Wellington Hills Park - May 31, 2013

For over a year I've been photographing the Wellington Hills Park and nearby areas. 

However, photographing the Park’s trees, grasses and undulating earth has gotten somewhat difficult because, at times, I feel like I’m taking pictures of something that could be brutally ruined.  

I've always hoped my photos would tell a positive story about the land, the trees and why the Park should remain a tranquil place ... the reality is, there has to be monitoring, explanations and dialog with politicians and their associates. That “reality” has made taking pictures difficult.

Today, I pushed all thoughts of County bureaucracy aside and went back to the Park and spent time just walking and taking pictures.

I hope you enjoy these pictures and I doubly hope they convey some of the Park's beauty on this last day of May 2013.

photos by Bill Stankus
May 2013

Do's, Don't, Rules and Signs

The Wellington Hills area is currently a quiet residential area. People live there. Wellington Hills is a nice place to live.  

Wellington Hills has well cared for homes, fronted by narrow, two-lane roads, a few stop signs and poles for electrical service.

Not much happens in Wellington Hills except for people living rather normal and ordinary lives.

There's the occasional garage sale or birthday with balloons tied to mail boxes ... and I've seen people gardening, washing cars and walking dogs ... and, people have told me they really enjoy sitting in the quiet, on their decks or in their yards.

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The City of Woodinville is a few miles away and Wellington Hills people shop at Albertsons, Top Food, Target, Molbak's and McLendon Hardware - to name a few businesses.

Route 9 is down hill from Wellington Hills and Sunbelt, Del's Truck rental and Costco are easy to find.

People go to Wilmot Park, picnic, play and use the Burke-Gilman Trail for biking and walking ... or maybe they go to Cottage Lake Park... or maybe they tour the wineries on the south side of Woodinville.

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Snohomish County and their Department of Parks and Recreations plans to totally transform the Wellington Hills residential neighborhood.

What they're proposing is akin to placing an international airport smack in the middle of long established homesteads.  The bureaucrats of Snohomish County, have more or less said, let's bulldoze the traditional style and the peace and quiet of Wellington Hills and build a bunch of for-profit concession stands.

Instead of a place where people live and escape the high-energy, hustle and bustle of industrial parks, shopping malls and amusement parks ... it’s as if County government is saying, let's dump those things on Wellington Hills.

With the County’s proposed regional sports complex, people living in Wellington Hills will be seeing a lot of these signs ... the do's and don't, the rules and structured definitions of government mandated behavior:

                                                     

                                                                 

                                              

                                                

                                                 

                                                

                                                            

                                                             

                                                 

                                                 

                                                 

                                                           

                                                                 

                                                 

                                               

                                                

                                                 

 

photos by Bill Stankus
2013

Public space at Brightwater

Brightwater Sewage Plant is, more or less, the reason for the current Wellington Hills Mess.  King County and Ron Sims wanted a new sewage plant somewhere in northern King County.  By some means they decided Snohomish County was a much better place for their sewage. 

Surprisingly (or not) Snohomish County politicians liked having a King County sewage plant in Snohomish County. I'm taking a wild guess, but maybe the pot o' gold they received had something to do with their approving the project.  $70 million dollars is a tidy sum of cash. 

So, Brightwater, aka, a big sewage plant with deep tunnels to Puget Sound was built - complete with public art, green areas, duck ponds and walking trails ... and, in the wheeling’s and dealing’s between Kingco and Snoco, it was decided a community park should be built as a soothing salve for residents near Brightwater. 

 "Oh, Look!" someone way up in Everett said, "what about the Wellington Hills Golf Course? Isn't that a perfect place for a Community Park?"  Or something like that.  

Later on, probably during a County sponsored Wafflefest, the words, “community park” were transmogrified into “regional sports complex”. 

Sorry kiddies, but we'll save that supplementary tale for another bedtime story. 

Today’s civics lesson is about having zillions of dollars and creatively spending it on a place for people to maybe gather, relax, walk dogs and pet weasels ... to aimlessly meander and maybe look at trees, birds and other disappearing natural things.

Here we go … a stroll around the Brightwater Sewage Plant.

One of several Grand Entrances.

When needing a break, these ever popular- but usually empty - benches offer ...

                                         

yes, they offer numerous scenic views of ...

                                         

(wait for it) .... the sewage plant!

                                        

A not untypical crowded Brightwater trail.  That's Rt. 9 and Costco is just over the horizon line.

                                  

At least the fowl are comfortable. BTW, there are seemingly miles of white pipe everywhere.

Zen-ish rock gardens, in a bureaucratic sort of way.

                                                        

Public plumbing art. The last time I was there a child was crying. Overwhelmed I suppose.
                                                                       

                                                                        

Very practical space and on the weekends usually without people.

                                            

The Bridge to a maze of trails with views of white pipe and big sprinklers.

                                   

Oh, you know this one, you can see it from Rt.9

                                                          

I concur, I never drink water at a sewage plant.

                                                            

photos by Bill Stankus

2013