October 2010

This year, Carter Volkswagen is celebrating 50 years of continuous family ownership and operation, officially making Carter Motors the oldest automobile dealer in Ballard.

Since its founding in September 1960 at 5202 Leary Ave. N.W., Carter Volkswagen has risen to become on of Seattle’s premiere dealerships. Jump-starting the five decades of continuous growth was the infamous Volkswagen Beetle, then selling for an affordable $1,565.

“When my late husband Wade Carter Jr. and I started Carter Motors, we knew that putting our customers first would be the best foundation for our future success.” cofounder Mary Carter said in a press release. “And while car styles and models have certainly changed a great deal since we first opened our doors, that has remained constant. Reaching this milestone can be credited to our loyal consumers and to our employees, who are the cornerstone of our dealership.”

If it seems as if the progress at the Myrtle Reservoir has hit a snag, the truth is that the Seattle Parks Department has been confronted with some challenges in getting the work completed so the park being built on the reservoir can open. The West Seattle Herald spoke with Virginia Hassinger, Project Manager who has been on the site frequently in the last few days. She shared this update:

We are making steady progress towards completion of the new park at Myrtle Reservoir in fall of 2010. We are eager to open this site to the public as soon as possible. The final concrete pour was completed on Sept 30. The critical work for the next two weeks will be completion of the irrigation system, followed by importing and spreading of topsoil, and finally hydro-seeding. Other remaining work includes installation of landscape plantings, handrails, installation of bike racks, a variety of finish detailing, and site cleanup.

The Myrtle site has presented us with a variety of challenges in the last two months. We encountered differences in the grade between our plan and the final reservoir site. We also found existing underground

By Sally Clark, Seattle City Council

Mayor Mike McGinn delivered his proposed budget to the Seattle City Council Sept. 27, and it’s ugly.

I don’t mean that as a slam of the mayor. Facing a $67 million funding hole that has worsened a little bit almost every day, he couldn’t deliver anything but a 2011-2012 budget filled with program cuts, layoffs and new fees.

We’re early in our review of the proposal, but so far the mayor seems to have done a respectable job of limiting serious cuts to the Fire and Police Departments that would affect response time and quality.

Additionally, contracts for safety net services remain largely intact, although without inflation adjustments in most cases. That’s not to say there aren’t cuts proposed for services people value. The council has many questions about proposed changes to Crime Prevention and Victim Advocates, to name a couple.

The bad news for the Ballard High School girls soccer team is it lost 7-2 to Skyline High School Oct. 5. The good news is, those two goals were the first scored against Skyline all year, and the team has now completed a truly brutal stretch of opponents in the first half of the KingCo season.

Coming into Tuesday's competition, Skyline was averaging 3.25 goals per match with no goals against. Ballard sophomore Kat Anesini ended that streak almost immediately with her goal in the 14th minute.

But, Skyline wasn't ready to make it that easy for the Beavers. It went on to score five unanswered goals spanning halftime, including two from Madi Barney.

Ballard senior Crickett Harber answered with a goal in the 64th minute, but it wouldn't be enough as Skyline closed out the match with two more goals.

Skyline's Maddie Christ gave the Beavers trouble all match and finished with one goal and four assists.

The loss dropped Ballard to 1-4-0 in KingCo and 1-7-3 overall and added to Skyline's unbeaten record. But, the loss also marked the midpoint of the KingCo season, and the Beavers' schedule lightens up considerably in the coming weeks.

The 8th Annual Fauntleroy Fall Festival is happening Sunday, October 17, 2:00 from 5:30p.m. on at 9140 California Avenue s.w. This is a free community event.

Planned for the event are pony rides, pumpkin and face painting, live music, birdhouse building, dances at the Hall at Fauntleroy, Gyrotron, crafts, great food, an obstacle course, environmental tables and more.
You can get a flu shot at the festival to prepare for the season for a small fee.

The food will include Endolyne Joes' pull pork sandwiches, Tuxedoes and Tennis Shoes Catering doing pretzels, apple cider and a bbq, Gaudalajara Mexican Restaurant will be doing tacos and soda and what would it be without the Church youth having a bake sale.

