Cascade SE Courier Spring 2017

Cascade SE Neighborhood Association (CSENA) 

We are neighbors working together for a strong community. 

Have you joined Nextdoor yet? 

If you are new to the neighborhood, we 

want to welcome you.   

Have you ever wondered what you would 

do if the big earthquake happened during 

your lifetime.  Most likely, before help from 

the city of Vancouver arrives, you will need 

to rely on the help of your neighbors.  

Nextdoor can be a first step.  If you have 

not already joined you should.  Nextdoor 

can be an easy way to start to connect with 

your Cascade SE neighbors and the 

surrounding neighborhoods.  Common 

posts have topics like: ”found cat”, “looking 

for a good electrician”, “free moving boxes” 

and announcements from the city.  

You can join at 

cascadesoutheast.nextdoor.com/join 

 

CSENA Fiscal Report We have $1027.71 as of March, 31, 2017.    

 

 

 

Cascade SE neighborhood meeting to take place at the Mountain View High School Media Center on May 23rd from 7 to 8:30 p.m. Come to: 

Mingle with your neighbors 

Vote on open neighborhood association positions 

Learn about work this summer on some of our neighborhood streets 

Hear information about the City’s Neighborhood Traffic Calming Program 

Visit with our neighborhood officer Corporal Jim Burgara about your concerns  Nominate a neighbor for Vancouver Sparkles 

 

Cascade SE Executive Board  

Chair Laura Knox    Laura is going to retire for being chair and so we are looking for someone to fill her shoes. Your name can go here      Vice‐chair Your name can go here   Treasurer Joanne Manning  Neighbor Welcoming Committee Your name can go here   Cascade SE Courier Writer Your name can go here   Cleanup Day and Chipper Day Organizers Your names can go here   City of Vancouver Neighborhood Liaison Scott Cooley (360) 487‐7664 scott.cooley@cityofvancouver.us  Neighborhood Police Officer Corporal Jim Burgara (360) 487‐7540 jim.burgara@cityofvancouver.us  

 

   Thank you to all of our dedicated newsletter distributors.  You help keep your neighbors informed and make Cascade Se a great place to live.  

Vancouver Sparkles with community pride! The Vancouver Sparkles Award is a program in the City of Vancouver that recognizes neighbors who go the extra mile to make their neighborhood special. Since its beginnings in 2001, hundreds of award winners have been recognized for making Vancouver Sparkle, and acknowledged for making their neighborhoods clean, green and a good place to live and work. Whether it’s picking up litter during a daily walk, organizing a cleanup, helping neighbors with yard work or being a friendly neighbor with a “can do” attitude, our neighborhood association is encouraged to name a Vancouver Sparkles Award Winner and honor them in a special way. If you know of a neighbor that helps make our neighborhood a great place to live please bring their name and reasons why you are nominating them to the neighborhood meeting on MAY 23rd. Nominations will be collected and one lucky neighbor will be recognized during our August 20th picnic.

 

Nominations/Elections for the Cascade SE 

Neighborhood Association  

We will be holding elections for the CSENA 

executive board at our May 23rd association 

meeting.  If you are interested please come to our 

May meeting. 

According to our neighborhood bylaws the offices are described as follows. 

Chair or Co‐chairs:  Act as the primary executive officer and preside over all deliberations and 

activities of the Association.  The Chair/Co‐Chairs or their designated alternates shall be the 

official spokesperson(s) of the Association. 

Vice‐chair:  Shall act in the absence of the Chair/Co‐chairs and perform such duties as required.  

Secretary:  Shall act in conjunction with the other officers; keep minutes of the Association and 

Executive Board meetings; and notify members of meeting and activities in advance. 

At the meeting we will also be signing up volunteers to help establish a neighborhood 

welcoming committee, a Cascade SE Courier Writer, and Organizers for future Cleanup Day and 

Chipper Days, as well as volunteers to help staff this years cleanup day. 

Save the Date 

Our annual Cleanup day has been set for Saturday, September 30th.  Many hands make light 

work.  If you are available to help neighbors unload their vehicles or help direct traffic please let 

us know at the May meeting or just show up in September.  In recent years there has been little 

to no help.  If the trend continues then the neighborhood cleanup day will no longer be 

scheduled.  Sorry.  On a similar yet opposite note, if we get volunteers then we will work to get 

a city crew operated wood chipper scheduled to come to the neighborhood to chip and haul 

away wood debris, including brush and limbs. 

If you have the room please save your tin cans, fixtures, metal scraps, bent screws, stripped or 

headless bolts, unusable socket parts, rusty tools, squished aluminum cans, etc.. Save your 

metal for the 2017 cleanup day.  Metal turned in at our cleanup day will be recycled and the 

money earned will be returned to our neighborhood account. 

Like last year, we will also have a too good to toss area.  An area to set items that you no 

longer need but that others might want to give a new home to.  Things like the bike that no 

long fits your child, a bookcase longing to hold another’s books, or a chair that you recently 

decided to part with.  Last year our too good to toss area earned our neighborhood money 

because rather than throwing away, we reused. 

 

Six Tips for Effective Weed Control

Proven methods for controlling weeds in your garden

by Barbara Pleasant

1. LET SLEEPING WEEDS LIE

Every square inch of your garden contains weed seeds, but only those in the top inch or two of soil get enough light to trigger germination. Digging and cultivating brings hidden weed seeds to the surface, so assume weed seeds are there ready to erupt, like ants from an upset anthill,

every time you open a patch of ground. Dig only when you need to and immediately salve the disturbed spot with plants or mulch.

