President Jeanette Simecek called the meeting to order at 7:05 p.m. She introduced Mayor Jim Lauinger and Kirkland City Councilmember Jessica Greenway. The SRHBTNA Board and Officers in attendance were also introduced.

A special thank you to everyone for coming and to Dana and Rhoda for, once again, bringing the refreshments to our meeting and to the Starbucks on 85^th Street for donating the coffee.

Kirkland March Event Guides were available for everyone from Jim McElwee.

Party in the Park! - Lorraine Trosper, SRHBTNA and Bridle Trails Parks Foundation Boards

This year, the Party will be held on June 28^th. At 8:00 a.m. there will be an Ultra 30K Trail Run, followed by a 5 K and 10K run and walk beginning at 9:00 a.m. The pancake breakfast will be held from 8:00 a.m. until 11:30 a.m. Pony rides, a cake walk, face painters, a fishing hole, and more will be held for the kids from 9:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. Also beginning at 9:30 a.m. will be three mounted drill teams including the King County Posse and the Ellensburg Rodeo princesses. There will be free Metro shuttle service from the Houghton Park N Ride every ten minutes. Last year’s Party grossed over $40,000 for the Bridle Trails Park Foundation. More volunteers are needed.

SRHBTNA Summer Picnic 2008 – C.Ray Allshouse, SRHBTNA Board

This year’s summer neighborhood picnic will be held on Saturday, August 9^th at Ben Franklin Elementary, from noon until 3:00 p.m. This year’s event promises to be bigger and better. The Organizing Committee has already met and has promised to build on the great job we did last year. Our neighborhood picnic banner will be updated and flown at its new location on N.E. 70^th Street. We will be expanding our food offerings, with hamburgers, hot dogs, chips, cotton candy, watermelon, and the very popular snow cones. This year we are planning a bake-off for prizes. There promises to be lots of things to do, even if it does rain. There should be a fire truck and a police cruiser (unless something should come up to draw them away). So be sure to put Saturday, August 9^th on your calendar.

SRHBTNA Nominating Committee – Don Samdahl, SRHBTNA Board

Don announced that the Neighborhood Association elections will be held at the May meeting. He introduced the other members of the Nominating Committee, Rhoda Stork and Dana Young. Don explained that every year, the N.A. elects its president, vice president, treasurer and secretary for one-year terms. Two members of our Board at large are elected every two years for a two-year term. If you are interested in running for a position, or know of someone else interested, please contact Dana or Rhoda.

Kirkland Alliance of Neighborhoods – Laura Seitz, SRHBTNA Board

Laura attended last month’s KAN meeting in place of C.Ray, our representative. Laura reported on some good news from the City’s Neighborhood Connection program. While we are actually two neighborhoods combined for our Association, we have in the past been considered one neighborhood and received one shared Connections grant. However, we are going to be considered two separate and distinct neighborhoods and we will be awarded two separate and distinct grants: $30,000 for South Rose Hill and $25,000 for Bridle Trails, based on population.

The Kirkland Library had been scheduled to close in November 2008 for a year during construction. However, it appears there will be a temporary library at Park Place Books during this time where you can drop off and pick up holds.

On Sunday, June 29^th, the SeaFair/Virginia Mason Team Medicine Marathon will be going through part of our neighborhoods. There will be water stations in both our neighborhoods. At the KAN meeting it was discussed that groups would receive a $200 donation (which could be used for the picnic or something) if they man a water station. The run begins at 7:00 a.m. but runners will be in our neighborhoods between 8:30 and 9:00 a.m. We will have sign-up sheets at the May meeting and these volunteer hours will count towards matching hours for City grant dollars (so this volunteer time will be worth a lot more than $200). Stay tuned for further information.

