The Greenwood Community Council meets at 7 p.m. Tuesday at the Greenwood Library, 8016 Greenwood Ave. N.  The main topics are how to improve walking and biking in the neighborhood, including specific projects and proposals.

Also on the agenda is a presentation on the proposed development at 1st Avenue NW and NW 85th Street. The developers will share their general plans and get the community’s feedback on what they’d like to see on that site.

The Greenwood Community Council is leading a new effort to make sure our neighborhood is ready in a major emergency. The first meeting of a new group, tentatively called the Greenwood Preparedness Action Network, will meet at 7 p.m. Monday in the Greenwood Library, 8016 Greenwood Ave. N.

In January the Greenwood Community Council meeting focused on organization for emergency and crime preparedness. In the best case, we would prepare ourselves for emergencies at three levels of organization – the block level, the neighborhood level, and citywide. At the meeting it was agreed that Greenwood should be organized for preparedness in a way that complements and leverages block-level and citywide efforts.

Neighborhood-level preparedness can help by:
• Providing communications between blocks and the city during a crisis
• Providing resources useful for block-level preparedness efforts
• Providing a physical location to gather
• Providing a physical location to where emergency supplies are stored

The meeting is sponsored by the community council, but by the end of the meeting we hope leaders will emerge who will carry the effort forward. Ideally there will emerge a core group who enjoys meeting semi-regularly, and who keep in touch with block-level captains and volunteers.

Proposed meeting objective:

• Develop objectives for the year.
• Determine key roles and who will fill them.

Here’s a proposed agenda:

• Welcome (incl. brief statement about why we’re here, what we hope to accomplish in the meeting).
• Round-robin Introductions (incl. name, where do you live, why do you want to be involved in the GPAN).
• Overview of the Seattle Emergency Preparation Program and Implementation in Broadview (Dale Johnson)
• Open brainstorm / discussion about what the group wants to accomplish in 2013
(such as: apply for a small and simple grant, map the block watch captains, etc.).
• Next Steps (incl. do we have critical mass of people in the room who are willing to move this forward).
• What are key roles and who will fill them? For example, who will
◦ Plan agendas, facilitate meetings and handle notices and logistics.
◦ Develop list of block watch captains and volunteers.
◦ Catalog existing emergency and crime preparedness resources.

Just a reminder that the Greenwood Community Council’s bi-monthly meeting is at 7 p.m. Tuesday at the Greenwood Library, 8016 Greenwood Ave. N. On the agenda is a report from the Legislature by 36th District State Rep. Gael Tarleton, and a panel discussion about Greenwood Town Center (the area encompassing Fred Meyer, Piper Village and a few other properties.

Panelists include Seattle City Councilmember Richard Conlin; Gary Brunt of Greenwood Shopping Center; Scott Nolte, Producing Artistic Director of Taproot Theatre; and Matt Anderson, Heartland LLC.

Eight years ago the Greenwood Community Council joined with the (former) Phinney-Greenwood Chamber of Commerce, representatives from city departments, the Greenwood Shopping Center and Fred Meyer to develop a plan for Greenwood’s Town Center. It was a pro-active approach by the Community Council to develop a vision for new development, and the focus was on things that would make the Town Center more active and pedestrian-friendly, uniting the pedestrian downtown with the more car-friendly shopping center. Consultants were hired to look at the mix of businesses that could be attracted to the area, the urban form and transportation system, and their work was discussed in large public forums. The plan called for new design guidelines (since adopted), mixed use development on the shopping center site, and a walkway or street connection between downtown and the shopping center among other things.

The new Fred Meyer is completed, the first stages of Piper Village are done, a new street connecting Greenwood and the shopping center is shaping up, and the Taproot is getting ready to construct their theatre expansion. So the questions for this meeting is: What still needs to be done to make the Town Center active, walkable and economically healthy? How can the Fred Meyer be an anchor for activity throughout the Town Center that results in a better downtown Greenwood?

The Greenwood Community Council’s bi-monthly meeting next Tuesday, March 19, will focus on the history and future outlook of Greenwood Town Center. State Rep. Gael Tarleton, of the 36th District, also will give a report from the Legislature.

Participants on a panel discussion about Greenwood Town Center will include Seattle City Councilmember Richard Conlin; Gary Brunt of Greenwood Shopping Center; Scott Nolte, Producing Artistic Director of Taproot Theatre; and Matt Anderson, Heartland LLC.

