Kirkland City Council Regular Meeting – February 6, 2024
Kirkland City Council Regular Meeting – February 6, 2024
The Kirkland City Council convened at 7:30 p.m. on February 6, 2024, following a study session covering Cascade Water Alliance negotiations, the Stores to Shores Greenway, and a decorative pavement markings program. The regular meeting included honors, public comments, a consent calendar, and several business items. Key actions included approval of a temporary moratorium on building permits in the Goat Hill area, acceptance of a petition to halt forest development, direction to install a HAWK pedestrian crossing on 100th Avenue NE, and authorization to explore a new city flag.
Consent Calendar
- Approved unanimously (7-0): Minutes from January 11 and 16, 2024; audit of accounts (payroll $6,243,470.01, bills $12,936,084.25); claims for damages; award of HVAC installation contract to Product Air Heating and Cooling LLC for $223,000; Ordinance O-4848 updating building codes; Resolution R-5619 approving the 2024 ARCH administrative budget; Resolution R-5620 authorizing affordable housing funding agreements; Black History Month proclamation; 2023 Q4 capital projects report; 2022 impact fees report; December 2023 sales tax memo; and procurement report.
Public Comments & Testimony
- Miriam Larson (Goat Hill resident): Urged preservation of old-growth forest on four parcels, citing ecological and community value; described efforts to prevent a 16-home development and submitted a petition with 347 signatures.
- Joe Chulick: Requested enforcement of short-term rental regulations, stating a neighbor rented a home without living in it; noted 300 active VRBO listings in Kirkland and called for stronger code enforcement.
- Andrea Thompson: Supported the Goat Hill petition, emphasizing landslide hazards and wetlands on the sloped parcels; noted prior city purchase of adjacent parkland.
- Susan Pappalardo (PFEC member, Splash Forward president): Supported continued community engagement for a new aquatic facility; stressed partnerships, equity, and affordability; encouraged council to champion social infrastructure.
- Tristan McKay: Advocated for passive desalination technology to improve water supply resilience and environmental responsibility.
- Jennie Jaeger: Supported placing a pedestrian crossing at the intersection of 100th Avenue NE and NE 140th Street (option 2) for transit users, citing safety and pedestrian desire lines.
- Dan Maehren: Raised concerns about increased density in low-density residential neighborhoods (South Rose Hill); requested a check-in with residents on ADU and cottage housing impacts.
- Alex Tsimerman: Expressed anti-Semitic and inflammatory remarks about a Bellevue council appointment; council disavowed the statements and closed public comment after disruptive behavior.
- David Gough: Criticized city purchase of a property with critical environmental concerns without proper assessment; contrasted with his own required permits for an ADU.
- Vince Campos (former PFEC member, opponent of Prop 1): Supported a 30-year bond for a pool at $66/year; believed such a measure could reach 60% approval; recommended simple messaging on swim lessons for children.
- Kurt Dresner: Linked development pressure on forested land to insufficient density elsewhere; urged balancing preservation with denser development in already-cleared areas.
- Mitzi Beffy: Made a brief statement echoing a previous speaker.
Discussion Items
- Goat Hill Temporary Moratorium (Item 9a): Director of Planning Adam Weinstein presented background on landslide hazards, limited access, and substandard infrastructure. Council added this item by a 7-0 vote to amend the agenda. After discussion, Ordinance O-4870 imposing a six-month moratorium on new dwelling unit permits (effective immediately) was approved 7-0, with exemptions for existing applications and infrastructure projects.
- Post Ballot Measure Parks Funding (Item 9b): Management Analyst Hilary De La Cruz shared feedback from PFEC and Park Board on Prop 1 results, including reasons for yes/no votes, confusion over funding structure, and support for a smaller pool-only measure. Council reviewed updated survey questions, debated levy lid lift vs. bond options, and discussed timing (August primary vs. November general). Council provided direction to refine location questions and consolidate survey items. Survey launch was approved for later that week, with results to be presented at the March 1 retreat.
- 100th Avenue NE Pedestrian Crossing (Item 9c): Transportation Engineering Supervisor Jennifer Palmer presented a safety evaluation recommending a HAWK signalized mid-block crossing between NE 140th Street and NE 140th Place. Council heard public support for the intersection option. After discussion, a motion to adopt staff recommendation (HAWK at the northern mid-block location) passed 7-0, with direction to return with funding options and a fiscal note.
- 2024 Legislative Session Update (Item 9e): Government Affairs Manager Diana Hart reported on key bills: transit-oriented development amendments advanced; real estate excise tax proposals pending; behavioral health bills moving; property tax cap bill progressing; and opposition to impact fee reduction bills. Council expressed continued support for traffic safety camera legislation (HB 2384).
