Details for the September 8th meeting at the Jefferson Park community centerTonight, in just over half an hour, Seattle Parks and Recreation and Seattle Public Utilities are hosting a meeting to learn about state and federal funding (through the FEMA Hazard Mitigation Grant Program) that the city intends to apply for, plus updates on the construction at Jefferson Park.
We’re not able to make this meeting, but we’d love to publish your accounts and impressions. Send us your write-up, or feel free to add your comments here.
Update: A writeup of the FEMA portion of the meeting is in the comments from Adam Ganz. Thanks Adam!
4 thoughts on “Jefferson Park/FEMA meeting tonight: tell us what happens”
Did anybody go to this? I really wanted to but had to work late. I’d love to hear an update….
The meeting was lightly attended, 15 to 20 folks…
I was late and missed the Jeff Park update but afterwards learned that all is well and proceeding along.
Also, one of the attendees said Parks project manager, Andy Sheffer, is the “one of the best in the city” and we are in “good hands”…love the sound of that!
The water guys from SPU, Scott Reese, spoke on his application for a FEMA grant to create a comprehensive GIS survey on the flooding areas due to and preparing for extreme weather events. He showed some interesting maps of areas where flooding was called in last big event (2007?) and also where folks are getting flood insurance from FEMA.
Did you know anyone can purchase flood insurance from FEMA? I don’t have any additional information, like for example, if it is affordable. I mean you can buy insurance for anything for a price, right?…More research is needed for anyone concerned – I still need to ‘google’ the program and get details.
This GIS study doesn’t bridge over to considering slide zones. That is a different department’s responsibility. Once the model is creating it will help SPU plan maintenance of drains, gutters, etc. to make sure they are good do go prior to weather event season…
Finally the parks department’s Becky Rufin said the Jeff Park CC needs a seismic retrofit if it is to survive a major earthquake. They are also applying for a FEMA grant…
Parks has a most excellent vision of the facility serving the surrounding area as disaster recovery center per the city’s master disaster plan. Certainly with the surrounding (new) acres of park one could image tents being erected and people fed in the center. Hopefully it will never come to that.
The retrofit will be paid for by a FEMA grant, cost 1.4 million and once they get the $$ (not a done deal whatsoever) it will take 9 months to design, 3 months to bid and 3 to 5 months to complete the work. If the money was obtained the center would need to be partially closed for 3 months.
The grant applications go to the State of Washington first and if they make the cut as necessary they are passed onto FEMA for consideration.
Here are links to the Parks Dept webpage for Jefferson Park projects. I missed the meeting (6:00 is tough).
Did anybody go to this? I really wanted to but had to work late. I’d love to hear an update….
The meeting was lightly attended, 15 to 20 folks…
I was late and missed the Jeff Park update but afterwards learned that all is well and proceeding along.
Also, one of the attendees said Parks project manager, Andy Sheffer, is the “one of the best in the city” and we are in “good hands”…love the sound of that!
The water guys from SPU, Scott Reese, spoke on his application for a FEMA grant to create a comprehensive GIS survey on the flooding areas due to and preparing for extreme weather events. He showed some interesting maps of areas where flooding was called in last big event (2007?) and also where folks are getting flood insurance from FEMA.
Did you know anyone can purchase flood insurance from FEMA? I don’t have any additional information, like for example, if it is affordable. I mean you can buy insurance for anything for a price, right?…More research is needed for anyone concerned – I still need to ‘google’ the program and get details.
This GIS study doesn’t bridge over to considering slide zones. That is a different department’s responsibility. Once the model is creating it will help SPU plan maintenance of drains, gutters, etc. to make sure they are good do go prior to weather event season…
Finally the parks department’s Becky Rufin said the Jeff Park CC needs a seismic retrofit if it is to survive a major earthquake. They are also applying for a FEMA grant…
Parks has a most excellent vision of the facility serving the surrounding area as disaster recovery center per the city’s master disaster plan. Certainly with the surrounding (new) acres of park one could image tents being erected and people fed in the center. Hopefully it will never come to that.
The retrofit will be paid for by a FEMA grant, cost 1.4 million and once they get the $$ (not a done deal whatsoever) it will take 9 months to design, 3 months to bid and 3 to 5 months to complete the work. If the money was obtained the center would need to be partially closed for 3 months.
The grant applications go to the State of Washington first and if they make the cut as necessary they are passed onto FEMA for consideration.
Here are links to the Parks Dept webpage for Jefferson Park projects. I missed the meeting (6:00 is tough).
http://www.seattle.gov/parks/proparks/projects/JeffersonPark.htm
http://seattle.gov/parks/projects/jefferson/park.htm
Hey Adam – interesting stuff – thanks for chiming in!