Wood pieces moved to sidewalk despite “Do Not Enter” sign

As of Monday afternoon, some pieces of wood from a large pile of wood at Bicentennial Park had been moved to the sidewalk. A sign that was in place Friday stating that the wood is not free was still there Monday, as was a police tape line surrounding the wood.

The pile of wood has been at Bicentennial Park since late 2015, Parks Services and Property Management Superintendent Ken Courtmanch said.

“A number of trees within the park had been showing stress over the last few years and in last year’s hot summer began to fail and had become a fall risk,” Courtmanch said in an email. “After discussing with an arborist, the trees were dropped. Park staff then started cleaning the park.”

A Mountlake Terrace police officer surrounded the logs with police tape after complaints were filed about people taking wood off of the pile. The officer also posted a sign that says “Do not enter, wood is not free,” which was still in place Monday.

A bogus Craigslist ad posted last week stated that the wood was free for anyone willing to come haul it away. Courtmanch said the posting was not true.

“The wood is currently not for sale to the public as we are looking for a mill company that may have an interest in purchasing the lot,” he said.

The Craigslist ad was live through last week, but has since been flagged by Craigslist for removal.

  1. Nine months to remove the wood pile is not very good performance. Can’t someone in city government spend a half hour to get it sold, or make it free to whoever can haul it away?

  2. I agree, that pile has been there way too long. I walk by there all the time and see kids playing on it, just takes one to fall and break something for the city to face a costly lawsuit.

  3. A large pile of wood, sitting on public property for 9 months, not available for a public removal solution. So what is the plan?
    In 2008, I remodeled my kitchen. Work was completed from demolition to clean up in 2 weeks ( yes I managed the job well, I proudly say) and on February 25 my contractor hauled final trash 2 Shoreline recycle and transfer station. On February 28th I received a letter from the city of Mountlake Terrace, dated Feb 25th, claiming that I had construction debris in my yard and I would be cited or punished in some way if I did not have it removed. When someone wants to move against a citizen in Mountlake Terrace, someone can get the cities butt in gear. I have always kept the hauling receipts and the letter as a reminder of the mysteries behind who runs this city.

  4. The parks and recreation department is down from a staff of 5 to a staff of 3 and maintaining all of the parks, including the new 42 acre Lake Ballinger park that wasn’t even a park when they had 5 people. Just wanted to thank them for all of their hard work at the rec center and the dogpark and the track and evergreen field on 224th and Lake Ballinger park, all of which see thousands of visitors who leave huge messes everyday. My family really appreciates all of the work that you do everyday to make our city wonderful.

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