On Monday, the 15^th of November, over 50 residents of North Rose Hill met for the general meeting at the Mark Twain Elementary School. Chairperson Karen Tennyson and Debbie Turner called the meeting to order at 7:30 PM.

Coffee donated by the local Starbucks store on 85^th Ave NE was available for those in attendance and there were fresh baked cookies from neighbors as well.

The agenda included:

• A presentation by Gina Hortilossa and Janice Soloff from the Kirkland Planning Dept. on the 85^th St. Sub Area Plan Implementation
• A report by Debbie Turner on the results of the Neighborhood Survey
• Discussions on the future of the Neighborhood
• A presentation by City of Kirkland’s City Manager, Dave Ramsey, City Planner, Jeremy McMahon and Developer Terry Martin on the proposed development of the City owned property at Lake and Central.

The goal of the NE 85^th Street Sub Area plan is to improve visual attractiveness of the area between 132^nd Ave NE and -I405, pedestrian and vehicular safety, and economic vitality of the NE 85^th Street corridor. Implementation of the plan will include input from the NE 85^th Street Action Team, a committee made up of stake holders from the business and the neighborhood and city staff , zoning regulations, design guidelines and street improvements.

Gina shared with the members some background of the project and brought everyone up to date on the current status, which can be viewed at the web page above. Neighbors in attendance were very interested in the presentation. One suggestion raised by Linda Jones was that the city should serious consider burying the utility lines during the project. Others agreed. Gina, said the cost may be excessive.

85^th St Project Future dates: December 16 and January 13, Planning Commission study sessions where they will begin discussing the draft zoning regulations for the NE 85^th Street Subarea (7pm in the City Council Chambers).

December 8- 5:00-7:30: Sound Transit Open House: Planned Transportation Improvements and Public comments on Environmental Review at Rose Hill Elementary School, 8044 128^th Avenue NE

Surveys were mailed to approximately 1500 homes. 182 were returned which translates to a return rate of 12%. In this survey as opposed to others the survey’s return postage was paid for by the neighborhood. However, there return rate was not significantly affected. In prior surveys, postage was not included for the return of the surveys and approximately 11% were returned. A majority of people who chose to respond to the survey questions also took time to add comments to their surveys. It was very interesting to read the comments and review the results. I hope to post a copy of the survey to the north Rose Hill Web Site in the very near future for all to see.

Discussions were held regarding the Association: Attendees were asked to voice their comments as to where/what they think the Association should focus on into the future.

• Todd Boyle suggested the association increase their involvement into other avenues such as ride sharing, teens and youth issues
• Debbie Turner offered the Dec 13^th Board Meeting/Potluck as a great way to build relationships and increase membership
• Some others spoke about the Neighborhood Bylaws. As a result I asked our web master to post the bylaws to the Neighborhood website
• Jean Hodgson suggested we review the mission of the association and encourage people to think towards the future
• Linda Jones suggested the formation of committees as a means to accomplish goals. Someone countered that the committees would be composed of the same people thus contributing further to burnout
• Kaylee Nilan suggested that the Association consider making meetings more social, not all business to increase members
• Patty Sutter suggested that we coordinate with the school to get parents of students involved.
• Kevin Miller said that a big project would serve to generate excitement and build interest among neighbors. Debbie Turner said this was true and recounted the story of Target.
• Mark Isaacs spoke about the By-Laws and Individual Property Rights.

There were more but I apologize for not having more notes to share

The next meeting of the North Rose Hill Neighborhood is a board meeting scheduled for Dec 13^th at 7:00PM at Mark Twain Elementary School Library. The agenda for the meeting is to celebrate the successes, recognize the leaders and volunteers and discuss the future of the Association while celebrating the holidays with a Dessert Potluck.