Thanks to all for attending tonight. Below are the topics covered during the meeting

• Key Upcoming Dates
• Northwest University Master Plan update
• Neighborhood Safety Program
• Community Art Project
• Textile Recycle Drive
• Other Updates

Key Upcoming Dates

• Fill out now the HENC/6th Street survey – last date is October 28 
• Sign up now for the textile recycling drive
• Submit ideas for the Neighborhood Safety Program
• Thursday, September 8th, 7PM, Joint Houghton Community Council and Planning Commission meeting, City Hall Council Chambers
• Saturday September 10, 2016 – 11 a.m. -3 p.m. Community art project
• September 10 Crestwoods Park – table with project information
• September 11 Everest Park – table with project information
• September 12   NW University – table with project information
• Saturday September 24, 2016 – 11 a.m. -3 p.m. Community art project
• September 28th, 2PM, Kirkland Urban groundbreaking
• October 5 Central Houghton Neighborhood meeting (staff and consultants)
• October 5 Walk to School day

The Kirkland Planning Department says:​

"Carillon and Seaplane Scenics agreed (finally) that the City does have the authority to regulate the floatplane operation and have agreed to cease operation out of Carillon Point immediately, and will not resume operation until such time as a CUP approval for the operation may be granted. However, we have not agreed on appropriate fines for the illegal operation to date. But at the request of the applicants, the Hearing Examiner continued today’s hearing to a future date to adjudicate the fines. A date for the continued hearing hasn’t been set but it may be combined with the CUP hearing. We’ll have to sort this out later."
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If the planes continue to fly, please notify Penny Skovold, Code Enforcement Officer: pskovold@kirklandwa.gov. A video would be ideal.

​City Manager Kurt Triplett has announced the hiring of Kathy Cummings as the new Communications Program Manager for the City of Kirkland beginning June 1, 2016. She replaces Marie Jensen who recently took a communications position in Bellevue. Cummings will over-see city-wide communication efforts, media relations and work to enhance public outreach and create meaningful connections between the City and the community. 

Kathy sends along the following message to everyone in Central Houghton:

Comment period is from June 30 through August 1
The Energize Eastside project is undergoing environmental review, which includes preparation of a Washington State Environmental Policy Act (SEPA) Environmental Impact Statement (EIS). The City of Bellevue is leading the EIS process in cooperation with Kirkland, Newcastle, Redmond and Renton.

The City of Bellevue has reopened the scoping comment period on the Phase 2 EIS to provide the public with the opportunity to submit written comments on two new alternatives identified by PSE. The new alternatives do not represent PSE’s preferred alignment, but are designed to bypass the boundaries of the East Bellevue Community Council.

See EnergizeEastsideEIS.org for more details on the location of the alternatives, including maps. Scoping comments must be submitted by August 1, 2016. 

Please note: Comments or questions submitted to Puget Sound Energy will not be considered part of the EIS. 

For background information about the Energize Eastside project, please visit pse.com/energizeeastside.

PSE mailing address is:
Puget Sound Energy
P.O. Box 97034, EST03W
Bellevue, WA 98009-9734

Please be aware that the City is moving forward with plans for the Houghton Everest Neighborhood Center (HENC) and the 6th Street Corridor study. 

Scheduling and planning for public input for the Houghton Everest Neighborhood Center and the 6th Street Corridor was discussed at the June 22nd meeting of the Transportation Commission Meeting.

On Thursday, June 23, the Planning Commission and the Houghton Community Council held a joint meeting to discuss the work schedule for both the 6th Street Corridor Study and the Houghton Everest Neighborhood Center. The work product for the two studies will include:

Public Outreach and Facilitation

• Public outreach plan
• Public outreach materials, including project identity, project website, and
• communication materials, including a newsletter, signs, flyers, cards
• Findings from informal outreach events
• Findings from online survey
• Community meeting materials and meeting summary

6th Street Corridor Study

• Summary corridor draft goals/objectives and general transportation context using available performance measures reflective of these goals
• Technical memo with methods, data collection and proposed project studylimits
• Draft conditions for baseline and proposed land use scenarios, and listing of potential constraints and opportunities
• Updated conditions for baseline and proposed land use scenarios with potential solutions prepared in a draft presentation
• Report that provides the foundation and supporting analysis to convey trade-offs and decision making for the lay public
• Houghton/Everest Neighborhood Center Study
• Assessment of neighborhood center existing land use conditions
• Assessment of development potential under existing zoning regulations, including visual representations
• Description of scenarios and visual representations of each scenario
• Summary of demographic and market conditions
• Summary of stakeholder interviews
• Development feasibility of identified scenarios
• Summary report document methods, findings and recommendations for the neighborhood center ​

At our last meeting we received a great presentation from Northwest University on their vision for an update to their Master Plan. Some great questions from the audience. ​They've done a great job reaching out to the neighborhood in the early stages. Look for updates as they move their plan into the city's planning process. Be sure to attend public hearings or send in email to the city if you'd like to add your voice to shape NU's Master Plan. Hope you were able to make it to their open house May 9. Here's the link to the Northwest University Master Plan web page. The presentation from last Wednesday is below.

A bit of Houghton history sent to us from Karen Story in the Highlands neighborhood. This is from  "Lucille McDonald's Eastside Notebook," available at the library.

Northwest University held an open house March 30 for community members and other interested parties to learn more about and provide input on Northwest University’s Master Plan Update. The university has posted information regarding the update which includes:
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• The addition of four new buildings
• The replacement of three existing buildings and associated improvements.
• Modifications to height limits in some areas of the campus
• Clarification of enrollment caps and athletic field use
• Revision of traffic patterns
• Addition of parking stalls
• Alteration of campus access off of NE 53rd
• And more   

The open house is part of NU’s master plan public engagement effort, which also includes meeting with neighborhood groups, neighboring institutions, individuals and others interested in the plan. To request a meeting, obtain more information or provide feedback, contact the university at masterplan@northwestu.edu. The University expects to submit its formal Master Plan Update application to the City of Kirkland in June.