The 2nd meeting on the proposed West Seattle Golf Course Driving Range is scheduled for Wednesday night at 7:00 p.m. at the golf course at 4600 35th Ave. s.w.

See our previous coverage of the first meeting here.
.
The first meeting, held August 4 was really meant to introduce the core ideas of the project and solicit feedback, not show any kind of finished plan. Project Manager Garrett Farrell said, "We started out with a concept in the Master Plan, and I put that concept out and even though it was a pretty small audience I got from them and from the public via email over the subsequent weeks a lot of comments that pretty much track with the 20 some odd questions we put on there so tomorrow night is the opportunity for me to take some of the efforts of the team, based on what they heard and put it out there."

Farrell emphasized that the initial plans are conceptual only and that the actual design phase won't begin until he and his team are satisfied they've heard and responded to all legitimate concerns. In the first meeting Farrell said, "My team did a pretty good job of trying to illuminate what the Master Plan is and what it is not. This time we're going to come with a concept and try to address a lot of those concerns."

The project team will present updated graphics reflecting ideas they've come up with since the first meeting. "I'm going to turn it over to the team and let them present their graphics and say 'O.K.' we think we'd like to approach it this way and this is why," Farrell explained.

He's hoping for a stronger turnout for this meeting because, "We'll have probably a new list of questions about the concepts The whole idea is trying to track this and take that public input that's going to inform it and keep us moving."

From the feedback Farrell got he feels some concerns have already been addressed though some clearly remain however, "I fully expect that from what I put on the table the next issues will probably be more about golf and the impacts on the course."

Farrell anticipates more meetings before anything gets set in concrete, so to speak. "We haven't really begun the design. Once we get a concept fleshed out (...) If I was able to take that Master Plan concept and start running down the road, that's where we'd be but that's not what we heard. I hope that we are able to make progress so I can say, 'This is what I'm going to deliver for your dollars.'"

Farrell has expressed a lot of confidence in the team of people working on the project. "This team has a lot of good ideas.(...) I've got an experienced team. They know golf and they have a lot of professionalism and that shows. They also know community and public process very well."

Attending the meeting will be Robert Thorpe of R.W. Thorpe and Associates, Lee A. Michaelis also with R.W. Thorpe, Todd Schoeder of iCon Golf Studio, Paul Wilkinson Head of Golf Operations for the City of Seattle and Farrell.

The project is slated to be operational in the spring of 2012.