Central Houghton Neighbors-

The agenda for the Tuesday November 8 (7:00 pm) regular meeting of the Central Houghton Neighborhood Association (CHNA) is attached. 

Thanks to those of you that completed our short survey on the topics you want to hear more about at the meeting.
 
The meeting will be held virtually on Zoom. The Zoom link and passcode are:
 
CHNA is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87695566704?pwd=QjBVWEJwVnNHdHY3YUhKV1o5OUxrZz09
 
Meeting ID: 876 9556 6704
Passcode: 620876
One tap mobile
+12532158782,,87695566704#,,,,*620876# US (Tacoma)
+13462487799,,87695566704#,,,,*620876# US (Houston)

• The meeting will include time to discuss the La Quinta Health Through Housing project status and City's schedule for moving forward. The City Council is planning on a study session on this topic at their November 15 meeting.
  
  

• We also will be deciding on project ideas to submit by December 2 for the 2023 Neighborhood Safety Program. We discussed some of those ideas at the CHNA October meeting and would love to get more ideas to consider.
  
  
• The other major topic on the agenda focuses on initial discussions for the role of the Central Houghton Neighborhood Association moving forward, especially after the sunsetting of the Houghton Community Council.
  
  
• EIS scoping for the Northeast Recycling and Transfer Station (NERTS) kicks off today, November 3.  The County's NERTS Web Site. includes an online open house related to the EIS scoping and upcoming public comment opportunities.

 We look forward to seeing and hearing from you next Tuesday, November 8. 
Please let us know if you have any comments, questions or suggestions for future meeting topics. We can be reached at centralhoughton@gmail.com.


Larry Toedtli, President
Central Houghton Neighborhood Association

To CHNA Members:

It's been a while since our last Central Houghton Neighborhood Association (CHNA) meeting. I wanted to make all of you aware of a couple of upcoming events.

1. August 25 Public Hearing - Houghton Community Council (HCC) Sunsetting

The city's Planning Commission will be holding a public hearing starting at 7:00 PM on Thursday August 25 to receive input on code changes proposed by the City as a result of the state legislation sunsetting the Houghton Community Council, effective July 8, 2022. These include revising the city's procedures to reflect the elimination of the HCC. The other changes are more substantial because they will change the zoning and land use codes within the HCC boundaries to align with the rest of the City. A key part of those changes will be when they actually take effect. People that are in the midst of a development permit could be adversely affected. Use the following link for more information on the hearing and how to participate in the virtual (Zoom) meeting.

Agenda PC 08_25_2022 (kirklandwa.gov)


2. CHNA LABOR DAY PICNIC EVENT - September 5;  12-3PM

Please join us at the fields at Emerson School Campus 10903 NE 53rd Street between 12 and 3 PM on Labor Day to have some end of the summer fun, meet friends and neighbors, and learn more about the role of CHNA with the sunsetting of the Houghton Community Council. 

The postcard invite is provided below.

Looking forward to seeing you there.


3. Next CHNA Meeting Tuesday October 11 @ 7PM

Due to the CHNA 2022  Celebration being held on Labor Day, we have rescheduled our next
meeting to October 11, 2022 at 7 PM.It will be held virtually via Zoom.
Preliminary topics include discussion of the 2021-2022 and 2022-2023 grant projects, communication tools, and a short presentation on the Energy Smart Eastside Heat Pump Campaign.
Please let us know if you have any other topics that you would like us to consider for the agenda.


Larry Toedtli, President
Central Houghton Neighborhood Association

​CHNA Members and Guests-


The agenda for the May 10, 2022 (7:00 PM) regular meeting of the Central Houghton Neighborhood Association (CHNA) is attached below. The meeting will be held virtually using the Zoom platform. The Zoom meeting link and passcode provided below:

Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85429788946?pwd=UkZYVWpDL1BwWnNESnpsbWYzOUtSQT09

Meeting ID: 854 2978 8946
Passcode: 397136
One tap mobile
+12532158782,,85429788946#,,,,*397136# US (Tacoma)



The meeting will begin with brief reports from the City of Kirkland Police Department and Northwest University. Attendees will be able to ask questions.

A key part of our meeting will be discussing strategies for our communications program, possible changes to the CHNA Bylaws (redline version attached), and election of CHNA Officers for the next 12-month term.

We have four Board/Officer positions - President, Vice President, Secretary, and Treasurer. We will be losing one of our two current Board members and I will be stepping down from being President within one year. We need members to join our Board, otherwise our neighborhood association will not be able to function to serve our community. CHNA will be even more important as a group with the imminent sunsetting of the Houghton Community Council.

The remainder of the meeting will include updates on our planned Neighborhood Summer Celebration on Labor Day and other ongoing topics.

