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From: Cilinceon, Stefanie N. <sncilinceon@cob.org>

Date: Thu, Oct 13, 2022 at 10:03 AM

Subject: Oct. 26 Site Visit of Padden Creek Restoration Project

We’d like to invite interested folks in the Happy Valley Neighborhood to join the City of Bellingham on Wednesday, October 26 from 4 p.m. to 5 p.m. for a site visit of our most recent project in the Padden Creek watershed – Phase 1 of the Padden Creek 24th-30th Streets Restoration Project. During this visit we will talk about project benefits, future construction plans, and how you can help steward our natural areas.

We will meet at the project site on Old Fairhaven Parkway, at the southern end of the Happy Valley Park Trail. We encourage you to walk, carpool, bus, or bike to the event if possible. Free on-street parking is available on 24th Street, south of Old Fairhaven Parkway, and requires an approximately 10-minute walk to the meeting spot. A lighted pedestrian crossing is available on Old Fairhaven Parkway opposite the meeting spot.

No cost, no RSVP necessary, all ages welcome. Please note that we will be walking on uneven ground and gravel path.

Please email habitat@cob.org or call (360) 778-7968 for questions about the event, including accessibility requests.

Best,

Stefanie Cilinceon (she/hers)

Environmental Education and Outreach Specialist

Public Works Natural Resources, City of Bellingham

sncilinceon@cob.org (360) 778-7971 www.cob.org

Office: 2221 Pacific St. Bellingham, WA 98229

10.1.2022

WHAT: Padden Creek Alliance Community Meeting

WHERE: Fairhaven Library Fireplace Room (Downstairs), 1117 12th Street, Bellingham, WA 98225

WHEN: Monday, October 24, 2022, from 10:30am-12:00pm

This an invitation to a meeting of the Padden Creek Alliance, a group working to provide stewardship of Padden Creek since 1997.

We are inviting staff from the city of Bellingham, WA Dept of Fish and Wildlife, WA Dept of Transportation, Bellingham Technical College Fisheries instructors, NSEA, Lummi Nation, and Nooksack Natural Resource, to meet with Padden Creek Alliance volunteers. Five neighborhood representatives that surround Padden Creek are invited, from Lake Padden to Bellingham Bay, including Happy Valley, Fairhaven, Edgemoor, South, and Samish neighborhoods. We'd like to share information with each other and work on some collaborations.

Please send any information, links, publications, videos, or photos about Padden Creek.

This upcoming meeting is planned at the time when several folks were available, and when we were able to reserve the downstairs Fireplace Room at the Fairhaven Library for no cost. We will take meeting minutes to share if you are not available to come to the meeting.

Subjects of meeting

• Water Quality and Water Quantity

• Fish and wildlife

• Monitoring: fish populations, species, salmon spawners, vegetation, and any opportunities for Citizen Science

• Fish barriers: current and future work

• Stream re-routing and habitat restoration sites: current and future projects

• Current Education programs using Padden Creek: NSEA Students for Salmon + WDFW School Coop Program Salmon in the Classroom, City of Bellingham Parks Volunteer and Steward program

• Trails, Greenways, parks, access, and protection of Padden Creek

• Other: Studies and research

Please let me know if you are able to participate in the meeting, as we explore, how the urban Padden Creek and the Padden Creek watershed are being managed, and possible opportunities to collaborate to be ongoing stewards. We will have presentations, times for Q & A, and side tables for any exhibits and handouts. In two weeks, I will send an update and agenda, as well as links to research, reports, maps, data, studies, and current things going on here.

Please do not hesitate to contact me if you have questions, ideas, or resources to share for this meeting.

Thanks,

Wendy Scherrer

Wendy Scherrer

Padden Creek Alliance "We all live downstream."

360-319-9518 (cell)

bluegreen.northwest@gmail.com

No Mow May

From Sheilagh Brown

Hello there Pat,

Last evening I mentioned the No Mow May initiative to benefit pollinators. Would you be willing to send this 'round to members of the board before being posted on the neighborhood website?

Here is a link to a general interest New York Times article and, more importantly, the link to the invertebrate conservation organization Xerces which is promoting the no mowing initiative:

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/28/travel/no-mow-may-wisconsin.html

https://beecityusa.org/no-mow-may/

Xerces/Bee City USA website includes printable yard signs to educate neighbors and passersby that the longer grass is intentional to benefit pollinators for the month of May.