Eight years ago the Greenwood Community Council joined with the (former) Phinney-Greenwood Chamber of Commerce, representatives from city departments, the Greenwood Shopping Center and Fred Meyer to develop a plan for Greenwood’s Town Center. It was a pro-active approach by the Community Council to develop a vision for new development, and the focus was on things that would make the Town Center more active and pedestrian-friendly, uniting the pedestrian downtown with the more car-friendly shopping center. Consultants were hired to look at the mix of businesses that could be attracted to the area, the urban form and transportation system, and their work was discussed in large public forums. The plan called for new design guidelines (since adopted), mixed use development on the shopping center site, and a walkway or street connection between downtown and the shopping center among other things.

The new Fred Meyer is completed, the first stages of Piper Village are done, a new street connecting Greenwood and the shopping center is shaping up, and the Taproot is getting ready to construct their theatre expansion. So the questions for this meeting is: What still needs to be done to make the Town Center active, walkable and economically healthy? How can the Fred Meyer be an anchor for activity throughout the Town Center that results in a better downtown Greenwood?

The meeting is at 7 p.m. Tuesday at the Greenwood Library, 8016 Greenwood Ave. N.

Tuesday’s Greenwood Community Council meeting will discuss health and safety in the neighborhood – specifically crime and emergency preparedness. Five speakers from the city and police department will walk everyone through the most important points, as the GCC organizes a task force to work on both issues.

• Terrie Johnston, Seattle Police Department Crime Prevention Coordinator.
• Penny Fulmer and David Gordon, Seattle Police Department Community Policing.
• James Manning, Seattle Police Department Community Outreach.
• Tracy Connelly, Seattle Office Of Emergency Management Community Planning Coordinator.

Tuesday’s meeting begins at 7 p.m. at the Greenwood Library, 8016 Greenwood Ave. N.

The Greenwood Community Council will meet at 7 p.m. Tuesday, at the Greenwood Senior Center, 525 N. 85th St., to discuss transportation, development and greenways.

On the agenda:

• 7:00 Welcome and Introductions
• 7:05 Bus Service Changes in Greenwood: Updates and feedback to recent Metro changes in Greenwood
• 7:30 Greenways: Discuss traffic safety, greenways development, biking (Guest Speaker: Robin Randels, Greenwood-Phinney Greenways)
• 8:00 Development Proposal: Discuss development proposal for South 85th St., across from Fred Meyer (Guest Speaker: John Marasco, Security Properties)
• 8:30 Adjourn

(Note: The GCC normally meets at the Greenwood Library on the third Tuesday of odd-numbered months, but this meeting’s date and location was moved because of the Thanksgiving holiday.)

Solarize Seattle: Northwest is hosting a one-hour orientation meeting at 6 p.m. Wednesday at the Phinney Neighborhood Center, 6523 Phinney Ave. N., Room 6.

Solarize Seattle is a group purchase program that offers free workshops and solar assessments, plus discounts and financing help for homeowners who want to add solar power to their homes. The Northwest program is open to residents and businesses in the following zip codes: 98103, 98107, 98117, 98133 and 98177.

It’s funded by Seattle City Light, and managed by the nonprofit Northwest SEED (Sustainable Energy for Economic Development). It’s also supported by the PNA, Sustainable Greenwood-Phinney, Phinney Ridge Community Council, Greenwood Community Council, Green Lake Community Council, Wallingford Meaningful Movies, and Sustainable Seattle.

Solarize workshops will begin in early 2013.

Don’t forget that the Greenwood Community Council is hosting a candidates forum at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday at Taproot Theater, 204 N. 85th St.

Here’s the agenda:

• 6:30 – Welcome and Introductions
• 6:40 – Initiative 502 (Marijuana Legalization)
• 7:10 – Seattle Seawall
• 7:25 – Initiative 1240 (Charter Schools)
• 7:55 – 36th District – Gael Tarleton vs. Noel Frame
• 8:25 – Thanks and adjourn

Each candidate or campaign spokesperson will make an opening and closing statement, with time for audience questions. A reception will immediately follow the forum, so audience members can meet the candidates.

The Greenwood Community Council is hosting a candidates forum at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday at Taproot Theater, 204 N. 85th St.

Here’s the agenda:

• 6:30 – Welcome and Introductions
• 6:40 – Initiative 502 (Marijuana Legalization)
• 7:10 – Seattle Seawall
• 7:25 – Initiative 1240 (Charter Schools)
• 7:55 – 36th District – Gael Tarleton vs. Noel Frame
• 8:25 – Thanks and adjourn

Each candidate or campaign spokesperson will make an opening and closing statement, with time for audience questions. A reception will immediately follow the forum, so audience members can meet the candidates.