The other topics include items that have upcoming public meetings, including:

• The La Quinta Inn Homeless Housing - Public Town Hall on May 9 
• Northeast Recycling and Transfer Station Siting Project (to replace/upgrade the Houghton Transfer Station) - Public Meeting on May 12 

Please join us to add to the discussion and help CHNA add value to our broader neighborhood and to the City of Kirkland.

Please let us know if you have any comments, questions, or ideas for future meeting topics.



Larry Toedtli, President
Central Houghton Neighborhood Association

CHNA Members and Guests:


The agenda for our regular meeting on March 8 (7:00 pm) is attached. We will have updates on several topics including:

• State Legislation on Sunsetting the Houghton Community Council -HB 1769
• La Quinta Hotel Homeless Housing Proposal
• CHNA 2022 Mailer and Event Planning
• Potential Changes to Our CHNA Bylaws (see attachment)
• Various City Code and Plan amendments

A couple of the topics will likely evolve between now and the date of our meeting.

1. State Legislation on Sunsetting the Houghton Community Council
HB 1769 (web link above) has passed the State House and is now on the floor of the State Senate. The bill could be voted on any day.. The Legislative session is scheduled to end March 10. 

The bill, as currently written, would effectively sunset the existence of the Houghton Community Council immediately. This would ignore the overwhelming (76%) vote of Houghton residents on November 2, 2021 to extend the HCC until December 31, 2025. You can contact any of the Senators to share your thoughts to express your position on the bill. Senators (wa.gov)

2. La Quinta Hotel for Housing 


I want to make sure that you are aware that the Houghton Community Council Meeting on Monday February 28 includes discussion of the proposed purchase of the La Quinta Hotel for use as a permanent supportive housing facility.


The Chair of the Houghton Community Council has asked for representatives from King County and the City of Kirkland to attend the Houghton Community Council meeting occurring Monday, February 28, 2022, at 7 p.m. via Zoom and provide information on the potential purchase of La Quinta Hotel by King County for permanent supportive housing.  
To view the agenda, including Zoom webinar information, please visit the City's website. 



You can read more about the program at - King County's Health Through Housing Initiative in Kirkland – City of Kirkland (kirklandwa.gov)

I look forward to seeing you at the meeting next week. As always, please let us know if you have ideas for topics for future meetings or would like to be part of our Board.

Larry Toedtli, President
Central Houghton Neighborhood Association

To all-
​
Thanks to all of the people that attended our meeting last week. some really good discussion on several topics.

A focus was on the proposed legislation moving forward at the state to sunset the Houghton community council (and East Bellevue Community Council).  We discussed how people can track the bill and provide comments. This information and web links are summarized in the meeting notes. If you have any questions or comments, please email us at centralhoughton@gmail.com. 

We also discussed current activities related to our 2021-2022 Matching Grant. If you would like to assist on any of these, please contact us (centralhoughton@gmail.com).

At the end of the meeting, we also discussed possible changes to our Bylaws to allow high school students to be members. We also noted a need for more people to assist CHNA as Board members or volunteers.

Sincerely

Larry Toedtli, President
Central Houghton Neighborhood Association

​To all-

Here are the notes from the November 9, 2021 meeting of the Central Houghton Neighborhood Association.

Our next meeting will be held on Tuesday January 11 via Zoom (starting at 7:00 pm). Please let us know if you have ideas for meeting topics.

We are also setting up a brainstorming session to explore options for a Celebration/Event next summer to (hopefully) celebrate the return to a new Post Covid normal and to re-introduce CHNA to our community members.
At that same meeting we also will be brainstorming ideas for a way to create a Sense of Place or Historical Marker for our Central Houghton neighborhood. As an example, the Everest neighborhood just installed a Train Depot along the Cross Kirkland Corridor Trail.

Please let us know (centralhoughton@gmail.com) if you have any ideas and if you would like to participate in a brainstorming session. I promise, your participation in the brainstorming session will NOT commit you to helping with implementation (although that would also be great).    

​To All:

The agenda for the virtual meeting of the Central Houghton Neighborhood Association is attached. The Zoom link is provided below. Please forward to others that may be interested.

Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87861398908?pwd=YkNMVjdFK0IrV09DTWxLdStSNnoxdz09

Meeting ID: 878 6139 8908
Passcode: 438624
One tap mobile
+12532158782,,87861398908#,,,,*438624# US (Tacoma)


We are excited to have a presentation from  the City on the upcoming remodel of Fire Station 22, including the use of a temporary station during construction.

We hope to have a member of the Kirkland Parks Board also join us so we can hear what is happening related to Parks and so we can share our comments to take back to the Board.
You can provide your input through the City's current Park's survey which closes November 11.
Kirkland Comprehensive Parks, Recreation, and Open Space Master Plan Survey (rrcresearch.com)

The other major topic for discussion is the selection of CHNA's project for the 2022 Neighborhood Safety Program (NSP). 

