Cost Recovery From COVID-19 Expenses

On June 2, 2020 Council decided to allocate $1,975,800 of funding provided by the CARES Act to the community via Small Business Economic Support ($1,705,800), Senior Nutrition Program ($20,000), and Human Services for mental health, telework, food security, and personal protective equipment ($250,000). 

BACKGROUND:  On January 21, 2020 the State of Washington announced that the first confirmed positive case of COVID-19 had been identified at the Life Center in Kirkland, Washington. The first announcement of a death from the disease in the United States occurred on February 29th . The City of Redmond Emergency Coordination Center (ECC) activated on February 29th and Mayor Birney declared a state of emergency on March 2, 2020. City facilities (except for essential/life safety operations) were closed on March 13th. During this time additional supplies were obtained to create a safe workspace for staff and first responders to effectively respond to the pandemic. On March 16, 2020 Washington State Governor Jay Inslee ordered all restaurants, bars, and recreational facilities closed to the public.

On January 21, 2020 the State of Washington announced that the first confirmed positive case of COVID-19 had been identified at the Life Center in Kirkland, Washington. The first announcement of a death from the disease in the United States occurred on February 29th . The City of Redmond Emergency Coordination Center (ECC) activated on February 29th and Mayor Birney declared a state of emergency on March 2, 2020. City facilities (except for essential/life safety operations) were closed on March 13th. During this time additional supplies were obtained to create a safe workspace for staff and first responders to effectively respond to the pandemic. On March 16, 2020 Washington State Governor Jay Inslee ordered all restaurants, bars, and recreational facilities closed to the public.

The City of Redmond submitted a Request for Public Assistance to FEMA on April 13, 2020 and was approved as a subrecipient of the Washington State Military Department. FEMA funding will reimburse eligible expenditures related to the primary incident response including but not limited to personal protective equipment, sanitation, and medical supplies. The total FEMA grant award amount has not yet been identified and will be determined based on approved project worksheets which are to be submitted by the City. On June 2, 2020 Council decided to allocate $1,975,800 of funding provided by the CARES Act to the community via Small Business Economic Support ($1,705,800), Senior Nutrition Program ($20,000), and Human Services for mental health, telework, food security, and personal protective equipment ($250,000). The identified costs will be 100% reimbursable by the City’s CARES Act Funding administered by the Washington State Department of Commerce. On May 12, 2020 King County Council passed an ordinance allocating $1.95 million of the County’s CARES Act allocation to a grant program to support King County cities’ economic relief and recovery activities in response to the COVID-19 public health emergency. Of this, the City of Redmond is eligible to receive $100,584.

Mayor memo to Council, 7/21/2020

$4,250,645 Bid Awarded For Tank Painting And Seismic Upgrade

On most large Redmond projects I have noticed, grants are awarded.  The City is exceptional in this matter. I don't understand why grants weren't secured for this massive project. - B. Yoder

The City owns and operates a four and half million-gallon (4.5 MG) water storage tank in SE Redmond. The tank is located at 18609 NE 65th St., near Fire Station 16. The steel tank was constructed in 1996 and is scheduled for exterior and interior paint recoating.

Redmond Is Paused To Phase 2 Indefinitely

Public Information Officer, Washington Emergency Management Division AGENCY  7/28/2020 Today, Gov. Inslee extended the pause indefinitely on counties moving ahead in the Safe Start Washington plan. We must prevent runaway spread of #COVID19 in our state. Our individual actions make a difference. Fewer, shorter and safer interactions are crucial. More information on what's open in each phase: https://coronavirus.wa.gov/what-you-need... A reminder of what counties are in each phase: https://coronavirus.wa.gov/what-you-need... #MaskUpWA King County - Redmond is paused to Phase 2 indefinitely by Governor Inslee. 7/28/2020

June Financial Report And Quarterly Overtime Update

Each month the City of Redmond Finance Department reviews the prior month’s financial performance. The June Financial Report continues to show the impacts of the pandemic mainly in ongoing revenue.

However, one-time revenue from construction projects continues to remain steady. General Fund Revenues -- Sales tax collections for June equaled $57.4 million over the biennium with approximately $12 million due to one-time sales tax on construction collections. 

