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Saint Edward Park Seminary Project Summary
Daniels Real Estate, a Seattle-based development firm, is proposing to rehabilitate the historic Seminary building at Saint Edward State Park. The firm's goal is to make the aging building economically viable while retaining its historic character. The firm has submitted a concept proposal to State Parks that reuses the building as a "great lodge." The project is designed to expand and improve outdoor recreation at the park, while allowing all visitors the opportunity to use and enjoy the Seminary.
ABOUT THE PROPOSAL:
* Expands the area of Saint Edward Park. Through a land exchange with Daniels Real Estate, State Parks will acquire 9.77 acres of undeveloped, forested waterfront land, known as the McDonald property.
* Preserves the Seminary building, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
* Prevents potential development of the McDonald property, conserving precious undeveloped waterfront land on Lake Washington.
* Investment by Daniels Real Estate. The firm will acquire nearly 5 acres, including the Seminary, pool and gym building complex and pay for improvements. Visitors will continue to have permanent public access to all existing open space.
Kenmore City Council Meeting Schedule
The Kenmore City Council welcomes your participation in the process of local government. Council meetings are held the 2nd, 3rd and 4th Mondays of the month at 7:00 PM at the Kenmore City Hall, Council Chambers, 18120 68th Ave. NE, Kenmore. These meetings are open to the public, and public comments are accepted at the beginning of the meeting. Click here for more information including meeting agendas
Town Green & Mixed-Use Projects Underway
 The City-owned town green property is located in the heart of downtown on the northwest corner of the intersection of 68th Avenue NE and NE 181st Street, across the street from Kenmore City Hall. Improvements will include an outdoor plaza gathering space with a water feature, landscaping and seating areas, plus a new 4,600-square-foot community building with seating areas, fireplace and leased space for retail food. Project construction began mid-November 2015 and is anticipated to be complete in fall 2016.
In March 2015, the City sold approximately three acres of the Kenmore Village commercial land to MainStreet Property Group, LLC, a real estate development firm, for the purpose of redevelopment.
In October 2015, MainStreet revealed its vision for Phase 1 of this new acquisition, now known as the LINQ at Spencer Square. This new development will be a mixed-use project on 68th Avenue NE across from Kenmore City Hall and adjacent to and just south of MainStreet's newest Kenmore development, The Spencer 68 Apartments + Lofts.
The LINQ will bring 94 modern residential flats and lofts, along with approximately 20,000 square feet of commercial space dedicated to bringing expanded health care services to the Kenmore community from Kirkland-based Evergreen Health.
The LINQ development will be comprised of four stories of residential units above the Evergreen Health space and one level of underbuilding parking. New sidewalks and streetscapes on 68th Avenue NE, other walkway enhancements, and utility undergrounding will also be part of the new development. The LINQ building is currently under construction and is anticipated to be ready for occupancy in the first half of 2017. For more information during construction and pre-leasing, join the LINQ's interest page at http://www.liveatthelinq.com
Energy Reliability and Puget Sound Energy
The City of Kenmore's nonexclusive Franchise Agreement with Puget Sound Energy (PSE) for electrical and natural gas services is up for renewal, and discussions between the City and PSE are getting underway.
A number of Kenmore residents and businesses are voicing their concerns about the number of power outages in recent years, and the length of time it takes to get power restored. The condition seems to be particularly acute in the northwest part of the city, and PSE notes that a distribution line in northwest Kenmore that runs along backyard property lines instead of public right of way is difficult to access during an outage, even though PSE has an easement along the line.
This specific situation is one of the issues that will be addressed in the franchise discussions. A Franchise Agreement is a contract that grants the utility the right to make use of the public right-of-way to furnish utility services to members of the public. The updated franchise agreement is anticipated to be presented for Council approval in the second half of 2016.
For additional information on PSE operations, visit the utility's website at www.pse.com. The Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission (WUTC) oversees and regulates private and investor-owned utilities in Washington and sets service rates. Their website is www.utc.wa.govPSE plans to organize a tour of the distribution line area mentioned earlier in this article for community members in early 2016. For additional information on the franchise agreement, contact Assistant City Manager Nancy Ousley at nousley@kenmorewa.gov.