Bees across the spectrum have taken a monumental hit from pesticides and our native bees are, in addition to that, in an exceptionally precipitous decline due to loss of habitat. Stowing the mower for a month has proven effective in bringing back the bees. Seems like an easy step and a gift to our soundscape.

Take a break from mowing as an individual or adopt it as a neighborhood.

Clare Foglesong at Public Works is now an enthusiastic supporter and will be posting No Mow May information on the city's website.

Sheilagh

Beginning Cooperative Gardening

Saturdays May 7, 14, 21, June 4

9-11 am at the Chuckanut Center, 103 Chuckanut Drive, Bellingham

Sign Up at: https://chuckanutcenter.org/events/

Topics: Living soil, planning, seeds and starts, planting, organic practices, compost, teas, harvesting.

You will have a small plot available to tend through the garden season. We will help with our Victory Garden that helps meet local food needs.

Teacher: John Egbert

Fee: $40

Scholarships available

Contact John for more information egbertenator@gmail.com

---------- Forwarded message ---------

From: Cilinceon, Stefanie N. <sncilinceon@cob.org>

Date: Fri, Apr 8, 2022 at 11:12 AM

Subject: Earth Day 2022 Event in Fairhaven Park

To: Bobbi2@q.com <Bobbi2@q.com>, jakecharlton@gmail.com <jakecharlton@gmail.com>, felixian@comcast.net <felixian@comcast.net>

Hi Bobbi, Jake, and Alex,

My name is Stefanie and I do environmental education and outreach work with the City of Bellingham. I am reaching out to you to let you know about an upcoming Earth Day volunteer event happening near your neighborhood in Fairhaven Park. If possible, it would be great if you could share this with the Happy Valley Neighborhood Association. I attached a poster (PDF and JPG version) and included a blurb below. Thank you!

The City is hosting a volunteer work party on Saturday, April 23 from 9 a.m. to noon to restore habitat and improve water quality in Padden Creek. Volunteers are invited to meet in Fairhaven Park to remove invasive plants and spread mulch, which supports the growth of native plants in the area. All ages and abilities are welcome, and no previous volunteer experience is necessary. Tools, gloves, instruction, and snacks are provided, as well as free coffee donated by Woods Coffee and free pizza donated by Papa John’s Pizza. Please register in advance for this free event. Spots are limited! We hope to see you there.

This is one of several family-friendly activities the City is offering to celebrate Earth Day. Other activities include a community art project, photo contest, Children’s Storytimes, themed book lists for children and adults, self-guided tours, and more. Find a full list and details at www.cob.org/earthday2022.

Best,

Stefanie Cilinceon (she/hers)

Environmental Education and Outreach Specialist

Public Works Natural Resources, City of Bellingham

sncilinceon@cob.org (360) 778-7971 www.cob.org

Office: 2221 Pacific St. Bellingham, WA 98229

March 2022

Mail theft is a growing problem. Here’s what Bellingham Council is considering By Robert Mittendorf Updated March 18, 2022 5:59 PM

Read more at: https://www.bellinghamherald.com/news/local/article259501949.html#storylink=cpy

Bellingham is examining whether to make the owners of older apartment buildings add locking mailboxes in an attempt to thwart a growing problem of mail theft. At an online City Council meeting Monday, March 14, Councilman Michael Lilliquist asked for his colleagues’ support in having an ordinance drafted that would require all apartment buildings to meet current codes for new developments, where locking mailboxes are required under U.S. Postal Service rules. Councilwoman Lisa Anderson supported the move, saying that it would be helpful for several reasons. Anderson, who lives in the York neighborhood, said that she’s found mail on three occasions from homes in Happy Valley, where many older apartment buildings are located. “Those are people who live in some of the older complexes where they’re not the highest income,” Anderson said. “But you get your utility bill stolen or a credit card statement stolen and you miss a (payment) it impacts your credit rating, it impacts the potential of having to pay late fees, and they may not be in a position to be able to afford that,” she said. No formal measure was introduced Monday. But Mayor Seth Fleetwood said his staff would prepare a report and council members could consider further action at their next meeting.

Read more at: https://www.bellinghamherald.com/news/local/article259501949.html#storylink=cpy

From Alex McLean

Mar 10, 2022

Hi HVNA and neighbors,

For those who did or didn’t attend last night’s meeting with Seth Vidana, this link is a further opportunity to review the subjects and offer individual comments to help guide the City before they put this tax on the ballot.