Subject: [RCSE] The Seattle Flying site needs your help. We may loose it.

Seattle is loosing its only Soaring Site

Fellow soaring enthusiasts, Seattle is in danger of loosing its soaring site. The current field is approximately 15 acres of mowed grass, surrounded by a golf course, soccer fields and open field. It is about as perfect as it can get. The Seattle Area Soaring Society has been flying on this site since 1971. It is known as 60 Acres South.

The property is owned by King County and currently a county park. We share the field with other users of similar needs, free flight and rockets. This is the only field in King County specifically for these uses.

Over the last 15 years, we have successfully fought off local organized soccer groups that want to place more goals on our field. The primary reason King County Parks has not allowed the spread of soccer to our field is because this is the only place in King County for sailplanes.

Unfortunately, in a reorganization of King County, Parks was merged with the Department of Natural Resources. A built in conflict of interest has occurred. Suddenly, the DNR needs a new water reclamation facility (non-drinkable). (I prefer to call it by its proper name, a "TURD PLANT") Five sites were reviewed. One is a steep hillside (actually the county's first choice) but they managed to find a tiny wetland on it. Two other sites are on flat agriculture land. The county's excuse for not putting it there was because its is zoned agriculture. So the decision was made to put it in a park. During a meeting with a supporting King County Counsel person, she stated, "I have a hard time believing that agriculture zone is a legitimate excuse because the ONLY reason for this facility is to WATER THE CROPS."

None of the other sites have any users on them. The hillside is grown over (4' to 15' high) and the Agriculture land has been tiled every year for the last several years.

Of the five sites, the flying site is the only site with consistent user groups on it. (Soaring, park flyers, rockets and free flight.) The County has not been able to articulate the reasons for choosing the flying site for its new turd plant.

The Seattle Area Soaring Society attended the public meetings. Many things were promised, but they didn't come through with a single thing. Promises to put it underground changed to 6 acres of 35 foot buildings, orchard layout tree area, rose bushes, chainlink fence etc. Subtle threats were made along the lines if you don't go along, DNR will make use of the field difficult in the future, ie schedule other events in volume, making flying impossible.

This 34.5 million dollar plant will produce 1.5 million gallons of irrigation water a day. Fairly small as far as this type of plant goes, it will only have one employee on shift at a time. Within a couple of miles a 1.6 billion dollar plant is being built that will produce between 57 and 70 millions gallons per day. In other words the first 34.5 million is just a waste of taxpayers money and nothing more than a duplicated effort.

The facility is well into design. Ground breaking is supposed to be in July. We had the wool pulled over our eyes.

We need your help. We have already contacted our local representatives in local government and have discovered several on our side. We have already performed our own club letter writing campaign (approx. 60 letters) with some, but limited success.

We need letters, lots and lots of letters.

Individual flyers;

Please write about the love of your hobby, involvement of kids, the difficulty in finding places to fly along with the following:

1. This is the only place to fly RC sailplanes in King County.

2. The user groups are unique. Greyhounds, freeflight, rockets and RC sailplanessimply need a lot of open space. Even a parking lot wheel stop, much less a building or 6 is a potential danger to our airsraft..

3. This is the only place to fly RC sailplanes and rockets in King County.

4. Safety of the equipment and people. All structures, building and trees are like magnets to your planes.

5. This is the only place to fly RC sailplanes in King County.

6. Organized regional events (Wash, Idaho, and Oregon) use this field less because it is actually too small already for many of the events.

7. This is the only place to fly RC sailplanes in King County.

8. With the inclusion of the turd plant, many more regional events will not use this field.

9. This is the only place in King County to fly RC sailplanes and Rockets.

10. I am a taxpayer, homeowner. This is my hobby. I have purchase a larger truck just to haul my stuff around. I own thousands of dollars of this stuff.

11. Some activities like rockets and freeflight are compatible. Very few activities need a large open space with an even larger air space above and beyond.

12. This is the last place to fly RC Sailplanes in King County.

13. SASS has been a good field steward for the King County park system.

14. Three of the other four sites are better locations without any user groups at all on them.

15. My kids fly here.

16. I can't afford to fly the real thing anymore, this is the closest thing I have to my real love.

17. This is my obsession.

18. Did I mention, that there is no other place to fly in King County?

19. Any wives to write a letter about her husbands obsession?

Sherman Knight

Contact Information:

Phone (206) 296-1003

Fax (206) 296-0198

TTY/TDD (206) 296-1024

Toll Free (800) 325-6165 ext. 6-1003

Mailing Address

Kathy Lambert

King County Courthouse

516 Third Avenue, Room 1200

Seattle, WA 98104-3272

On the cover of the envelope, below the address line or in e-mail in the RE:

line write:

Attn: Save RC flying at 60 Acres.

Contact Info

Ron Sims

King County Executive

King County Courthouse

516 Third Avenue, Room 400

Seattle, WA 98104

Phone: (206) 296-4040

Fax: (206) 296-0194

TTY: 711