October 3, 2024
What goes into the planning of the Harvest Festival? Hear from special guests Gianna and Tracy as they share about what makes our community events so special.
The Kirkland City Council met on October 1, 2024, in a hybrid meeting. Here’s a brief overview of some of the items from the meeting:
- Council adopted amendments to the Business License Code.
- Council reviewed the Transportation Strategic Plan and provided feedback.
- Council approved a resolution opposing the merger between Kroger and Albertsons.
- Council discussed Sound Cities Association board and committee appointments.
Prior to the above business agenda, the Council held a Study Session, where they:
- Held a joint meeting with the Senior Council to discuss 2024 accomplishments, ongoing work plan, and the needs of older adults in the community.
- Received a briefing on Fire and Park Impact Fees.
How to watch: Kirkland City Council meetings are streamed live and can be watched after the fact on the City of Kirkland Facebook page and the City YouTube channel, in addition to the livestream on the City website. Meetings are also televised on Comcast Cable Channel 21 and Ziply Cable Channel 31.
To watch the Council discussions on the specific agenda items outlined above, visit the City’s website. The full agenda packet with information on each item is located on the City’s website.
The next City Council meeting is on October 15, 2024.
Have ideas for the future of transportation in Kirkland?
Thoughts on how to make our transportation system more safe, connected, and multimodal?
We want to hear from you! Review the Draft Transportation Strategic Plan (TSP), and provide comments.
The Draft can be found on the City website.
Ways to share your comments:
• post a comment on the TSP webpage
• make a public comment at a Council meeting when they plan to deliberate the TSP at their November 6, 2024 meetings.
Unlock More Business for Your Business
The City of Kirkland and the Office of Minority and Women’s Business Enterprises (OMWBE) are hosting three State certification workshops for local small businesses.
The series starts on Wednesday, October 9 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Kirkland City Hall’s Council Chambers (123 5th Ave). No registration required. The series continues virtually on Tuesday, November 12 from 5 - 7 p.m. and Wednesday, December 4 from 9 a.m. – 12 p.m. Registration is required for the virtual workshops.
For more information about doing business with City, visit the City website.
For questions about this certification series, contact Daniel Lazo at dlazo@kirklandwa.gov
Tell Us How You Would like to Electrify
The City of Kirkland participates in the Energy Smart Eastside Heat Pump program. As part of this program, we help community members understand the technology that provides heating and cooling, as well as air filtering, in the home. We also help connect folks to financial incentives available. Now, the Energy Smart Eastside program would like to know how best to help you on your electrification journey.
Share your thoughts on electrification incentives! We want to understand what our community’s interest are in different home appliance and equipment electrification incentives. Your feedback will help us develop a small pilot program to best determine what to offer next. Please participate in this brief survey to share your thoughts! Open until October 16, 2024. Link to Survey
How can I contact the City with questions, requests, or suggestions?
You can always contact City staff through the Our Kirkland service portal, available on the web and mobile app. Submitting your comments through Our Kirkland ensures the right staff receives the information and can follow up with you.
Houghton Beach Park has been reopened as of Wednesday, October 2, for swimming, wading and other water activities, by recommendation of Public Health – Seattle & King County.
The 2024 King County Swimming Beach monitoring season is wrapping up. King County monitors swimming beaches as a public health and safety service, providing reliable, up-to-date data and recommendations to help the public find lake beaches with good water quality for swimming and playing in the water. Data is also used to close beaches when needed, to prevent people from getting sick when they swim and play in the water. Most importantly, King County is working to reduce the need for beach closures in the first place, helping to identify the source of the problems using a mix of monitoring data, field observations, and additional lab analyses.
Please keep our stream, lakes, and swimming beaches clean by picking up your pet waste, do not wash dirt and soap into the street and storm drain, and fix leaking vehicles to prevent auto fluids from washing into storm drains.
For additional details on the swimming beach monitoring program, visit King County’s Lake Swimming Beach Data webpage.
Do you want to be notified of swim beach closures and reopening? Join the King County Lake Beach Alert mailing list.
Whether you live in Kirkland or just happen to love Kirkland, you have an opportunity to help create an official Kirkland flag. Submit a design between now and November 15, 2024, and be a part of Kirkland’s history.
