Angle Lake Station Garage Contractor Selected

A $29.9 million contract was awarded Thursday to Harbor Pacific/Graham, a joint venture, to design and construct a 1,050-stall parking garage and plaza next to the future Angle Lake light rail station. The contract includes a connecting plaza, a drop-off area for light rail users, a retail space with dedicated parking, and 35,000 square feet to be held for future transit-oriented development.  

"With ample space for people to live, work, and shop, the new Angle Lake station will serve as a true transit-oriented development south of the airport," said Sound Transit Board Chair and King County Executive Dow Constantine. "And anyone who's searched for a spot at area park-and-ride lots will appreciate the 1,000 stalls in this garage."

Concept Design - Garage and Plaza in the upper left of this picture

The garage and plaza are part of the 1.6-mile South 200th Link Extension that Sound Transit broke ground on last year and is working to open in September 2016. Sound Transit has been working closely with the Port of Seattle and City of SeaTac on the project. When complete, service to Angle Lake Station will connect 5,400 average weekday riders to the system and provide congestion-free 40-minute rides to downtown Seattle and the University of Washington area.

"The South 200th Link Extension and Angle Lake Station area are important investments for the region," said Sound Transit Boardmember and King County Council Vice Chair Joe McDermott. "Not only will more people be able to ride light rail, but the station will also serve as the southern terminus for the system until service to the Kent/Des Moines area begins in 2023."

With light rail ridership continuing to grow, parking spots fill up quickly at the Tukwila International Boulevard light rail station. Once completed, the new garage at South 200th Street will increase parking capacity for riders seeking to use light rail.

"The City of SeaTac has worked closely with Sound Transit in the development of Angle Lake Station and we are committed to growing transit use," said SeaTac City Manager Todd Cutts. "Angle Lake Station can do that and more. We look forward to the station area becoming a centerpiece of the SeaTac community and spurring future economic development."

The first initial pre-cast sections of the elevated rail guideway are now beginning to be installed with the construction on the garage and plaza is scheduled to begin this fall.  Sound Transit maintains a 24 hour construction hotline which can be reached by telephone at 888-298-2395. 

Popularity Growing with Nextdoor.com

Humans are pack animals. Our ancestors hunted and gathered as a collective, depending upon one another for protection, sustenance and companionship. Our success as a species and as individuals depends upon our ability to effectively communicate, both verbally and non-verbally. Fast forward to modern times and you’ll find that effective communication and common interest are the foundations of great communities!

The mission objectives of the Angle Lake Shore Club is provide unique events (common interest) year round for the residents living on and around the shores of Angle Lake in effort to build a stronger community. Included in the ALSC goals are objectives that include implementing tools that allow neighbors to communicate effectively among one another.

The ALSC employs the following tools to assist in reaching our effective communication goals:

• Periodical Newsletters: Recap of past events; announcement of upcoming events; and related lake life human interest stories. 
• ALSC Blog: Weekly updates regarding subject areas that impact quality of life and community in and around Angle Lake.
• Facebook Page: A dynamic interface that enables unassisted communication between Lakeside residents and beyond.
• Twitter: Short message system that allows for near real time communication and announcements with subscribers (followers).  Highly effective for instantaneous communication of event status’ and/or delivering emergency messages.
• Nextdoor.com. Similar in function to Facebook however authorized access is securely limited to only authenticated neighbors within a designated ‘neighborhood’.

We announced the inclusion of Nextdoor.com in a blog post dated February 28th, 2013. We are pleased to report that within just one year, 72 neighbors in the Angle Lake Neighborhood have signed up for and are using this service today.  Additionally we are now actively communicating at will with 5 other SeaTac Area Neighborhoods who have also created their own secure sites! 

Recent communication threads have included brainstorming ideas and offering suggestions to help combat rampant mail theft that is common in all six neighborhoods and users have also shared and promoted local entertainment and event information as recommendations for things to do on the upcoming weekend, one individual even offered a free weekend Condo in Leavenworth due to scheduling conflicts and not being able to use the facility as originally planned! (As if that isn’t incentive enough to join the neighborhood conversation!!!)  

Effective communication isn’t simply delivering a message to a receiver – effective communication should include sharing dialog between two or more persons in active conversation. It is our hope that you take advantage of these tools to be an active part of these community conversations.

Traffic Advisory: Saturday, February 22nd

Temporary Closure of South 200th Street in SeaTac

Between 10:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m. on Saturday, February 22, all lanes will be closed on South 200th Street at the intersection of "little 28th Avenue South" to enable the safe movement of large construction equipment across the roadway.

Recommended detour:

Eastbound on S. 200th St.:
Detour left onto 26th /28th Ave. S.
Right on either S. 192nd St. or S. 188th St.
Right on International Blvd.
Left to return to S. 200th St.

