Breaking News: Lakeside Crime Spree

We’ve just received the following status report from Judy Williams:

“While at the Seatac Police Department today, I received some updated information relating to the recent burglary report on the Blog. 

It seems that the Sullivan’s at 196th and Military Road found a bunch of boat stuff in their bushes last night and reported it to the police. 

Speculation is that the criminal(s) came onto the lake - perhaps via the same area on Military,  "borrowed" a boat, went around the lake and took what we know has now been reported missing. The individual(s) most likely exited the lake near the Sullivan’s leaving with the smaller items they could carry off with them with the intent to return later for the larger items that they stashed in the nearby bushes.  All the recovered property is at STPD and available for pick-up. 

Officer Mitchell has available the report from the officers who recovered the property and their listing of everything found.  I am happy to report I now have my motor back and I have verified that the Todd’s motor is there, too. My battery is gone as it was small enough to carry off. 

Anyone missing property can call STPD or go there and look for what they are missing.  The bad news is the culprits have not been apprehended, but the good news it that some of the stolen property has been recovered.”

Thank you Judy for providing this report and informing those impacted of the opportunity to recover their stolen property.  

Volunteers Make a Difference!

On Saturday, July 28^th, the Shore Club hosted the second annual Lakeside Clean Sweep. The event kicked off this year with over 30 enthusiastic volunteers lined up and eager to get started collecting and removing trash and debris strewn about the Public Boat Launch, Hughes Property and the shoreline in between. 

The SeaTac Parks Department personnel issued trash bags and litter picker tools to the ‘terrestrial’ volunteers who were then dispatched to areas in the public park and on city owned property.  ‘Amphibians’ jumped onto the Bruce Bryant boat and were ferried over to the most heavily littered areas between the Offices and Apartment complexes located along the Southwest shores of the lake.  The Goulet Brothers, Lonnie and Bruce two pontoon boats with steel barge sandwiched between them served as dive platform for the deep water ‘aquanauts’ to deploy from and acted as a mobile collection point for garbage pulled from the water. It should also be noted that Julie Hill formed her own team to collect litter from the pedestrian walkways adjacent the main surface streets around the perimeter of the lake.

Within the four hours of work, all teams contributed two heaping piles consisting of paper, cans, bottles, mattress pads, numerous articles of decomposing clothing, a tent, tarps, several tires, a few chairs and yes, even a kitchen sink!  City parks employees helped to load and dispose of the more than two truckloads required to haul off the refuse collected from the project.

Once all the litter was carted away, the crew cleaned up and headed to the center of the lake to enjoy a full lunch accompaniment of sandwiches, chips, and refreshments after which a random raffle prize drawing was held.  Lucky participating volunteers received one of four ‘Olde Skool’ Angle Lake Shore Club hoodies or a ‘Big Bobber’ floating cooler. 

While the level of effort required for cleaning the area of garbage met most volunteer’s original expectations, very few anticipated the amount of satisfaction they’d feel from the outstanding job they performed ridding the area from all the unwanted debris.  When volunteers perform community service work the gift is truly received twice. Special thanks and recognition goes to the Angle Lake Shore Club and it's members for organizing and sponsoring this community event.

Lakeside Crime Spree

The blog team had begun receiving calls and emails yesterday regarding rampant theft having occurred sometime through the night of Wednesday, July 25^th on the Northwest shoreline of Angle Lake. 

Items reported missing were a couple boat stereo systems; several gas and electric boat motors; electric batteries; fish finders; gps units; and various other valuable items.  The location of theft had occurred between the Beck’s pontoon boat through to the William’s dock and quite possibly beyond.  It is assumed that the thief(ves) made their approach from the water.  If any resident is aware of after dark sailings and have a description to offer, please contact the SeaTac Police Department to record your information.

If you have property stored along the shoreline, we encourage you to take inventory as soon as possible and register an incident report involving any theft or vandalism.  You can file a police report by calling the King County Sheriff’s Office Non-Emergency line at (206) 296-3311, twenty-four hours a day, 7 days a week.  Or as an additional convenience, you can file an online claim via the internet at the following address: http://www.kingcounty.gov/safety/sheriff/ReportToSheriff.aspx 

No matter how small the item, regardless of its perceived depreciated value – all incidents should have a police reported filed.  Failing to file a claim obscures the report of actual percentage of crime occurring within the area and can unintentionally mask the problem. If we don’t report it, police services aren’t aware of it, and hence cannot respond to it!  Please take the time to report everything!

With increased reports of crime occurring both street side as well as along the shoreline, a formal request has recently been made of the SeaTac Police Department to help host a Community Meeting to share best practices and information for preparing against and combating crime.  Please continue to watch the ALSC Blog for further details.

Get Involved In Your Community

Do you have great ideas in mind on how SeaTac may further develop existing programs or consider introducing new ones to increase visitor stay inside our area – or perhaps your interest is more toward assisting the elderly of our city by helping to identify issues and providing recommended solutions to help improve living conditions for our senior citizens?  If either of these area seem of interest to you, the City of SeaTac has immediate vacancies on the Hotel/Motel Tax Advisory Committee and Senior Citizen Advisory Committee. 

