OPENPUBLICA · PUBLIC MEETING RECORD
Record of Proceedings

Kirkland City Council Regular Meeting – April 1, 2025: Houghton Village Financing, SCADA Update, Work Program Adoption

City Council — Tuesday, April 1, 2025
BodyKirkland, Washington
SessionCity Council
DateTuesday, April 1, 2025
StatusFILED
Video Record
0:00 / 3:28:24

Transcript — Verbatim
0:22

Councilmember Tim Chishon.

0:24

Councilmember Black.

0:26

Here.

0:26

Councilmember Sweet.

0:27

Here.

0:27

Councilmember Falcone.

0:29

Here.

0:29

Councilmember Pascal.

0:31

Here.

0:31

Deputy Mayor Arnold.

0:32

Here.

0:33

And Mayor Curtis.

0:34

Here.

0:34

Our study session tonight is on two items.

0:37

First, we'll have a discussion on the Houghton Village financing options.

0:41

Second, we will receive an update on the SCADA strategic plan and implementation.

0:45

We expect to reconvene our regular meeting at 7 30.

0:49

City Manager.

0:50

Thank you, Mayor.

0:51

Deputy Mayor, members of the Council.

0:52

So our illustrious finance director unfortunately has a very scratchy throat.

0:57

So I would normally introduce him to introduce this topic, but uh and there's a swallow of us, so I'm gonna go ahead and introduce Kevin Pelstring, our financial planning manager, uh, who's gonna talk about the topic.

1:06

I also want a lot to council on all this.

1:07

This is about refinancing the bonds, but in the memo, we talk about potentially waiting till the RFP for Out Village comes back.

1:14

So I've also asked Allison Zyke, our deputy director of planning ability to just give a quick update on the RFP itself as part of the presentation.

1:21

So that I will turn it over to Mr.

1:23

Pellstring.

1:24

Thank you, City Manager.

1:26

Um Madam Mayor, Deputy Mayor, City Council, members of the community.

1:29

Uh we have a short presentation tonight.

1:31

Uh city manager mentioned on uh some options for uh paying back the interfund loan that we used in twenty twenty-two uh to purchase the Houghton Village property.

1:41

Um so state regulations are that we um have a plan to pay that back within around three years.

1:46

So we're coming up to that deadline, although planning is still going on on you know exact usage.

1:51

So we have casting characters to uh a cast of characters to to kind of lay out some options for you all, get some feedback tonight, and we'll bring back some uh next steps at a future meeting.

2:01

Um so in addition to Alex Alison Zike, before we pass it off to her, uh we have Maggie Marshall uh from our financial advisor, PFM, senior managing consultant, as well as Deanna Gregory, our bond counsel from Pacific Law.

2:13

Um so we'll give a brief update from uh Alison on the RFP and then we'll dive right into some of the details.

2:20

Perfect.

2:21

Awesome.

2:22

All right, I think that makes me character number one.

2:24

Um evening, council.

2:27

Um just wanted to quickly remind you kind of where you've been on the Houghton Village project as a whole, and then what's going on right now with the active request for proposals.

2:36

So to remind you, the last time that you talked about the planning part of Houghton Village was back in January when we brought you the draft uh development plan for the site and got some input from you.

2:49

At that point in January, we had a pretty good idea of what could fit on the site, how many units we might expect to be able to produce on the site, what types of community benefits and or commercial spaces we thought were possible on the site within what we've now come to call the development framework.

3:05

Um had council kind of prioritize potential community benefits, and that's all incorporated into the draft development plan that we're now calling a draft development framework.

3:16

So that was where we got in January, which is also when you told us, hey, before we really take the next step on adopting something like a development plan, let's take this out and see what the market is and see if anyone's interested in actually doing this with us.

3:30

And so that's where we're at now.

3:32

So as of right now, the city has issued a request for proposals to seek a potential uh developer or development team for the property.

3:40

Um the RFP request is that people give us proposals that are general generally aligned with the development framework that you've been working on.

3:49

We do I did want to note that we are allowing for submittals that might um vary from what's laid out in the development framework, such as someone that might want to propose developing only three stories on the site, someone that might want to propose more.

