The City Council held its virtual City Council meeting on April 21. Public comment was received via email and voicemail and shared with the City Council. Here is a brief summary of some of the topics that we’ve identified as being of particular interest to the community:

COVID-19 Update: During last night's virtual City Council meeting, City Manager Kurt Triplett provided an update on the City's response to COVID-19. This 10-minute update can be viewed in its entirety here. During the presentation, the City Manager shared an update on our Kirkland firefighters as well as information on the operations of the City's Emergency Operations Center and what the City is doing to plan for recovery.

If you would like more information on the City's continued response to COVID-19, please visit the COVID-19 information webpage. If you need access to resources, visit the City's online resource guides at: resources for Kirkland residents and resources for Kirkland businesses. 

If you are interested in learning about ways to serve the community during this time of need, visit our ways to help webpage. 

Need COVID-19-related business assistance? Don’t have a relationship with a commercial bank or similar financial service? Our partners at (re)STARTUP425 offer free, one-on-one business assistance to Eastside businesses. This program can help business owners and nonprofits navigate city, state, federal, and private economic relief programs related to COVID-19. For more information, visit the (re)STARTUP425 website. 

As so many of us are doing our part to stay home and stay healthy, many of us have found extra time to tackle household projects including yard work, housework and cleaning the family car. 

When spring cleaning efforts turn to the great outdoors, you can do your part to keep our creeks, lakes, and local swimming beaches clean and the local fish population happy. All storm drains in Kirkland flow to the nearest creek or lake without treatment - and anything washed into the street or down a storm drain can pollute these waters and make them unsafe to swim, fish, or play in.

Here are a few tips for keeping our creeks healthy while spring cleaning:

If you do need to wash your car at home, keep the dirty wash water out of the street and storm drains. Divert the water to your landscape or consider parking your car on the lawn to absorb wash water.

Use a broom to sweep up dust and debris from pavement instead of pressure washing. If you must pressure wash, use only cold water and no soap (even biodegradable) or chemicals. Divert wash water to a landscaped area where the water can soak in.

Wash paint brushes and painting equipment in a sink, never outside.  Use a drop cloth to collect paint chips and drips. Never dump chemicals, paint, or rinse water in your yard or down storm drains.

Dispose of concrete, drywall, and mortar in the trash. Do not rinse material into the street.

Let the grass clippings drop on your lawn when mowing. The clippings are free fertilizer that help your lawn grow. As they quickly decompose, the clippings release nutrients back into the soil. When finished mowing, use a blower, broom, or rake to clean up any grass clippings or debris that made their way into the street, sidewalk, or storm drain.

Use fish-friendlier roof treatment. When treating your roof for moss, disconnect downspouts to allow roof water to flow to your landscape instead of to the stormwater system and local creeks. Reconnect downspouts after treatment. Find safer moss control products at www.growsmartgrowsafe.org.

Let’s work together to keep our local creeks, lakes, and swimming beaches happy and clean places for the people and wildlife that use them. For more information, please visit kirklandwa.gov/stormwater.

Today marks the 50th Anniversary of Earth Day which was started in 1970 as part of an international recognition of the importance of a healthy earth to everyone and everything that lives on our planet. 

Pollution fouling our waters and air was the pressing issue on the first Earth Day; today we’re grappling with pollution of another kind. Combusting carbon (AKA burning fossil fuels) contributes to climate change by releasing greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. How much is released relates to how developed countries like us live. We rely on fossil-fuel-burning cars.  We buy more goods than the earth has capacity to produce while sustaining a growing population of 7.8 billion people.  Our response to climate change will determine our future. Fortunately, there is a path to achieving a sustainable future together.

What is the City doing?  The City has been focusing on reducing carbon emissions in its operations since the early 2000s.  In that time, the City has increased energy efficiency in its buildings and public infrastructure and repurposed buildings like the City Hall Annex and the Kirkland Justice Center, rather than building new structures.  Recently, it has taken steps towards electrifying the City’s fleet based on a recommendation in the 2018 Carbon Emissions Report.  To significantly reduce emissions, the City sources all electricity for its operations from Puget Sound Energy’s Solar and Wind Farm.  These actions are helping City operations meet its 2020 emission reduction goals. The Sustainability Master Plan will ensure more actions will be implemented community-wide and in conjunction with local and regional partners.