Downtown Redmond Marymoor Link Extension Light Rail To Begin Construction

Starting soon: Sound Transit's light rail project near Marymoor Park

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As soon as the week of August 3rd, Sound Transit will begin construction on the segment of the Downtown Redmond Link Extension Light Rail that goes along SR 520 at the northern boundary of Marymoor Park.

This construction activity will not directly affect the park nor require closure of any Marymoor facilities.

Sound Transit will install fencing around the construction zone along the north boundary of the park and expects to start removing trees within the construction zone as soon as September 1.

Sound Transit expects light rail construction near Marymoor Park to continue through summer 2023.

For more information

Sound Transit’s Downtown Redmond Link Extension

Ryan Bianchi, Community Outreach Specialist

Comment:  This is an environmentally sensitive project with a section of the rail running about 5 feet over Bear Creek. Scores of trees will be removed (most of them small.) Off site mitigation will be employed with higher ratios of tree replacements than normal. Also, there is a wetland downstream that will be dredged into a back-channel. This will be good for the salmon. Myself, a City engineer, a City planner and Redmond resident Susan Wilkins made the site visitation. -- Bob Yoder

Redmond Bar And Grill Opens Redmond's First Eatery

Mayor Birney in white - social distancing

Mayor Birney joined the GRTMA, (Greater Redmond Transportation Management Association) OneRedmond and the community to celebrate Redmond’s first outdoor streatery at Redmond’s Bar and Grill last Friday. Redmond businesses that apply for a free temporary use permit can utilize public space to maximize customer seating capacity during Washington’s Safe Start Plan.

Two parking spaces were marked off to create 4 table spaces. Two other businesses are in the permitting process.

Several councilmembers were in attendance:  Tanika Padye, Steve Fields, David Carson, Vanessa Kritzer and Jessica Forsythe.  

Photo and report:  Bob Yoder

UPDATED: Redmond Needs A Visitor Center

UPDATED:  My wife and I attended the "Redmond Bar and Grill" streatery ribbon cutting tonight and felt so good just being outside and enjoying our neighbors.  The outdoor seating really made it all happen and the food and drink was delicious.

We felt more streateries like this one would make Redmond a special place.  As is, downtown Redmond just seems almost sterile.  People are starting to use the park but not like we had hoped. We decided what was needed is a Visitor Center. The only Visitors' Center we have is at Microsoft.  Even "Experience Redmond" labeled our center as Microsoft's.  As you can see from this link we are much more than Microsoft. https://www.redmond.gov/943/Largest-Employers.

We discussed good places for a Visitor Center.  The 3200 s.f. business for rent at Leary Way and Redmond Way, underneath Dr. Han's dental practice, seemed a good location. A center on the City Hall campus seemed okay.

Redmond is more than a Microsoft; we need to spread our wings and welcome all of  our newcomers.

-- Bob Yoder, opinion

This piece was posted on Facebook with lots of viewer interest and feedback.  One lady thought a good place for the Tourist Center was near the downtown park.  Another mentioned a kiosk at the ERRATIC.  Most people were positive about the park.

City Of Redmond Aware Of Attackwa.org Breach

CONTACT
Public Information Officer
police@redmond.gov
425-556-2581

Redmond, WA – The City of Redmond is aware of a security/data incident related to “attackwa.org” which was operated by Netsential.com. This database was a part of a nation-wide data hack into Netsential systems known as the “Blue Leaks” hack, which affected over 200 law enforcement agencies across the country. Netsential reported this hack on June 22, 2020. On June 26, 2020, the City of Redmond discovered that its attackwa.org database was among the databases affected by this hack. The Blue Leaks data breach is currently under investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). 

Redmond's Centro Cultural Mexicana Distributing Free Masks

Centro Cultural Mexicano is distributing FREE Re-usable and Disposable MASKS at Centro Cultural Mexicano in Redmond this Saturday between 1:30 pm and 3pm for everyone in your family. Please come by (wear a mask!) and kindly wait outside if we are helping someone as we can only have a few people inside at a time. Thank you to King County Executive Office and King County Office of Equity and Social Justice for supplying and facilitating the supply of these necessary items for our community! Hinojos & Jimenez Art Centro Cultural Mexicano.

