860 new residential units planned for Overlake - 130 affordable

APPROVAL
LAND-2018-00010, Esterra Park, Block 6B
Neighborhood: Overlake
Description: 2 buildings with 260 units; Building A includes 130 affordable 
housing units; Building B includes a YMCA day care &130 market rate units 
Location: TBD, parcel number 6448900030 
Applicant: Scott Clark with Clark | Barnes 
Staff Contact: Cameron Zapata, 425-556-2480 or cazapata@redmond.gov
Review Materials:  Memo   Design Deviation   Materials

PRE-APPLICATION
LAND-2018-00566, Esterra Park, Block 2A/2B
Neighborhood: Overlake 
Description: 8-story multi-family building with 600 apartments
Location: 15300 NE Turing Street
Applicant: Larry Flack with Runberg Architecture Group
Staff Contact: Cameron Zapata, 425-556-2480 or cazapata@redmond.gov
Review Materials:  Memo   Materials

Eastside salmon habitat improvements

Credit / John Reinke 

A 95th Street Bear Creek Enhancement project will install six log jams, two backwater channels, 230-feet of alcoves and enhance almost 3-acres of buffer. The project is on the Chinook Recovery plan for WRIA 8 because of its high benefit to spawning and rearing habitat in Bear Creek.

The project is located south of the 95th Street bridge on City of Redmond owned property. The $143,490 grant will help pay for construction costs associated with the installation of four log jams in the stream, one backwater channel and approximately 180- ft of alcoves. The remaining part of the project is designated as mitigation and will be entirely paid for by the stormwater Capital Improvement Project budget. The construction target is 2019 pending receiving Army Corps permits.

-- Council Committee meeting, 11/13

###

Lake Sammamish State Park has grown by more than 5 acres after land was donated to the park by a local company.

Lakeside Industries recently donated a 5.3-acre parcel of property adjacent to Lake Sammamish State Park which will let the state and city of Issaquah expand habitat restoration along Issaquah Creek. The property is located on the east side of the creek between Alpine Animal Hospital and the Microsoft campus. It includes more than 1,100 linear feet of creekside, a critical habitat for young salmon.

Mountains to Sound Greenway stewardship program manager Mackenzie Dolstad said restoration work will include removing invasive weeds and planting native trees and shrubs along the creekside. That work will provide shade for young Chinook salmon that use the creek near Lake Sammamish as a safe haven as they grow before moving into Puget Sound. Issaquah creek is one of the highest priority creeks for Chinook salmon and houses the Issaquah Salmon Hatchery further upstream.

-- Issaquah Reporter, 11/2

Redmond Lights features multiple light displays

Redmond, WA – Mark your calendars as Redmond Lights returns on December 1 and 2, 2018, in celebration of the City's diverse winter traditions, cultures, and faiths. In addition to traditional light displays, this year’s event will continue to incorporate public art by featuring six new temporary artist-commissioned light installations. Installation details and locations are listed below beginning with the City Hall Campus and ending at Downtown Park.

As the Luminary Walk begins, attendees will walk below the NE 85th Street Bridge and see the “Untitled” sculptural work by Will Schlough that features a slightly larger than life-size steel blue heron illuminated by LED lights. The heron poses as if she has just taken off from the river and will instill feelings of joy and imagination in the viewers, developing a connection with the river and surrounding natural environment.

“RainBrella” is an interactive light-art installation by local artist group Seattle Design Nerds that celebrates our rainy Pacific Northwest Climate. It will be installed on the Sammamish River Trail, directly along the side of the luminary pathway so attendees can experience it along the walk. The piece features a series of highly reflective umbrellas with hanging LED strands that will be animated to appear like drops of rain.

Once attendees are walking along the Redmond Central Connector and have crossed the bridge over Redmond Way, they will experience an ethereal immersive installation, "Cloud Reflecting" by Hannah Gabr. The installation is a series of 15 LED-rigged projection mapped clouds that are suspended in the air for attendees to walk directly underneath.

Further down the Redmond Central Connector is the next installation, "Adelita and Lanterns"by Angie Yusuf. These traditional Mexican-style lanterns highlight different aspects of the traditional holiday season and will be displayed next to "Adelita," an illuminated sculpture that honors the women rebels of the Mexican Revolution known as the Adelitas.