4:04

All we ask in the RFP is that if they do propose something different than the framework, that they explain how it still is achieving the types of community benefits that council has laid out.

4:15

Um I listed here, I'm not gonna gonna read them out loud or make you uh listen to me reading them out loud.

4:21

What's included in the RFP, what we're asking from people, but we do expect it's gonna be something of a phased process.

4:27

So asking for some initial information from proposers now.

4:31

What's your concept for the site, what's your funding experience, what's your development experience, um, and how do you think you'd go about it.

4:39

And um just to go over the schedule really quick, the RFP is active right now.

4:44

We're holding an information session for uh potential proposers on April 7th.

4:49

Um we've already got several questions from potential proposers, so um, we're excited by that.

4:54

We think there's a good amount of interest in out there and have heard from several teams that are planning on um attending that information session with the city staff.

5:03

And then proposals are due on April 28th.

5:06

Our plan when um after that deadline passes is for staff to evaluate the proposals and create a short list that then could potentially be shared with council.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Planning And Zoning████████████████16%
Community Engagement██████████10%
Fiscal Sustainability█████████9%
Procedural█████████9%
Water And Wastewater Management████████8%
Affordable Housing████████8%
Economic Development██████6%
Public Engagement██████6%
Legislative Updates█████5%
Summary of Proceedings

Kirkland City Council Regular Meeting – April 1, 2025

The Kirkland City Council held a study session from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. followed by a regular meeting from 7:30 p.m. to 10:39 p.m. on April 1, 2025. The study session included discussions on Houghton Village financing options and an update on the Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) strategic plan. The regular meeting featured proclamations, public comments, approval of a consent calendar, and business items including the 2025-2027 Planning Work Program briefing, adoption of the 2025-2026 City Work Program, an expanded community engagement plan, and a 2025 legislative session update. The council also entered an executive session to discuss agency litigation.

Study Session: Houghton Village Financing Options Discussion

  • Planning and Building Deputy Director Allison Zike, Finance and Administration Director Michael Olson, Financial Planning Manager Kevin Pelstring, PFM Senior Managing Consultant Maggie Marshall, and Pacifica Law Group Partner Deanna Gregory presented refinancing options for the Houghton Village property purchased via a three-year interfund loan in 2022.
  • The council discussed issuing bond anticipation notes (BANs) through a direct bank placement to repay the loan while maintaining flexibility for future development. The city has an active Request for Proposals (RFP) for the property, with proposals due April 28, 2025.
  • Councilmembers expressed support for waiting to see RFP results before committing to BANs. Staff indicated a decision point in May to either proceed with BANs or consider selling the property. Councilmember Neal Black raised concerns about debt, cost, and transparency but acknowledged BANs as suitable for a short-term extension.
  • Deputy Mayor Jay Arnold noted the repayment period could be two to three years. Councilmember Jon Pascal requested a comprehensive financial picture of the property (purchase, upgrades, revenue, and potential additional costs) before making decisions.

Study Session: SCADA Strategic Plan and Implementation Update

  • Public Works Deputy Director of Operations Chris Gavigan and Utility Operations Manager Tom Chriest presented the SCADA strategic plan, highlighting the system's age and need for upgrades.
  • Key recommendations include switching from copper phone lines to a cellular private network, upgrading program logic controllers (PLCs) and operator interface terminals, enhancing cybersecurity, standardizing SCADA screens, and improving data reporting.
  • Implementation will occur in three phases, with no negative impact on residents. The 1.8 million dollar project is funded entirely by utility rates.
  • Councilmembers asked about service consistency with North Shore Utility District (serving part of Kirkland) and disaster preparedness. Staff committed to visiting North Shore and exploring redundancy plans.
  • Councilmember Amy Falcone moved to amend the agenda to enter executive session after the study session; the motion carried 7-0.

