Queen Anne Ave is still open to vehicle traffic, at least for now. The day’s snow has not yet stuck to the steep thoroughfare, and cars seems to be traveling up and down the hill just fine. However, just after returning home from a walk around town taking pictures of the snow, I glanced out my window to catch a large semi-truck sliding backwards, down Queen Anne Avenue, back to the bottom of the Counterbalance.

The driver didn’t make another attempt to climb the hill, indicating that conditions are already too slick for larger vehicles to safely traverse.

The weather report originally estimated that Seattle could see anywhere from 1 to 3 inches of snow today, but as the snowfall presses on, UW atmospheric scientist Cliff Mass says even more snow—in large amounts—is a possibility this afternoon. From Cliff’s blog:

If the low goes south of us and draws some of that cold, unstable air in…and it meets the cold stream from the north, we are talking about serious snow (6-12 inches). Or if the low moves farther north we could get a Puget Sound convergence zone over the central Sound and a huge amount of snow in a narrow band (a la Dec 18, 1990). The system is moving slower than the models predicted and the real threat is the middle and latter parts of this afternoon.

While many of the roads in Queen Anne are still clear, ice is stacking up. There have already been a handful of crashes on the Aurora Bridge today, and conditions are increasingly worse as the day goes on.

Seattle Public Schools also decided that the forecast for snow, the majority of which is expected to fall this afternoon, was enough to release all schools in the district at 12:35 p.m today (originally only the middle and high schools were given a half day).

Seattle Parks and Recreation has also closed down a number of facilities due to the snow. Here are the closures affecting Queen Anne:

• All community center programs scheduled after 6 p.m. are canceled.
• All pool programs scheduled after 6 p.m. are canceled.
• Pools and community centers will be open for drop-in use until their regularly scheduled closing times: http://www.seattle.gov/parks/centers.asp and http://www.seattle.gov/parks/pools.asp.
• All athletic fields are closed.
• All evening recreation programs are canceled.
• Parks and Recreation’s middle-school learning centers are closed.
• Late night programs will not take place tonight.
• Golf courses are closed but not open for sledding because there is not enough snow.

School age care camps at the Queen Anne Community Center are still in session.

BizKid$ has pulled out of the proposed partnership with the Queen Anne Community Center, in which the national children’s public television series would have rented out the gym as production space for at least a year, according to the Seattle Department of Parks and Recreation.

The proposed partnership was part of Mayor Mike McGinn’s 2011 budget. Parks and Recreation says the deal would have “expended revenue to continue Parks and Recreation programs, and expand financial literacy for children in the Queen Anne neighborhood and throughout the City.”

Since the plan was first announced last month, many in the community have publicly opposed the deal attending budget meetings, rallying for support from City Councilmember Tim Burgess, and seeking out ideas for alternative plans in order to keep the gym open to the community.

Seattle Parks and Recreation did not give a reason for why BizKid$ decided to walk away from the deal. We’ve put in a call to BizKid$ executive producer Jamie Hammond, but have not yet heard back.

The city is sprucing up Counterbalance Park (no pun intended).

Over the last week nine new trees have appeared at the gravel and concrete laden ‘urban park,’ most of which have yet to be planted.

The new trees make me wonder if we should trade in some of that gravel for fresh grass? What do you think?

Two more Parks and Recreation furlough days are coming up this week and next, on Friday, May 28 and Tuesday, June 1, as part of ten unpaid off days City of Seattle employees are taking this year due in an attempt to help fill the budget gap.

Seattle Parks and Recreation has worked hard to schedule furlough days in a way that has the smallest possible impact on customers, and that provides as much coverage as possible. Parks will not take furloughs in July and August – the peak season for park users.

The following facilities and services will be closed on Friday, May 28:

• Grounds maintenance
• Community centers (except child care and late night programs, which will still operate)
• Swimming pools
• Environmental Learning Centers
• Lifelong Recreation (except Food and Fitness programs, which will still operate)
• Business Service Center

The following facilities and services will be closed on Tuesday, June 1:

• Administrative offices (communications, correspondence, Park Board support, web management, public outreach, human resources, finance and administration)
• Planning and Development Division
• Magnuson Park office

All Youth Violence Prevention Initiative sites, also known as Extended Hours Program sites, will furlough today, Wednesday, May 26. In addition, all facilities will be closed on Monday, May 31 for Memorial Day. On both furlough days there will be no trash pick-up, and no bathroom cleaning or maintenance. Park maintenance staff will be on duty on Memorial Day to empty trash cans and clean restrooms.

