Garry Kampen

This year is the 20th anniversary of Newcastle, a small city that ranks high in livability, and the 15th anniversary of Newcastle Trails, a nonprofit citizens group that has worked for parks, trails and open space, in close cooperation with the city, since 1999.

I’m writing to celebrate Newcastle’s amazing and still-growing trail system, and to encourage you to explore it and enjoy it. Check NT’s website, www.newcastletrails.org; download our latest map and trail guide; join NT by emailing info@newcastletrails.org (for trail news, no dues); attend our Oct. 6 board meeting (7 p.m. at Regency Newcastle); and consider volunteering for the board, or lending a hand with trail work, computer work (GIS, web, writing), lobbying, fundraising — whatever you’d like to do.

Newcastle’s trails are part of a regional network used by walkers, joggers, cyclists and equestrians. The city lies within a Grand Loop, a triangle of trail corridors with its base on the existing Lake Washington Trail (future Eastside Rail Trail) and its apex in Cougar Mountain.

The sides of the triangle are the May Creek Greenway (mostly in Newcastle) and the Coal Creek section of the Mountains to Sound Greenway (mostly in Bellevue). The triangle is crossed north-to-south by Coal Creek Parkway (continuous sidewalks) and the heavily used Waterline Trail (few sidewalks, many trees), with downtown Newcastle and Lake Boren Park sandwiched between.

You can walk the loop and its cross-trails now, with two exceptions: Renton’s May Creek Trail (partly complete, bridge needed), and the parkway underpass for the Coal Creek Trail (due soon). The Grand Loop is mostly wooded nature trails: The May Creek and Coal Creek trails include creeks, waterfalls, bridges, historic sites and sections of an old railroad; the Terrace Trail has switchbacks, lovely rock steps, views, fallen trees and giant moss-covered boulders. The Marshall’s Hill and Red Town trails (in Cougar Mountain Wilderness Park) link wilderness trails with the remains of Old Newcastle and its coal mines.

The west-to-east CrossTown Trail is Newcastle’s major urban trail (nature trails and sidewalks), a central connector linking schools, parks, neighborhoods and north-south trails. It starts near 116th Avenue Southeast and Newcastle Way, and winds past or through Hazelwood Elementary School, Hazelwood Park, Donegal Park, the historic Newcastle Cemetery and Lake Boren Park, continuing on sidewalks to Beit Tikvah and, after a gap, southeast along the DeLeo Wall (woods, views) from Newcastle Vista to Cougar Mountain.

Fall projects include new trail signs citywide, and changes to the CrossTown Trail: rerouting it at the new middle school and the planned Renton School District Newcastle development (between Olympus and Hazelwood), and rebuilding sections of trail between Newcastle Vista and Cougar Mountain.

Newcastle’s trail system has benefited from the cooperation of many groups, including Renton, Bellevue, King County and the Issaquah Alps Trails Club (check their websites for trail maps and guided walks). Volunteers were also essential. Much of the trail work was done by Boy Scouts, and parents, from Newcastle’s Hazelwood Troop, and other troops from Bellevue, Kirkland and Renton.

You can find longtime Newcastle residents Jim and Peggy Price on the trails in rain or shine, though.

The husband-and-wife team is very active when it comes to preserving and expanding Newcastle’s walking trails. They were among the founders of the Newcastle Trails organization and continue to remain deeply involved in the nonprofit.

Peggy had a direct hand in designing, routing and building the Terrace Trail and the eastern portion of the May Creek Trail. She now spends a large portion of her weeks working on the CrossTown Trail, which will span from Coal Creek Parkway to Cougar Mountain Regional Wildland Park.

Many Eagle Scouts have her to thank for helping them complete their final projects while she dutifully supervised and assisted on their trail extensions.

You can’t talk about the Newcastle trails, without mentioning the Prices, but to them, their passion for the outdoors is just a way of life.

Peggy’s love of trails started early, thanks to annual family camping trips, while Jim picked his up as a boy growing up in Illinois.

The duo met as University of Washington students when Peggy joined Jim’s hiking club.

“After about four hikes, the club was down to two people — the ones who would hike and camp in the rain,” Peggy said.

The last ones standing eventually married a year and a half later, before relocating to Alaska, which features a playground of outdoor activities for the two. They moved to Newcastle in 1986.