Consent Calendar

  • Approval of Minutes: Minutes from February 28, 2025 (special meeting) and March 18, 2025 (regular meeting) were approved.
  • Audit of Accounts: Bills totaling $8,694,137.72 and payroll of $5,934,259.03 were acknowledged.
  • Claims: Claims from Emily Eng, Peter Reisert, and Zhijian Wang were acknowledged.
  • Award of Bids:
    • West of Market Sewer Main Rehabilitation Pilot Project: contract awarded to Always Active Services LLC, Snohomish, WA, for $290,110.06.
    • Market Street/98th Avenue NE Pedestrian Bicycle Improvements: contract awarded to OMA Construction Inc., Maple Valley, WA, for $688,888.00.
  • Other Items of Business: Approved proclamations for Autism and Other Neurodivergence Acceptance and Appreciation Month and National Arab American Heritage Month; confirmed appointment of Brad Williamson to the Civil Service Commission (six-year term effective April 2, 2025); and acknowledged reports on the Kirkland Rental Risk Assistance Fund close-out, 2024 School Impact Fee, 2024 Fourth Quarter Financial Management, February 2025 Investment, February 2025 Sales Tax, and Procurement.
  • The consent calendar was approved 7-0.

Public Comments & Testimony

  • Radu Bacioiu discussed paving at Heritage Park, suggesting ground cover instead of concrete for cost and environmental benefits, and asked council to pause paving.
  • Joe Kunzler thanked the council for the autism proclamation, spoke about neurodiversity, and urged adoption of Redmond City Council rules to address disruptive individuals.
  • David Haines criticized the city's consideration of debt financing, called for reinstating rental assistance, and raised concerns about rental housing conditions.
  • Alex Tsimerman expressed support for President Trump, criticized government handling of housing, and called for changes to address homelessness and undocumented residents.
  • Phil Allen reported on bench failures at Taylor Fields installed by King County Solid Waste Division, with a 75% failure rate, and urged caution on future county projects.

Business Items

2025-2027 Planning Work Program Briefing (File No. PLN25-00002)

  • Planning and Building Deputy Director Allison Zike, Planning Commission Chair Rodney Rutherford, and Vice-Chair Bria Heiser briefed the council on the draft work program. Key tasks include implementing state legislation (unit lot subdivisions, co-living, critical area ordinance updates), activating the 85th Street station area plan, streamlining permit review (including a public permit dashboard), exploring minimum density and inclusionary zoning adjustments, and addressing school capacity.
  • Councilmembers emphasized state compliance, permit streamlining, and focusing on existing plans. On the 85th Street station area, multiple councilmembers expressed that success means large-scale development (apartments/condos) with significant affordable housing, not townhomes. Councilmember Jay Arnold opposed reopening the station area plan's inclusionary zoning but supported minimum density. Councilmember Kelli Curtis advocated adding a faith-based housing project as a pilot. Feedback included support for permit dashboard, special housing pilots, and narrowing the Totem Lake sub-area plan to avoid a two-year study. Councilmember Amy Falcone requested language change on home occupation allowances to ensure exploration of neighborhood commercial uses.
  • Council provided direction; staff will incorporate feedback and bring a final work program for adoption.

2025-2026 City Work Program Adoption

  • City Manager Kurt Triplett presented 12 initiatives including catalyzing the station area, implementing transportation and comprehensive plans, completing fire facility promises, partnering with the Kraken (proposal received), reviewing criminal justice, implementing the homelessness action plan, completing arterial projects, updating the DIB roadmap, exploring Peter Kirk Pool options, renovating the public works maintenance center, and developing the 27-28 budget.
  • Resolution R-5676 was moved by Councilmember Penny Sweet, seconded by Councilmember Amy Falcone, and adopted 7-0.

Expanded City Council Community Engagement Plan

  • Deputy City Manager James Lopez presented informal (e.g., coffee hours, walks) and formal (town halls, world café style) engagement options. Council supported informal events as low-hanging fruit, with 3 councilmembers per event and a quarterly cadence. Formal events were seen as topic-specific and resource-intensive; council asked staff to map potential topics before committing to a cadence.

2025 Legislative Session Update

  • Government Affairs Manager Diana Hart reported on day 79 of session. Key updates: House Bill 1791 (REIT flexibility) on track; transportation revenue proposals (gas tax, highway use fee) may not share revenue with locals; city budget requests for Kamayakin gym expansion and Peter Kirk Pool ($115,000 each) included in House capital budget but not Senate; the property tax cap lift bills supported by the legislative work group.

