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.

EarthCorps, The Kavana Cooperative and The Ravenna Kibbutz are getting together this Sunday, January 31 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the NE Queen Anne Greenbelt (Trolley Hill Park) to celebrate Tu B’Shevat, Judaism’s new year of trees, a little differently – with a forest restoration project!

EarthCorps will be teaching forest restoration and safety to volunteers,and The Kavana Cooperative will be offering a short session on the meaning and history of Tu B’Shevat over lunch.

For more information on how to get involved, contact EarthCorps Volunteer Program Manager Chris LaPointe at (206) 322-9296, ext. 217 or at chris@earthcorps.org. You can reach the event day contact, Lina Rose, at (206) 793-2454.

Nearly 800 Seattle Pacific University freshman and transfer students will start off the new school year by spending their first day in college volunteering all over the city. From 10:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. on Saturday, September 26, students will lead volunteers groups to fix up houses, clean parks, remove graffiti and participate in other projects at 30 different locations around town, as part of SPU’s “CityQuest,” an annual community service orientation.

Volunteers will be working at two sites in Queen Anne. At A.C.E. Language Institute at 200 West Mercer Street, they will welcome international students, assist with basic English language learning and participate in cultural discussions. At Trolley Hill Park, located at the intersection of 5th Ave N and Taylor Ave N, volunteers will help fix up the grounds by removing invasive plants and spreading gravel and woodchips (a constant endeavor that many groups have been participating in this summer).

Check out what CityQuest projects are happening this weekend in Phinney Ridge/Greenwood at our sister site, Phinneywood.com. For a list of city-wide projects, click here.