Artificial turf fields - Expensive non-essentials

Artificial Turf (AT).

In a nutshell - Artificial turf (AT) fields are expensive ... Very Expensive ... 
and the Teigen Plan for Wellington Hills Park hankers for, not one, but four artificial turf fields - with stadium lights. 

It's only money.

These giant outdoor carpets are costly to purchase, to install and to maintain. But there's more! ... AT fields need to be repaired and replaced on a regular basis. 

The average single turf field costs approximately $1,000,000 and yearly maintenance will run about $20,000.* Cool, huh? These non-essential seasonal toys have a life expectancy of approximately 10 years.

Doing the math ... the Parks Dept. wants to spend approximately $4,000,000 for turf fields in Wellington Hills Park ... which will then require maintenance to the tune of $80,000 a year. 

Then, after 10 years of specialized maintenance, when it comes time for the County to buy replacement turf, don't twitch when your taxes go up.

ps: Who would benefit from using Wellington Hills Park artificial turf fields? 
                          I'll give a clue - private organizations.


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The following is from Snohomish County Document, "Executive/Council Approval Form" dated June 7, 2013 and prepared by Tom Teigen, Director, Snohomish County Parks and Recreation.

"Synthetic Turf Development and Maintenance Costs - Typical costs for each lit synthetic turf field are $900,000 — $1,200,000 depending on site specific drainage conditions. Synthetic turf fields require maintenance activities consisting of adding infill materials, drainage repair and removing organic materials that might accumulate. 

Typical annual maintenance costs of artificial turf fields are around $12,000 per field compared with typical annual maintenance costs of natural turf fields of $8,000. Synthetic turf fields should be considered for either major renovation or replacement every 10 —15 years."

pg. 1 of a 14 page PDF

* this figure is based on the average costs associated with artificial fields not in Snohomish County.

The difference

I've listened to and read almost everything Snohomish County's Department of Parks has said or written about Wellington Hills Parks ...

From the initial public meeting when they sprang their Regional Sports Complex Plan on the neighborhood with, "Trust us*, you'll like what we're doing" and the classic, "It's a done deal" ... to all the County Council meetings when Wellington Hills Park is discussed as if it's just another commodity and land development deal ... 

And with those development schemes comes an imperial indifference for the people who live in the Woodinville neighborhood of South Snohomish County ...

I've attempted to see what they see, to understand their bureaucratic agendas and all I can come up with is they must be suffering from extreme myopia and a bad case of bulldozeritis.

I think this is how the Snohomish County's Department of Parks sees Wellington Hills Park.

* said the spider to the fly ...



photos by  Bill Stankus
November 2013

Costco shoppers, expect fender benders and delays

The COSTCO intersection - Route 9 & 240th St. - will look something like this ...

… IF the proposed Snohomish County's Dept. of Parks & Rec. 
                                                      Commercial Sports Complex Plan is approved.
   
Why you may ask?

Snohomish County's Dept. of Parks & Rec. estimates 90% of the traffic going in and out of the proposed Sports Complex will be via Route 9 at 240th St.

I repeat: 
90% of the park's traffic will be at the COSTCO intersection.

                          
                Costco shoppers, be patient, eventually you'll get into their parking lot.

5-4-3-2-1 SEPA this week NOW UPDATED

UPDATE:
Go HERE for the just released SEPA Checklist and other related documents.

Well, this is it, Showtime is here, the Department of Parks and Recreation is ready to release the SEPA checklist for their schemed-up sports complex.

I know some of you think this SEPA thing is just an extension of the dog and pony show we've been witnessing since May 2012.  For now, curb that thought because SEPA is an important process. 

SEPA exists as a safeguard against poorly planned projects. A significant part of SEPA is that each and every citizen can review and comment on whatever is being proposed. In this case, certain people want to build a mega sports complex in a rural neighborhood – one that's outside the Urban Growth Boundary.

The caveat is - once the SEPA checklist is released, there are only 14 days for making comments.

If you understand what a boondoggle the proposed mega sports complex is, then, please get a copy of the SEPA checklist and tear into it. (see other stuff in this blog)

If you sit back and do nothing (and simply "trust" the bureaucrats and their buddies), I know you won't like the ultimate results.

 (what was done at 228th and 39th in Bothell … with Brightwater mitigation funds)

Snohomish County - "Your Master Plan has more bad than good."

Is this what it's really about?

Enough already

Standing at the western edge of Wellington Hills Park and looking down at Route 9 ... the photos are what you see.

Why can't the County keep development where it already is?

Wellington Hills Park is already a park.  Why does the County need to spend hard earned tax payer dollars to tear-up Wellington Hills Park so that they can construct a large scale sports complex?

Once again, here's the County's "Master Plan"

About their comic book looking "Master Plan":

• 7 sports fields with 4 of those covered with artificial turf and surrounded with field lights.

• Paved parking for 700+ cars.  That's about the same number of parking slots as at Costco.

• A commercially operated Mountain Bike Facility that's 60,000 sq. feet in size (100 ft. x 60 ft.).

• It's estimated by the County, 90% of the Sports Complex traffic will enter from Route 9 at 240th (across from Costco).

• This IS a cut and fill project. The current hill and dale topology will be dug out and flattened.

• The "Community Activity Center" is vaguely described but it probably will have toilets (sewer line?) and office spaces for various commercial sports organizations.

• Most of the open space on the north side of 240th is for off-leash dogs.

(I like dogs, we have a dog, but these open pee zones are well known for spreading dog diseases hence our dog will never visit this proposed off-leash area.)

••• All in all, their Master Plan is akin to having a huge White Elephant suddenly at your door demanding you knock-down walls in your house and feed it lots of peanuts and let it sleep on Fido or Fluffy's tiny bed.

I know that county guy or at least I've seen him before

After the May 8th bombshell fell on us about the plan to change Wellington Hills Golf Course into a "sports complex", I went to all the meetings: the ones held at the Brightwater conference center, a meeting at the golf course community center and numerous meetings at neighbor's homes.

... there was something about the Parks and Recreation guy that seemed familiar ... like I've listened to his spiel before ... then it hit me ...., yes I had, he reminded me of "Professor Harold Hill" in the film, "The Music Man".  Yes, that's it!

... a musical (and clever) lesson in misdirection