LWSD Return To School Update - Fully Remote Teaching

Dr. Jon Holmen, Superintendent

Dear Lake Washington Staff, Families, and Community, Over the last week I have been actively engaged with a number of entities as we evaluate our plans for school in the fall. As you know, we have been actively working through the details of developing remote learning and a hybrid model. We also asked families to indicate their preference for which model their child would learn in to start the year. I know the amount of time and considerations each family has gone through to evaluate which model is best for their child given the amount of information provided and questions that, at times, we were not able to answer. Today, I am announcing that Lake Washington students will be starting the 2020-21 school year learning in a fully remote setting.

"Streaterie" Ribbon Cutting Ceremony At Redmond Bar And Grill

I'm happy to report that at least three businesses have had permits processed for streateries so far, since this was adopted by the Council on June 16, according to Director Helland at last night's meetings. I understand from the Mayor's communications team that there is a ribbon cutting on Friday at 4:30pm for Redmond Bar and Grill, in case you are interested to attend.

Jeralee

Jeralee L. Anderson, PhD, PE, LEED AP Council Vice President │City of Redmond (: 425.588.1619 |*: janderson@redmond.gov | Redmond.gov MS: 4NEX │ 15670 NE 85th St │ Redmond, WA 98052 Pronouns: She/Her/Hers | #blacklivesmatter

BLM Display On Sammamish River Trail

On Thursday July 9th, I went for a walk along the Sammamish River Trail here in Redmond.

I was surprised to discover that some individual or group had organized a display of a series of

photographs of African Americans who have been killed by police during the past few years here in the USA.

I counted 48 individually placed signs neatly spaced along the east side of the Trail, just south of where it 

intersects with the western end of the Powerline Trail.  44 of the signs were photographs of named individuals,

sometimes shown with members of their families and often mentioning a few details of their lives and the recent 

year in which they were killed.  

For me personally, seeing photos of these folks at positive times in their lives had a strong emotional impact,

to realize that they were all now dead.

There was a fair amount of traffic along the Trail during the time I was there, as it had become quite sunny.

A few were obviously quite interested, although the majority did not particularly pay much attention.  I watched one woman walk along the display with her cell phone held in such a way as to indicate she was recording what

she saw. 

I visited the site again on Sunday, and discovered that all of the signs had been taken down.

-- John Reinke

    Story and photos

Juanita High Mascot Is Removed

This Tuesday, Superintendent Jon Holmen removed Juanita's mascot - the "Rebels."  After listening to numerous students opposing the mascot as racist, the entire School Board agreed this action must be taken without delay.  Below, are excerpts from minutes of the 6/22 School Board meeting:

"Board member Mark Stuart felt it was important to address this tonight to help to heal the deep and gaping wound in the community. He conveyed he grew up in a racist and segregated state and didn’t like what he experienced which propelled him to work in media/public relations. He was shocked when he moved into the area to see Rebel mascot. This change would still provide the administration to develop the process to implement the change. Due to the seriousness of this situation, he felt that tradition needs to be changed and didn’t want to delay it.

Board member Cassandra Sage related that her children are alumni from Juanita High School. In 2018, when the process was implemented to change or affirm the mascot, she did not understand the pain and feelings surrounding the mascot. Policy can be drafted to create systemwide changes and address equity issues so that it will permeate the system and create effective change."

-- School Board Business meeting minutes, 6/22/20200

COVID-19 Media Update - Community Mental Health

7/10/2020

There has been a disproportional /COVID-19 impact on communities of color.  Contributing factors are: 1) long standing health inequities and 2) systemic racism.

The NAACP and King County Health are hosting a community mental health day 7/11 wherein 30 mental health providers will be available to those in need for one-on-one counseling. Free testing will also be available. (I realize this is very short notice.)  

For services, contact King County by social media or on their website.  

-- Dr. Jeff Duchin, Public Health Officer, King County.  

LWSD Task Force Plans For Return To Schools - Survey

Internet image

Families: Attention! We want to hear from you! Our Return to LWSD School Task Force is considering a hybrid rotation model for grades 2-12 at the start of the 2020-21 school year. All preschool, kindergarten and first-grade students would attend school each day.

