CITY NEWS & ACTIVITIES
Summer Concert Series Kicks Off Thursday
Come out this Thursday, July 9th, to listen to
the Salsa band Cambalache! This
is the first event of the City’s Summer Concert Series, which hosts
free, popular concerts running for six consecutive Thursday evenings. Come out
and join us!
When:
Thursdays through August 13, 6 to 8 p.m.
Where: St.
Edward State Park, 14445 Juanita Drive NE
Parking: FREE!
Washington State Parks Discover Passes will not be required for concertgoers
starting at 4:30 p.m.
Food: Bring
your own picnic or purchase tasty meals from our food trucks: Ben &
Jerry's, Athenas, Cathouse Pizza, and Gips Downhome BBQ.
Other info:
Alcohol is not permitted at this event. Pets are allowed, but they must be
leashed at all times. Bring your favorite blanket or chair for comfortable
seating.
Inglemoor Celebrates 50th Anniversary this Fall
The 50th Anniversary
of Inglemoor High School’s opening is coming this fall! As part of the
celebration, there will be a Re-Dedication Ceremony at Inglemoor on Saturday,
October 10, 2015. This ceremony will include a community assembly, a
reception featuring former and current faculty, art and photo displays, and
“mini-reunions."
You can get involved by volunteering, spreading the word around the community, or helping gather Inglemoor historical photos. If you are interested in
becoming involved, email Inglemoor50@gmail.com.
Puget Sound Starts
Here!
Kenmore has joined with government agencies, organizations, and other
municipalities to promote habits that will protect the precious natural
resource we have in Puget Sound. This public awareness campaign is known as Puget Sound Starts Here.
What You Can Do: There are all sorts of ways that your daily actions can either
preserve and protect the Puget Sound or harm it through negligence.
-
Try “going natural” in your yard. Avoid toxic yard chemicals and protect Puget Sound.
-
Use commercial car washes. Keep soap and vehicle grime
from rinsing into Puget Sound.
-
Fix car leaks. Regularly maintaining your
vehicle keeps motor oil from draining into Puget Sound.
-
Use nontoxic household cleaners. Natural cleaning solutions make your home and our waterways safer.
-
Pick up after your pets. Keep harmful bacteria out
of Puget Sound.
-
Dare to not drive alone. Fewer cars on the road
means less vehicle pollution in our waterways.
Visit www.pugetsoundstartshere.org to find out more details about how to protect our natural water resources.
The Latest on Downtown Kenmore Food Trucks
Food trucks have been prominent in Kenmore this summer! After a successful Food Truck Week in early June, we will now continue into the summer with Food Trucks at Kenmore Village Mondays at lunch
and select Wednesday evenings (stay posted).
Check www.kenmorewa.gov/calendar to find out what's in store each week. For updates, visit Facebook.com/kenmorewa.
Street Updates
As always, our Public Works Department is hard at work improving
our streets so that Kenmore residents can travel safely—by car, by bike,
or by foot. Check out what exciting street improvements are taking place right
now:
68th Ave NE Overlay: 68th
Avenue NE has received a new surface! Overlay prep work started at the end of
June, and paving and shoulder rocking finished up last week. The County will
follow up with permanent striping that will provide additional shoulder space
for walkers and cyclists.
Kenmore Elementary: As part of the overlay of 68th
Ave NE, a new crosswalk will be installed, including painted markings, signage,
and rectangular rapid flash beacons at NE 195th Street and the
access for Swamp Creek Trail. This will provide a more visible crossing of
68th Ave NE for parents and students walking west of 68th
to the school.
2015 Sidewalk Gaps: The sidewalk gaps project will
complete several short sections of missing sidewalk throughout the city. Specific locations include 68th Ave NE just sound of the boat ramp, 72nd Ave NE just south of NE 170th St, NE 155th St just west of Inglemoor HS. Work is scheduled to begin this week.
NE 202nd Street Sidewalk Project: The city was awarded $814,056 in grant
funds from the Safe Route to Schools program for the NE 202nd Street
Sidewalk Project. Proposed improvements include new sidewalk along the south
side of NE 202nd St. (between NE 198th St. and 66th Ave NE) and new sidewalk
along both sides of 66th Ave NE (from NE 202nd Street to Kenmore Junior High
School). Design is expected to begin this fall. Construction is anticipated for summer 2017 with completion by the end of 2017.
Final Days to Take ST3 Survey!
 Photo from soundtransit3.org
Take
the Sound Transit 3 Survey by July 8: soundtransit3.org
Visit www.kenmorewa/ST3 for instructions on how to take the survey.
It
is imperative that Kenmore residents and businesses speak loud and clear in
advocating for ST3 transit projects that will provide speed, reliability, and
capacity to North Lake Washington. In particular, the Kenmore City Council
recommends that Kenmore and its North Lake neighbors advocate for the
following three ST3 projects:
-
Bus
Rapid Transit (BRT) on NE 145th Street.
-
Bus
Rapid Transit (BRT) and Ultimately Light Rail on SR 522.
- Structured
Parking Along the Bothell Way Corridor.
If you want to join a coalition of North Lake Washington Corridor neighbors to amplify your voice, go to 522transitnow.org or search for 522TransitNow! on Facebook.
Kenmore Receives AWC Award
On Friday, June 26th, Mayor David Baker
represented the city of Kenmore at the Association of Washington Cities 2015
Annual Conference. There, Kenmore was presented with a Municipal
Excellence Award for the “Coolest City Hall.” Watch the AWC video to learn more about what makes Kenmore City Hall so cool!
At last year’s conference, Kenmore was the first city to
receive Municipal Excellence Awards in consecutive years. With this year’s
award, Kenmore is in a class by itself by achieving a ThreePeat—awards in three
consecutive years. More information at www.awcnet.org.