The SeaTac Hotel/Motel Tax Advisory Committee was created pursuant to RCW 67.28 relating to public stadium, convention, arts, and tourism facilities. The Chair of the Committee is a member of the City Council with the remaining members representing the lodging industry or associated tourism-related enterprise, including not-for-profit organizations. The Committee’s duties include soliciting requests for tourism-related activities from eligible entities and making recommendations for funding to the City Council as part of the annual budget development and adoption process.

Hotel/Motel Tax Advisory Committee

2nd Wednesday, 3:00 pm, City Hall Airport Conference Room 345

Membership: 9 / Term: 3 years

An application for the Hotel/Motel Advisory Committee can be emailed to you upon request by contacting the City Clerk’s Office at (206) 973-4660.

The Senior Citizen Advisory Committee's mission is to work with the Staff Liaison to identify issues related to Senior Citizens in community; act as an advisory body to the City Council and provide input through the City Manager and the Staff Liaison to the City Council on issues relating to Senior Citizens in the community; provide increased opportunities for community involvement for our Senior population, and advise the City Council, through the City Manager and the Staff Liaison regarding the delivery of Senior Citizen programs, provide outreach to the community in an effort to develop and place Senior Citizen issues before the citizens of the City of SeaTac in a positive manner.  

Senior Citizen Advisory Committee

3rd Tuesday, 12:30 pm, SeaTac Community Center

Membership: 5 / Term: 3 years

An application for the Senior Citizen Advisory Committee can be found on the City’s website.

Patriotic Service Project

Lakeside resident Sebastian Hill and school friend Christian Pirotte, two college seniors in Air Force ROTC (Reserve Officer Training Corps) working toward a commission as 2nd Lieutenants were looking for a service project where they could do something to give back to the lake community.

As the weather was beginning to warm, water based activities were increasing and the community was bustling in preparation for the Independence Day celebrations their service interest turned toward the dive platform anchored in the Southeast corner where the annual 4^th of July swim races would be held. “We thought that painting the dock in an American flag pattern would be a great way to promote our national pride, provide a great visual to celebrate the 4th of July, and give back to the community by cleaning up the weathered dock.” Sebastian offered.

After some planning, Christian and Sebastian received assistance from Steve Beck and Lonnie Goulet for preparing the dock for painting by helping to pressure wash what must have been 40 lbs of bird droppings and a thick carpet of moss covering the surface. Sebastian’s father Doug Hill was commissioned to ferry paint and cleaning supplies and food of course to the ambitious guys during the many hours they were out their scrubbing, spraying and cleaning.

Once all the boards received a fresh coat of primer to increase paint adhesion, taping began to section off the area where the field of blue and stars would be placed.  After the first coat of red and white stripes were down, handmade star stencils were applied on top of the white circles we drew where the stars would to be placed. Sebastian recalls “We were out on the platform one night when it started raining and we stayed out there until 10:30 pm trying to protect the stars and blue paint. We had to come back the next morning and fix what the rain had ruined.”

Upon completing the rework and stencil shapes had been reapplied, blue paint was spread over the entire field area. After the appropriate curing time had been reached the stencils were pulled up to reveal the brilliant white stars among a regal blue background. The finishing touches were applied by painting the bottom boards black and using stencils to write "Land of the Free, Because of the Brave."

The project was completed in plenty of time before the 4^th of July competitive Swim and Boat Races began. We’d like to provide recognition and express appreciation for the great job these two men did in championing and managing this effort. 

A Message From ALSC President

I’m sure that in spite of the awesome weather we were presented with this July 4th, most people in attendance are wondering what was up with this year’s fireworks display. I can certainly assure you that no one felt more disappointment with the show than myself. As President of the Angle Lake Shore Club, including the other ALSC board members, we take much pride in delivering top quality events to you and the community. The fireworks show produced this year did not meet our quality expectations.

* Why did we get only a 15 minute show?
* Why did I only count 4 mini finales?
* Why was there no grand finale?
* Why was the fireworks contractor, the same agency in which we have employed over these many years, late in setting up and not producing the quality product that they're known for delivering?
* How will this situation be remediated?

The ALSC Board is currently in contact with City Representatives and together we are actively working at getting answers to all of these questions and more.

What I can tell you is simply put, “The fireworks display you witnessed was not the show we had envisioned and planned for over these past few months in both terms of length or quality". Myself and all our volunteers had put a lot of time and effort into assuring you all that what we would deliver will be the best that it can be for the investments made. And while we had put forth the same level of effort and resources as we have in previous years the result was dramatically impaired by something entirely out of our control.  Please be assured that your ALSC board of directors will not take this matter lightly.  Each of us take our responsibilities seriously and are committed to work diligently at resolving this in the best interests of all parties.

It will be our goal to report back to you no later than after our next board meeting scheduled for the end of this month. At that time we'll provide specific details and actions being taken regarding this matter.

Sincerely
Lonnie Goulet
President
ALSC

Lake Environmental Samplings

Volunteer monitoring and measuring of Angle Lake water quality began in the 1980’s and actively continues today.  The data collected over the decades confirm Angle Lake as being very clear and is labeled with a ‘very good’ water quality rating.  