This hybrid model would combine in-person class time with virtual, distance-learning time. Please fill out our LWSD survey asking families for their preferences within this hybrid model as well as questions about interest in a full remote learning option: http://bit.ly/R2SHybridModel

-- LWSD School Task Force

PART THREE: City Leadership Operated Without A Pandemic Plan

 https://www.redmond.gov/DocumentCenter/View/14174/Investigative-Report-Redmond-FINAL

WORKPLACE INVESTIGATION DURING COVID CRISIS

At this meeting, the EPM was directed to update the Pandemic Plan that apparently had not been updated in years. Email communications reflect the Deputy Fire Chief reporting to the Fire Chief that, as of Friday morning, February 28, 2020, he had met with staff regarding Coronavirus and the need to update the current City Pandemic plan, which “we found is indeed badly needed.” He reported that the Fire Chief had requested that the EPM update the Pandemic Plan, that the Deputy Fire Chief had directed the MSA to start documenting and addressing the Fire Department’s preparations for potential impacts, and that the MSA would take the lead in the Fire Department’s preparations regarding the overall Pandemic Plan, and that the department had doubled their orders for N-95 masks. Updating the Pandemic Plan required each of the City’s departments to plan for the essential nature and prioritization of personnel and staffing levels in the event certain percentages of employees became unavailable (i.e., due to illness or quarantine). Staff from each of the departments spent time over the next two weeks preparing input, with a deadline of March 13th. A number of witnesses reported frustration that City staff from various departments spent most if not all of their time assigned to the ECC updating this “continuity of operations” information for the Pandemic Plan as opposed to tasks they felt might more directly help the City prepare and logistically facilitate operational response to the pandemic. The Mayor’s office was frustrated that leadership in the ECC did not seem to be making affirmative efforts to schedule EPC meetings or provide useful information to coordinate logistics City-wide. Witnesses reported that reports 10 It appears the CEMP overall is intended to be updated every five years, and was last updated in 2015; however, the Pandemic portion of it may not have been updated for a longer period of time. Another department Director reported having spoken to the EPM or Fire Chief weeks earlier about the need to update the City’s Pandemic Plan, prior to the local arrival of COVID-19 or a State of Emergency in Redmond.

--excerpt from "Independent" investigator 

PART TWO: Breakdown In Leadership During COVID - 19 Crisis

https://www.redmond.gov/DocumentCenter/View/14174/Investigative-Report-Redmond-FINAL

WORKPLACE INVESTIGATION DURING COVID CRISIS

A preponderance of the evidence supports a conclusion that City Administration requested a transition of leadership in the ECC in March of 2020 due to concern about availability and effectiveness of then-current leadership. Availability and effectiveness of some individuals in leadership positions was likely impacted by illness (whether or not each employee was completely unavailable or attempting to work off and on from home); however, failure to provide clear communication, leadership, and planning left a void that City Administration felt needed to be filled during a serious and quickly evolving crisis situation. The fact that health information about affected employees also implicated potential privacy issues, and that the actual medical status of various employees was, in and of itself, not clear, complicated the situation. ECC initial activities related to external community partners and agencies appears consistent with the Administration’s recognition of strengths in the early-ECC’s outward-focusing activities, and volunteers, liaison staff and support appear to continue providing community support through a task force and other activities. However, there appears to have been a disconnect about the significance of internal needs of the City itself as an organization, which is also a function of the ECC. While a number of “seats” in the ECC are staffed by and for various functional purposes that include coordination of support for City services (including staff who provide the services), it does not appear ECC leadership at the time was setting in motion needed focus on internal as well as external objectives at the time. Some key personnel in the ECC’s leadership roles had become ill, but little information was shared about their health status, availability, or limitations. A number of witnesses noticed these personnel appeared to be less available, there seemed to be a void of communication or articulated plan of action for the ECC, and department directors (who were also on the Emergency Preparedness Council) grew increasingly concerned about independently performing logistical functions (i.e., locating scarce PPE and emergency supplies) in addition to managing their own departmental staffing and operations under increasingly difficult circumstances. The evidence supports a conclusion that the Police personnel assigned to manage the ECC have do have ICS and NIMS training and experience with incident management. Additional staff staffing the ECC also have ICS training.