Once attendees reach Downtown Park, they will be greeted by “Odd Jelly Out,” an interactive sculpture by Uckiood, comprised of seven oversized Jelly Babies. The figures elicit childlike joy in their colorful form and decoration, while also encouraging the broader conversation about diversity and community.

LWSD students learn about Salmon life-cycles

Before the journey begins – students learn about life cycles at the Issaquah Salmon Hatchery

Nov 6 2018

Third grade students at Wilder Elementary School are learning about the life cycles of salmon. The students saw Coho and Chinook salmon up close during a visit to the Issaquah Salmon Hatchery on October 12. During a tour, they learned about salmon habitat and how the hatchery operates. They also learned how to tell the difference between Coho and Chinook, and whether a fish was male or female. The salmon complete their grueling journey from the sea to spawn in Issaquah Creek in the fall.

LWSD website

Mentoring at Lake Washington School District

Apply to become a LINKS Lunch Buddy!

Redmond, WA, November 5, 2018 – At first, it might not seem like meeting with a local student for lunch once a week can make that much of a difference. “From the get-go, my Lunch Buddy and I would do crafts together,” recalled local resident Laura Spencer, who volunteers as a weekly LINKS mentor at Juanita Elementary School. “We’d sit there quietly and do crafts and we wouldn’t talk much. And then after a couple weeks she started really opening up and sharing and just talking to me. It was just amazing how much she would share with me.”

That kind of patience turns out to be just what some kids need. Structured mentoring programs like the Lake Washington School District’s LINKS Lunch Buddies program have a real and measurable positive effect on the social, emotional, and academic lives of children.

A 2014 national survey conducted by MENTOR, the National Mentoring Partnership, found that young people who have a mentor are more likely to participate in sports or extracurricular activities; hold a leadership position in a club, sports team, or other group; and are more likely to volunteer regularly in their community.

The effects of mentoring show up in academic achievement, too. Not only will young people with mentors set higher goals for themselves, but they’re also more likely to attend college than children without a mentor. The impacts of mentoring are reported most strongly by students who struggle with circumstances that would otherwise render them at risk of dropping out of school. “You could be that one thing that changes the path for them for the rest of their lives,” added Laura Spencer. But the biggest bonus? According to “The Role of Risk,” a 2013 report that examined seven Washington State mentoring programs serving 1,300 children, the strongest and most consistent benefit from mentoring is a reduction in depressive symptoms.

Green heron spears frog in downtown pond

Green heron spearing a frog  (credit; Reinke)

Here is a list of birds and animals John Reinke has seen this year in the 90th Street retention pond with the three lopped trees:  

- A group of five otters seen together there all at the same time earlier this year;  

- great blue herons are fairly common  - took a picture of one swallowing a large catfish 

- green herons  

- blue kingfisher 

- beaver -  I have a photo of one I took back around 2011 or 2012

- invasive bull frog  

- black mink - I saw one there years ago

- ring necked ducks 

"Isn't it remarkable the variety of wildlife we have here in suburban Redmond?" 

- John Reinke,  11/7

Final City Budget Hearing November 20

REDMOND, WA – The City of Redmond will host the third public hearing for the 2019-2020 Biennial Budget on Tuesday, November 20, 2018, at 7:30 p.m. The hearing will take place at Redmond City Hall, 15670 NE 85^th Street, during the regular City Council meeting. The goal of the public hearing is to gather community input about City issues, priorities and fiscal matters before the final budget is adopted on December 4, 2018.

My input was e-mailed to Council and posted in a Letter to the Editor of the Redmond Reporter.  I hope this is message enough and they will forgo their 1% property tax.

Downtown 6-story "Redmond Flats" approved

APPROVAL
LAND-2018-00279, Redmond Way Flats
Neighborhood:  Downtown 

Description:  Demolition of existing commercial building & parking lot; construction of a six story +/- 129,000 sf residential building with approximately 102 apartment units; +/- 2,700 sf of commercial space and parking for +/- 101 vehicles
Location:  16760 Redmond Way
Applicant:  Bryan Bellissimo with Encore Architects
Prior Review Dates:  04/19/18, 06/21/18 & 08/16/18
Staff Contact:  Gary Lee, 425-556-2418 or glee@redmond.gov 
Review Materials:  Memo   Checklist   Materials   Architectural   Landscaping   

The 102 residential units will front 168th Av. NE;  the 2,700 sf commercial space will front Redmond Way.  