The Greenwood Community Council has changed its regularly scheduled meeting this week to 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 25, at Taproot Theatre, 204 N. 85th St. The meeting is actually a candidates forum, with a reception afterward. Stay tuned for more information on which candidates will attend.

(The GCC generally meets on the third Tuesday of odd-numbered months, at 7 p.m. at the Greenwood Library.)

By Mali Main, UW News Lab

Summer streets. Love poems. Public urination. These were among the topics discussed at the Greenwood Community Council meeting on Tuesday at the Greenwood Library.

The Seattle Summer Streets event comes to the Greenwood/Phinney area on Aug. 10. Drivers be warned: Starting at 6 p.m. Greenwood Avenue from Northwest 67th Street to Northwest 87th Street will be closed for four hours. Instead, streets will be used for foot traffic, music, food stations and activities like soccer, recycling relay races and scavenger hunts. The event will be held in conjunction with the art walk. Artists of every medium will create works of art in front of Art on the Ridge and the Greenwood Collective.

But, the art won’t end there. During the next month, residents can expect to see local performance poet Mimi Allin reading love poems to the light poles and lamp posts along Greenwood Avenue. This is part of “Art Interruptions,” the City of Seattle’s series of temporary public-art installations. This project is also responsible for the miniature houses nesting in Greenwood Avenue trees.

OK, now for that non-art item. J.J. Wandler, owner of Gainsbourg Lounge on Greenwood, explained that for the past month a seemingly homeless woman has been sleeping on the east side of the street, near 85th Street. “She has been seen urinating in front of Greenwood Optical,” Wandler said. “I’m all about compassion in dealing with it, but at the same time she is frightening people from the downtown area. She is prone to really loud outbursts with racial epithets, cussing and she does this in front of children. I’ve seen elderly people walking by and she bursts out at them.”

Wandler said the Community Police Team at the North Precinct told him there wasn’t much they could do unless she was harming herself or others. The phone number they gave him for King County Mental Health was disconnected. Council members suggested Wandler contact NAMI, the local chapter of the National Alliance on Mental Illness. (Editor’s Note: There is a lengthy discussion about this woman in PhinneyWood’s Forum, with a long response from Officer Penelope Fulmer of SPD’s Community Police Team.)

In other action, the council agreed to send a letter to the Seattle City Council supporting development of the lot at Northwest 85th Street and First Avenue Northwest where a Pizza Hut formerly operated. It is across the street from Fred Meyer. Council President Rob Fellows called it “a neglected area that has collected all kinds of criminal activity.”

The developer, Security Properties, plans to reconfigure the site. “He wants to put in a lot of retail and housing,” said neighborhood activist Kate Martin. She is friends with Security Properties Chief Development Officer John Marasco. “Possibly a grocery store and 120 apartments. He wants to be creative about it, make it more inviting at the sidewalk level but be practical,” Martin said.

Before the meeting ended, the council formed a Graffiti Task Force to address ways to remove and prevent graffiti in the neighborhood. If you would like to join, contact Michelle Averill at info@greenwoodcommunitycouncil.org or join the Greenwood Graffiti Sheriffs at Google Groups, greenwoodgraffitisheriffs.googlegroups.com.

The Greenwood Community Council Meeting usually meets on the third Tuesday of odd-numbered months, at 7 p.m. at the Greenwood Public Library. The Sept. 25 meeting will be replaced with a local candidates forum at the Taproot Theatre. For more information visit greenwoodcommunitycouncil.org.

(Mali Main is a student in the University of Washington Department of Communication News Laboratory.)

The Greenwood Community Council meets from 7-8:30 p.m. Tuesday at the Greenwood Library, 8016 Greenwood Ave. N.

On the agenda is how to improve Greenwood’s downtown business core, temporary art installations through the Art Interruptions project, and an anti-graffiti initiative that needs volunteers to help clean up our neighborhood.

This month’s GCC meeting focuses on how to fill empty storefronts in downtown Greenwood and end graffiti and neglect. While some businesses are thriving, others have been struggling to survive a dismal economy, and many public and private improvements have passed the business core by. It’s great to see other parts of the neighborhood being improved and rebuilt, but now downtown Greenwood businesses will also need a leg up, and some help from its community and the city. The meeting will focus on the future of the Greenwood business core, and actions to reduce graffiti and improve the environment for business. What’s working, and what needs to be fixed? As always we welcome thoughts from all community members, and for this meeting we’ve also invited Greenwood business owners and property owners to share their ideas and concerns. Please join us for a lively discussion, leading to an action plan for the community council over the coming year.