“We’ve done everything we can to limit the impacts of the furlough on our patrons, customers and visitors; however, the public will experience parks with diminished maintenance on Friday, May 28,” said Christopher Williams, Acting Superintendent. “If park patrons encounter overflowing trash cans, we encourage you to pack out your own trash. We are asking the community to help us keep our parks clean on the few days this year that we are not able to clean them ourselves.”

A few days ago we reported that the grass at Trolley Hill Park had been damaged, presumably by a Bobcat tractor that appeared to have left tracks all over the park. One of our readers, Stephanie, tipped us off to the situation and expressed concern over who was responsible.

“There are tire tracks all over the lawn up there. There is a Bobcat sitting next to what looks like a residential rockery job adjacent to the park but it doesn’t look like simply collateral damage. Maybe someone came and took the Bobcat for a joyride?  If it’s Park Dept. or some landscaping employee, they need a map,” she wrote.

Parks and Recreation Public Information representative Joelle Hammerstad did a little digging for us, and found that the Bobcat was not commissioned by the Parks department, and in fact belongs to a private company, Total Grounds Management, who was hired to do some work on a private residence near the park, at 515 Howe St. Joelle wrote,

It appears that there was some miscommunication between the homeowner and the on-site project manager for TGM.

Seattle Parks and Recreation did not give TGM permission to use the park for access to the private residence for their construction project. Nor did we give them permission to use the park as a staging area. We have spoken with TGM and asked them to remove a pile of gravel, as well as the bobcat from the park.

According to Joelle, TMG apologized for the incident and has agreed to work with Parks and Rec to repair the damage to the park. Parks and Rec and TMG will be meeting this coming Monday, April 12 to review the restoration plan.

Trolley Hill Park, located at 5th Ave N and Blaine St on the east slope of Queen Anne, appears to have received some unintentional landscaping over the weekend. Reader Stephanie sent in these photos yesterday.

Tire tracks that appear to have come from a Bobcat tractor have dug ditches in the grass throughout the park. Though some of the tracks may have been caused by the recent landscaping work done next to the park, Stephanie finds the fact that the tracks are all over the park grounds a bit suspicious.

“There are tire tracks all over the lawn up there. There is a Bobcat sitting next to what looks like a residential rockery job adjacent to the park but it doesn’t look like simply collateral damage. Maybe someone came and took the Bobcat for a joyride?  If it’s Park Dept. or some landscaping employee, they need a map,” she wrote. “I can’t see any reason for the cat to have been up around the sign and there are also some tracks out in the middle of the lower lawn that are not to or from the project. Just makes ya wonder…Bobcat joyride on a Saturday night?’

I’m waiting to hear back from Parks and Recreation to see if they know anything about landscaping at Trolley Hill Park or the tracks. In the meantime, if anyone has any further information, please post in the comments below.

(Thanks to Stephanie for the tip!)

The Seattle Parks and Recreation is instigating a new Code of Conduct that takes effect today, Thursday, April 1.

It includes provisions from Washington state law, from Seattle City ordinance, from already-adopted administrative rules, and some new provisions. Violation of these rules can result in exclusion from a park or a group of parks. New prohibited behaviors include:

• Possession of glass containers at athletic fields, beaches, or children’s playgrounds;
• Smoking, chewing, or other tobacco use within 25 feet of other park patrons and or at play areas, beaches, playgrounds, and picnic areas;
• Conduct that poses a risk of harm to any person or property; and
• Possession of explosives, acid, or any other article or material capable of causing serious harm to others.

By prohibiting smoking in some parks, Seattle Parks join many other cities in Washington state and around the country that are making smoking unacceptable in public places. It is consistent with Seattle Parks and Recreation’s mission to provide healthy, safe places for people to congregate, and it sends a message to Seattle’s youth that the norm is for public places to be smoke-free.

Back in February Seattle Parks and Recreation Superintendent Tim Gallagher tried to ban smoking and tobacco use in parks entirely, but when faced with public backlash, decided to amend his decision and soften the rule to within 25 feet of park patrons and play areas. What do you think of the amended policy and new code of conduct, Queen Anne?

Yesterday, Saturday, February 27, Parks and Recreation crews removed the last of the graffiti sprawled over the concrete walls at Counterbalance Park almost three weeks ago.

Reader Cliff Cooper sent in these photos. He wrote,

It looks as though the left side is completely clean, but there clearly having difficulty removing from the corrugated siding.

