Central
Houghton
Neighborhood
Association

Kirkland Community Wildlife Habitat Certification Project

A Community Wildlife Habitat is a community that provides habitat for wildlife throughout the community--in individual backyards, on school grounds and in public areas such as parks, community gardens, places of worship and businesses. It is a place where the residents make it a priority to provide habitat for wildlife by providing the four basic elements that all wildlife need: food, water, cover and places to raise young. The community also educates its residents about sustainable gardening practices such as reducing or eliminating chemical fertilizers and pesticides, conserving water, planting native plants, removing invasive plants and composting. It hosts workshops about gardening for wildlife, and holds community events such as stream or trail cleanups to make the community healthier for wildlife and people alike. A Community Wildlife Habitat project creates a place where people, flora and fauna can all flourish.

For most residences with a reasonable amount and variety of vegetation other than lawn, certification is not difficult and can involve little or no cost, other than a small certification fee that provides you with a certificate and a year’s membership in the National Wildlife Federation, including a subscription to “National Wildlife” magazine.

We need to certify several dozen residences in order for the Kirkland Community to be certified. PLEASE HELP KIRKLAND QUALIFY! We will be the first community anywhere on the Eastside to do so. Kirkland is GREEN!

Please review the Backyard Habitat Certification Application form online at http://www.nwf.org/gardenforwildlife/certify.cfm?campaignid and note the simple check-off requirements for Food, Water, Cover, Places to Raise Young, and Sustainable Gardening Practices. There are no “errors of commission” – for example, if you do use chemical pesticides or fertilizers in your yard, but you also do at least two of the other listed “sustainable gardening practices”, you qualify!  And the “water” requirement can be met with an inexpensive or home-made birdbath.

To learn about habitat attributes and how to create them, read the Attracting Wildlife Flyer. To view a list of native plants for this area, together with their growing conditions and the wildlife they attract, read the Native Plant List Flyer.

The above online link allows you to certify with just the National Wildlife Federation, or jointly with NWF and the Washington Dept. of Fish and Wildlife by clicking on the “partners” link. The second option provides you with a weatherproof WA Fish & Wildlife habitat certification plaque that you can display in your yard.

If you successfully certify your yard, please notify out Project Team at kirklandhabitat@yahoo.com.

Houghtdown Schedule

Wednesday, August 5^th – Houghtdown shed cleanup and inventory. Pizza, drinks, and gossip provided. Starts at 6PM but you can arrive anytime after that. Betsy Pringle’s house. 5821 109^th Ave. N.E.

Week of August 23 – 29 – Post flyers.  We certainly can use lots of  people to help us distribute and post them.

Evening of September 6^th – We set up the big canopy at the park. Water balloons are filled. Chairs and tables washed. The shed is moved over to the park as well. This is also a great time to meet and greet other volunteers. We have a big BBQ, lots of squealing kids, much fun.  This is also held at Betsy Pringle’s house.

September 7^th – All Hands On Deck! This is where we really need the volunteers. Set up usually gets started around 9AM. Tables, chairs, canopies need to go up. BBQs are set up. Buffet table filled. Banners and decorations go up.  Games and paint wall goes up.  We need monitors for the intersections during the parade, which begins at 11AM. Right after the parade, the cooking and feeding begins. We’ll need help restocking and making sure the food gets out as quickly as possible. Also if you know of anyone willing to do the face painting, (teen or creative adult) that would be really helpful. Games are around noon – 12:30 start. Cleanup begins around 1:00ish. Thinks are much easier and go quite quickly if we have lots of people for cleanup.  On a good day with a good group it takes about an hour.

South Kirkland Park and Ride Transit Oriented Development

The creation of affordable housing at this site through transit-oriented-development was among the top two strategies supported by the Kirkland City Council.  The site is within the corporate limits of Kirkland and Bellevue and both cities would need to amend their respective Comprehensive Plans and zoning to allow housing on the property. The City has received a letter from the King County Department of Transportation which describes their interest and general intent to move forward with the development of a TOD project at the South Kirkland Park and Ride site. Members of Kirkland planning staff have met several times with the City of Bellevue, King County and ARCH, to discuss the best way to move forward with a coordinated approach to the study of possible land use and zoning changes at the South Kirkland Park and Ride. This project is still well within the “let’s see” phase. There will be plenty of discussion of this possible project before the process to make the necessary Comprehensive Plan changes are even begun.

CHNA Traffic Committee

The focus is 108th Avenue, some items we are currently working on:

• Get data of speeds, volume, violations/citations for 108th Avenue

• Is a crosswalk possible between NW College and Fire Station

• Reduce speed on 108th  to actual posted limits

• Regular schedule for speed reader board

• Curb extensions (especially at crosswalks) or other possible speed reduction techniques

You may have noticed increase in patrols following City Council in the Neighborhood Meeting last month. Watch your speeds in school zone.

The committee has noticed lots of violations, particularly in the school zone.  Some of us have personally witnessed someone making an illegal left turn next to a school bus that had stopped, with lights flashing, and unloading students.  The car almost hit a group of students crossing in front of the bus in the crosswalk.  PLEASE!!! Slow down and be extra aware of our students.

Citizen Corps/CERT Shed

Plans are in the works to move our storage shed/Fourth of July float to Terrace Park.  The idea is to have our materials for the Houghtdown on site.  And we can use the shed to store emergency materials (such as bandages, first aid, and communications equipment) and make it available to our Citizen Corps and CERT graduates.  The Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) program trains people to be better prepared to respond to emergency situations in their communities. When emergencies happen, CERT members can give critical support to first responders, provide immediate assistance to victims, and organize spontaneous volunteers at a disaster site. CERT members can also help with non-emergency projects that help improve the safety of their community. To find out more, check the City Website.