HomeMy WebLinkAboutPark 2017-11-08 COMPLETE AGENDA PACKETCity of Tukwila
Allan Ekberg, Mayor
Parks & Recreation Department - Rick Still, Director
PARK COMMISSION
Chair: Vacant
Vice Chair: Don Scanlon
AGENDA
Wednesday, November 8, 2017 5:30pm Tukwila Community Center
1. Call to Order
2. Approval of Minutes
a. Approval of Minutes (October 2017) Pg. 1
3. Special Presentations
4. Citizen Comment
5. Business
a. Green Tukwila - Update and Expenditure Request (10mins) Pg. 3
b. FGL Bridge Naming (10mis) pg. 5
c. New Park Naming (10mis) n/a
6. Other
a. December Meeting Cancelled - All Commissions Social on 12/13/17 (2mins) n/a
7. Adjournment
Next Meeting: January 10, 2018 @ 5:30pm
Tukwila City Hall • 6200 Southcenter Boulevard • Tukwila, WA 98188 • 206-433-1800 • Website: TukwilaWA.gov
et' TUKWI LA
PARKS & RECREATION
GOOD HEALTHY FUN
PARK COMMISSION
MINUTES
October 11, 2017 5:30pm Tukwila Community Center
Call to Order: Vice Chairperson Don Scanlon called the meeting to order at 5:31pm.
Attendance: Commissioners — Don Scanlon, Sean Albert, Heidi Watters, Scott Kruize
Staff — Robert Eaton, Olena Perry
Citizen — Roger Arnold
Approval of Minutes: Scott Kruize moved to approve the minutes of the September 13, 2017 meeting. Sean Albert
seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously.
Special Presentations: none
Citizen Comment: none
Business Items
A. Green Tukwila Update — Olena Perry provided an update on the upcoming Green Tukwila Day, on
Saturday, October 12, 2017 from 9:OOam - 12:OOpm at Tukwila Park. She also provided two handouts that
were an overview of the program implementation so far and the projected 2018 expenditures. The
commissioners were very enthusiastic about the program and progress and had around 30mins of dialog
with staff about it. Similar to last month, as conversation continued the commission asked some
questions regarding opportunities to support the program, even financially. The commission reviewed the
2018 projected expenditures list and expressed desire to use their budget to pay for some of the items.
B. Park Commission Budget — Robert Eaton handed out a one-page summary of the Park Commission
2017/18 Budget. After some question and answer the commission agreed that they would like to use the
Park Commission budget to support Green Tukwila program needs, specifically some of the items on the
projected 2018 expenditures list. They reviewed the list and asked staff the correct process for spending
their budget. Robert Eaton suggested that the commission provide a not to exceed amount they would
like to expend and staff will draft a detailed purchase list and present it at the next meeting. They
commission was in great support of this idea and wanted to use the remaining $1,450.00 of their budget
in this way.
Scott Kruize moved to approve staff to draft an expenditure list not to exceed $1,450 for supplies for the Green
Tukwila program to be expended from the Park Commission budget and bring the list to the next Park Commission
meeting on November 8, 2017. The motion was seconded by Heidi Watters. The motion passed unanimously.
Commissioner Sean Albert specifically asked if the council can be informed of how important this program
is to the City and wanted to make sure the council was aware of how seriously the Park Commission is
supporting it, even to the point of using their budget. Robert Eaton said his request would be included in
the minutes which are provided to the council for their review.
Don Scanlon moved to push items C and D to the November 8, 2017 meeting agenda. The motion was seconded by
Scott Kruize. The motion passed unanimously.
Other: none
Adjournment: At 6:35pm Scott Kruize moved to close the meeting. Sean Albert seconded the motion. The motion
passed unanimously.
Green Tukwila update for November:
Nov 22nd, 136th &28th, 11-2pm, Heidi Watters
• 3-8 families
• Forterra running outreach
• Forterra bringing tools
• Fortrra will not be getting a Port -A -Potty, Parks to provide?
• Olena is fine being the only onsite Tukwila Staff
Nov 28th, Codiga Park, 9-12 Sound Stewards
• 6-8 adults with 2 Sound Stewards
• Olena Crew leading with Brenda and Scott
• Parks provide trailer?
• Blackberry removal
• Matt and/or Tesh to be trained on crew leading at this event possibly.