Beyond measuring water quality, Laura Twardochleb, a student from the School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences at the University of Washington recently contacted the Shore Club blog to announce her intent of including Angle Lake in a study on the health of ecosystems among the many lakes in the Puget Sound Region. She shared her plans of performing environmental tests where the data collected will contribute to her master’s thesis. 

The test effort will involve placing insect collection device at each compass quadrant on the lake shore. The traps consist of a six foot tall metal post, about 2 inches in width and painted dark green.  The posts are wrapped with clear plastic sheets around the top of the posted and coated with Tanglefoot® insect glue.  The adhesive is non-toxic to animals and humans and can be washed off with soap and water.

Due to the unique shape of Angle Lake, the desire is to sample from each of the four sides of the lake, consisting of up to six individual sites.  The objective is to locate land owners who will grant permission to access the individual’s property by canoe to place an insect trap at the extreme edge of the property line to limit disruption of shoreline use and will prevent disturbance to any landscaping. The traps will remain in place for 2-3 days only.

If you are a lake front property owner and are interested in supporting this research request, please email us at anglelakesc@gmail.com or contact Laura Twardochleb direct a (206) 685-9582. Testing is planned to be performed the week of July 15th.

Fireworks Over Angle Lake

A Fourth of July celebration just wouldn't be complete without a fireworks finale. The bursting, sparkling fireworks shooting overhead bring to mind the line, "And the rocket's red glare, the bombs bursting in air..." in the American national anthem. Celebrating Independence Day without a major professional fireworks show would be like having a birthday celebration without cake and candles! 

As we prepare to take time out from our daily norms to celebrate the freedoms we enjoy as Citizens of these United States, let’s also take a moment to reflect and appreciate all the effort of those individuals and groups who help to put on the spectacular fireworks finale over Angle Lake.

Many Hands Make Light(-er) Work!

Recognition and Appreciation Go To:

• Lonnie Goulet, Shore Club President who assumes responsibility to work with City Staff and Officials throughout the year to ensure co-sponsorship is considered; also manages the bidding process to assure the community is getting the greatest value for the money spent, orchestrating the numerous volunteers, managing the licensing, insurance and various contracts and managing the fireworks contractor to deliver a safe and high quality display.  Please refer to the previous Fireworks Preparation post for more insight and realization of all that this man does to support our community show! 
• Terry Anderson; Tony Anderson; Dave Bush; Mia Gregerson; and Barry Ladenburg: The City Council Members who vote in favor for continued funding, who recognize the great value this show brings forth in uniting the entire community and building local pride at a relatively insignificant cost.  
• The Army of Volunteers (nearly 20 of them!) comprised of members who go door to door collecting the fireworks donations that cover the Shore Club financial commitment to the show.  
• Goldstone LLC and Evergreen MHP LLC, co-owners and operators of the Angle Lake Mobile Home Park, our commercial partners who provide the necessary secure location for the contractor to construct the mobile platforms and stage the mortars, shells and other materials which contribute to the final display.  
• Russ Austin for building the floating platforms on which the flares rest and deploying them down the center of each leg of the lake. 
• Each of the ALSC board members who develop all the planning and who perform the various administrative activities necessary to produce a show of this caliber. 
• And most of all – THANK YOU to the Citizen’s of SeaTac whose tax contributions into the General Fund help to make the Independence Day Professional Fireworks Show possible, this in addition to the appreciation for the individual contributions made by the Residents of Angle Lake.

FACTS:

How High Do They Go?

• 300 – 400 feet (3 and 4 inch) These smaller shells are typically used in the finale to provide a barrage of constant colors and loud noise. The noise comes from the flash powder in the salute. Flash power is made up of a blend of Potassium Percolate, Aluminum, and a sprinkle of Titanium to produce a brilliant flash.
• 400 – 600 feet (5 and 6 inch) A firework travels for 3 to 7 seconds before bursting in the sky. The amount of black powder (made from potassium nitrate, charcoal and sulfur) and the length of the time fuse determines how high the shell travels and when it will explode. After bursting, a firework may remain visible for 2 to 5 seconds.
• 800 – 1,000 feet (8 inch) Many of the best patterns (butterfly, smiley face, 5 point stars and peace patterns) come from this popular shell.
• 1,000 – 1,300 feet (10 and 12 inch) Shells of 10 and 12 inch are typically symmetrical in their patterns and usually have a burn duration of between three to seven seconds.

What's the Reason For All The Road Flares Around The Lake?
People often ask why flares are lit and placed along the entire shoreline and down the center of each leg of the lake - well, in addition to the simple "cool factor" this is a safety feature intending to signal that the show will begin soon and to request for all to vacate the lake surface.

It's OK to Discharge Fireworks on Private Property, Right?
The fact is, it is illegal in the City of SeaTac to possess and/or discharge personal fireworks within city limits.  Be forewarned that SeaTac Police and Fire Personnel will maintain a presence on Angle Lake this year and are prepared to confiscate illegal fireworks and issue citations as necessary.

Have a Very Safe and Extremely Enjoyable Fourth of July!