Percival Landing

When I joined Council in January 2008, we needed to fund a reconstruction of Percival Landing estimated to cost $15 million.The landing was unsafe, parts of it had to be closed to public use and the rest was quickly rotting away.  Because the boardwalk structure was failing at a rate nobody anticipated, the money for repairs had not been budgeted.  Covering that kind of expense in a time when revenues were already starting to decline was a challenge.  But, Council decided that in spite of the financial challenge, saving Percival Landing was a priority.

We had to realign our park priorities which brought us over halfway there, then through our diligent efforts to secure funding from the State of Washington, the Federal government, grant writing and public fundraising we managed to finish the first phase of reconstruction and celebrate its opening in August.

We still need to fund the second and third phase of this restoration and I’m confident we can if we continue to focus on our waterfront as a community treasure. (New Percival photo borrowed from Mike Conner at his really nice Living in Olympia blog)

Off Leash Dog Park

There was a group advocating for creation of an off-leash dog park in Thurston County as long ago as 2004.  But, until I made it a campaign issue and joined Council, not a single elected official had supported the idea.  This was despite persistent public testimony at Council meetings and parks board hearings for years.  When, as an elected official, I began to advocate for an off leash park in Olympia I was told that there was an unwritten agreement among the three cities that nobody would open one!  I was asked to drop it.  I did not.  With patience, persistence and education to remove the fears people had about owning an off leash park we dog-lovers of Olympia celebrated the opening of our park October 15, 2010.

West Bay Park

Through a partnership with seven local Rotary Clubs and the State of Washington we created dramatic improvements on the West Bay waterfront including an overlook, hand held boat launch, and significant shoreline restoration.

West Olympia Plaza

Another innovative public/private partnership is just getting started to bring a 24 acre park to Olympia’s west side.  Thanks to the leadership of the West Olympia Community Visioning Group (CVG), we recently executed an agreement to buy the 24 acres for about 20 cents on the dollar of current appraised value!  Our parks department is creating the development plan for the park through a series of public meetings this fall.  The CVG suggested plan is on their site, linked above and shown here.

 

1,000 Trees in a Day

When we set out to plant 1,000 trees in a single day along Olympia streets people came from hundreds of miles away to watch us do it.  We got help from our neighbors at Ft. Lewis as well.  I spent the morning trying to keep up with a team of young soldiers volunteering their time to help us out.  They planted about three trees for every one my team put in the ground.  Then we celebrated with food and music!  What a memorable day.  I want to do it again someday.  A community can hardly have too many trees.

Artesian Well

In 1991 a citizen group, Friends of the Artesians, formed to preserve free flowing water in downtown Olympia.  Almost two decades later their dream was realized when their successor group, H2Olympia, formed a partnership with the City of Olympia and the Thurston Public Utility District to protect the well.  In in 2009 we bought the Diamond parking lot as a part of the new City Hall construction.  While we could certainly make use of the parking, our primary motivation for securing that lot was to bring the single remaining artesian well-head into public ownership.  Now we are planning upgrades to make it a welcoming public park.

Legion Way Trees

Trees along Legion Way were originally planted on Armistice Day 1928 to honor local veterans.  By 2010 many of them were dying due to improper pruning 30 years earlier.  When the Eastside Neighborhood Association proposed a plan to City Council to partner with our urban foresters to replace the trees I supported it enthusiastically.  I bought a tree to honor my WWII veteran father, Private Scottie R. Huntsucker.  I come from a long line of veterans and my daughter currently serves in the Navy.  Dad’s tree was planted on Veterans Day 2010 by volunteers including my Council colleagues, American Legion members, and neighborhood volunteers.  Unfortunately, I had to miss it being home sick with the flu!

The replacement of the Legion Way trees is an ongoing project.  Maybe there is a veteran in your family you would like to honor this way.  You can find out how by contacting the Eastside Neighborhood Association or  Olympia’s Urban Forester.  I plan to buy another tree for the next planting, and hopefully plant this one myself.

Neighborhood Parks

• Rebuilt Lions Park
• Opened McGrath Woods Park
• Opened Kettle View Park
• Rebuilt LBA Park
• Rebuilt Yauger Park