CITY STAFF PROFILE
By Kathi Beckett
Name: John Vicente
Title: Capital Projects Manager
What He Does: Provides safe and fun experiences for the city of Kenmore as he manages the design of right of way and construction of a variety of City projects.
Fun Fact: When he's not working in his garden or tending to his abundant variety of herbs and vegetables, John can be found cooking, canning stews and jams, and baking cookies, pies and brownies.
“Managing the design of right of
way construction of Kenmore city projects is analogous to a parent with five
children determining where to go on vacation,” explains John Vicente. Each
child wants to go to a different destination, but it is the parent’s job to
take all the different opinions and determine where to go so everyone is
satisfied. As the City’s Capital Projects Manager, it’s John’s job to listen
carefully to the public, City Council, the City Manager, and others to make a
decision so that needs are met and everyone is satisfied.
John has refined his communication and
listening skills over the 20 years he has worked as a civil engineer. “People
don’t always know what the problem is, or how to articulate what they believe
the problem is. I help people discover, interpret and articulate what the
problem is so we can create a solution,” he says. As a result of his experience, he has the wisdom to know if an idea can
or can’t be done or if it will be a mistake.
He uses these refined communication
skills daily as he reviews documents, answers questions to make decisions and
listens to all the individuals involved in the various major projects he is
currently managing. John is currently managing the West Sammamish River Bridge
replacement, the 62nd Ave NE Corridor improvement, the NE 202nd St. Safe Route To School project, the Lower Swamp Creek Analysis and the ADA
Assessment program.
John likes providing improvements
to the public and enjoys seeing the work he does going to good use. “It is
rewarding to be involved in making sure taxpayer’s money is spent carefully.” When
asked how he knows when he’s done a good job, he replied, “I know I’ve done a
good job when everyone is silent.” In the area of capital projects, he
explains that usually the squeaky wheel is unhappy. If no one is calling about
the project that is currently being worked on, it is usually a sign that the
individuals involved are satisfied and happy.
John’s refined skills are an asset
to the city of Kenmore. He is able to listen to multiple different opinions on
how capital projects at the city should be carried out and makes decisions so
that needs are met and everyone is satisfied.
If you want to find out more about
the various capital projects John manages for the city of Kenmore, visit www.kenmorewa.gov/publicworks.
COMMUNITY / CO-CREATOR PROFILE
By Jenny Pazar
 Hannah Pennington, Kenmore~Cascade Canoe & Kayak
Paralympic Dreams
Start Right Here in Kenmore
Kenmore~Cascade Canoe and Kayak provides a unique training
experience for athletes with physical disabilities. I spoke with both Coach Dan
Henderson and Paracanoeist Hannah Pennington to learn about the dedication,
hard work, and overall fun involved in the sport of paracanoe.
The Paralympic training program in Kenmore is less than one
year old, yet under the dedicated coaching of Dan Henderson, three athletes
competed in April’s U.S. Team Trials for World Cup. Two athletes, Hannah
Pennington and Alana Nichols, qualified for the World Cup in Germany, where
Alana won a bronze medal.
Not only is the training program less than one year old,
Hannah Pennington’s title of “Paracanoeist” has also existed for a matter of
mere months. After competing in three Paralympic Winter Games as an alpine
skier, Hannah decided to move from Colorado to Washington to give paracanoeing
a try. Never afraid of a new challenge, Hannah describes, “Kayaking is hard, it
has a steep learning curve, but when it clicks, it’s so rewarding. Paracanoe
gives us freedom, an opportunity to be on an even playing field. No one knows
we have a disability, they just see us paddling and racing.” Her future goal is
to compete in the 2016 Paralympic Games in Rio, where paracanoe will be making
its Paralympic sporting debut.
From a coach’s perspective, Dan Henderson, a former U.S.
National Team Member and World Championship Coach, loves increasing function
through training and finds it a fun challenge to fine-tune the different types
of seating required for different individuals. He supports them physically and
mentally as they participate in a very high-intensity competitive experience,
helping them to gain as much movement and speed as possible.
The actual race itself takes place in a one-person kayak and
is a 200 meter sprint, usually lasting between 45 and 60 seconds. This length
of time requires using three critical energy systems and is the ultimate challenge
of endurance and perseverance. For paracanoeists, there are three levels of
classification, depending on the individual’s physical disability; competing
within one’s classification is an important component of paracanoe.
Kenmore~Cascade has very recently received acceptance from
the U.S. Olympic Committee to become an official Paralympic Sports Club. This
provides amazing learning resources, with access to grants, equipment,
trainings, and interaction with other clubs across the country. While other
organizations view paddle sports as more of a recreational activity, Kenmore~Cascade
focuses primarily on racing and competition and takes training very seriously.
The club operates out
of the Kenmore Waterfront Activities Center at Squire’s Landing Park, on the Sammamish River. Dan hopes the program will continue to
grow and thrive and he is deeply appreciative of the city and community support
he finds here in Kenmore. The Sammamish River offers the perfect calm water for
training, with close access to the more challenging waters of Lake Washington.
Dan also wants to expand the para program to include teens and believes they
could add a lot to the racing performance.
The amazing part of competitive sports is how impactful the
experience can be outside of the competition itself. Hannah loves how rewarding
the sport is and how it has helped her to find that
special niche community of wonderful people. For Dan, the opportunity offers a
high level of support from the city and community members, creating a strong
collaborative environment. He works hard to build and expand the para-program
simply because, “For humanity, it’s the best thing to do. It’s the biggest
community benefit.” Everyone should have the opportunity to follow their dreams
and the paracanoe program in Kenmore is a wonderful example of how teamwork
combined with individual ambition can have amazing results.
|
