Great Northwest Greenbelt Report: Progress...

You may recall that during a meeting of the Board of Directors for the Great Northwest Community Improvement Association (GNWCIA), our Community Manager gave us an update on some clean-up work that was taking place in the greenbet located behind the Lodge of the Great Northwest between Timberwilde and Tezel Road.

At that meeting, he suggested that folks might want to take a stroll to see the progress for themselves, so this evening, my wife and I charged up our little scooters (last seen in the GNW 4th of July Parade) and decided to take a little ride down there.

I have to tell you first off that our scooters are the perfect vehicle for a parade on a flat street with no bumps or hills, jagged rocks, dips or protruding limbs. But we gave it a shot in the greenbelt anyway...

My intent was to go along and take a bunch of pictures to show folks the progress (and there has been incredible progress since my first visit months ago). But since we could only make it less than 1/4 of a mile in, we opted to save it for more of a walking adventure.

But our failure should not deprive you from what I did see, so here are a few pictures of the first 1/4 mile.You'll note some tagging along one privacy fence. I suspect the homeowners have no idea their fence has been defaced. Clearing out the area to make it more accessible and enjoyable should hopefully make this area more of a family friendly environment and less of a hang-out and tagging practice area. Who knows?You can see that they have cleared out about 10 to 15 feet of brush away from the fence lines. A person walking should easily be able to navigate this area, taking a pet for a walk or just enjoying some time peering over the privacy fences of the people who back up to the greenbelt. I can just see the first incident of someone calling security, not because some peeping Tom is looking over the fence, but because some nosy greenbelt hiker looked over the fence and saw something he didn't need to see. So as a warning to Naturists, please keep a towel handy so as not to offend the people looking over your fence. I'm just being goofy now. There are no reports of repulsive nekkid people displaying themselves along the greenbelt, at least that I am aware of. I'll alert the Cibrian District Council Office if I hear of such antics.Anyway, the one thing I did notice was that much of the brush has been pushed toward the dry creek bed in the middle of the greenbelt. I think the idea is to let it dry up and then it can be dealt with. I also noticed a large chipper on site, so I'm not sure how it will all end.

This weekend, weather permitting, I'm going to take a walk down the length of the greenbelt and snap some new photos and hope to report back with some better pictures that can reveal what an inviting place this area is and can be.

Meanwhile, the scooters will have to charge up and prepare themselves for an adventure a little less rugged.