The Newcastle Chamber of Commerce has already honored both with Diamond Awards, but with the work they do to promote and expand the city’s greatest recreational amenity, they could easily be nominated every year.

Up next, the Prices will continue their work on the city’s trails and take time to hike a newly rebuilt section of the Pacific Crest Trail near Glacier Peak this summer. The Pacific Crest Trail stretches from Canada to Mexico.

Thanks for your first-rate coverage of the departure of Mark Rigos, Newcastle’s Public Works director. Mark is an extraordinary individual who made a huge positive impact on the city and its residents, especially in expanding and improving Newcastle’s trail system, as members of Newcastle Trails can attest.

Projects that had been deferred for years were completed during Mark’s three-year tenure, often on his initiative (without prodding from Newcastle Trails). These included easements for the Horse Trail, drainage on the Highlands Trail, and surveys that helped prevent encroachment on our parks and trails.

Mark played a major role in the completion of the May Creek Trail, and cooperated effectively with the city of Renton in planning a May Creek Greenway from Lake Washington to Cougar Mountain Regional Wildland Park. His efforts have ensured the near-term completion of Newcastle’s part of the Greenway from Renton to Cougar Mountain. His support — with negotiations, logistics and materials — has been vital to our 2014 work in extending the CrossTown Trail Southeast from Newcastle Vista.

Mark accelerated trail construction and improvement by making effective use of city staff and outside agencies (like the Washington Conservation Corps) and working closely with Newcastle Trails and other trail supporters (including the Boy Scouts and Weed Warriors). He provided material support to volunteer work parties, and applied his engineering skills to construction problems on the May Creek Trail and elsewhere.

Mark is a great communicator, sometimes beyond any reasonable expectation. An email sent to him at 6 p.m. on a Friday might well get a clear, detailed reply a short time later. And be followed up by action. He was proactive: If something of interest to Newcastle Trails reached him, he’d send a message right away, with relevant documents attached.

Mark is a nice guy who finishes first, with a great work ethic and exceptional gifts in people skills, management ability and engineering expertise. We wish him well in his new job. The city hit a home run when they hired him: We hope our heavy hitters can score again with his successor.

Garry Kampen

President, Newcastle Trails

Other Energy Eastside options need to be studied independently

Puget Sound Energy’s Energize Eastside Community Advisory Group process is deeply flawed and does not represent the preferences of the neighborhoods. It is now well-acknowledged that the data collected is statistically invalid, as even PSE’s own CAG representative said it is “meaningless to the process of scoring neighborhood values for the purposes of determining a preferred route.”

PSE unilaterally eliminated several viable alternative solutions to support growth on the Eastside before it began the CAG process.

The neighborhood members of the CAG respectfully ask all five cities to formally notify PSE that the CAG process does not represent the will of the neighborhoods, that this project would significantly violate neighborhood character, and to either stop wasting time on it or restart it with other options for the CAG to consider.

There are too many non-neighborhood stakeholders on the CAG and not enough of the affected neighborhoods are represented, thus PSE stacked the deck against the neighborhoods. PSE and its consultant Enviroissues have purposely manipulated a process that is not fair, accurate, thorough or transparent.

The neighborhoods need the city of Bellevue (the lead agency) to have several other options independently studied prior to the Environmental Impact Statement and State Environmental Policy Act review process commencing.

The PSE Community Advisory Group Members and/or Alternates signed below:

Steve O’Donnell, Somerset, Ruth Marsh, Somerset, John Merrill, Somerset, Norm Hansen, Bridle Trails, Warren Halverson, Bridle Trails, Lindy Bruce, Sunset Hills, Dick Morris, Sunset Hills, David T. Edmonds, Olympus, Sean McNamara, Olympus, Larry Johnson, Olympus, Jeff Dubois, Greenwich Crest, Scott Kaseburg, Lake Lanes, Donald Miller, Lake Lanes, Sally McCray, Lake Lanes, Dr. Richard Kaner, Lake Lanes, Darius Richards, Kennydale, Mark Hancock, Kennydale

By Christina Corrales-Toy
Mark Rigos, outgoing Newcastle Public Works director, with his son Alexander, speaks at the May Creek Trail ribbon-cutting ceremony Sept. 15.