Through most of the graffiti is gone, there is still a faint indication of the paint on the metal siding. The majority of the tags were removed the day after the vandalism took place, however because the concrete walls were only sealed up to 11 feet high, it has taken this long to remove the remainder.

(Thanks to Cliff Cooper for the pictures and tip!)

One of our readers noticed that the swing set in Upper Kinnear Park has been taken down. Concerned that the city might not put the set back together, Nicole B. wrote,

Street parking just north of the swing set at Kinnear Parking is off limits today. I assumed it was for street cleaning. This morning I noticed the swing set was taken apart and down and a bulldozer moving dirt around. I sure hope they are just prepping for spring with new dirt and sand and not getting rid of the swing set for good.

(Photo courtesy of ryanobjc via Flickr).

According to Pam Alspaugh, Parks Landscape Architect, the city is replacing the old swing set with a new 10-foot set and changing out the sand underneath it for wood chips (or “wood fiber safety surfacing”) in order to comply with playground equipment safety standards. Parks and Recreation said they’ve been planing the replacement for a while, and regret not informing the community sooner.

As for how long the project will take, Pam says Kinnear Park will should have a newer, safer swing set soon.

It shouldn’t take more than a couple of weeks, depending on how fast we can get the safety surfacing delivered. It is a 10′ high swing, because we knew the community wouldn’t want a smaller one.

(Thanks to Nicole B. for the tip!)

Update 2/11/2010: Parks and Recreation says the new swing set should be installed and open for use by Friday, February 26.

Update: This story has been updated since it was originally posted. See below for new information.

Counterbalance park, at the corner of Queen Anne Ave and Roy St in Uptown, was graffitied early this morning, covering both the south and west facing walls of the “urban oasis” in red spray paint and the letters “BTM” and “3AK.”

By 10 a.m. Seattle Police Department officers and Parks and Recreation representatives were on the scene. According to officer C.J. Lang, they believe the vandalism happened after 3 a.m. this morning.

Though the actual park is city property, Lang said, the walls belong to the condominium bordering the park. According to a parks department representative, the condominium has agreed to take care of the damage.

As for who is responsible, SPD is still investigating.

Several readers wrote in this morning disturbed by the vandalism.

“I’m so sorry to report that this morning on my walk to work I saw that someone has vandalized the uptown park at the corner of Roy and Queen Anne Avenue,” Sarah wrote. “It is such a shame that someone would ruin this community park with graffiti.”

(Thanks to tipsters Sarah, Cliff, Sean and Josh!)

Update 11:06 a..m.: The manager of The Willis condos bordering the north wall of the park and the Barclay Court business building to the east, Alex Braun, is working to remove the damage today. “I always try to get the tags down as soon as possible because that ruins their game,” he said.

Braun is pressure washing the first 11 feet of the walls, which have been sealed to keep out paint, this morning. Fortunately, he said, the paint is relatively light and hasn’t had a chance to set into the concrete yet due to the cold temperatures. After brushing over a portion of the tag, some of the red paint loosened, a good sign that they will be able to restore the wall quickly. If that doesn’t work, they’ll repaint over it, he said.

As for the unsealed concrete above the 11-foot mark, Braun said he’s called in a graffiti removal specialist who will be coming to the park either late this afternoon or first thing tomorrow morning.

“We only sealed it to 11 feet because we thought that was going to be enough,” Braun said. “These taggers usually don’t go around with ladders. They usually repel down over freeways, but that’s hard to do here…concrete is like a sponge–it just sucks it up. If you try to remove it without knowing what you’re doing, you could make it permanent.”

Braun says this is the second largest tag he’s seen in the park since he began managing both bordering buildings 11 years ago – the largest one happened back in 2000. He said the park walls have been targeted before, most recently two months ago, but the tags are usually small and he has been able to remove them before many notice, something he believes discourages repeat offenders.

“They spend a lot of time and effort to make these tags, so if you take them off, they may come back a second time, but they rarely come back a third,” he said.

As for the taggers, Braun said no one in the condos overlooking the park or in the surrounding businesses saw anything. “From 2 until 4 a.m. this is like a dead zone. My condo faces Queen Anne and I can count the cars that go by here between 2 and 4 on one hand.”

Though, Braun said he did remember seeing a similar tag on northbound I-5 just before the convention center just yesterday. “The paint was dripping down…it looked just like this,” he said.

