Parking Lot Construction. Construction has begun on the primary parking lot for the Illahee Preserve. The new lot is off of Almira, just south of the intersection with Fuson Road. BLEWS Construction out of Spokane is the construction company. We met with Martha Droge, the lead Parks Planner with the Parks Department, Larry Achibald, the Project Manager, and Cheryl, the Superintendent this morning to discuss the project, which will complete in about 6 weeks, pending on the weather cooperating.
Parking Lot Design. The design of the parking lot has been going on for a number of years. It took about two years for the Stewardship group to settle on a final location and rough design, and another two years of discussions with Park's planners, and then another two years of getting a final design and money into the Parks Department's budget. Pat Fuhrer of MAP Ltd in Silverdale is the engineer who took the rough concepts and plans and developed the parking lot drawings, which will sometime in the future include nearby restrooms.
Ecological & Functional Design. The design of the lot features a rain garden where stormwater will be directed at the center of the parking area with any overflow going to a bio-retention stormwater facility. The retention facility will be planted with wetland types of grasses and will hopefully, because of a seasonal relatively high ground water level, provide water for the Preserve wildlife during wet periods. The Stewardship group has talked about providing a fountain or other system in the pond area to provide water for wildlife during dry periods. During high rainfall times the overflow from the bio-retention facility will go into the County's storm drain system.
New Sign From The Rotary. The East Bremerton Rotarian's are providing the sign that will placed by the parking lot. The sign is being built by Sign Man Archie out of Silverdale and is reported to be half finished. It will be similar to the other Illahee Preserve signs.
New Trail Photo. Near the end of Thompson Lane is the new trail that was built a couple of weeks ago as can be seen in the attached photo.
Raven Photo. Also attached is a picture of a couple of the Ravens who have been inhabiting the Illahee Preserve. They are seen on the top of the North Perry Reservoir at the top of Riddell Road.
Request To Apologize. We have been asked to apologize for the comments in the email we attached about the car damage received by one of the work party volunteers who parked their car on Thompson Lane and it appeared to be deliberately sideswiped. The email seemed to denigrate the whole group of residents living at the end of Thompson Lane. The Update was passed on to someone who knows most of the residents and they were sure it wasn't any of their acquaintances. And so we apologize for not properly editing the email.
Responses Appreciated. We appreciate any and all responses, especially corrective ones.
Jim Aho
No comments:
Post a Comment