Puget Neighborhood News: January 2013

Sunday, January 27, 2013

Welcome to Puget Neighborhood

Puget Neighborhood is a hubbub of activity and home to the Civic Field Athletic Complex, Arne Hanna Aquatic Center, Carl Cozier Elementary School and the Lakeway Shopping Center. Residents enjoy a variety of trails including Whatcom Creek, Cemetery Creek, Pacficview Pond, and Samish Crest trails as well as parks throughout the neighborhood. Puget Neighborhood is located east of I-5 between Whatcom Creek and Consolidation Avenue and east to Woburn Street and is dissected by Lakeway Drive.

This news site will provide information on issues and events that affect residents and visitors to Puget Neighborhood. In association with a Western Washington University journalism class, this site will be updated weekly through March 2013. Please feel welcome comment on articles and blog posts or contact me with questions/concerns.

What are native plants?

For volunteers who leave the Saturday Parks Department work parties eager to learn more about plants native to Washington State and the Pacific Northwest, the Native Plant Trail at Maritime Heritage Park is a treasure trove. Here visitors can learn to identify various species, their role in the ecosystem and how they were traditionally used by people of Lummi Nation and Nooksack Indian Tribe.

Signs label the plants along the trail, despite their barren branches. While becoming familiar with native species is likely to be a challenge in the winter months, especially in heavy rain, regular visitors can be the first to identify fresh shoots and fragrant blooms that are sure to spring up in the months ahead. Species such as red elderberry, sword fern, and Pacific silverweed depend on those fat, thirst-quenching droplets that fall so dependably this time of year. Read more about the shrubs, trees and flowers featured on the City of Bellingham Parks Department website.

Just be sure not to step off the trail. The Parks Department encourages visitors to preserve habitat health by enjoying greenery from marked trails to avoid treading on the critters that call the greenway home.

PNA Survey Results

The results of a Puget Neighborhood Association survey will be discussed at its quarterly meeting Feb. 19.

Pizza will be provided at a 6:30 p.m. gathering before the meeting is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. in the community room of Moles Funeral Home at 2465 Lakeway Dr.

The results of the online survey, which was open from Jan. 19 to Feb. 3, will help the association increase neighbor connectivity, engage project participation and address topics that are important to residents. The data collected will also allow the association to pass input to city officials regarding the effects of a Pedestrian Master Plan approved by city council members in August.

They survey was also conducted to provide Puget residents a forum to voice concerns about a proposed 164-unit student housing complex on Consolidation Avenue between Nevada and Puget Streets. The project is undergoing the city permitting process and will be the first topic of discussion at the meeting. Kathy Bell, the city planner working on the development, plans to attend.

Board member elections and membership fees are also on the agenda. The elected volunteer board members will determine next year’s meeting schedule when they meet in March, said Mary Chaney, the association president.

The Pedestrian Master Plan can be found on the City of Bellingham Website http://www.cob.org/documents/pw/transportation/pedestrian-planning/bpmp-final-plan-7-16-12.pdf

Get Outside

Three upcoming park and trail work parties organized by the Bellingham Parks Volunteer Program will give residents an opportunity to enjoy February’s sparse sunlight.

At a Euclid Park work party on Feb. 9 from 10 a.m. to noon, volunteers will remove ivy from park trees. According to Rae Edwards, City of Bellingham Parks Volunteer Coordinator, the non-native invasive species migrates from neighbors’ yards and winds around trees, preventing them from growing wider.

A Lake Padden work party, also on Feb. 9 from 10 a.m. to noon, will focus on removing Scot’s broom. The non-native invasive species, easily recognized by its bright yellow blooms, grows along Interstate-5 and triggers seasonal allergies.

A Whatcom Creek Trail party will be held Feb. 16 from 10 a.m. to noon in conjunction with City Lights Condo Association. The association wants to adopt the land between nearby properties and the trail to remove invasive blackberry plants and replant native species, said Edwards.

The Parks Volunteer Program will provide tools, gloves, mulch and plants. Large groups are encouraged to call in advance to ensure that adequate supplies are brought to the sites. Volunteers under the age of 18 must bring a completed liability form. The form, contact information, maps and directions can be found on the City of Bellingham website at http://www.cob.org/government/public/volunteer/parks/schedule.aspx.