Thornton Creek Alliance Meeting Highlights

Thursday night, the Thornton Creek Alliance met at the Meadowbrook Community Center for their general meeting and election. Highlights included a presentation by Rianne BeCraft from the National Wildlife Federation who talked about Certified Natural Habitats. This program is about changing the areas around our properties (everything from backyards to small parking strips) to be more plant and animal friendly with water sources, ground cover, food sources and sustainable gardening practices. Not only can residents get certified but entire communities can get together and be recognized.
This was followed by a short speech by Shoreline City Councilman Will Hall who announced that just that day Sound Transit had voted unanimously on the alignment for the Link Light Rail from Northgate to Lynnwood. Work would begin in 2017 and be completed in 2023, with the line running up the east side of Interstate 5 with two stops in between.  The planned stop at NE 145th Street was of particular interest to the TCA as Thornton Creek crosses directly under the freeway at that point at Jackson Park Golf Course. There is a movement to persuade Sound Transit to move the stop to NE 155th Street, and members were encouraged to contact the agency and express their opinion. For his part, Hall’s mantra was, “Change is scary.”
An e-mail from Greg Stevens, Seattle Public Utilities Senior Civil Engineer, was read. The Meadowbrook Pond Dredging and Improvement project is supposed to start this summer as well as the Thornton Creek Confluence. However he added they were “struggling with some permitting challenges that are putting our project schedule at risk” which might move one or both of them to summer 2013.
Closer to home in Victory Heights, Lynnette Spear reported the segment of Thornton Creek that passes through our area between Lake City Way and Northgate Way (officially designated the Kingfisher Natural Area) will have work parties on Sunday mornings beginning May 6th. We’ll post exact details as they are announced.
Elections were then held for various offices with 1 and 2 year terms, although no candidates were opposed and were voted in unanimously by the members present. Ruth Williams is taking over as President, Dass Adams as 1st Vice President, Frank Backus as Memebership Vice President and Tom Cunningham as Secretary.
Find out more about the Thornton Creek Alliance on their Facebook page, as they are still sorting out their website and obtaining a permanent URL for it.