2. MULCH, MULCH, MULCH

Mulch benefits plants by keeping the soil cool and moist and depriving weeds of light. Organic mulches, in particular, can actually host crickets and carabid beetles, which seek out and devour thousands of weed seeds.

Some light passes through chunky mulches, and often you will discover—too late—that the mulch you used was laced with weed seeds. It’s important to replenish the mulch as needed to keep it about 2 inches deep (more than 3 inches deep can deprive soil of oxygen). In any case, you can set weeds way back by

covering the soil’s surface with a light-blocking sheet of cardboard, newspaper, or biodegradable fabric and then spreading prettier mulch over it.

3. WEED WHEN THE WEEDING’S GOOD

The old saying “Pull when wet; hoe when dry” is wise advice when facing down weeds. After a drenching rain, stage a rewarding weeding session by equipping yourself with gloves, a sitting pad, and a trug or tarp for collecting the corpses. As you head out the door, slip an old table fork into your back pocket because there’s nothing better for twisting out tendrils of henbit or chickweed. When going after bigger thugs, use a fishtail weeder to pry up taprooted weeds, like dandelion or dock.

4. LOP OFF THEIR HEADS

When you can’t remove weeds, the next best thing is to chop off their heads. With annual weeds, deadheading buys you a few weeks of time before the weed “seed rain” begins. Cutting back the tops of perennial weeds, like bindweed, reduces reseeding and forces them to use up food reserves and exhaust their supply of root buds, thus limiting their spread.

5. MIND THE GAPS BETWEEN PLANTS

Close plant spacing chokes out emerging weeds by shading the soil between plants. You can prevent weed-friendly gaps from the get-go by designing with mass plantings or in drifts of closely spaced plants rather than with polka dots of widely scattered ones.

6. WATER THE PLANTS YOU WANT, NOT THE WEEDS YOU’VE GOT

Put drought on your side by depriving weeds of water. Placing drip or soaker hoses beneath mulch efficiently irrigates plants while leaving nearby weeds thirsty.

Beyond these strategies, enriching your soil with organic matter every chance you get can move your garden along down the weed-free path. Soil scientists aren’t sure how it works, but fewer weed seeds germinate in soil that contains fresh infusions of good compost or organic matter. One theory makes elegantly simple sense: When soil is healthy and well fed, weed seeds sense that they are out of a job and are less likely to appear. Read more:

http://www.finegardening.com/six-tips-effective-weed-control#ixzz4edd14nnA  

 Join us… The date has been set for Sunday, August 20th at Bella Vista Park.  This event is a great way to end the summer season with some fellowship. Please bring a salad, side dish or dessert to share.  

 

Download the MyVancouver app. from the ITunes App Store or the Android Google Play Store.    With the app you can:  

Report non‐emergency issues, including potholes, graffiti, sign damage or street light outages quickly and easily by uploading a photo and GPS location 

Communicate directly with the right City employee on reported issue 

Stay in‐the‐know on the status of your request 

Discover local places using the places widget as a visual guide, including transportation hubs, municipal buildings, parks and hospitals 

Access City services, such as parking ticket or permit  payments and street sweeping schedules 

Join the social media conversation with  the #IHeartVanWA widget  New capabilities are frequently added to this ever changing app.

  

Learn about recycling during a Walk & Talk Tour!

Tour a local transfer station and discover where your recyclables end up. Learn handy recycling tips and get the latest facts about our regional garbage and recycling system. This informative daytime walking tour is FREE, fun and open to the public. Neighborhood Incentive! Attending this class will help your neighborhood association become eligible for a $120 incentive offered to officially recognized neighborhood associations in the City of Vancouver and Clark County. For more information or to RSVP to join a tour, contact Julie Gilbertson at 487- 7162 or email julie.gilbertson@cityofvancouver.us.

Optional tour times: 11 a.m. to noon or 2 to 3 p.m. Date: Tuesday, May 23 Location: West Van Materials Recovery Center, 6601 NW Old Lower River Road

Open to the public, but space is limited. To save your spot in the class, contact Julie Gilbertson at the City of Vancouver’s Solid Waste Services at (360) 487-7162 or email julie.gilbertson@cityofvancouver.us.

This tour is given several times a year. If May 23rd doesn’t work, call Julie and try another day.

 

Save the Date May 23(Tuesday)NeighborhoodmeetingatMountainViewHighSchoolMedia

Center August 20 (Sunday)NeighborhoodpotluckpicnicatBellaVistaPark(noon‐4

p.m.) September 30 (Saturday)NeighborhoodCleanupday

    The City of Vancouver supports the Neighborhood Associations in their effort to share vital information with residents in order to create a more informed public. However, the information provided and the opinions and views expressed in Neighborhood Association newsletters or other documents do not necessarily represent the position of the City of Vancouver, nor does the City determine whether the information published is accurate or appropriate. Printed by the City of Vancouver Office of Neighborhoods.     

 

 

  Annual Picnic

at Bella Vista Park

August Cascade Se and Bella

Vista Neighborhoods will picnic together again this

year. 20th

Noon to 4 p.m.

Free Admission

Activities: Vancouver Sparkles award will be given.

Details: The neighborhoods will provide the main dish, utensils and drinks. Theme: To fit in with this year’s theme you need to break out your Hawaiian attire. Please bring a salad, side dish or dessert to share. More details will come on a postcard mailed this summer.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Neighbor Cascade SE Courier