Kirkland City Council Regular Meeting - September 5, 2023
Kirkland City Council Regular Meeting – September 5, 2023
The Kirkland City Council met in a hybrid study session from 5:30 p.m. and regular session from 7:30 p.m. on September 5, 2023. The study session covered the preliminary 2023-2028 Capital Improvement Program (CIP) update and the Future of Park Lane study findings. During the regular meeting, the council heard public comments, adopted a consent calendar, and acted on three business items: a childcare partnership with Lake Washington Institute of Technology (LWTech), a property acquisition for the Cross Kirkland Corridor, and a utility box art wrap work plan. Key decisions included retaining Park Lane’s current status (no permanent or partial closure), approving a childcare interlocal agreement, and authorizing a land purchase with amendments to secure external funding.
Consent Calendar
- The council approved the consent calendar (7-0) which included:
- Minutes of August 2, 2023 (special and regular meetings).
- Audit of accounts: payroll $10,012,246.60 and bills $11,916,609.08.
- Claims from Holy Family Parish, Jose Garcia, Joseph Ruljancich, Richard and Janet Schweizer.
- Award of a $150,600 construction contract to W Business Solutions, LLC for the Median Retrofit Project.
- Ordinance O-4858 establishing the salary for the Municipal Court Judge.
- Resolutions R-5599 (CDBG/HOME consortium participation), R-5600 (easement for Northshore Utility District water service).
- Ratification of 2023-2025 Police Lieutenants’ Union (PSEU #519) and 2022-2024 IAFF Local #2545 collective bargaining agreements.
- Transportation Commission resignation, Cultural Arts Commission appointment (Vivian Liu), and proclamations for Childhood Cancer Awareness Month and National Recovery Month.
- Second Quarter 2023 Financial Management Report, July 2023 Sales Tax Report, and Procurement Report.
Public Comments & Testimony
- Nine speakers addressed the council:
- Jonathan Heuer (President, Kirkland Parks and Community Foundation) supported the Fisk property acquisition on Sixth Street for the Cross Kirkland Corridor (CKC), calling it a “gorgeous property” worth preserving.
- Joan McBride (former mayor) urged approval of Resolution R-5601, stating the city has never regretted purchasing parkland and that the parcel offers a “daylighted stream” and “mystery and delight.”
- Gemma Aronchick (new Executive Director, Kirkland Parks and Community Foundation) expressed eagerness to collaborate with the city.
- Bill Finkbeiner (50-year resident, East Rail Partners board member) strongly supported the property acquisition as part of the larger East Rail trail vision.
- Rex Rempel encouraged the council to bring the same energy from the Park Lane debate to the entire city, noting that downtown is less than 0.1% of Kirkland’s area.
- Ken MacKenzie thanked the council for keeping Park Lane open and urged a transparent, data-driven process for future downtown planning.
- Alex Tsimerman gave unrelated, inflammatory remarks about international politics and alleged government support for enemies of the U.S.; the mayor apologized for any offensive comments.
- Jessi Waldher (Park Lane business owner) thanked the council for listening to businesses and noted that post-COVID survey data may no longer be relevant; she asked for continued engagement on downtown visioning.
- Jack Staudt (representing seniors/people with disabilities) thanked the council for the Park Lane decision and stressed the importance of accessible parking in the upcoming parking study.
Discussion Items
2023-2028 Capital Improvement Program Preliminary Update (Study Session)
- Financial Planning Supervisor Kevin Pelstring presented the funded/unfunded CIP summary, noting additional investments in 100th/124th Avenue projects and a new street preservation program. The city is on track to hit about $10 million in Real Estate Excise Tax (REAT) revenue in 2023, down from an $11 million budget.
- Council discussed four options for REAT reserve policy: (1) 15% of 5-year average ($2.2M), (2) continue current $2M reserve, (3) add a $500K matching fund per REAT 1 and 2 (total $3M), and (4) a higher $5M reserve (not recommended). Councilors expressed interest in options (1) and (3); staff will bring refined options back in November.
- Rod Steitzer, Capital Projects Manager, updated on unfunded transportation projects, including Holmes Point Drive safety improvements, 124th Avenue corridor gap analysis (options to council in October), and a sewer strategy west of Market Street (estimated cost reduction from $38M to under $9M using trenchless cured-in-place piping).
- IT, parks, and facilities updates were also reviewed.
Future of Park Lane Study Findings (Study Session and Business Item)
- Elly Schaefer (MIG, Inc.) and Nathan Polanski presented evaluation of three pedestrianization scenarios for the west block of Park Lane between Lake and Main: (a) summer evenings (4-11 p.m., May-Oct), (b) summer season (24/7, May-Oct), (c) year-round (24/7). Capital costs ranged from $1.5M-$3.5M; recurring operational costs from 1.5 to 4 FTEs plus $25K-$225K/year. The study also identified $600K-$800K in baseline improvements (electrical, lighting, ballard removal) applicable to all scenarios.
- Council expressed concerns about cost, staff time, and lack of support from businesses along Park Lane. Councilmember Curtis made a motion (seconded by Black) that Park Lane retain its current status with no permanent or partial closure except for permitted events, and that work on closure options cease. The motion passed 7-0.
- Councilmember Falcone then moved (seconded by Curtis) to direct staff to develop options to update the Downtown Action Plan with robust community engagement to create a vision for downtown Kirkland. That motion also passed 7-0.
