Kenmore Blog.net

Another full agenda for the November 24th meeting at the Northshore Utility Building. Four public hearings are scheduled.  See complete agenda here The meeting begins at 7pm.

Why Traffic was so bad on SR522 Wednesday night:
Accident Snarls Northshore Traffic

The special City Council Study Session on the budget will begin at 6:00 p.m., Thursday, November 20, 2008 at Kenmore City Hall. City Hall is located at 6700 NE 181st Street, Kenmore, WA 98028.

By TOM CORRIGAN
Bothell Reporter Reporter
Nov 19 2008, 12:00 AM

Kenmore City Council is now considering its first biennial budget, supplied by City Manager Frederick Stouder and Finance Director Joanne Gregory earlier this month.

According to Stouder, the city is following a general trend in creating a two-year spending plan, instead of the one-year budgets proposed locally in the past.

“It just makes sense from a forecasting aspect,” he said, adding the change allows the city to focus on longer-term trends.

Stouder emphasized officials still will need to take a good look at the numbers toward the end of 2009.

According to the city’s Web site, for 2009-2010, the city is projecting overall expenditures of approximately $70 million. The figure includes general-fund expenditures of $20.7 million. Those latter dollars go toward the routine operations of the city, including items such as salaries and public safety.

more of the Kenmore Reporter Story

Kenmore Community “the reader board” church celebrates 70 years.

See Kenmore Reporter article here

At the November 17th Special Council meeting the city council voted to to cancel the current contract with general contractor BN Builders and to solicit competitive bids for building the new city hall. BN builders had been engaged under a General Contractor/Construction Management (GCCM) method of design/build for the new city hall building and had worked with the architect Weinstein AU and project manager Olympic and Associates.

The city staff recommended the change from the General Contractor/Construction Management(GCCM) to a traditional bidding method because of the change in the economic conditions and bid climate. A year ago some public projects were not receiving any bids and, now public projects are receiving multiple bids and the bids are generally lower.The city hall project is expected to be put out for public bid in December, and assuming the bids are satisfactory, construction could begin in February 2009. Construction is expected to take about a year.

The new city hall will be located on the corner of 181st and 68th, across from the Kenmore Village redevelopment and along Kenmore’s new “main street” 181st Street. A new fire station (corner of 73rd) and library(about 66th) are also being constructed on 181st. Road improvements include realigning 181st near 68th to eliminate the extra light, new sidewalks, and a public plaza in front of Kenmore’s new “town” hall.

Press Release by Leslie Harris

Kenmore, Wash. – Sleigh your way to the annual City of Kenmore Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony on Thursday, Dec. 4 at Kenmore City Hall, 6700 NE 181^st Street. The FREE community event starts at 6 p.m. and concludes at 7 p.m.

Enjoy the beautiful voices of our local choirs while having your child’s photo taken with Santa Claus, join in the fun holiday arts & crafts projects and enjoy cookies with hot chocolate. Help count down the lighting of the tree with Santa Claus at 6:05 p.m.

Participants are encouraged to bring non-perishable food items to support the local Hopelink food bank.

A special thank you to event sponsors: See’s Trees, Kenmore Camera, Kenmore Subway, Grocery Outlet, Ostrom’s Drug & Gift, and Tully’s Coffee.

For more information visit www.cityofkenmore.com or call City Hall at 425-398-8900.

Two city council meetings in one on Monday, November 17th.

The first is a Special Regular Meeting beginning at 7pm, the second is a Study Session on the Budget immediately following the first meeting. Both meetings will be held at the Northshore Utility District Building in Kenmore.

Special Regular Meeting Agenda
Study Session Agenda

Ostrom’s Holiday Open House is Saturday and Sunday from 11-4. This popular annual event features product demos, refreshments and special sale items. Have fun playing “Wheel of Fortune and “Treasure Hunt”. Save money and earn triple Frequent Shopper Points on purchases. Ostrom’s is located at 6744 NE 181st Street in Kenmore Village. 425-486-7711

By TOM CORRIGAN
Bothell Reporter Reporter
Nov 12 2008, 12:00 AM

A sluggish economy may put some plans for the revamping of downtown Kenmore on hold for up to one year.

At a City Council meeting Nov. 3, Dan Rosenfeld of developers Urban Partners asked officials to extend the deadline for construction of the first phase of Kenmore Village from the end of 2009 to possibly as late as the end of 2010.

City Councilwoman Laurie Sperry and others stressed a one-year extension may be put in place, but development still could move forward more quickly.

“As everybody knows,” Rosenfeld said, “we are in the middle of a global financial readjustment and the key to our project is to get the highest quality mix of retailers.”

Rosenfeld added that with the sluggish economy in mind, many retailers are focusing on promoting year-end holiday sales, not on expansion.

See full story