We also will have additional information on a few ongoing topics of interest to the neighborhood.

We look forward to seeing you at the meeting.
Please let me know if you have any questions or comments.

Larry Toedtli, President
Central Houghton Neighborhood Association

CHNA Members (and neighbors):

The notes from our October 12, 2021 virtual meeting are attached. We had some very good presentations and discussions. 

Hope that you will join us at our next meeting scheduled for Tuesday November 9 at 7:00 PM. The November 9 meeting also will be virtual via Zoom. 
The agenda and meeting link will be sent out about a week in advance of the meeting. We will be finalizing the decision on our submission for the 2022 Neighborhood Safety Program, which is due December 3. We also should have a member of the Parks Board in attendance to update us on what's happening with Parks and Open Space Plans and projects. 
Please let us know if you have any topics that you would like to be added to the agenda.(email us at centralhoughton@gmail.com).

We also want to alert you to the following online engagement event related to the Active Transportation Plan update. 
​
Active Transportation Plan Engagement Event!
 
Do you have ideas on how the City of Kirkland can become safer and more accommodating to people walking, rolling and bicycling? Please make sure your voice is heard by attending our online engagement event 6 to 7 p.m., Wednesday, October 20! All are welcome at this community meeting, which will be used to gather feedback and inform our process as we work to update our Active Transportation Plan. 
 
The update to this plan will focus on completing connections, seeking opportunities and innovative solutions to create more comfortable and safer environments for people walking and rolling, and will consider technologies that can both facilitate travel by walking and bicycling and also help the city better evaluate how many people are walking and bicycling in Kirkland.
 
For more information on the Active Transportation Plan update, please visit: https://www.kirklandwa.gov/Government/Departments/Public-Works-Department/Transportation/Plans-and-Studies-Transportation-Division/Active-Transportation-Plan. If you can’t make the meeting but would like to submit an online comment, please use this form: https://us.openforms.com/Form/37c47062-166e-421a-94ad-ef1b830415a7 or continue to check out or website for next opportunity to share your thoughts.  Another on-line engagement opportunity will also be scheduled for November 3rd.
 
We hope to see you there and we are excited to hear your ideas!

Thanks

Larry Toedtli, President
Central Houghton Neighborhood Association

To All-

A reminder that our September meeting was rescheduled to next Tuesday (October 12) starting at 7:00 PM. The meeting will be held virtually via Zoom. The agenda is attached. The Zoom link and passcode is: 
 
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84585428624?pwd=UnVSOXRpQmtWcWNtajdtZWtTQkJIUT09
 
Meeting ID: 845 8542 8624
Passcode: 044554
One tap mobile
+12532158782,,84585428624#,,,,*044554# US (Tacoma)
 
It's been a few months since we met and we have lots of topics to discuss and provide updates on.
We will have Lt. Goguen of the Kirkland Police Department as a guest to answer questions about safety and crime activities and changes in the Police Department.
 
Much of the remainder of the meeting will focus on transportation planning and projects. Kimberly Scrivner of the City's Transportation Department will provide a presentation on the City's update of the Active Transportation Plan. The update to this plan will incorporate new innovative solutions that are designed to accommodate people of all ages and abilities for residents and visitors to feel more comfortable when choosing to walk or bike. It will also focus on completing connections, improving bike parking and considering technologies that can both facilitate travel by walking and bicycling and also to help the city better evaluate how many people are walking and bicycling in Kirkland. 
 
The Active Transportation Plan will lead into CHNA's initial discussion of potential projects to submit for the 2022 Neighborhood Safety Program (NSP).
 
John Jordan from Northwest University (NU) also will join us. He will provide an update on the University's current activities and on the implementation of the NU Master Plan. 
 
We will then provide updates on several topics including the NE 85th Station Area Plan and Houghton Transfer Station Siting Project. 
 
As we previously noted the November 2 election includes 4 City Council positions. It also includes a ballot measure on whether to reauthorize the Houghton Municipal Corporation (Houghton Community Council) for four more years. The seven HCC member positions are also on the ballot and they would be elected if the HCC ballot measure is approved.
There is still time to register to vote or make changes (such as addresses) before the election. The King County Elections web page can be accessed here.
 
We look forward to seeing you at the meeting. Please contact us at centralhoughton@gmail.com if you are interested in joining our Board, want to help with any of our initiatives,  or have ideas for future meeting topics. 
 
Please forward this to others so they can contact us if they want to be added to the distribution list.
 
Larry Toedtli, president
Central Houghton Neighborhood Association