green Space Levy & Opportunity to Develop
a New Park in Ballard, Lise Ward – Seattle Parks Dept Property
Management

Market/45th Street Transit Corridor Improvements, Bill Bryant, Seattle
DOT
This recently initiated effort will address east west transit
efficiency between Ballard and U District.

2009/2010 Ballard DC Election of Officers, Mary Hurley – Chair,
Nominating Committee
A slate of four candidates will be presented. The election of officers
will occur at the October 14 council meeting. DC member organization
reps are eligible to serve in one of the four officer positions.

Executive Committee
1. Application for Ballard DC membership by Ballard Rotary Club,
Catherine Weatbrook
2. Volunteers are needed to serve on a district level committee to
review work related to the Deep Bored Tunnel/SR 99 project, Steve Cohn
3. October 5th Candidates Forum, Andy MacDonald
BALLARD DISTRICT COUNCIL
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
Ballard Library – 5614 22nd NW
(Free parking below building – accessed from NW 56th)
7:00 – 8:30 PM

In addition to walking through the garden and admiring the green thumb of the community gardeners, there will also be 24 artists displaying their art at the festival.  The art includes painting, jewelry, photography, wood sculptures, glass art, mosaics and more.  As you peruse the art, enjoy the live music scheduled all throughout the day.   If you get a little hungry, enjoy a hotdog or some lemonade or hang out in the beer garden.

The festival also has an ‘early bird special’ for those arriving between 10am to 11am – free coffee and donuts and 10% off all baked goods.

Time:  10am – 6pm

Location:

8527 25th Ave. NW

Parking:

Free

AGENDA

1.  Short Announcements by Member Organization Representatives
Please hold announcements to not more than one minute.

2.  Prioritizing Ballard Projects Proposed for Funding from the Annual
Neighborhood Projects Fund, Mary Hurley
Annually, the City of Seattle makes available approximately $1.3M
to fund small scale projects proposed by individuals and
organizations.  Each of the 13 district councils is asked to identify
the district’s top five priority projects.

This year, of the 190 proposals received city wide, 40 came from
the Ballard district.  Ballard DC appointed a three-member review
committee to study the proposals from Ballard and recommend an order of
priority.  On April 8 of this year, the Ballard DC selected five
projects which have now been evaluated for cost and feasibility by SDOT
and Seattle Parks Department.
Discussion and Vote

3.  What’s Our Neighborhood Plan and Why Should it Be Updated, Ashley
Harris, Ballard District Rep to City Neighborhood Planning Advisory
Committee

4.  The Future of Transit Service in the Ballard Community
-  A look at our current transit service
-  How we might cope with the likelihood of King County budget
driven reductions to that service?
-  When will the Rapid Ride initiative be implemented, and how
will it affect the alignment of other transit service in Ballard?
-  Who are the decision makers and what should we communicate to
them?

BALLARD DISTRICT COUNCIL
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
Ballard Library – 5614 22nd NW
(Free parking below building – accessed from NW 56th)
7:00 – 8:30 PM

Although West Seattle and other locales have been running edible garden tours for some time, this year marks the first ever Ballard Edible Garden Tour.   The tour is sponsored by Sustainable Ballard and Groundswell NW.  One of the key individuals responsible for getting this off the ground is Ingela Warnerstrand from Sustainable Ballard.  This spring I wrote a post about free gardening classes at the Loyal Heights Community Center and Ingela was the teacher.

This tour will encourage your ‘inner gardener’ and show you what grows successfully here in Ballard and how to get creative with small spaces, growing items in pots and parking strips, etc.  If you have always been intrigued by growing your own food, but didn’t know where to start, this tour will allow you to ask questions of gardeners who have experienced success and failures and are happy to share their hard won gardening wisdom.

Tour information:

Edible Garden Tour – 14 edible gardens

Saturday 10am to 3pm

$10 per person or $20 per vehicle (though of course walking or biking is highly encouraged)

Tour information:  www.groundswellnw.org

Purchase tickets:  www.brownpapertickets.com

The tour is sponsored by the East Ballard Community Association, a neighborhood group which promotes quality of life in the community.

