President Jeanette Simecek called the meeting to order at 7:07 p.m. Jeanette introduced the SRHBTNA Officers in attendance. She also introduced the member of the Kirkland City Council in attendance, Jessica Greenway.

A SPECIAL THANK YOU 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.

The City has a new Resource Officer – Officer Alan O’Neil can come and talk at a future meeting on a specific subject (such as break-ins). Also available to speak to us is the new Chief, Eric Olsen.

Dialog – There is the perception of strained relations between the SRHBTNA and the City around certain issues. City staff, the Council, the NA, and KAN are beginning a dialog to improve the relationship.

Central Park Tennis Club Update – Andy Held, Planning Commission & SRHBT Board

The Tennis Club produces over 750 car trips-per-day so the neighbors asked for traffic calming near the Club. The City made up new rules requiring a 100% affirming vote (including the Tennis Club) and an abstention would be considered a "no" vote. The votes have come back and they were unanimous. There will soon be a series of three new speed cushions near 60^th Street/128^th Avenue and an extruded curb.

SRHBTNA Website – The RoseTrails site will become more user-friendly.

Steve spoke about the first ten years of the Center and about the upcoming Tenth Anniversary Celebration which will take place during the first week of June 2008. Steve began by telling us it has been a miraculous ten years and it is a great success story. The KPC has been recognized as a leader of multi-arts facilities and received an Excellence Award from the Kirkland Chamber. They operate through a variety of events, great artists, a dozen producing partners, many rental organizations, a variety of arts education programs, as well as a community resource (forums, etc.) Outreach programs include A World of Arts education program where performers are sent to the schools, special school matinee performances, and "Kids at Play" where local youth groups can use the facility at reduced or no charge and experience performing on a professional stage.

The KPC has had a balanced budget for the past four years. They hosted 66,300 people at 258 events, averaging 261 per event. They had $663,000 in total box office revenue last year. Their $1.3M income is split about 50/50 between box office revenue and contributions from various foundations and entities, and this year’s auction brought in $128,000.

Jim discussed the good news – they are finished bringing in dirt and the land has been leased for 99 years. The cap on the landfield has finally been done, completed by Taylor Development. The surface water management runoff system is working well. More native vegetation will be planted but the fields will be in maintenance mode. From the perimeter road "out" is County; from the road "in" is KALL property. Dust has been mitigated by applying crushed asphalt on the entryway. KALL is thrilled to have Taylor Park, as the "8 and under" program serves over 900 kids. The season lasts only about 90 days-per-year, from April through June. KALL has to pay for landscaping and irrigation, and for insurance. Methane reading continues by King County and as part of a UW class project. There will be a landscaping plan and a basic ground cover with native plants will be planted in the springtime.

Some fences are down at Franklin Elementary near the climbing boulder. There still is, however a fence around the new seeding. The Rose Hill Meadow site has three different rental houses but the City will be able to deconstruct those homes and 80% of the materials will be recycled. Snyder’s Corner has recently gotten more visibility. For years it has been a site for fire departments for training and also as a site to hold construction trucks and staging. Snyder’s Corner Park is part of the Bridle View neighborhood which is currently in King County but would like to join the City of Kirkland. That corner has been considered to be an ideal location for an emergency medical facility serving many jurisdictions. Currently Snyder’s Corner is owned by the City of Kirkland, even though it is not within the City limits.

The City of Kirkland covers approximately 11 square miles and includes 41 parks, 809 acres of parkland, and 372 acres of natural areas, including forest/wetland/stream corridors. This land is very important because it is used by people, animals, and birds, but also increases values and helps in sequestering carbon dioxide. Our natural forest areas absorb carbon and cleanse the air and water, filter surface water, prevent surface runoff, and save an estimated $1 billion in infrastructure savings. Our parks are in need of help – many are dying. They are dominated by big leaf maples approaching 80 years old and at the end of their lifecycle, but they can’t regenerate because of the prevalence of English Ivy. If we do nothing, in 100 years there will be ivy only and a total lack of biodiversity. In order to restore our forests, we need to take out the ivy and invasive species. (Removed pieces of ivy on tree trunks have been enormous.) Other problem species include English Ivy, Himalayan Blackberry, Yellow Archangel, Periwinkle, Herb Robert (Stinky Bob), Scots’ Broom, English Holly, Cherry Laurel, Clematis, and Morning Glory.

If we reverse that trend and remove the invasives and replant with natives, we can make our lands sustainable for future generations. Green Kirkland is a 20-year effort with the Cascade Land Conservancy, community groups, and neighborhoods. Partnership goals are to restore and protect forests and create a stewardship program. The 20 Year Plan is under development and an inventory has been done. All the natural areas have been put into triage categories and ranked in terms of tree composition and invasive species cover. Best management practices include four phases – remove, replant, evaluate, and then maintain, but the cost of restoration is dependent upon volunteer hours. Green Kirkland has a very active community education and outreach program. We can help by joining work parties and by becoming a natural area steward. You can also take any invasives out of your own garden and spread the word. For future events or for further information, please contact Sharon at srodman@ci.kirkland.wa.us or (425)587-3305.

We all should have received an email from the new owner of Park Place proposing significant changes to zoning and several adjacent land owners requesting zoning code changes as well. Go to the City website and sign up for email updates on Park Place. There is also a new development regarding Costco’s request to place a gas station on their property. The Planning Commission had recommended that the gas station proposal be given no consideration. However, the current Council voted 7-0 to allow them to consider it. A public meeting was held last Saturday to discuss the issues. Please pay attention to upcoming emails and opportunities for public comment.

Last month there was a complaint about noise, trash cans, and delivery trucks at the HopeLink site. Director Jessica Ivy said she did not hear of such complaints so we should go talk to her if problems arise. For a quick quarterly report, she said the station is running smoothly and the demands have increased for the season. They are in need of community assistance to come and help sort the donations. Regarding the complaints, she said as far as she can tell, Waste Management comes in the mornings as usual and, although the delivery trucks are noisy, they will try to have them deliver only during agreed-upon hours.

Fundraiser - The Bridle Trails Parks Foundation is selling coffee and the Foundation gets $2.00 for each pound sold. For additional information, please contact Loraine Trosper.

Park Walk - 45 people recently participated in a mushroom walk in the Park which was led by the Bridle Trails Parks Foundation naturalists.

The meeting was adjourned at 8:58 pm

Respectfully submitted,

Deirdre DeWan Johnson

Secretary