“A city flag is more than a piece of fabric, it’s a way to display what kind of community we are and want to be in the future,” said Kirkland City Councilmember Amy Falcone. “When you think of Kirkland, what colors, shapes, and images come to mind? We’re excited to see the imaginative ways that flag designs embody what makes Kirkland a special place.”
Read more.
Bring your family to our 4th annual Harvest Festival! The event will include craft & food vendors, food trucks, contests, pony rides, kids korral, as well as a cornhole tournament. In the spirit of Harvest, please show your support by bringing a non-perishable food item to donate to those in need. We will also have live music by Roemen and The Whereabouts and 24 Madison! We hope to see you there! Bike to our event and enjoy our complimentary valet bike parking provided by Liveable Kirkland! Or catch the City of Kirkland shuttle from the North Kirkland Community Center. And a huge thank you to our sponsors, Amazon, Ziply Fiber and Neal Smiles Orthodontics! For more information, please visit www.kirklandwa.gov/CommunityBuildingEvents
Date: Saturday, October 5
Time: 11 a.m. - 4 p.m.
Location: Juanita Beach Park
We invite you to our Día De Los Muertos celebration! Let’s remember our loved ones and enjoy activities, music, light refreshments and more! Bring the whole family, this is a free event for all ages! Bring a photo of your loved one to add to our ofrenda.
Date: Saturday, October 26
Time: 2 - 4 p.m.
Location: Peter Kirk Community Center - 352 Kirkland Ave, Kirkland
Ages: All Ages
Cost: FREE
For more information please visit kirklandwa.gov/CommunityBuildingEvents or call 425-587-3336.
Parking will be limited, please consider parking at the Peter Kirk Municipal Parking Garage under the Kirkland Library or on street parking.
Celebrate Kirkland’s urban forest at the City’s annual Arbor Day event on Saturday October 26, 2024 at Everest Park (500 8th St S.)
Schedule of Arbor Day Activities 2024
10 a.m. – 12 p.m.
Green Kirkland Volunteer Stewardship Event
Volunteer with Green Kirkland Stewards and help plant, mulch, remove weeds, and care for the natural areas at Everest park. Tools, training, and supervision are provided. Pre-registration is requested and space is limited. Register to volunteer and learn more on the Green Kirkland event page.
12 – 1 p.m.
Ceremonial Tree Planting
Join Mayor Kelli Curtis, and your neighbors, to celebrate trees and the benefits they give our community with a ceremonial tree planting in the park. Help us plant a tree that will give us shade, clean air, and clean water for years to come! No registration required.
Visit the 2024 Kirkland Arbor Day webpage for more information!
Why are trees important in Kirkland?
Did you know trees can buffer noise pollution? Everest Park is located in one of many neighborhoods near the freeway. The forest buffer areas within the park not only decrease the noise from traffic, they also intercept pollution from vehicles and create a space that is enjoyable to be in.
Why does Kirkland celebrate Arbor Day in the fall?
In Washington, fall is the best time to plant trees. This is why October is celebrated as Urban and Community Forestry Month in in Washington State. Come help us plant trees and care for our forest for Kirkland’s Arbor Day.
Get cozied up with your friends and family at our 2024 Fall/Winter Drive-In Movie Series at Juanita Beach Park! Watch each movie on our giant 12-ft LED movie screen! Movies are PG-13 and under, and we welcome all ages. Parents are encouraged to review movie titles in advance for suitability for your family. The event will be held rain or shine, with no refunds. Cars and trucks are acceptable, but please do not bring limos, RV’s, buses, or alcohol. There’s also no tailgating allowed. Please register for this event based on the size of your vehicle to help insure the best possible viewing for all. The cost is $20 per vehicle, registration is required. The parking lot opens at 6pm and the movie starts at 7pm. To register please visit www.kirklandparks.net or for more information visit www.kirklandwa.gov/communitybuildingevents
- October 12 – Little Women
- November 23 – The Hunger Games: Ballard of Songbirds and Snakes (PG-13)
- February 22 – Strange World
- March 22 – Inside Out 2 (PG)
- April 12 – Gran Turismo
On Friday September 20, Mayor Kelli Curtis and Councilmembers Amy Falcone and Penny Sweet joined Truc Dever, Public Works Director, Sarah Olson, Deputy Public Works Director, and members of the Storm and Surface Water division to unveil the newly installed educational stream health signs at Juanita Beach Park.