Newcastle Public Works Director Mark Rigos has only worked with the city for three years, but his impact on the community is so great that when he announced his resignation, at least one resident became emotional at the thought of losing him.

“Honestly, I teared up a little bit,” Newcastle Trails representative Peggy Price said. “He’s been absolutely fabulous to Newcastle Trails. He’s proactive and he backs us up.”

Rigos announced in May that he will leave to become the public works director for the city of North Bend. His last day in Newcastle is June 13.

It wasn’t an easy decision to leave, Rigos said, especially since he has certainly grown to love Newcastle and its residents, but North Bend offers some new opportunities that Newcastle didn’t.

In North Bend, Rigos will manage the city’s water and sewer district, something he couldn’t do in Newcastle, because that falls under the Coal Creek Utility District’s purview. He’ll also get the chance to manage North Bend’s wastewater treatment facility.

“In the private sector, I’ve designed miles and miles of water mains and sewer mains, but I’ve never managed a full facility, a district, a fund, so that will be a new challenge for me that I just haven’t been exposed to yet,” Rigos said.

Rigos wore many different hats during his time in Newcastle. Sometimes, he was a trails manager. Other times, he was like a parks manager. But whatever he did, his constant dedication to customer service touched everyone that came into contact with him.

“He is a very humble leader and I liken him to a modern day Nehemiah, doing his best for others and the city with a sincere purpose and calling,” Newcastle Weed Warriors President Grace Stiller said.

Along with his staff, Rigos managed several sidewalk projects, oversaw a tricky landslide-stabilization project along Newcastle Golf Club Road, worked with Newcastle Trails to develop and acquire new trails, and guided the city through some major pavement rehabilitation projects in his three years.

His proudest accomplishment was the huge strides the city’s stormwater division made under his watch, he said. He credited surface water engineer Laura Frolich and infrastructure manager Brian Smith for making sure the city was dialed in on capital and maintenance needs.

“I’ve had a wonderful staff. There’s certainly no I in team,” Rigos said. “My staff has just been incredible in getting these projects done.”

Rigos is known for going the extra mile, City Manager Rob Wyman said. Whether it was finding a way to give west end residents their Little Rhody Park, even after the grant they applied for was denied, or bringing his son along to an off-hours May Creek Trail ribbon-cutting ceremony, Rigos always put in the extra effort to make something special.

“He was a true member of the community here,” Wyman said. “I’m going to personally miss him quite a bit, and going to miss all he’s done.”

Rigos has a long list of things he will miss about Newcastle, he said, among them, the people, the City Council, his staff and his city manager.

He doesn’t expect to stay a stranger, though. Rigos, an Issaquah resident, already has plans to attend the city’s Fourth of July event and maybe make it out for one of the city’s Concerts in the Park series.

“I’ll especially miss folks like Peggy Price, Garry Kampen, Grace Stiller and Lee Strom,” he said. “There are so many people that contribute in so many different ways to Newcastle, and that makes it a neat small town.”

Rigos joined the Newcastle staff in 2011. Prior to that, he spent 12 years as a senior project manager at Concept Engineering. He holds bachelor’s degrees in civil engineering and biology from Washington State University, and a master’s in business administration from Seattle University.

Wyman now has the arduous task of finding Rigos’ replacement. Whoever it is, he or she will certainly have some big shoes to fill.

“He’s not been a typical public works director,” Wyman said. “That’s the big challenge I have in trying to replace him.”

Rigos, who will start his new North Bend job June 16, does have some advice for the person that follows him, though.

“Public safety is always No. 1 in my mind, and as a civil engineer, it has to be, but almost equally important is excellent customer service,” he said. “Customer service is often overlooked in a public servant and I think it’s especially important in a small town like Newcastle.”

In an approximately 20-minute address, Buri talked about his love of Newcastle’s sense of community, and he updated citizens about improvements to Lake Boren Park, development of the Mutual Materials site and a potential new project to expand the May Creek Trail.

Buri, who assumed the mayor’s role in January, introduced himself before discussing city matters. He moved to Newcastle in 1998, he said, where he and his wife quickly fell in love with the city.

“Part of what I love about the city of Newcastle, which was alluded to earlier, is the sense of community, and part of that comes from the fact that it’s really a small town,” he said. “I don’t go to the store or any of the businesses without seeing someone I know.”