Childcare Initiative Update and LWTech Partnership (Business Item a)
- HR Director Truc Dever and Dr. Ruby Hayden (VP of Student Services, LWTech) presented a proposal to reserve 15 childcare spaces at LWTech’s Early Learning Center for city employees, at a cost of up to $338,000 in the first year. The center serves ages 18 months to 6 years, is nonprofit, and will expand to 104-114 spaces by fall 2024.
- Council adopted Resolution R-5598 (7-0) authorizing the city manager to negotiate an interlocal agreement. Council also expressed interest in exploring additional vendor options (network of providers, backup care) to fill gaps for employees who do not work near City Hall.
Potential Property Acquisition – Cross Kirkland Corridor (Business item b)
- Deputy City Manager Beth Goldberg presented the proposed purchase of 0.42 acres at 212 6th Street for $800,000, using $200,000 in park impact fees and a $600,000 three-year interfund loan from the surface water management fund. The parcel is adjacent to the CKC and includes a daylighted stream.
- Council adopted Resolution R-5601 as amended. Amendments: (1) Specify that $200,000 comes from park impact fees and the property is acquired for park purposes (Pascal, seconded by Falcone, passed 7-0). (2) Add a Section 5 directing the city manager to pursue external funding and partnerships to repay the interfund loan (Arnold, seconded by Falcone, passed 7-0). The main motion as amended passed 7-0.
Utility Box Art Wrap Draft Work Plan (Business item c)
- Government Affairs Manager Diana Hart presented a plan to wrap 62 city utility boxes over 20 years, clustered by neighborhood, with a targeted budget of $600K-$750K. Wraps last about 5 years. New style cabinets would be wrapped first; older boxes as they are replaced.
- Council provided feedback: Councilmember Falcone suggested wrapping older, more prominent boxes sooner and possibly increasing the number per biennium to stretch resources. Councilmember Pascal supported the plan and suggested engaging school art programs. No formal action taken; staff will bring refined options during budget discussions.
Key Outcomes
- Park Lane: Retained current status – no permanent/partial closure (vote 7-0). Council directed ceasing work on closure options.
- Downtown Action Plan: Council directed staff to develop options for an update with community engagement (vote 7-0).
- Childcare Partnership: Approved Resolution R-5598 to negotiate an interlocal agreement with LWTech (7-0).
- Property Acquisition: Approved Resolution R-5601 as amended, authorizing purchase of 212 6th Street for park purposes using $200K park impact fees and a $600K interfund loan, with direction to seek external funding (all sub-votes 7-0).
- Consent Calendar: Approved all items (7-0), including collective bargaining agreements, ordinance, resolutions, and reports.
- CIP/REAT Reserve: Staff to bring refined REAT reserve policy options (combining a floor of $2M with a percentage or separate matching fund) to the November meeting.
- Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA): IT Director Smitha Krishnan presented the roll-out of Duo Security (Cisco) MFA; council members will be onboarded individually in coming weeks.
Meeting Transcript
Good evening. I would like to call to order the city council meeting of September the fifth, two thousand twenty-three. Tonight's meeting is a hybrid meeting. Community members are welcome to join us either in person or remotely through Zoom or by telephone. Clerk, will you please call the roll. Councilmember Nixon. Here. Councilmember Black. Here. Council Member Curtis. Here. Councilmember Falcone. Here. Councilmember Pascal. Here. Deputy Mayor Arnold. Here. Mayor Sweet. Here. Thank you. Our study session tonight is on two topics. First, a preliminary update on the twenty twenty three-2028 capital improvement program. And second, a review of the future of Park Lane study findings. We expect to reconvene our regular meeting at approximately 7 30. City Manager. Okay, thank you, Madame Mair. Um so just a general public service announcement. Uh just before the council meeting, we blew a fuse in our HVAC system in the chambers, which unfortunately we don't have that fuse to replace tonight. So fortunately, it's a reasonably good day outside, but if it gets a little hot here, we can bring in some more fans. Uh this may not be an issue now, but as we get closer into the evening, it could be an issue. Um tonight we have two topics. The first is to talk about our CIP update. Um the purpose of this is a check-in for council, and then we'll be bringing this back in November, December, for final action. So I want to update you on any changes. We do have one policy issue, which is a discussion of real estate exercise tax reserves, and then a second discussion on Park Lane. So here today, the CIP project update is our financial planning manager George Dugdale and our financial planning supervisor Kevin Pellstring. Thank you, City Manager. Good evening, Mayor. Welcome, George. Good evening, Mayor, Council members. Um as the city manager said, we our first part of our study session is on the update to the twenty twenty-three twenty twenty-eight capital improvement program. So I'm gonna introduce the topic and then Kevin Pelstring, our financial planning supervisor, will go through the um the details of the project changes. We have about twenty we have twenty-four slides for you this evening. We walk through some of the policy highlights, some of the the re reserves, and then also the detailed project changes. And at the moment, there are a number of items, the transportation management plan, uh, translation master plan rather, and some other significant planning processes underway. Um so we have more kind of updates to the current CIP and some kind of changes to projects rather than new thinking and a lot of new projects. Um we do have changes related to work program items. We have updates to project timing, we have some changes in funding sources, and then as mentioned previously, we have some changes to the re reserve policies. The primary goal for for this um biennium and this biannual budget is delivering the projects that are already underway. Some of these have been impacted by elevated inflation, which we've discussed before at retreats and at council meetings, and the some of the impacts of that will be seen as we get into the budget, uh into the projects themselves.
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