The Seattle City Council is seeking a new member for the Board of Park Commissioners, a seven-member volunteer advisory board. Candidates should have the following qualifications:

• Experience with community engagement;
• History of working collaboratively with a broad range of people and interests;
• Experience with parks, landscaping, urban design, gardening, or comparable issues and interests;
• Demonstrated concern for neighborhoods and neighborhood parks;
• Established record of objectivity and the ability to think broadly;
• Willingness to commit at least 10 hours per week; and,
• Active in our city in an advocacy capacity.

Resumes and letter of interest must be received by Friday, February 5. Electronic submissions are preferred. E-mail your letter of interest and résumé, and contact information for three references to Philip Roewe.

Paper submissions can be sent to:
Philip Roewe, Office of City Councilmember Sally Bagshaw, Seattle City Council,
PO Box 34025, Seattle, WA 98124-4025

Three Board members are appointed by Seattle’s mayor, three by the Seattle City Council, and the seventh by the Board of Park Commissioners. The current vacant position is a Seattle City Council appointee. Members serve three-year, renewable terms.

The Board convenes at 7 p.m. on the second and fourth Thursday of each month, and typically holds approximately twelve public hearings each year.

Board members spend an average of 30-40 hours per month on Seattle Parks and Recreation business. In addition to the regular meetings, members attend committee meetings, park dedications and celebrations, and other community gatherings. Board members receive a number of briefing papers, listen to and read an extensive amount of public testimony, and receive a large volume of general information from Seattle Parks and Recreation and other city agencies.

Candidates should have a strong interest in parks and recreation opportunities for people of all ages and capabilities. Candidates should have regular access to a computer and e-mail, as most information is sent electronically.

The Seattle City Council is committed to promoting diversity on the Board, and encourages women, young people, senior citizens, people with disabilities, sexual minorities, and people of color to apply.

In response to budget cuts across the board, many city departments have been required to take ten unpaid furlough days in 2010, including the Department of Planning and Development, the Department of Neighborhoods and the Department of Parks and Recreation. Below are the scheduled furlough dates for each department and what will be affected.

Department of Neighborhoods/Service Centers:

Furlough dates: Tuesday, January 19; Tuesday, February 16; Monday March 15; Monday, April 12; Tuesday, June 1; Tuesday, July 6; Monday, August 9; Tuesday, September 7; Monday, October 11 and Monday, December 27.

Department of Parks and Recreation:

Parks and Rec will be operating two schedules in order to accommodate the needs of its many community centers, pools, learning centers, other facilities and park maintenance schedules. Schedule A will encompass parks grounds and maintenance staff, community center staff (excluding those child care and lane night programs), indoor pools, small craft facilities, environmental learning centers, lifelong recreation, most management and administrative staff, the Amy Lee Tennis Center and the Langston Hughes Performing Arts Center. Schedule B will include the Superintendent’s Office, Planning and Development staff, Magnuson Park staff and Youth Violence Prevention Initiative staff. For more details on these two schedules, see the official press release (.pdf).

Schedule A:                                                   Schedule B:

Fri., Jan. 15                                                   Tue., Jan. 19

Fri., Feb. 12                                                   Tue., Feb. 16

Fri., March 12                                                Mon., March 15

Fri., April 9                                                    Mon., April 12

Fri., May 7                                                     Mon., May 10

Fri., May 28                                                   Tue., June 1

Fri., September 10                                         Mon., September 13

Fri., October 8                                               Mon., October 11

Fri., November 12                                         Monday, Nov. 15

Thu., December 23                                       Mon., December 27

Department of Planning and Development:

Furlough dates: Friday, January 15; Friday, February 12; Friday, March 12; Friday, April 9; Friday, May 28; Friday, July 2; Friday, August 6; Friday, September 3; Friday, October 8; Thursday, December 23.

Planning and Development outlined the reasoning behind their furlough dates – almost all Fridays – here (.pdf). They wrote,

The decision to close instead of remaining open at significantly reduced staffing levels was based on the department’s customer service objectives and in recognition of the range of resources needed to provide its services.

A few residents have written in asking about some missing trash cans around the neighborhood, specifically at the community center, West Queen Anne Playfield and kids play areas. According to Joelle Hammerstad, a public information representative at Seattle Parks and Recreation, the trash cans were removed in an “effort to encourage field users to ‘pack it in/pack it out.’” The community, however, has not reacted well.

“It looks like we may have been a little over zealous on that effort,” Hammerstad wrote.

After many complaints from community members, the department has said it will be replacing some of the trash cans as early as tomorrow, Thursday, December 24 – just in time for a holiday game or two on the field. The city hopes that, with more receptacles back in place, people will take better care to clean up after using the fields and public areas.