Note: The agenda, minutes, and transcript indicate the meeting was held on July 2, 2024. The date provided in the instruction (July 8, 2024) is used here per the request, but this discrepancy is noted.
The Kirkland City Council held a study session starting at 5:30 p.m. and a regular meeting at 7:30 p.m. on July 2, 2024 (per source material). The meeting was conducted in‑person only due to a network disruption caused by suspicious activity. The council discussed the Juanita Public Pathway Feasibility Study, a city flag process, approved the consent calendar, heard public comments, received a biennial community survey report, and advanced items on council operations and the Neighborhood Safety Program (NSP).
Study Session – Juanita Public Pathway Feasibility Study Transportation Planner Victoria Kovacs presented the study, which found the proposed pathway from Brickyard Park & Ride to the Cross Kirkland Corridor to be low feasibility and high cost (estimated $17–19 million total). The study recommended placing the project on the Transportation Strategic Plan unfunded list. Council discussed potential next steps for specific segments, particularly segment 4 (near Juanita High School), and staff noted that further discussion could occur during the fall CIP process. The council expressed appreciation for the study and acknowledged community disappointment, but supported the staff recommendation.
Study Session & Business – City Flag Process Communications Program Manager David Wolbrecht outlined a draft community engagement process to create an official city flag. Council provided feedback on the advisory group composition, emphasizing broader community involvement (including youth, seniors, and underrepresented groups), smaller group size (10–12), and a prize for the winning design. They also discussed the final decision‑making process (community vote vs. council selection) and asked to refine the resolution criteria to reflect “city values” rather than only DEIB. The item was continued from the study session to the regular business meeting, where further discussion resulted in a directive to staff to revise the resolution and process for future adoption.
Business – Council Operations Continued Discussion Deputy City Manager Julie Underwood presented draft amendments to council policies, including travel guidelines, special projects reserves, the council coin process, and rules for items from the audience. Council approved the changes and directed staff to bring them forward for final adoption at the July 16 meeting. They also identified future topics: updates to the social media/communications policy and a review of the three‑speaker rule for audience items.
Business – Neighborhood Safety Program (NSP) Evaluation DEIB Manager Erika Mascorro reviewed a Legislative Request Memorandum outlining five options for the NSP. After discussion, Council rejected options 1 (reinstating RRFBs within NSP) and 5 (retiring the program). They approved a motion to evaluate options 2 (create a separate RRFB‑only program), 3 (increase the program budget to account for inflation), and 4 (enhance DEIB implementation by expanding neighborhood representatives and including underrepresented locations). The motion passed 6‑0.
Special Presentation – Biennial Community Survey Final Report Devin Bales of DHM Research presented findings from the statistically valid survey (1,000 respondents) and a community engagement survey (362 respondents). Key results: residents are generally satisfied, with the top concerns being growth/overdevelopment, traffic, and affordable housing. The community engagement sample showed lower satisfaction and higher concern about crime and public safety. Council discussed strategies to improve communication, especially to residents who rely on social media.
Sorry, Benny. I'd like to call to order this council meeting, city council meeting of July 2nd, 2024, before asking the clerk to call roll for tonight's regular meeting. Is there a motion to excuse Councilmember Pascal? So move. Second. It's been moved by Councilmember Falcone, second by Councilmember Black to excuse Councilmember Pascal from tonight's meeting. All in favor, please say aye. Aye. Any opposed? Motion carries seven zero. Oh, I'm gonna have to break that habit tonight. Um clerk, will you please call a roll for the meeting? Councilmember Tim Chizen. Here. Councilmember Black. Here. Councilmember Falcone. Here. Councilmember Sweet. Here. Deputy Mayor Arnold. Here. Mayor Curtis. Here. That's me. That's it. That's me. To begin, I want to note for our audience that as a result of suspicious activity on the city's internal network last week. City staff proactively shut down access to the network out of abundance of caution. Because of this network disruption, the city council meeting is being held in person only. We are going old school. The meeting is not being streamed live and is not available for remote attendance. The meeting is still being recorded and will be posted online at a later date. In addition, before moving to our study session items, unless there is an objection, I will move the executive session on our agenda to begin at 6 30 p.m. instead of at the end of our regular meeting. We will still expect to reconvene our regular meeting at 7 30. I see no objections. Our study session tonight is on two items. The first item is on the feasibility study for the Juanita Public Pathway. The second item is on the city flag process draft resolution. City manager. Okay. Thank you, Madam Mayor. Welcome everybody. So we are going to try to keep each of these to half an hour. If the conversation is still going at 6 30, we do have a fairly short business agenda, so we'll just roll over any topic to the evening meeting if necessary. But so our first topic is a check-in on the Wayneta public pathway feasibility study. We are not seeking counsel action at this point. Our action would be to place this in the transportation strategic plan unfunded list, but we wanted to uh fill you in on the results of the study and see if council has any questions. So here to make that presentation as Victoria Kovacs, our transportation planner.