• Private event no marketing
MLK January 15th, Tukwila Park 9-12
• Mulching
• 40 plus volunteers
• crew leads needed
• restrooms needed
• mulch needed
• tools/trailer and wheelbarrows needed
• MLK info will come out in the next 2 weeks for staff.
• Marketing live Nov 7th
Expenditure Request (Per Park Commission request at the October 11, 2017 meeting:
20 Pairs of 20" Loppers @ $23.99ea $500
20 Pairs of Hand Pruners @ $20ea $400
20 Sets of Youth Gloves @ $14.95 (2pk) $300
34 Sets of Adult Medium Gloves @ $21.99 (12pk) $75
Approximate Tax $128
Approximate Total $1,403
3
August 22, 2017
Rick Still
Director of Parks and Recreation
City of Tukwila
Dear Mr. Still,
The Foster Golf Links Men's Club and the Foster Golf Links Women's Club would like the City of Tukwila to
officially name the bridge that spans the Duwamish River between the 10th and 11th greens the "Joe and
Hazel Aliment Memorial Bridge". Joe Aliment started working at Foster Golf Links in 1924 and continued
working there until 1951. In that year, Joe and his wife Hazel purchased the course and owned it until
1978. They then sold it to the city instead of to developers with the idea that it would continue to be a
place where Tukwila residents could congregate and enjoy the game of golf. Joe and Hazel were generous
and especially supportive of youth. To give you an idea of the type of people they were, kids in the
community would go to the golf course at 5 o'clock in the morning and sweep the parking lot. Then Joe
would hand out golf clubs and the kids could play golf all day. Joe and Hazel were very involved with the
community and one of their sons even became a Tukwila city council member. As a tribute to the
contributions Joe and Hazel Aliment made to the Tukwila community, we are asking you to name this
bridge for them.
Carol Zuvela
Randall Haupt
President, Foster Golf Links Women's Club President, Foster Golf Links Men's Club
Attachment:
Seattle Times article, "From Duffer to Pro In the Links Business"
Joe Aliment got by
many hazards with
a golf course
near Tukwila
THE task of =owing, watering and
maintaining 80 acres of lawn, trees
and shrubs might seem monumental to
most home owners.
But it is the way of life for the Aliment
family, Joe, Hazel and their two sons,
Ben and Bill, who own a tidy -sized piece of
recreational real-estate known as Foster
Golf Links.
January 1, 195I, marked the day when
the Aliments called this land their own.
But Joe, slightly stocky and easy going,
remembers 93 years ago, when employed
by George Eddy, a golf professional, he
helped pioneer Foster, one of the first
privately owned, publicly played, links
west of the Mississippi.
Joseph Foster, a government scout and
packer, in 1853 homesteaded the land, on
the outskirts of Seattle, near Tukwila.
A maple tree, planted by him less than a
decade after the Civil War, remains on the
property and on its huge trunk is fastened
a bronze memorial plaque inscribed with
historical data.
Eddy purchased the land from the Fos-
ter heir, and young Joe Aliment, at 13,
caddied for Washington's Gov. Louis F.
Hart, who was first on the tee February
13, 1925, the opening day for the nine -hole
golf course.
Reliving high-school graduation day the
same year, Aliment says:
"I had gone directly from school to
. work. As I stepped off the interurban, Ed-
dy wheeled a mower in front of me, and
then and there promoted me from bag
toter to greenskeeper-"
The sinewy teen-ager spent hours lug-
ging a hose and wheeling a gas -powered
pump to each fairway bordered by the Du-
wamish River.
He further recalled that this job brought
him out in the "wee hours." Revealing his
droll humor, he said: •
"The only company I had at 3 and 9
o'clock in the morning was the third -rail
interurban that passed Foster an its run
from Renton to Tacoma."'
In those days, some folk considered a
golf course a risky business. However, it
was_under the eyes of."doubting Thom-
ases" that Eddy's venture grew and, with
the acquisition in 1927 of more land across
the Duwamish River, the course was ex-
tended to 13 holes.
At this time, the old Scottish word
"links" became the fit and proper descrip-
tion of Foster, as the term in the ancient
language meant "the winding of a stream;
also the ground adjacent."
Few changes have been made in the
layout of the playing area since that time
and, although Foster's 5,599 yards is not'
rated championship length, what it lacks
in distance is compensated by the hazards
imposed by the twisting waterway.