-- excerpt from "Independent" investigator.

Restaurants Are Starting To Close Owing To infected Employees. Permit Violations

So far, no Redmond restaurants have been closed; Kirkland and Bellevue each have one closed.

FAQ for religious and faith-based organizations updated
Minor updates throughout the FAQ with a heavier emphasis on full content updates for Questions #11 (accessing free face coverings) and #12 (about small group gatherings).

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Duke's Chowder House closed by Public Health today, July 8th, due to COVID-19 transmission among employees

• Details of violations listed on the Food Establishment Closures homepage: www.kingcounty.gov/closures
• Related statement on the Public Health Insider blog

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CDC updated the high-risk list. And it's not just older adults.
In spite of Washington State's ongoing efforts to contain it, COVID-19 is spreading more rapidly by the day, especially among people aged 20-40. And while they are less likely to become seriously ill from the virus, they can still spread it to friends, family and neighbors – without even knowing they have it. Many young people are also in the higher risk categories recently updated by the CDC.

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Doing the right thing: restaurants and COVID-19
In response to rising COVID-19 cases county wide, Public Health – Seattle & King County is expanding efforts to educate and enforce compliance of Governor Inslee's Safe Start COVID-19 reopening requirements in food establishments.

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Case report update

• Daily outbreak summary for web-enabled mobile devices (phones and tablets)

Public Health is reporting the following case numbers since yesterday:

• 3,127 people have been tested for a total of 194,992 in King County
• 113 new cases tested positive for a total of 11,319
• 12 new hospitalizations for a total of 1,643
• 2 new deaths for a total of 598

All other COVID-19 dashboards are posted at www.kingcounty.gov/covid/data

LWSD Pre-School

Parents will appreciate this especially during the COVID plague.

Looking for a preschool for next year? Registration is now available for Lake Washington School District’s (LWSD) preschool programs for the 2020-21 school year.

LWSD Preschool Programs focus on providing children and families with a successful first-school experience. Families with a 3- and/or 4-year-old child living within the boundaries of LWSD are eligible to apply for the preschool program. (Child must be 3-years-old by August 31 of the school year.)

If you are interested in applying, please visit our Preschool page on the LWSD website at www.lwsd.org/preschool

7/8/2020

Redmond's Housing Questionnaire

• Take Questionnaire

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  20 days ago
  We want to hear from you! Please click here(External link) to take Redmond's housing questionnaire. Your input will help inform Redmond City Council's decision making in identifying actions and strategies for Redmond's first Housing Action Plan.

• Did You Know?

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  20 days ago
  • A household in Redmond would need to earn about $90,000 per year to afford the average rent in Redmond.
  • Housing costs in East King County and Redmond are significantly higher than in other parts of the County - our median home prices list at $818,600 and average rent at $2,095.
  • Affordability is defined by the percentage of income that you are paying toward housing and utilities with limited income and calculated based on family size. For example, a home for a family of four in Redmond would be considered affordable if total housing costs are no greater than $2,259 per month, using 30% of monthly income. A two-person household would pay $1,629 or less for an affordable home.
  • Only 31% of residents live and work in Redmond. The City’s planning policies encourage increasing the supply and diversity of housing, in order to provide opportunities for people to live and invest in the community where they work instead of spending hours commuting to and from home.
  • Providing for affordable housing in Redmond, with a mix of apartments, houses, condominiums, townhomes, duplexes, is a priority for the City and adopted as part of our Community Strategic Plan(External link).

  7/7/2020

Derby Days With A Twist

2020 VIRTUAL DERBY DAYS

The Derby Days tradition continues in 2020 with our virtual edition. Activities allow you to remain physically distant from June 9 to July 11 and still participate in some of the cherished elements of our annual Derby Days Festival. Celebrate Redmond with opportunities to participate in the Derby Dash 5K, Community Bike Challenge, Virtual Bike Decorating Parade, Derby Days Bingo, Rock-a-thon Open Mic, Derby Do Gooder scholarship, and Virtual Art Show. #DerbyDays2020

Virtual, Virtual, Virtual!

