General Meeting of the North Rose Hill Neighborhood Association

Place: Fire Station #26
Date: March 15, 2004
Call to Order: 7:00PM

On Monday, the 15th of March, over 50 residents of North Rose Hill met for the general meeting at the Mark Twain Elementary School. Chairperson Karen Tennyson called the meeting to order at 7:00PM. On hand for the meeting were refreshments from the local Starbucks store on 85th Ave NE who were kind enough to donate coffee for the event, which was well received by those in attendance.

The agenda included a presentation by Stuart Hall on the I-405 Transportation Project as it relates to Kirkland, a presentation by Kari Page from the City of Kirkland on the Neighborhood Connections Program, and an update from the City Parks Dept about the progress on the development of Williamson Property. 

I-405 Project
According to Stuart Hall, the Kirkland Advisory Committee member for North Rose Hill, the DOT has a 20-year vision mapped out for improving traffic flow and access through the I-405 corridor. This is a huge project that has been broken down into several individual projects and will be funded by taxes at the gas pump. The portion of I-405 that goes through Kirkland has been identified as one of the first projects and is scheduled to occur in two phases. The improvements will add one additional southbound lane from SR 522 to SR 520 and one lane northbound form NE 70th St. to NE 124th St. The design, environmental documentation and permitting phase is now underway. Construction is scheduled to begin and run from late 2006 - 2008 for phase 1 which will add the lanes between NE 116th and NE 85th in both directions. Phase 2 will begin in late 2009 and will complete the new lanes in both the northbound and southbound directions by 2011. 
Woodlands Park
Michael Cogle from the City of Kirkland Parks Dept. reported that the passage of the 2002 Kirkland Park Bond included funds ($900,000) to improve Woodlands Park and develop the property adjacent to Woodlands Park that some people call the Williamson Property into a larger Woodlands Park. Plans include a new Picnic Shelter to be built in the existing grass area at Woodlands Park and a boardwalk that will allow visitors to travel through the park between 95th and 100th. Currently in the permitting phase, construction is scheduled to begin for the boardwalk later this year as well as for the picnic structure. 

Neighborhood Connection Program
Kari Page from the City of Kirkland introduced the Neighborhood Connection Program as a process that brings the City and other community services together in a coordinated and easy to use process. The purpose of the program is to: provide neighborhoods with the resources to address neighborhood needs; strengthen the relationship between City Hall and the neighborhoods; support neighborhood associations in expanding their membership; increase the awareness of the City's neighborhood services; and build partnerships to improve Kirkland's neighborhoods. The City Council allocates $100,000 per year ($25,000 per neighborhood) for small capital projects identified and prioritized by the neighborhoods through this process. The Program cycles around the City every three years targeting 4 neighborhoods per year. This is our second run with the program. In the first program we voted to use our funds to study the water quality of Forbes Lake. The results were favorable and now a base line exists to compare future data that will be collected. Kari passed out cards at the meeting and said they will be mailed to all neighbors to select their favorite project. April 15th will be the deadline to turn in the cards with your suggestions. Kari will return to our neighborhood meeting on May 17th to discuss the results of the nomination process and explain what the various projects might cost. Then ballots will be mailed to every household in North Rose Hill and every one will have a chance to vote for your top 3 projects. There is a chance the results could be announced at the neighborhood picnic on July 19th. This is a great opportunity to have a direct impact in a project that will benefit us directly. So be sure to return your suggestion cards before the April 15th deadline and to vote when you receive a ballot card in June.

Neighborhood Survey: Please be on the lookout for the 2004 Neighborhood Survey, which will be included in the North Rose Hill News that is mailed to all neighbors as a courtesy by Debbie Turner of Windermere Real Estate. In the newsletter will be a survey form that everyone should take the time to complete and return as the information provided will be used to guide future planning and neighborhood activities in North Rose Hill. We need the input of all the neighbors to assist the association in determining what is important to North Rose Hill residents.

City Wide News
· Lake Shore Plaza Task force held their community meeting on March 9th 2004 at the Peter Kirk Room in City Hall as planned. The turnout was huge, standing room only with lots of good ideas collected from those attending. Next steps are to summarize the results and report back to the public at a yet to be determined date.
· Totem Lake Mall was recently sold to a development group who plan to meet with the Totem Lake Task Force to discuss their plans on April 7th. This is a great opportunity for all of us to improve the Totem Lake area and help bring additional sales tax revenue to the city. 
· Plans are underway for a new hotel in Kirkland to be located at 3rd and Kirkland Ave. at the site of the Grape Choice. You can visit their web site at http://www.kirklandhotelgroup.com/ to view an artists' rendition of the hotel to be built.
· Kirkland Economic Partnership has launching their new web site called Kirkland Now at http://www.kirklandnow.com/. The mission of KEP is to strengthen and diversify Kirkland's economy to provide real quality of life and economic returns to the community and its citizens. The site will highlight features and properties in Kirkland as well as demographic information to those interested in locating here. 


Closing Announcements
The next general meeting of the North Rose Hill Neighborhood is scheduled for May 17th at 7:30PM at Fire Station 26, the agenda will include City Manager Dave Ramsey's presentation on the State of the City, and there should also be time for Q&A as well. Kari Page will be back for the next step of the Neighborhood Connections project. This very important presentation will help us determine which projects make the cut and will be placed on the ballot. So come and take part in the process. Hope to see you all there.