Westbound on S. 200th St.:
Detour right onto International Blvd.
Left on either S. 192nd Street or S. 188th St.
Left on 28th Ave. S.
Right to return to S. 200th St.

Detour signs will be posted to get motorists and pedestrians safely around the construction work zone. Uniformed police officers will help direct traffic for local business access.

Project website: soundtransit.org/S200thstreet
24-Hour Construction Hotline:  1-888-298-2395

2014 Event Dates Set

The ALSC Board of Directors announce the 2014 dates for all the Angle Lake Shore Club Events as follows:  

• 04/20   Easter Bunny Dock Hop
• 05/04   ALSC Fishing Derby
• 07/04   Independence Day on Angle Lake
• 07/26   Angle Lake Community Clean Sweep
• 08/16   Tasty Tapas
• 09/13   Horse-N-Around Race and Family Picnic
• 12/06   ALSC Members Christmas Party
• 12/12   Christmas Boats and Santa Cruise

Details of each event will be announced through our Blog Site; Facebook Page; and Quarterly Newsletters as the individual dates draw nearer.

Release from Liability: Recognizing that the ALSC, a non-profit neighborhood based organization run solely on a volunteer basis, will do its best to ensure a safe experience, it is important to understand that participation by any member(s) or non-member(s) in any activities sponsored by the ALSC is done so at the participants own risk.

ALSC Fireworks Survey Results

As reported earlier in the Blog, the ALSC Board sought to canvas the active membership with a survey to give guidance on how the Club should plan for future fireworks displays over Angle Lake on the 4th of July each year.

A member survey was created requesting feedback on the following four options:

• Option 1: Turn the fireworks over to the City.
• Option 2: Maintain ALSC control over fireworks and downsize show to our current budget
• Option 3: Maintain ALSC control over fireworks, increase suggested fireworks yearly donation and issue capital call for securing Temporary Floating Platform (TFP).
• Option 4: Continue to partner with the City and negotiate the best deal we can with the City and (if approved) take advantage of their offer to use the new dock sections at the park as our TFP.  

The ballots were delivered via United States Postal Service to all members in active status as of December 27th, 2014. Members were requested to mark their preferred option and return the ballot via the enclosed postage paid return envelop no later than January 15th, 2014. 

Poll statistics are as follows:

• 249 ballots sent, 112 votes were received.
• Option 1 received 33 votes
• Option 2 received 19 votes
• Option 3 received 14 votes
• Option 4 received 46 votes

The interpretation for these results are that:

• 13% of our members expressed that they don’t care about the fireworks and felt that the city should decide the future fate of the display.
• 31% of our members expressed that they wish to continue having fireworks over Angle Lake of which:
• 42% of these voting members expressed that they prefer to return to sole ownership of the fireworks by the club.
• 58% expressed that we should continue to partner with the city in producing the firework show
• 66% of our members did not return a ballot.

Some could speculate that the 66% may be an indication that these members also don’t care about the fate of the fireworks but I don’t see it that way. Making a conscious decision to abstain from the vote doesn’t provide any indication of preference one way or another.  Not voting basically just means you're giving away a vote for the responding majority to decide.

  

The ALSC Board Members will be meeting Monday, February 3rd to discuss these results and review progress that has been made toward securing a replacement Temporary Floating Platform and prospect of locating a replacement Pyrotechnical Display Firm.  Results of this meeting will be communicated via the Blog and in our upcoming Spring Edition of the Membership Newsletter. 

McMicken Hieghts Community Safety Meeting

Our neighbors to the north are hosting a Community Safety Meeting and you are cordially invited!

Residents of McMicken Heights have arranged a meeting with SeaTac Crime Prevention Officer Rich Rowe and Kent Regional Fire Authority representative Kyle O’Hashi to help answer questions in the areas of home burglaries, mail theft, vehicle break ins, and other safety concerns impacting our neighborhoods.

WHEN: Thursday, January 30th at 7:30 PM

WHERE: Fire Station #46, 3521 So. 170th Street

Bring your questions and your concerns – leave with new ideas and answers to help mitigate crime in our area. 

Gather the 12s this Sunday!

UPDATE: The Road to the Super Bowl runs through SeaTac!

WOW!  Can you believe the Seahawk / Super Bowl Mania running through this city!  THANKS to the to Thousands of 12th Man Fans that turned out as a show of support of the local team!

And this is the way that the 12s show their support and cheer on their favorite NFL Team...

No Seahawks game this Sunday?  No problem.

The Seahawk 12th Man Fans will be gathering to line SeaTac's South 188th Street this Sunday when the Seahawks team buses pass through en route to SeaTac Airport and Super Bowl XLVIII.

WHAT: Seahawks Super Bowl Send-Off
WHERE: South 188th Street, SeaTac, WA
WHEN: 10:30 a.m. (start lining up at 10 a.m.)
WHY: Go Hawks! Why else?