What is the region doing? The City of Kirkland is part of the King County Cities Climate Collaboration (K4C), which allows Kirkland to work together with the County and other cities to address issues that individual cities like Kirkland cannot tackle alone, like transportation emissions.  Many other cities in the U.S. are taking notice of our strategic regional partnerships. Collectively the K4C are tackling fuel standards, energy efficiency in buildings, and increasing renewable energy generation in the region.

What can you do? The good news is you can help reduce emissions and mitigate the impacts of climate change by examining your own personal habits (especially how you get around) and consumption patterns.  You are likely already discovering ways to do this while spending more time at home.  Compare your stay-home carbon footprint with your usual habits by calculating it based on your patterns last year and then how you are living now to see which changes you’ve made have the biggest impact.  Think about how you could incorporate and commit to some of those changes after we all return to our work and usual lives.

Defeating climate change takes partnership. Working together we can and will take actions to reduce our carbon emissions, increase public health, restore and heal the natural environment, and ensure a healthy planet earth that sustains us all.

With off-leash dog parks currently closed due to the need to social distance to slow the spread of COVID-19, some of our furry friends might be jonesing for their freedom. But please, do not let your dogs off-leash in our City parks. Here are 4 good reasons to keep your pet on his/her leash:

1. Off-leash dogs can easily become not properly socially distanced dogs. We know your pup is friendly (that's the problem!) Keep them on leash and 6 feet from others at all times.

2. Not everyone has a dog that is good with other dogs, and all dogs have a right to be in the park. Keep your dog on leash to protect everyone's right to get some exercise.

3. I know it's hard to believe, but not everyone likes dogs, and that's okay. Some people have allergies or fears that cause them not to want to interact with your dog. They have a right to get exercise too, so keep your dog on a leash.

4. It is the law to keep your pets on leash, and you can be ticketed. However, we want our officers and park ranger to be able to keep social distance as well, so please don't put them in this position.

We know it's difficult during this time when we're all being asked to make so many sacrifices, but please, for everyone's safety, keep your dog on leash so that we can all enjoy a little outdoors exercise safely.

Resources for Pet Owners

A number of public and private organizations have teamed up to provide pet food and supplies to communities in King County. Thanks to the generous donations of national charities, they are working together to distribute food to various locations. Mobile pet food banks are also organized throughout the King County area. Mobile pet food bank locations can be found on the Regional Animal Services of King County webpage. 

Pet owners who are unable to visit a physical location can visit the Seattle Humane webpage to fill out and submit a Pet Food Bank request form. 

The City of Kirkland traditionally celebrates those who volunteer their time with the City at an annual April event.  While COVID-19 response is precipitating a postponement of this event, we take this opportunity to share these volunteer stories of outstanding service to the community.  This is the third of three in a series which recognizes City of Kirkland volunteers.

An important part of the City government’s policy-making process is its various boards, commissions, and councils which advise the City Council on vital public policy matters. There are currently ten such advisory bodies. All of these hold regular public meetings. Positions are non-salaried and therefore volunteer. Members are appointed by City Council to terms generally four years in length. The Houghton Community Council is elected every four years from the area formerly designated as the City of Houghton.

Service Award

Those members of boards, commissions and councils who are finishing their term of service are annually acknowledged by City Council. The City of Kirkland gratefully thanks these following Members for their dedicated service with:

• Cultural Arts Commission: Carol Belval, Christine Exline, Nancy Whittaker
• Design Review Board: Dave Russell, Nevena Loukanova
• Houghton Community Council: Neal Black (now Councilmember)
• Human Services Commission: Amy Falcone (now Councilmember), Adam White
• Library Board: Sandy Cummings, Lorraine McReynolds, Dave Wagar
• Park Board: Heather McKnight
• Salary Commission: Jeffry Canin
• Transportation Commission: Ken Deuker, John Perlic, Brayden Brackett (teen)
• Youth Council (all teens): Austin Bartoletti, Aidan Geurtz, Sarah Handfelt, Savannah Klein, Cheryl Li, Nick Petregal-LeMay, Max Reisman

The Tourism Development Committee is currently recruiting two additional members. Click here for details on this and any other current City of Kirkland board, commission or council civic participation opportunities.