State Street/Central
Neighborhood Association
Meeting Minutes
August 3, 2000
• Kirkland City Council member Dave Asher presented his concerns on a stream setback issue in our neighborhood.
There is a class B perennial stream that runs through Lakeview School and under State Street adjacent to property owned by Kurt Mathewson. In 1992 the building setback from this stream was raised from 25’ to 50’. Mr. Mathewson has been working with various scientists to move this back to 25’ to enhance his property development. Mr. Asher makes the point that this is a mistake given that once the Endangered Species Act goes in to effect (18 mos - 2 yrs.) the setbacks adjacent to streams will be 90’; in addition, 81% of Kirkland’s population agrees that environmental protection is a top priority according to a recent survey done by the city.
A public hearing will be scheduled in early October. Date is TBD but tentatively 10/3. In the meantime, letters to City Council or to Patrice Young, Sr. Planner asking them to not move the setbacks in the wrong direction would be appreciated. A motion was made and seconded that SSCNA will draft a letter opposing a reduced setback at the Sept. committee meeting to be reviewed and submitted by our Chair, John Alberti. See appendix to at bottom for an update on this issue.
• Grant money has been approved for the year 2000 in the amount of $1810.00. Ideas for using the money were as follows; public art in the neighborhood, attractive trash cans along State St. and by bus stops along with recycling containers; murals/tiles on trash cans done by teens.
• There was some discussion on the new signs announcing neighborhood meetings. A few members requested a name change to something with more personality. There was also a discussion of possibly having a neighborhood kiosk located at the end of State St. by the statue of the bears or possibly at the small patch of property at 68th & St. or possibly at the small triangle at the end of 6th St. before the post office. John is going to look into getting permission from the city to permanently place our neighborhood signs.
• Leadership Training is coming up in September and runs for 9 various days until May. The city is offering scholarships for those interested. For more information contact the Leadership Institute at 869 - 6009.
• SSCNA will be hosting our 2nd annual neighborhood picnic. The date is set for Sunday, September 17. Givan and Dwight volunteered to coordinate. Thank you both! Stay tuned for more information on the picnic.
• A motion was made and seconded to move our monthly meetings to every other month.
A motion was made and seconded to
move the day of the week from Thursday to Wednesday. A motion was made and
seconded to move our location to Round Table pizza, at least temporarily, and
to look into other public facilities as well. We are hoping to make it easier
for people to attend at the dinner hour as well as attract new people. The next
meeting will be held Wednesday, October 11, 7:00 p.m., at Round Table.
• It is also time to nominate new officers. In order for us to operate as a bona fide neighborhood association we need a chair, CO-chair, secretary and treasurer. Our next meeting on October 11 will be a nominations meeting. Please contact John Alberti if you are interested in holding one of this offices or if you wish to nominate someone.
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Appendix to August Minutes: SSCNA received the following info on 9/27/00 from Dave Asher concerning the stream setback issue—
Thanks to all of you that took your
time and effort to be a "grass root"
on the stream buffer issue. It ain't over 'til it's over, BUT there is
CURRENTLY NO directive by the City
Council to cut stream buffers in
Kirkland! Whew!!
After much public pressure, prayer
and behind the scenes work, the City
Council decided that it would be
best to wait on the steam buffer issue
until we considered the impact of
the Endangered Species Act in a few
months. The word from the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) is
that buffer widths are going to
look more like DOUBLE our current 50 feet
rather than half! (Well, maybe there is a use for the federal
government
after all.)
So the wolf has not been killed,
but he is no longer banging on the door.
Someone once said, "the price
of freedom is eternal vigilance."
Stay tuned for upcoming chapters of
this as Kirkland may try to cut its
own deal with the feds rather than
sign on to the Tri-county agreement
that has been being negotiated for
about 8 months.
There will be a need for your
attention at that time, I feel certain.
Thanks again!
Dave Asher