Team buses will make their way from Virginia Mason Athletic Center to SeaTac Airport around 10:30 a.m., traveling along SeaTac's South 188th Street, where 12s will line the roadway beginning at 46th Ave. South and extending west toward 28th Ave. South. Wave your 12 flags, flaunt your favorite blue and green getup, showcase your signs of support, and let the club hear your cheers as they make their way out of town.

Parking is available at the nearby Tyee Educational Complex, Chinook Middle School, Bow Lake Elementary School, SeaTac City Hall.

Angle Lake Station Area Plan Update

City of SeaTac Staff is working with Sound Transit to coordinate the design and construction of the South Link light rail extension, which will extend light rail from the current light rail station at Sea-Tac Airport south to the Future Angle lake Station, located at South 200th Street and 28th Avenue South. This 1.6-mile elevated guideway and station will open in late 2016, the same time as University Link and four years earlier than originally envisioned.

With the goal to encourage transit-oriented development in the Angle Lake Station area, the City had contracted with Urban Land Institute to create a report which provides unbiased, pragmatic advise to the City regarding what form transit oriented development can take and how best to support desired community and economic development in this area of the City. A copy of the Technical Assistance Panel Report can be viewed HERE.

It is now being reporting in the SeaTac Winter Newsletter that City staff has initiated a project for the creation of the plan that will guide future development adjacent to Sound Transit’s Angle Lake Station. Key to this development planning effort is to form an understanding of the community’s vision for how the area can become a more walkable, bicycle-friendly, transit-oriented neighborhood that encourages healthy lifestyles and creates a thriving economic community within the city. 

In the upcoming weeks the Angle Lake Shore Club Blog will help introduce the members of the city’s station area planning team and identify how SeaTac residents, businesses and other stakeholders in the community can submit their ideas and provide suggestions to contribute toward a community supported plan. 

ALSC Membership Guidance Poll

(Update: Originally posted on December 23rd, 2013. With the Membership Poll scheduled to conclude on January 15th the publish date has been updated to push this important issue to the top of stack. No other text has been changed from the original post.)

ATTENTION ALL CURRENT ALSC MEMBERS FOR 2013
READ THIS IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT FROM YOUR ALSC BOARD

At the 2013 ALSC Christmas Party we conducted our customary year end board meeting open to all members in attendance. As announced previously on the blog the fireworks committee presented different options regarding the future of our long standing fireworks show advising those in attendance that these options would be presented to all our active membership in the form of a survey or ballot so that the board could act in accordance with what the majority of the members decided.

Therefore all Angle Lake Shore Club Members in ‘active status’ as of December 27th, 2013 will be mailed an official ballot to be received before the first of the year. On that ballot there will be 4 different options to vote on regarding the future of our annual fireworks show. Included with the ballot is additional information to help each member decide which option they feel is in the best interest of the community. Each ‘Individual’ membership (those who pay $5 per year) will be entitled to submit one ballot vote whereas a ‘Family’ membership (those who pay $10 per year) will be allowed to submit two ballot votes. Members will have two weeks to decide on an option and vote. All votes received on or before January 15th will be tallied and retained by our treasurer Judy Williams.

A quick summary of the options is as follows:

• Option One – Turn the fireworks over to the City
• Option Two – Maintain ALSC control over fireworks and downsize show to our current budget
• Option Three – Maintain ALSC control over fireworks, increase suggested fireworks yearly donation and issue capital call for securing TFP
• Option Four – Continue to partner with the City and negotiate the best deal we can with the City and (if approved) take advantage of their offer to use the new dock sections at the park as our TFP.  

After we tally all the votes we will act upon the option with the most votes, however in the event that there is no clear majority the board will take the two most popular options and make a final decision based on a vote by the board.  Results will be announced on this blog site as soon as possible and also in our spring newsletter.  Thank you all in advance for your participation in this matter.  

A copy of the official ballot package may be viewed HERE.

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Fire at Angle Lake Restroom Building

You might have already heard about the 3-alarm fire that burned the Burien Annex on December 10th? It has been confirmed that the fire was intentionally set in or adjacent to an outside porta-potty, according to the King County Sheriff’s Office. A full report may be accessed on the B*Town Blog Site.

Photo courtesy Public Information Officer David Nelson.

Following on the heals of that incident, the City of SeaTac is reporting that around 2:00 AM on Thursday, December 26, a fire was started in a portable toilet at Angle Lake Park. The portable toilet had been placed adjacent to the restroom building while the restrooms were temporarily closed in order to repair pipes that broke during the recent spell of cold weather. The fire damage is estimated at $40,000 and the City has filed a claim with the insurance company. Even with the fire damage, the restrooms are open and functional until full repairs can be completed.