Both Joe and Hazel remember Eddy
affectionately.
"Mr. Eddy gave us the house near the
river, by the 17th tee, for a token mort-
From Duffer to Pro
In the Links business
By MARY A. MIZE
gage of Sl." .foe says_ "It was while living
in this home, in 1933, that Foster suffered a
devastating blow.
It rained the entire month of December
that year, and by Christmas Eve, the flood-
ing Duwamish River had belched unbe-
lievable quantities of debris on the course.
Fairways, tees and greens along its path
were strewn with logs, pitted with holes
and saturated with water and muck. The
bridge that connected five holes of the
course with the rest of civilization was
threatened with destruction.
Mrs. Aliment, small -framed and- fastidi-
ously groomed, makes "no bones" about
her fright when she reminisced about the
harrowing night Joe went to work on the
bridge.
"I pleaded with Joe," she recalls, "that
if the bridge is going to go, let it go. But
no, he needed to try to help prevent the
bridge from being smashed."
"1 kept track of his flashlight beam,
but was terrified when it disappeared
abruptly. I screamed and shrieked, but
no sound could be heard above the rage of
the river. I was drenched and scared.
Therewas nothing I could do, but go back
to the house and wait. I tried not to think
he was dead."
Joe, explained his fears, saying:
"I spent most of the night reaching out
to hack branches and snags from logs as
they swept by to keep them from collaps-
ing the bridge. 1 grabbed sleep, when I
could, on the roof of a shack on the far
side of the river. 1 knew my wife would
be frantic, but the bridge held up all
right. However, by the time we felt that
it was safe, the river was threatening our
house. Hazel and Benny had to be rowed to
safety."
The Duwamish devoured unknown acres
of land that winter. Shoveling silt, filling
holes, replacing tees and replanting greens
consumed weeks. Slowly the course took
shape again; nevertheless, Foster was not
reopened for business until the following
spring, and then, for only nine holes of
play.
During the summer of 1939, the ex -caddy
recalls that the repair work continued and
Eddy had truck loads of old auto bodies
hauled in and spread along the mangled
river banks. The metal wrecks were the
cheapest answer to end further erosion.
"It only cost him 52 a load, and that
price included the driver's wages," Joe
says.
Valley residents, for years plagued by
ravaging rivers, received permanent bene-
fits from the Howard A.. Hanson flood -
control dam, completed in 1961.
During World War II years, Joe under-
took a 10 -hour day job at a foundry, con-
tinued as greenskeeper and began learn- -
Joe Aliment today.
ing links management from within the
clubhouse.
"People continued to play during the
war." he said. "Because the war imposed
gas rationing, it was not uncommon for a
car to arrive loaded down with half a
dozen undaunted golfers."
Ben Aliment, now The links pro, remem-
bers:
"In postwar years, the golf business
lagged. Things really picked up when Mr. -
Eisenhower was elected President. Folks
that never had played before were im-
pressed by his interest in the game. Tele-
vision, too, helped golf.
The machinery needed to maintain to-
day's golf course dwarfs the rigs with
which the senior Aliment was provided in
his greens -keeping days.
"We have four fairway -mowing units,
three greens . mowers, three heavy-duty
tractors and two machines known as the
`leaf blower' and the 'Ieaf picker'," Ben
says.
"One year, we lost about 75 flags in a
period of four months. Most of them were
stolen, but some were broken. We've dis-
covered kids using them for fishing
spears."
In addition to some 50,000 -golfers that
annual trek over Foster, it is not unusual
to see steelhead fishermen angling in the
Duwamish and teen-agers retrieving golf
balls from the water hazards.
Other non-paying guests have included
ducks, rabbits, squirrels, cows, horses,
deer and, as recently as late 1966, a seal,
which now resides at the Woodland Park
Zoo.
Jovial Bill Aliment, also a Foster pro
and an ex -councilman of Tukwila, remem-
bers when he joined a woman in chasing
a steer on the course.
"The steer wheeled and ran me into the
river," Bill recalled.
In the clubhouse, the congeniality of all
the Aliments blends with the pro and duf-
fer- There golf stories mingle with tales
of pars, birdies, eagles and bogies. In this
atmosphere, and not withstanding the
score, everyone feels like a golfer.
Mary A. Mize is a Snaffle free-lanco writer.
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FOSTER GOLF LINKS BRIDGE AERIAL VIEW