Franklin Park Committee: Submitted by Helen Jackson

The challenges for the Franklin Park Projects this past month have been:

•People sleeping in and illegal activity occurring on the hillside above Franklin Park;

•New teenaged driver and friends cruising through the park during the day;

•Invasives on Franklin Street Island.

To help with people sleeping in and drinking/drug problems recently reoccurring on the hillside, neighbors worked on Saturday, August 11 to prune back and limb up the bushes that provide seemingly hidden areas on the hillside. This, also, adds light to all the plantings and provides a view of the Chuckanut sandstone formation.

911 was contacted on the car driving through the park. With a license number, the parents were contacted and the young driver disciplined. As we consider improvements to Franklin Park, Parks has advised us that the chain link fence will be removed. Cars entering the park w/o a fence in place are a major concern for the Franklin Park Committee, and one we will need to address as the design emerges.

A portion of the funds donated to the Franklin Park Improvements Projects was used to contract with Haines Tree and Spray Service to spray the blackberries and bindweed on the street island. The cost was $130.08

Work Parties will continue on the second Saturday of every month from 9am-12pm. on October 27, Saturday, Rae Edwards of the Parks Volunteer Program will bring in volunteer WWU students to help with plantings of Salal and Sword Ferns that Rae and staff have been nursing throughout the summer. We would enjoy your presence at any or all work parties.