SR 522 Construction Update
 Although it may seem like progress is slow at times, construction on Bothell Way is moving right along as expected. Significant progress has been made in 2015 (a lot of it underground) and the SR522 West A project is on schedule to be completed in 2016.
The City's contractor has completed the mainline conduit and vault system necessary to relocate power and communications lines underground, which is a major milestone, and has also installed the majority of new storm drainage improvements, water and sanitary sewer upgrades.
Early in 2016, the construction team will work with businesses to underground their utility services. Once this item of work is completed, utility companies, including PSE, Comcast and Frontier, can transfer their overhead service lines underground. Other utilities passing through the corridor include University of Washington, Seattle City Light, and MCI Verizon. Each utility is allotted a window of time to remove their overhead lines and convert them to the underground system before the utility poles can be removed. Once the utilities are out of the way, the surface improvements should progress quickly.
Other major accomplishments in 2015 included the reconstruction of the cross streets (61st, 62nd and 63rd Avenues NE), installation of mainline sidewalk on the north side of SR 522, and construction of the two primary retaining walls along SR 522.
A lot of work is behind us, but there's still more to do. Remaining work items scheduled for 2016 include storm drainage and sidewalk (south side), new traffic signal at 61st Avenue NE and SR 522, street lighting, raised center median, landscaping and irrigation, and asphalt concrete overlay. 61st Avenue NE south will remain closed between SR 522 and NE 175th Street until the spring of 2016, with existing detours in place for pedestrians and cyclists.
To keep informed with the latest construction news, visit the project website at www.sr522kenmore.com and sign up for email updates.
Community Sponsors Keep Special Events Alive in Kenmore  Are you a new business in town or one that would like to get more connected with your community? Consider joining the City of Kenmore's list of Community Event Sponsors and help create wonderful memories for Kenmore residents and visitors.
Community Event Sponsors help fund special events and receive recognition in special event marketing. Sponsorship packages include all four major City events: Fourth of July Celebration, Summer Concert Series, Play Day, and the Tree Lighting Festival. Sponsorship costs range from $500 - $5,000 for the yearlong sponsorship.
Individuals, groups or businesses can sponsor to support special events. For more information on how you or your business can get involved in Kenmore special events, contact the City at 425-398-8900 or email the Community Relations Manager Leslie Harris at lharris@kenmorewa.gov.
Kamishibai Storytelling Is Focus Of New Kenmore Art Exhibit
 An exhibit celebrating the Kamishibai Literacy program at Moorlands Elementary, will open Friday, February 5 at the Arts of Kenmore Gallery in Kenmore City Hall, 18120 68th Ave. N.E.
The public is invited to an opening-day reception for "The Art of Kamishibai," from 6:30 to 8:00 p.m. that will include a special presentation by Jennifer Schroeder, Moorlands librarian. Refreshments served.
Kamishibai means paper story, the Japanese art of storytelling. Before the invention of television, it was the neighborhood cartoon for children. Kamishibai artists would clap blocks together and children would gather to hear folklore stories and give pennies for sweets.
The Kamishibai stories are used at Moorlands elementary to meet WA State Standards for 3rd Grade Literacy, fulfilling Pacific Rim and Asian culture requirements. Moorlands is a recipient of the AOK Grants for Schools, providing funding to Kenmore public schools for all disciplines in Arts education.
"The Art of Kamishibai" is the latest in a series of five exhibitions mounted throughout the year by Arts of Kenmore, a nonprofit organization that also produces the annual Kenmore Art Show at Bastyr University in June. AOK Gallery exhibits are made possible by sustaining support from the City of Kenmore, 4Culture, and membership. The exhibit will remain on display through February 25. The mission of the Arts of Kenmore, a non-profit, all-volunteer organization, is to promote the Arts in the Kenmore community through the annual art show and other programs, including AOK Grants to six public schools and regular exhibits at the AOK Gallery at Kenmore City Hall. For more information: visit www.artsofkenmore.org or contact info@artsofkenmore.org or David Maehren, president of the Arts of Kenmore, at dmaehren@artsofkenmore.org.
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