- Interview Selection Committee (Item 9f): City Clerk randomly selected Councilmembers Black, Falcone, and Tymczyszyn to serve on the ISC for board and commission interviews. Applications due February 14.
- City Manager Reports:
- Council Retreat Agenda: Draft agenda proposed including community pool survey results, regional fire authority briefing, city communications, economic development, council procedures, and open potpourri. Council requested fewer topics for deeper discussion and clarified potpourri expectations.
- Woodinville RAISE Grant Letter: Council approved (7-0) an edited letter of support, adding references to the “former rail corridor” and “East King County.”
- City Flag LRM: Councilmember Sweet presented a proposal for a new city flag, citing branding and community engagement. Council voted 7-0 to direct staff to prepare a legislative request memo.
- Council Reports: Members reported on Lake Washington School District coordination, Point-in-Time homeless count, King County Affordable Housing Symposium, Totem Lake Connector Bridge award, Lunar New Year celebration, and upcoming City Action Days. A motion to allocate $7,000 from council special projects reserve for an Eastrail Leadership Assembly passed 7-0.
Key Outcomes
- Goat Hill Moratorium: Approved O-4870 (7-0), effective immediately, halting new building permits for six months in the Goat Hill area to study safety and environmental constraints.
- Petition G-24-240: Accepted (7-0) for further study regarding development of forested parcels on Goat Hill.
- 100th Avenue Crossing: Directed staff to implement a HAWK signalized mid-block pedestrian crossing between NE 140th Street and NE 140th Place; staff to return with funding options.
- Eastrail Summit: Approved $7,000 cost share for the leadership assembly, to be funded from council special projects reserve.
- Woodinville RAISE Letter: Approved with edits.
- City Flag: Directed staff to prepare an LRM for a new city flag.
- Survey Launch: Council finalized changes to the post-ballot measure community survey; survey to be fielded immediately.
Meeting Transcript
Thank you good evening. I'd like to call this to order. City Council meeting of February 6, 2024. Welcome back, everyone. Tonight's meeting is a hybrid meeting. Our Deputy Mayor Arnold is joining us remotely. Community members are welcome to join us either in person or remotely through Zoom or by the telephone. Clerk, will you please call a roll? Councilmember Dimchison. Here. Councilmember Black. Here. Councilmember Sweet. Here. Council Member Falcone. Here. Councilmember Pascal. Here. Deputy Mayor Arnold. Here. Mayor Curtis. Here. Thank you. Our study session tonight is three topics. The first is the Cascade Water Alliance Water Supply Negotiations Udate. Second is Stores to Shores Greenway Project Update. Third is decorative pavement markings program briefing. We respect we expect to reconvene our regular meeting at 7:30 this evening. First, we'll do Cascade Water Alliance Water Supply Negotiations Update, City Manager. Okay, thank you, Madam Mayor. So here to give that update is our interim public works director, Truck Dever. And I'd like to note that we have three complex topics. We're going to try to keep them to half an hour each, so I will be giving warnings when we get to close to the end of each one. So welcome, Truck. Good evening. Mayor Curtis, Deputy Mayor Arnold, and members of the council. So as you all are probably aware, the city receives its water supply as a member of the Cascade Water Alliance. And there have been some important negotiations taking place regarding the future water supply. So what I'm going to do tonight is really to tee up this conversation. And in March, on March 5th, you'll have a representative from Cascade Water Alliance, Chuck Clark, out here to answer more pointed questions and provide further details about this particular negotiation. So the study session tonight, what we're hoping to do is to collect some initial feedback from the council regarding these negotiations, and then transferring that feedback to Cascade Water Alliance to help them prepare for their presentation to you in March. We'll go through just a quick overview of what CWA is, a little bit about the negotiation background, and then a high-level proposal review. So a little bit about the Cascade Water Alliance. There are seven members. So a bit about what's going on and how we got to this point. CWA currently purchases all of its water in blocks from Seattle Public Utilities. And by 2039, we anticipate that block to begin to decline under our current contract. Now in in anticipation of that, CWA and its members purchased the Lake TAPS reservoir down south as a as a strategy to plan for future water supplies. So given this timeline, uh back in July of 2021, uh CWA's board authorized staff to start negotiating and looking at a way to really bridge the demand between now and when they can get lake taps up and running and in service if that's needed. So really what they were looking for in the negotiation objectives was to find a way again to bridge that gap to potentially extend uh our current supplies out 20 years or longer, um, ensuring that there is sufficient time to defer the lake taps development and um you know, by doing so limiting the the rate hikes to consumers, um providing reasonable and predictable costs, just ensuring that there's some flexibility in that contract to accommodate for you know supply and demand into the future, and also looking at more of a regional uh approach to providing water supply.
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