The tour is very informal and a good chance to meet some fellow Ballardites and even if you have lived in the area a long time, you are bound to learn something new.  The tour starts at:

10 am Cafe Bambino – 405 NW 65th St
We’ll be starting the tour at 10, so if you’re gonna get coffee, make sure to get there early!

You might think a shop like this would be slow during this sunny stretch, but Bella Umbrella has a fantastic rental business providing vintage umbrellas for weddings to protect from the sun, rain or just to look picturesque in the wedding photos. In addition to renting umbrellas, there are vintage or modern umbrellas for sale.  There were some umbrellas made with Marimekko fabrics that were smaller than the usual compact umbrella.  Unlike most compacts, these could actually fit very easily into a purse, even a small bag.

For those of us more used to picking up a cheap umbrella from a big box store, this shop is an eye opener.  The vintage umbrellas have a charm not available in the modern versions.  Not only are the fabric choices more interesting, but the handle are works of art.  I was shown an umbrella with a carved wood handle more than 100 years old, an umbrella with a handle decorated with 14 karat gold and longingly eyed the lucite and colored handles on rows upon rows of umbrellas.  I honestly felt looking around as if I was in an art gallery there was so much to look at.

In chatting with the owner, Jodell, she mentioned that with global warming people are thinking about using umbrellas for more than rainstorms.  Recently a woman came into the shop desperate to buy an umbrellas because she couldn’t take the sun.  There was a time when ladies were supposed to have marble white skin and only ‘rough’ women had tanned skin.   Maybe the clock is turning back to this earlier era and we will see a sea of umbrellas even in summertime.

http://bellaumbrella.com/

Bella Umbrella Boutique
1421 NW 70th Street
Seattle, WA 98117

PH 206-297-1540

In this tough economic times, Ballard homeowners feeling the pinch may welcome the mayor’s proposal to allow ‘backyard cottages’ which can be rented for additional cash flow, other residents will not welcome the increased density or the idea of renters in a neighborhood of homeowners.

If you are interested in some of these topics, be sure to attend the Ballard District Council meeting this Wednesday!

AGENDA

7 PM  Short Announcements by Member Organization Representatives
Please hold announcements to not more than one minute.

7:15   Briefing – City Draft Pedestrian Master Plan, Jennifer Wieland
and Barbara Gray- Seattle Department of Transportation

7:40   What are We Doing to Make our parks in Downtown Ballard Safe and
Inviting, Beth Miller, Executive Director – Ballard Chamber

7:55   Mayor’s Proposal “Backyard cottages” Andrea Petzel,
Project Manager – City Department of Planning & Development

8:25   Update – 2009 Ballard Projects funded by City Neighborhood
Streets Fund, Rob Mattson

8:30    Adjourn

BALLARD DISTRICT COUNCIL
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
Ballard Library – 5614 22nd NW
(Free parking below building – accessed from NW 56th)
7:00 – 8:30 PM

I didn’t know that the moves and traditions of these unearthly beautiful white horses date back to Roman times as they became world famous only in the 1700’s.   Another fact that not many people might know is that these snowy beauties are born dark brown and slowly turn white over several years.  They also live longer than other horse breeds, as they don’t really become full fledged performers until they are in their 20’s.

All these facts and more are part of the show at Comcast arena in Everett where the horses appear to be floating and dancing with their graceful disciplined moves.  This is a good event for all ages and unlike other shows like Cirque de Soleil, etc. that tour every couple of years, you may not get this opportunity again.

There are still plenty of tickets left for the Sunday show at 2pm.  For more information:  http://ev12.evenue.net/cgi-bin/ncommerce3/SEGetEventInfo?ticketCode=GS%3AEVERETT%3ACAE09%3ALS3%3A&linkID=global-everett&shopperContext=&caller=appList&appCode=