These signs were created to replace the aged and illegible signs that were at this site previously. Designed by local artist Tracy Durnell, in collaboration with members of the Storm and Surface Water division, the goal of these signs is to help visitors to the park understand Juanita Creek as part of a larger watershed, and to connect it’s health with the everyday actions of anyone who lives, works, or recreates in that watershed. In order to reach as many community members as possible, the signs were designed to be bilingual in Spanish and English, with additional translations in simplified Chinese, Portuguese, and Russian available via QR code.
One of the new signs is located where the path crosses the creek into the wooded area close to the volleyball courts, and the other sign is located close to the ball fields on the other side of the park across NE Juanita Dr. Head down to the park to check them out for yourselves, and remember that all of our actions upstream have an impact on water quality and wildlife habitat in our Kirkland creeks and in Lake Washington.
Learn more about what you can do to support healthy waterways.
Thank you for your support of the Juanita Friday Market this 2024 season. Another delicious season full of sweets, music, and local goods.
Also, thank you to our sponsors – Sweetgreen, Parkshore Juanita Bay and Kirkland Kid’s Dentistry – who sponsored our entertainment and Kid’s Booth.
Can't wait to see you in June 2025!
Learn more at kirklandwa.gov/juanitafridaymarket
Left to right:
- KTUB’s Recreation Coordinator: Drew’s full-time job (outside KTUB) is purposely promoting peace and good vibes. He also taught middle school math for a while.
- KTUB’s Program Assistant: Andy has a mild obsession with the world of Sanrio. He can read/speak/understand a “smidge of Japanese.”
- KTUB’s Supervisor: Theresa taught English for middle and high school once upon a time. She’s always open to a good show, movie, or music recommendation.
Learn more at kirklandwa.gov/KTUB. Follow KTUB on Instagram at @kirkland.teens.ktub for the latest updates. Stop by after school, Monday thru Friday, at 348 Kirkland Avenue. All are welcome!
Parents & guardians – stop by a KTUB open house the first Tuesday of the month from 6:30 – 8:30. The first open house will be held on Tuesday, October 1.
Costume Swap
A huge thank you to the many community members that donated over 300 costumes to the costume swap event on September 28th! It was a fantastic event with 200 community members coming to get a new-to-them costume. We also are so grateful to the five community volunteers that helped to make the event a great success. Thank you for preventing waste from new costumes, saving money, and building community! Did you find an awesome new-to-you costume at the Costume Swap? Check out our post on Facebook and show it off in the comments. We look forward to more fun swap events in the future.
Leaf Blower Trade In
We had a line forming before the event even began, and we beat our last trade-in event's total amount collected before the first hour had passed! We gave out 80 electric leaf blower vouchers, to be used at these local businesses - Pacific Nail and Staple, Fred Meyer - Kirkland, or Westlake Ace Hardware. We had help from our great volunteers from Quiet Clean Kirkland. More information on the City's Electric Leaf Blower Initiative and updates on potential future events can be found here.
Community Mural
On September 28, more than 50 volunteers joined to paint the new Totem Lake Park mural. We are thrilled with how beautiful this new waste reduction themed mural turned out! This piece, designed by artist Burcu Koleli and managed by Urban Artworks, adds more color to the rainbow park and illustrates our community’s focus on reducing and reusing. The solid waste team is grateful for the many collaborators on this project and the community volunteers for making it come to life! This project was funded by King County Solid Waste division and is meant to highlight the connection between the community and the environment and ways we all work together to reduce waste.
124th Avenue Northeast
Southbound 124th Avenue Northeast remains closed this week to automotive traffic between Northeast 116th and 124th streets while a Kirkland contractor grinds and repaves the roadway.
Reed Excavating will maintain the southbound closure 24 hours a day, seven days a week until Oct. 14.
The 124th Avenue Northeast Improvements contractor will detour southbound traffic onto Slater Avenue Northeast. Customers, however, will be able to access the Totem Square commercial area by turning south onto 124th Avenue Northeast from westbound Northeast 120th Street.
