Emily F. Keller: Journalist

New Picnic Shelters at Parks are to be Wheelchair Accesible

    When the city’s Parks and Recreation Department opens picnic shelters at Pine Lake Park this week they will be more than just another nice addition to the waterfront beach. They will also be one more step toward making Sammamish’s parks and trails accessible to people with special needs and disabilities. Walkways to the three new shelters will make them easier for people with disabilities to access than the park’s old shelters, said Mark Vysoky, a parks project manager for the city.

    “Some of the old shelters were not accessible because the walkways were limited or they exceeded the maximum percentage of slope,” Vysoky said about the shelters.

    Published in the Sammamish Review. Read the story.

Parks Bond on Ballot

  

  When Sammamish homeowners head to the polls this fall, they will also have the chance vote their financial support for parks and recreation facilities.

    The Sammamish City Council will place two parks measures on the Nov. 4 ballot. The first asks homeowners to pay 14 cents per $1,000 of assessed valuation per year for capital construction.

    The bond would raise about $19 million. The construction fee would last 20 years and cost the owner of an average Sammamish home about $84 per year. The bond also includes $3 million for the first phase of Sammamish Landing (pictured.)

    Published in the Sammamish Review. Read the story.

    Read the background story.

On the Waterfront

    City park planners are beginning planning work for Sammamish Landing, a strip of land that could become the city’s first public waterfront on Lake Sammamish.“For those who aren’t on water already this is their little piece of water,” said Mayor Lee Fellinge.

    Planners are working on the first steps of developing the park. They are also conducting a traffic analysis and a cultural assessment of the area, which may be historically linked to the Muckleshoot or other Native Americans, as well as to railway activity.

    Published in the Sammamish Review. Read the story.

Council Cautious on Park Bond

 

   The Sammamish Parks and Recreation Department is proposing to fund parks improvements with a property tax increase.

    The department wants to place two measures on the Nov. 4 ballot asking voters to help pay for park projects including an all-ages recreation facility that city officials have discussed for years.

    If at least 60 percent of voters favor the measures, East Sammamish Park would get a new spray park, playground upgrades, a parking lot expansion and a new trail to nearby Margaret Mead Elementary School. Nanny Ana Melayes (pictured at the park) favors the measure.

    Published in the Sammamish Review. Read the story.

Parks Bond Proposed

    Sammamish residents may have an all-ages recreation center in their future, and they may be asked to help fund its construction.

    The City Council is nearing a decision on whether to ask voters to support a park bond of about $18 million, as well as a levy lid lift of about $20 per year in November. The Parks and Recreation Department would use the bond funds for a recreation center and other capital construction projects including land acquisition for a new park in the city’s northeast quadrant, a multi-use ball field at Eastlake High School, a trail connecting the Beaver Lake Park and Beaver Lake Preserve and improvements to Sammamish Landing and East Sammamish Park. The levy would be used for operations and maintenance.

    Published in the Sammamish Review. Read the story.

City Polls Sammamish Residents

    Residents of Sammamish continue to love the city for its small-town feel, quiet, schools, safety and lakes, and they still wish the city had less traffic congestion. But the percentage of residents who approve of the city’s general direction declined slightly since 2005, according to a phone survey of nearly 400 people conducted in April.

    The City conducts surveys periodically to gauge public opinion and connect with citizens. The last survey was conducted in 2005, and the city plans to do them every two years going forward, said Communications Director Tim Larson.

    Published in the Sammamish Review. Read the story.

Council Approves Town Center

   

    The future of Sammamish will have a public park topping off a “Green Spine”, a central business district with offices on the east side of 228th Avenue and stores on the west, and green building and low-impact storm water development techniques scattered throughout. It will provide housing for up to 5,000 new residents.

    The City Council approved a 243-acre development plan for the city’s center at its June 9 meeting, capping off years of discussion.

    Pictured: 228th and 8th avenues, where development could take place.

    Published in the Sammamish Review. Read the feature story.

New York Under Water

    New York Under Water is a series of self-published videos and audio slideshows about flooding impacts on New York City's transit system, harbor water, low-income residents and low-lying neighborhoods.

    The project includes videos about the August 8, 2007 storm that flooded the subways, sewage treatment in the South Bronx, chronic flooding in Jamaica, Queens, sewer overflow in Newtown Creek and the possibility of storm surge in the city.

    It contains audio slideshows about city government's sustainability efforts and residential water reuse in Battery Park City.

View the interactive series.

Queens Public School Celebrates New Playground

    Public School 85 in Astoria, Queens celebrated the opening of a new playground on September 19, 2007. The playground was created from a barren schoolyard with help from the non-profit Trust for Public Land. City and school officials spoke at the event and children played. Video by Emily F. Keller. Produced by Emily F. Keller and Amy Goldstein.

    Click to play the video in Quicktime.

A Bigger, Greener N.Y.C.

    This story is the first news profile of Rohit Aggarwala, director of New York City's sustainability and planning office. Published in the New York Daily News. Read the story.