Buri then delved head first into talk about plans for improvements to Lake Boren Park. The park, which he described as the “crown jewel of Newcastle,” is a priority for the city, he said.

Residents got a first look at an initial vision for the park at the town hall meeting in October. Suggested upgrades included a larger, covered stage, a kid’s spray zone, widening and improving the beach area, shoreline boardwalks and the creation of a central meadow.

During the October meeting, the city used polling devices to get feedback on the project, and 77 percent of respondents said they agreed that improvements to Lake Boren Park would benefit the community.

The City Council recently authorized city staff to explore the purchase of properties at the south end of the lake that would help alleviate flooding concerns near lakeshore properties and essentially expand Lake Boren Park.

“We’re really at the beginning stages of getting your input on what you’d like to see happen there,” Buri said. “Whatever we do will involve a lot of public input.”

Buri also talked about a potential project to expand the May Creek Trail, including the installation of a suspension bridge.

One of the most exciting aspects of the project, City Manager Rob Wyman noted, was that the extension would allow Newcastle residents to walk directly to Seahawks practice at the Virginia Mason Athletic Center.

“Really, it would be an amazing enhancement, with a pedestrian bridge over a beautiful stretch of May Creek,” Buri said.

The project would include the bridge, trail extensions and a trailhead parking lot along Southeast May Creek Park Drive.

The city has submitted a state capital budget request through the office of state Rep. Tana Senn to fund the project.

“We’re pursuing it down in Olympia, and I think the prospects are good without promising it,” Buri said of the city’s chances to receive the funding.

It could be a particularly attractive project to state leaders, Buri said, because it would serve as a key link in the Mountains to Sound Greenway connection.

The Mountains to Sound Greenway is a connected landscape of natural lands and communities along Interstate 90 between Seattle and Central Washington. It features a regional trail network used by pedestrians and bicyclists.

If the city gets the $1.4 million it’s asking for from the state, it will obviously move forward with the project, Buri said. If it doesn’t, the project is something the city would still like to pursue in the future, when funding is available.

The East May Creek Trail is walkable from Coal Creek Parkway down to the “picnic site” (logs make ad hoc benches and tables) just down May Creek from the mouth of Boren Creek.

From there, a rough trail exists all the way to the existing May Creek Trail. The section along the creek is being steadily improved by Newcastle Trails volunteers working closely with the city of Newcastle.

The final sections up to the existing trail will be completed as a series of Eagle Scout projects.

Working with officials from Newcastle and Renton, the trails organization has identified a possible route and bridge location for the extension of the May Creek Trail west into the city of Renton.

The group is also examining the prospect of resuming work on the East CrossTown Trail when the Newcastle Vista subdivision goes in later this year.

Many volunteers will be needed to help to get the trails finished quickly.

Email Peggy Price at info@newcastletrails.org to volunteer.

Scouts from several troops will work on both ends of the new trail, but more volunteers are needed. Newcastle Trails is a nonprofit organization that can provide certificates of community service.

Supervisors are also welcome. Adults who can move along the trail, keep people on task and answer questions are also needed.

Contact Peggy Price at 829-2196 or info@newcastletrails.org for more information.

Newcastle Trails and the Newcastle Weed Warriors are holding work parties June 11.

Newcastle Trails will build a portion of the May Creek Trail, and the Weed Warriors will clean up Hazelwood Park, 121^st Place Southeast.

Trail work will be from 9 a.m. to noon between Coal Creek Parkway and the existing May Creek Rail Trail. Volunteers will begin tossing sticks, removing vegetation and roughing out the trail. Wear sturdy shoes, long pants and long sleeves for the work.

The work parties will meet near the retention pond just south of Southeast 91^st Street on Coal Creek Parkway. The pond is on the west side of the parkway, and the group will meet at the west end of the pathway that runs alongside the pond.

Arrive on time, as there will be a demonstration before work begins. Bring your own gloves and tools if you would like. Newcastle Trails will also provide gloves and tools, as well as snacks and water.

Email organizer Peggy Price at PPrice@appraisalgroupnw.com for more information.

The Hazelwood Park cleanup will be from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., and volunteers will remove ivy from the trees. Park on the street at the end of 121^st Place Southeast and Southeast 73^rd Place at the park entrance.

Call or email Grace Stiller at 229-7927 or gracestiller@comcast.net for more information.