Key Outcomes

  • Consent calendar approved 7-0.
  • Resolution R-5676 adopting the 2025-2026 City Work Program approved 7-0.
  • Council directed staff to proceed with community engagement plan: implement informal events soon, and return with proposed topics for formal events.
  • Planning Work Program: staff will incorporate council feedback and bring a final version for adoption.
  • Legislative update: council acknowledged positions of the legislative work group; no items pulled for further discussion.
  • Study session: council to await RFP results (due April 28) before deciding on bond anticipation notes for Houghton Village.
  • Executive session on agency litigation entered at 10:08 p.m., extended to 10:39 p.m., then meeting adjourned.

Meeting Transcript

Councilmember Tim Chishon. Councilmember Black. Here. Councilmember Sweet. Here. Councilmember Falcone. Here. Councilmember Pascal. Here. Deputy Mayor Arnold. Here. And Mayor Curtis. Here. Our study session tonight is on two items. First, we'll have a discussion on the Houghton Village financing options. Second, we will receive an update on the SCADA strategic plan and implementation. We expect to reconvene our regular meeting at 7 30. City Manager. Thank you, Mayor. Deputy Mayor, members of the Council. So our illustrious finance director unfortunately has a very scratchy throat. So I would normally introduce him to introduce this topic, but uh and there's a swallow of us, so I'm gonna go ahead and introduce Kevin Pelstring, our financial planning manager, uh, who's gonna talk about the topic. I also want a lot to council on all this. This is about refinancing the bonds, but in the memo, we talk about potentially waiting till the RFP for Out Village comes back. So I've also asked Allison Zyke, our deputy director of planning ability to just give a quick update on the RFP itself as part of the presentation. So that I will turn it over to Mr. Pellstring. Thank you, City Manager. Um Madam Mayor, Deputy Mayor, City Council, members of the community. Uh we have a short presentation tonight. Uh city manager mentioned on uh some options for uh paying back the interfund loan that we used in twenty twenty-two uh to purchase the Houghton Village property. Um so state regulations are that we um have a plan to pay that back within around three years. So we're coming up to that deadline, although planning is still going on on you know exact usage. So we have casting characters to uh a cast of characters to to kind of lay out some options for you all, get some feedback tonight, and we'll bring back some uh next steps at a future meeting. Um so in addition to Alex Alison Zike, before we pass it off to her, uh we have Maggie Marshall uh from our financial advisor, PFM, senior managing consultant, as well as Deanna Gregory, our bond counsel from Pacific Law. Um so we'll give a brief update from uh Alison on the RFP and then we'll dive right into some of the details. Perfect. Awesome. All right, I think that makes me character number one. Um evening, council. Um just wanted to quickly remind you kind of where you've been on the Houghton Village project as a whole, and then what's going on right now with the active request for proposals. So to remind you, the last time that you talked about the planning part of Houghton Village was back in January when we brought you the draft uh development plan for the site and got some input from you. At that point in January, we had a pretty good idea of what could fit on the site, how many units we might expect to be able to produce on the site, what types of community benefits and or commercial spaces we thought were possible on the site within what we've now come to call the development framework. Um had council kind of prioritize potential community benefits, and that's all incorporated into the draft development plan that we're now calling a draft development framework. So that was where we got in January, which is also when you told us, hey, before we really take the next step on adopting something like a development plan, let's take this out and see what the market is and see if anyone's interested in actually doing this with us. And so that's where we're at now. So as of right now, the city has issued a request for proposals to seek a potential uh developer or development team for the property. Um the RFP request is that people give us proposals that are general generally aligned with the development framework that you've been working on. We do I did want to note that we are allowing for submittals that might um vary from what's laid out in the development framework, such as someone that might want to propose developing only three stories on the site, someone that might want to propose more. All we ask in the RFP is that if they do propose something different than the framework, that they explain how it still is achieving the types of community benefits that council has laid out.

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