The site is located in the Anderson Park zoning district within the Downtown neighborhood. The intent of this district is to encourage higher intensity, mixed-use, multi-story, developments that include ground floor commercial space fronting on Redmond Way, 168th Avenue NE, and NE 80 th Street. It is envisioned that new development in this district be 5- to 6- stories tall and include retail, office, and residential uses. The quieter streets of 168th Avenue NE and NE 80th Streets could include ground floor live-work units or ground floor residential units with raised stoops facing the streets.

Source:  Design Review 

8-story Overlake project in planning stages

PRE-APPLICATION
LAND-2018-01083, Modera Overlake
Neighborhood:  Overlake
Description:  New multi-family residential building with 246 units and 
associated leasing office, resident amenity areas, parking and exterior courtyard 
Location:  15260 & 15248 Bel-Red Road
Applicant:  Darrell Turner with GGLO 
Staff Contact:  Scott Reynolds, 425-556-2409, sreynolds@redmond.gov
Review Materials:  Memo     Materials

"Modera Ovelake" is under review by the Design Review Board.  The building will 8 stories tall with 2 stories of parking below grade and two stories above.  The project is mixed-use with 178 residential units and 4,000 s,f, commercial.  The project is on 1.41 acres, bound by Bell-Red Road to the east and south and NE 121st to the north.

Approval of this project is in the Pre-Application stage.  Color is one of the aspects of this building under review.  Contact Scott Reynolds with your comments.

Source:  Design Review Board agenda 

Redmond Police and Mental Health

Redmond Police Department Adding New Embedded Mental Health Provider 

Internet

The Redmond Police Department has added an embedded mental health provider to respond to calls involving mental health issues and provide resources to individuals in the community facing mental health challenges. The Police Department was awarded a grant from the Washington Association of Sheriffs and Police Chiefs that will fund this temporary position.

EvergreenHealth Puts $325 Million Bond Measure On The April Ballot

King County Public Hospital District No.2 (EvergreenHealth) will ask district residents and families to approve $325,000,000 for 1) an extensive seismic retrofit, 2) a family maternity care refresh, 3) relocation of the Critical Care Unit with enhancements to the Silver Tower 4) office buildings and 5) IT.  The bulk of the bond will go towards the seismic retrofit.

Regarding the seismic retrofits Laurene Burtonm the hospital's Executive Director of Community Affairs said:

"Our goal is to not just be safe, but to be available when the region needs us most and be open and ready to care immediately for patients in our community and beyond, in the event of a catastrophic earthquake." 

"In 2004 when we went to the voters to build the Emergency Department safety was paramount. We have been good stewards of your tax dollars.  Through these seismic upgrades, we will provide the safest environment for our entire community from our tiniest babies to those in critical care."

The Board of Commissioners decided not to include a behavioral health clinic in their bond ask.  

For details about the UTGO bond "read more."

UPDATED: Looming taxes continue to burden property owners

In the City Council's committee meeting on 10/23 Melisa Files, Director of Finance reported:

1)  Revenues were up by 5% of target and
2)  Expenditures were 4% below target

So "we are in a nice place to be" says Ms. Files.

Yes we are, many thanks to the "surge in permitting fees" from development and a "one-time construction tax," according to Files. 

Historically, the City has assessed  property owners the State's maximum allowable 1% property tax.  But times have changed and the City is swimming in revenue like never before from the massive development of our Downtown and Overlake urban centers.

Owing to this unprecedented growth the City of Redmond should change their practices and forgo the 1% property tax this year.  Residents are already burdened by looming school district taxes and in April, an EvergreenHealth $300M bond initiative, among other taxes.

It's time the City tightens their belt.

-- Bob Yoder, Opinion

Sources:  City Council Committee of the Whole meeting.
                EvergreenHealth commission meetings
                Landscape