Meeting Minutes - April 11, 2001

Moss Bay Neighborhood Association
Meeting Minutes April 11, 2001
Houghton Fire Station


Laura Lee Pritt called the meeting to order.


Our fist speaker was Mike Magee, Project Engineer for the City of Kirkland.  Mike's topic was the improvement project planned for the intersection of State Street and NE 68th Street.  A right turn lane will be created on NE 68th for turning onto State Street.  Concerns that have been expressed  by other neighborhoods and Lakeview School groups include pedestrian safety, now that there will be an extra lane to cross, possible increased speed due to the improved flow, and access for busses leaving Lakeview.  On the positive side is the fact that without the lane, traffic soon is projected to back up 600 feet to the east of the intersection, or about to the entrance to Houghton Shopping Center.  The project is expected to cost approximately one million dollars, 85 percent of which will be federal money.  A nice feature of the project for the Moss Bay neighborhood will be a landscaped spot for our neighborhood sign.  Any questions concerning this project should be directed to Mike Magee at Kirkland City Hall -- [email protected]


Don Winters, our secretary and webmaster, talked about the www.mossbay.org web site.  Don mentioned that there was a lot of info on the site already, and that any material members might want to see posted should be forwarded to him at [email protected]


Next on our agenda was a presentation by Jessie Culbert and Sonia Luthra, two young ladies from the Kirkland Youth Council.  They talked about a program created by the Search Institute called Asset Building -- a way of turning negative influences into positive ones for our youth.  Assets are like ingredients and the more we have the less likely we are to have youth with drug, alcohol, violence and scholastic problems.   Jessie and Sonia discussed various ways for us to help build assets for our young people.  For more information on this program in Kirkland, call Regi Schubiger at (425) 803-2830.


John Aberti talked briefly about traffic circles.  One circle has already been installed at 7th Ave. S. and 2nd St. S.  Now a raised crosswalk, similar to a speed hump, will be installed on 7th at the school crossing east of State Street.  John also mentioned that he had talked to Jeremy McMahon about the Pace Project.  Max Gurvich, from ULTRA Corporation, has obtained a building permit and will start construction soon on a scaled down version of the project, which will be a remodel of the existing building and a reconfiguration of the parking.  John found that the agreement we had reached with the city in regard to the number of cars allowed to use 7th Ave. S. and the traffic restrictions  needed to prevent exiting cars from turning left onto 7th, seem to be reasonably addressed by the plans.  See our Vista Plaza Page for an update and drawing detail from the building plans showing the left turn retrictions. 


Laura Lee Pritt mentioned the I-405 traffic corridor program  Several options are being discussed.  Joan McBride, a Kirkland City Councilperson was on hand and mentioned her opposition to four new traffic lanes being built on 405 in Kirkland.  She feels the increased noise and the swath this would cut through town would be unacceptable.  She favors improvements to the road without the massive size increase.  Joan also mentioned that the city council is looking into acquiring the Burlington Northern right of way through town for use as a possible busway or other transportation corridor.


Laura Lee also asked for ideas to improve attendance at Moss Bay Neighborhood Association meetings.  Mary Alyce Burleigh, from the Rose Hill Neighborhood Association, thought that a phone tree was the most effective way of notifying members and getting them to turn out.