Neighborhood Connections - Kari Page, Neighborhood Services Coordinator

Kari presented a slide show about Kirkland’s Neighborhood Connections Grant program. She explained the process and what has been done in the City with previous grants. The City Council saw this program as a way of strengthening relationships with City Hall, increasing awareness of City services, and building partnership to improve neighborhoods. Kari explained that the program has $125,000 per year and serves four neighborhoods per year. This year will include grants of $28,000 to Bridle Trails, $30,000 to South Rose Hill, and $8,000 remaining from carryover and unspent funds from projects that either came in under budget or projects that didn’t get done. Please fill out your requests and return them by March 15^th as $66,000 is available. In the past we have benefitted from projects such as curb bumpouts at 132/75^th, park benches at South Rose Hill Park, the neighborhood banner, additional street lights, a radar speed gun, and benches at bus stops on 80^th and 70^th. Requests are researched by staff and are sorted into three categories: immediate, referral, and small capital projects. At the next N.A. meeting on May 13^th, we will be able to refine the ballot. Every household will get to vote on the top 3-4 priorities by mail and Kari is leaving extra ballots which will need to be returned by March 15^th.

A discussion of possible Connection items included an overhead flashing beacon at 70^th/122^nd and at 70^th by South Rose Hill Park crosswalk, pedestrian pathway improvements off 128^th, a pedestrian landing at 122/70, more bus benches, artwork, more pedestrian flags, and the possibility of putting fencing and improvements at Snyder’s Corner.

Police Department Update – Officers Mann and Davidson, Kirkland Police Department

Officer Mann is a member of Kirkland’s special response team. Officer Davidson has been with the force for six weeks and is still in training. Officer Mann explained that he spends a lot of time in our neighborhood because it is his district, "Patrol 4". He said he issues a lot of tickets on N.E. 70^th using radar, as 45 mph is the usual speed. He discussed that the most frequent crime in our neighborhoods is car prowlers. Everyone should remember to keep their cars locked at all times and not to leave anything out in plain sight to avoid "smash ‘n grab". Having mail stolen is another common problem and he urged people to get a locking mailbox. Problem areas in the neighborhood include drug activity by the high school/cemetery, commercial burglaries at night along 85^th, but not many residential burglaries as he considers SHR & BT to be the safer district in the City.

Costco Gas Station - Chris Ferko, Project Engineer

Last year Costco submitted a Comprehensive Plan Amendment to rezone to allow a gas station on the north side of Costco’s property. Costco also owns land in RH1A and RH1B; the northern portion does not allow for a gas station. They submitted the application last year and the City Council tabled the proposal to find out what the concerns are. There were two meetings; one to flush out concerns and one to respond to the concerns. At this second meeting on Feb 16, issues were discussed such as storm drainage, air quality, lighting, and traffic. Many questions were raised about the impact of a Costco gas station and how it impacts the roads. The station will be a membership only gas station and will open one hour earlier than the store and will stay open one hour later than the store. There were concerns about Costco’s parking and questions about improving the parking lot with wetlands, bioswails, rain gardens, and semipermiable asphalt. A green roof was also suggested. The suggestion of one-way traffic in/out of the parking lot was raised, as well as preventing trucks from using neighborhood streets since they cannot maneuver from N.E. 85^th Street. Mr. Ferko was asked how many vehicle trips would be created by the new gas station but he said they did not have that figure. Handouts were passed around and left at the back table.

Bridle View Annexation – The Bridle View neighborhood has been released from the City of Redmond. Next - it is in the County’s lap.

Power Lines on N.E. 60^th – The power lines along N.E. 60^th Street are being buried and they won’t have to cut down any trees to do it.

The 116^th Avenue N.E. Project – will be beginning from 60^th north and will include bike lanes, medians and a sidewalk.

Snyder’s Corner – Although it contains some King County storm water retention, it could possibly be fenced in split rail and have some landscaping and rain gardens added for approximately $66,000.

Kirkland Courier Reporter – How do we get better neighborhood coverage?

The meeting was adjourned at 9:00 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

Deirdre DeWan Johnson

Secretary