The presentation for the 11/4/2015 meeting can be found on the Central Houghton Website by clicking here.
Neighborhood Updates

• Coyote in the neighborhood. There have been reports of a coyote that has been aggressive towards dogs. In one report, coyote jumped over a fence of a house in Sandhurst and the other instance the coyote was seen on the Cross Kirkland Corridor (CKC). Please be aware if you have small dogs or cats.
• The new bridge between CKC and Met Market is expected to be opened the end of November. Still to come will be a street light, cross walk signal and flags.

 
Neighborhood Safety Program (NSP) Kari Page
This program was piloted in 2014. This is the first full year. We had 3 projects that were approved.
1)      Stairs off CKC and down to 68th st (near Lakeview).  This project is out to bid and hoping to start building in Q1.
2)    60th st access to CKC on the east side. Better lighting has been ordered, hoping to use solar. The fence will be removed, vegetation will be cleaned up and broken pavement taken out.
3)      Near ICS, 68th and 112th, new street light has been installed to help illuminate those waiting at bus stop. Still need to fix gravel in that area.

There is an interactive map allows anyone to submit a neighborhood improvement. Enter your project idea in the “Suggest a Project” interactive map at any time during the year. (Click the “I want to…” orange button and then select “Submit a Project Idea” in the drop-down dialog box. The interactive map will step you through pinpointing your project location, selecting a project type and describing your idea.) Kari came to the meeting to understand  which project our neighborhood wants to nominate for the NSP. Project ideas are due 12/1/2015. Lisa and Erica will work with Kari to finalize the neighborhood nominees. Most likely it will be project numbers 288/88 which are to improve the safety at the crosswalk between NE 68th St and NE 62nd St.
 
6th Street Corridor Study – Lisa McConnell
There is a study to be done next year on the 6th street corridor. The results of this study need to tie into the traffic and egress plans for the Houghton Everest Neighborhood Center (HENC). The study is still being scoped. More updates as this study gets defined.
 
HENC
Lisa and Brian met with planning staff and discussed the plan for next year. The city would like us to present the feedback we have gathered to the Houghton Community Council (HCC). The expectation is their will be a minimum of 3 meetings with the first meeting to just listen. The city thinks it would be good to have a moderator for these meetings. The goal is to have the update done within 2016. Looking for input on how to reach more of the neighborhood and people using the current center.
 
CKC
King county owns sections of the trail north and south of the Kirkland section. King County is going through the process to figure out what to do with the trail, very similar to the Kirkland process. King County had 3 meetings and want to make their sections into a trail. They are in the process of getting approval to remove the rail. The rail removal will be done in phases and will start with the section south of CKC (Bellevue). 2016 they will go through their design process and most likely pulling tracks in 2017.
 
Eastside Rail Corridor Regional Advisory Council (ERC RAC)
The Eastside Rail Corridor (ERC) is owned and managed by King County, the cities of Kirkland and Redmond, Sound Transit, and Puget Sound Energy. These owners work together through the Regional Advisory Council (RAC) to maintain a collaborative, regional planning process for the ERC.  The owners’ goal is to achieve connectivity and multiple uses, maximizing public benefit and enjoyment throughout the corridor both directly and indirectly. Recently, Kirkland sent a draft letter of support to ERC RAC to “In conclusion, transit travel between Totem Lake Urban Center and the Wilburton Station area in Bellevue, parallel to the multi-use trail, would connect all the neighborhoods and employment centers in between Kirkland’s proposals are consistent with the RAC vision and guiding principles”  In short, Kirkland is moving forward with transit on the CKC and wants support.
 
Sound Transit ST3
Sound Transit plans to put ST3 on the ballot in November 2016. The actual projects on this ballot are not decided yet. There is a list of projects being considered for the ballot here. The projects which are most pertinent to Kirkland are:

• E-02 Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) on I-405
  - Region wide Project 
  - Improved connections at Totem Lake
  - This is buses that act like light rail, are separated from traffic
• E-03 Light Rail Totem Lake to Issaquah via Bellevue
• E-06  Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) on the CKC from Totem Lake to Bellevue
  - This was added after public comment.
  – See powerpoint for more details on the stops of each proposal. Note that light rail needs at least 2 miles between stops in order to make it effective.
  - The idea is that EITHER E-03 or E-06 will be implemented, not both
  - Snohomish, King and Pierce Counties will be voting on this proposal, NOT just our neighborhood.
  – The recent Kirkland City Council meeting goes into more detail on E-06.
  – Nov 19th is an Open House to discuss further (see details at top of email)
  – Please speak up and send comments back to Kirkland City Council and to Sound Transit. At the Sound Transit site you can sign up for news updates on ST3, complete an online survey or add comments.  

 
Central Houghton Neighborhood Association (CHNA)
Find us on the web at http://www.houghtonlives.com 
And on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/groups/centralhoughton 
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City seeks input from residents and businesses to help shape Sound Transit 3 service in Kirkland

On Thursday, November 19, 2015, the City is hosting an Open House and Community Update at the Kirkland Performance Center (350 Kirkland Avenue) from 6:30 to 9:00 p.m. Staff will be available to answer questions about high capacity transit from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m.  A formal presentation by City officials on high capacity transit in Kirkland will begin at 7:30 p.m., followed by a question and answer session. 

Putting Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) on the Cross Kirkland Corridor will have a big impact on many here in Central Houghton - including the Google Campus, Houghton Everest Neighborhood Center (HENC), traffic on 108th, Lakeview Elementary school routes, home owners adjacent to the corridor, etc. . I'm not sure many people know about it. Please take a second to look at the materials on the city's website (see the link below) and tell your neighbors about it. It will give you a good idea of the City's work with Sound Transit and where we stand in the ST3 process.

​More information can be found on the city's website here.

Before we get to far removed from last night's meeting, I wanted to post the presentation.

I need to make one correction to a conversation I had with a couple of neighbors who live up near the International Community School (ICS). They asked me about next year's meetings with Kirkland planning staff regarding the Houghton Everest Neighborhood Center (HENC). I told them these meetings would be part of our normal monthly meeting, however, I was mistaken. I spoke with Lisa after the meeting and she told me that the meetings for reworking the Comprehensive Plan would take place outside of our normal monthly meetings. 

In any event, we will post and send email to the distribution list, both monthly and special meeting agendas, regarding anything to do with the HENC. Thanks!

Wednesday, November 4, 2015 at 7:00pm
Houghton Fire Station 22
6602 108th Avenue NE
 
Agenda for November 4 Meeting
1. Neighborhood updates
    a. Items from the audience
    b. Election results
2. Neighborhood safety program – Kari Page
3. 6th Street Corridor Study Update – Lisa
4. Houghton Everest Neighborhood Center Update 
    a. Brian and Lisa met with planning staff and discussed the plan for next year
5. CKC update – Brian and Lisa
    a. Lisa attended the Eastside Rail Corridor Advisory Council meeting where Kirkland presented information on their plans to move forward with Bus Rapid Transit or Light Rail on the Cross Kirkland Corridor. Materials will be posted as soon as we get them.
    b. The City has proposed an outreach meeting for November 19 
 
Central Houghton Neighborhood Association (CHNA)
Find us on the web at http://www.houghtonlives.com 
And on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/groups/centralhoughton