Sponsors:

West Seattle/Fauntleroy YMCA
Fauntleroy Community Association
Fauntleroy Church/United Church of Christ
Tuxedoes and Tennis Shoes Catering
Little Pilgrim School
Fauntleroy Children's Center
Endolyne Joe's
NUCOR Steel, Seattle

You can download a schedule for the event at the link above.

Given the economic climate and the hard financial situation many cities are finding themselves in Burien City Manager Mike Martin said Burien is doing just fine.

Burien is expecting general fund revenues of $41 million and expenditures of $40 million. Even with the additional costs of annexation, the city is expecting to have a $500,000 greater general fund ending balance than this year.

This year's ending general fund balance is estimated to be approximately $2.5 million, the general fund ending balance in 2011 is estimated to be approximately $3 million.

Interim Finance Director Gary Coleman told the council during a budget presentation the city will see a significant jump in the percentage of revenue coming from property tax next year, as most of the property in the annexed area is residential.

Twenty-eight percent of the city’s total revenues, $11.5 million come from property tax. The largest percentage of the city’s revenue comes from sales tax, which accounts for 29 percent of the city’s total revenue.

The Ballard High School boys golf team lost by 33 strokes to Eastlake High School Oct. 4 at Sahalee North Golf Course.

Eric Frank had the best day for the Beavers, tying for fourth place with Eastlake's Chris Kobak. Eric's score of 41 was five strokes over par.

Eastlake's Jack Fisher, Evan Alston and Li Wang all shot 40, forcing a three-way tie for first.

Next up for the Beavers (0-8) is Skyline High School at 3:30 p.m. Oct. 5 at Jackson Park Golf Club.

The third public meeting for the new West Seattle Golf Driving Range is now set for Wednesday, Oct. 27 at 7:00 p.m..

The design team and Seattle Parks staff will present concepts that reflect public input from the first two meetings, answer questions and take input about this project.

To review the efforts to date please visit http://seattle.gov/parks/projects/west_seattle_golf/.

The community participated in developing the Golf Master Plan at a series of meetings held throughout the city in 2009. The first Master Plan element to be constructed will be a new driving range at the West Seattle Golf Course.

On August 4, 2010 Parks held public meeting #1 to introduce the design team, present the master plan concept and take questions.

Parks held public meeting #2 on September 15, 2010. At this meeting, the design team presented a concept that responded to many of the concerns raised in meeting #1.

Puget Soundkeeper Alliance holds its 2010 Salute to the Sound seafood dinner, and live and silent auction this Thursday, Oct. 7, at Great Hall -Naval Reserve Building, Lake Union Park, 5:00 p.m. - 9:00 p.m. Famed West Seattle photographer, Art Wolfe, is featured speaker and will share his Puget Sound photographs.

Admission is $100 through Brown Paper Tickets or the PSA office at 206-297-7002.

Parking: Due to construction constraints at Lake Union Park, parking for Salute to the Sound guests is available directly across the park on the corner of Valley and Terry. Entrances are on Terry Avenue and Westlake Avenue

contact name Margy Wallace
contact email margy@pugetsoundkeeper.org
contact phone 206-297-7002

From their website: Puget Soundkeeper Alliance is an action-oriented team dedicated to a mission: to protect and preserve Puget Sound. We are committed to a dual approach: reducing the pollution of Puget Sound by making polluters accountable to the law; and promoting education and cooperation in the effort to protect the Sound.

Fighting pollution on the water and in the courtroom, we carry out our work through four priority programs:

A year and a half after it’s ground breaking the fire fighters of West Seattle Fire Station 37 moved into their new building Oct. 5.

The new facility, located at 35 Avenue and Holden Street, at 9,000 square feet is over twice the size of the old fire station.

CLICK THE PHOTO TO SEE MORE IMAGES

Fire Station 37 Captain Wolcott said it is bittersweet moving into the new fire station. He said they still have a lot of affection for the old station, but he is sure they are going to like the new facility.

The new fire station features separate living quarters for the four fire fighters who will be on duty, as well as being built to the current codes.

The fire station was built as part of the Fire Facilities and Emergency Response levy passed by Seattle voters in 2003. The levy will ultimately pay for the replacement or remodel/renovation of 32 Seattle Fire Stations, among other things.

The old building is up for sale. The proceeds from the sale will go back into the levy fund.