During the lane-closure, Metro King County will move a few hundred feet to the north a bus stop on Totem Lake Boulevard, which serves the 225 and 239 routes.
The detour will, for nearly two weeks, overlap with a road paving project on Slater Avenue Northeast, between Northeast 120th and 124th streets. Private developer Fairfield will work at night to repave a section of Slater Avenue Northeast. Fairfield is building The Brynn Apartments.
Visit www.kirklandwa.gov/124thavenue
NE 132nd Street
Drivers will encounter lane shifts next week as the overlay contractor expects to begin pavement marking application at the repaved section of Northeast 132nd Street on Monday, October 7th. Work is expected to take up to three shifts of night work to complete the intersections, crosswalks and roadway markings on Northeast 132nd Street from 100th Avenue Northeast to 112th Avenue Northeast
Goat Hill
Goat Hill residents should expect daytime road closures this week on Northeast 116th Place.
Visit www.kirklandwa.gov/goathill
Juanita Drive
Juanita Drive will be reduced to one lane periodically this week between 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. from Northeast 124th Street to Northeast 128th Street with flaggers controlling the flow of traffic.
Visit www.kirklandwa.gov/juanitadrivecorridor
Additionally, a separate stormwater construction project will reduce Juanita drive to one lane at 86th Avenue Northeast. Kirkland's contractor is installing a new stormwater system at this location. Work is now expected through November.
Visit https://www.kirklandwa.gov/Government/Departments/Public-Works-Department/Construction-Projects/NE-Juanita-Dr-and-86th-Ave-NE-Storm-Improvements-Project
100th Avenue Northeast
OMA Construction is alternating traffic at various locations between Northeast 137th and 145th streets. The legal speed limit through the construction zone is 25 miles per hour. Expect delays with increased traffic as school resumed.
Visit www.kirklandwa.gov/100thavedesign
Eighth Avenue West and Fifth Street West
Water services are being installed along 8th Avenue West between 4th Street West and Market Street. Flaggers are located at the intersections to allow for emergency vehicles.
Visit www.kirklandwa.gov/eighthavenuewestupgrade
Kirkland Avenue and Lake Street
Lake Street’s intersection with Kirkland Avenue is now open, and minor impacts to traffic flow are expected for delivery of materials throughout the remainder of construction. Pedestrian access changes, so please follow the pedestrian detour routes. Businesses remain open during construction.
Visit www.kirklandwa.gov/lakestreetpedscramble
Recycling Collection Event
Date: Saturday, October 5
Time: 9 a.m. - 3 p.m.
Location: South parking lot, Lake Washington Institute of Technology, 11605 132nd Ave NE, Kirkland, 98034
Join us at the Fall Recycling Collection Event!
The City of Kirkland is hosting a fall recycling collection event on Saturday, Oct 5th. This is an opportunity to dispose of hard to recycle items. For full event details and a list of accepted items please visit Fall Recycling Collection Event – City of Kirkland (kirklandwa.gov). Some items have a fee to recycle and this is a cash only event. We will be answering questions about the event on the Recycle Hotline until noon on Friday, October 4th, contact the Recycling Hotline at 425-587-3812 or email recycle@kirklandwa.gov.
Presentation on Medicare Part D
Date: Thursday, October 10
Time: 1 - 2:30 p.m.
Location: Peter Kirk Community Center- 352 Kirkland Ave
Ages: 50+
Cost: FREE
Outreach Specialists for Medicare & Medicaid Services will be onsite to provide non-biased information on Medicare Part D plans. Learn how to best utilize your plan, when and how to change your plan and what rights you are entitled to. Also, hear about the changes to Medicare Part D including the out-of-pocket spending cap and other updates.
Pre-registration Required. Please register at kirklandparks.net call 425-587-3336.
Africans on the Eastside Fashion Show
Date: Saturday, October 12
Time: 7 - 9 p.m.
Location: Peter Kirk Community Center, 352 Kirkland Ave
Join us for a night of elegance and culture at the African Fashion Show! 🌍✨ Witness the beauty of African designs and vibrant styles.
For more info, visit the event page.
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Who's excited for Harvest Festival! Get in the spirit of the season by checking out our 2023 recap: Harvest Festival 2023