7/7/2020

PART ONE: COVID-19 Workplace Investigation Submitted to Mayor Birney

COVID-19 Workplace Investigation:

https://www.redmond.gov/DocumentCenter/View/14174/Investigative-Report-Redmond-FINAL

Excerpt from the report:

During the week of February 29th-March 6th, 2020, when the ECC was first stood up in a monitoring phase and several RFD Medics were quarantined as a preventative measure after responding to the Life Care Center in Kirkland, the Mayor personally called each of the City Councilmembers to advise them on the situation. Not all Councilmembers answered or returned her calls. Councilmembers who were interviewed confirmed the Mayor made these calls.52 Tuesday, March 3rd, was the last regularly scheduled public City Council meeting before City Hall closed on March 12th. At the Director’s Team (“DT”) meeting that day, the Fire Chief provided a Coronavirus update and the DT discussed telecommuting plans, capacity to quarantine or isolate at a City facility (i.e., Fire Station 13), and that potential exposures were being reported to Dr. Rea at King County Public Health. Given that the Emergency Preparedness Council (“EPC”) consisted primarily of the Director’s Team, it appears the DT meetings began serving both purposes in terms of discussion of various policy decisions. A week later, on Tuesday, March 10th, the DT/EPC discussed ECC updates and what information was needed to be shared organization wide. Policy decisions included canceling some City events following the governor’s suggestion to consider cancelling large events statewide. The COVID-19 update included that the IS department was working with the Deputy Fire Chief, MSA, and Finance Director on mapping community outbreaks (primarily to assist appropriate safety measures for first responders), preparing messaging based on reports from KC Public Health, and planning for personnel issues.

7/7/2020

An Update From King County Councilmember Claudia Balducci

7/7/2020

New Challenges For COVID-19 Homeless

Presentations by:  Beverly Mesa-Zendt, Human Services Manager 425-556-2423 Tisza Rutherford, Homeless Outreach Administrator 425-553-7093 Planning and Community Development IV.

DESCRIPTION/BACKGROUND While there have been new challenges due to the pandemic and staffing transitions these last few months, the City’s new Homeless Outreach Program Administrator has been working to identify and resolve gaps and barriers for individuals experiencing homelessness.

Current challenges:

• COVID-19 has created many additional barriers, including charging stations for cell phones, lack of places to stay during the day, and closure of state offices and needed services (e.g. ID cards, driver’s licenses). Treatment centers currently are only providing tele-health, which is difficult for those without phones, limited minutes, or little technology skills. 

• With more community members sheltering in place, police have reported an increase in calls from individuals just now “noticing” individuals sleeping outside or in parked cars. These calls have burdened police to respond to situations that are not classified as criminal activity.

• There has been an increase in transient populations arriving in Redmond from Seattle. This is partly due to the current unrest in Seattle, and to reduced or eliminated bus routes.

• Deferred parks maintenance has led to overgrowth in areas bordering private and commercial property. This sometimes results in development of new encampments. Outreach staff has coordinated with Parks to cut back and maintain identified areas so they are not as appealing for camps to establish. Current work underway: The Homeless Outreach Administrator:

The Surprising Green Heron

The accompanying photo montage shows three stages of neck extension in a green heron that I observed hunting recently in the 90^th St. runoff pond, which is located on the east side of the Sammamish River, just north of the 90^th St. bridge.

When you typically see a green heron, it has its neck retracted, and you would hardly guess that the neck could be extended so far.  This was how the heron looked when I first spotted it.  (See top photo.) 

It subsequently extended its neck part way forward (middle photo), and then a few seconds later extended it all the way out (bottom photo).

The heron remained motionless with its neck fully extended for quite some time, when it abruptly sprang into flight and made a shallow dive into the water 6 or 7 feet away.  In a flash, it emerged with something in its beak and flew off to the other end of the pond.

Up until then, I had mistakenly thought it was just staring down its beak into the water immediately in front of it, without the ability to spot anything farther away.  Obviously, its peripheral vision was much better than I thought!

-- Photo and story by John Reinke

   6/29/2020