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POLICE BLOTTER | Attack leaves man with chipped teeth, bite wound [2]
Sports | Kirkland American Little League team FRIDAY, JUNE 14, 2013 wins state tournament against Redmond [7]
A DIVISION OF SOUND PUBLISHING
Arts | Kirkland Arts Center welcomes new executive director [3]
Cross Kirkland Corridor controversy continues in Washington DC Ballard Terminal Railroad Company, LLC, files motion with federal board to prevent city from removing rail tracks BY RAECHEL DAWSON rdawson@kirklandreporter.com
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irkland city officials are still defending plans for the city-owned Cross Kirkland Corridor after a federal lawsuit to stop rail removal was shot down by a U.S. District Court judge in May. Kirkland, King County and Sound Transit officials submitted arguments June 4 to the federal Surface Transportation Board, which is located in Washington DC. The arguments came after attorneys for the Ballard Terminal Railroad Company, LLC, filed a motion in May for preliminary injunctive relief. The motion with the board was filed days after the first injunction was denied because the judge deemed federal court did not have the jurisdiction to appeal a Surface Transportation Board order. If the board grants the current proposal, it would prevent the city from removing the railroad tracks and its assets along the 5.75-milelong corridor until the board makes a decision on the railroad company’s pending petitions they filed on April 2. The city planned to remove the rail tracks and ties in April but plans came to a halt when they were served a federal lawsuit on April 1. The Ballard Terminal Railroad Company’s petitions seek to “partially vacate” the board’s 2008 Notice of Interim Trail Use order, which currently allows for a railbanked recreational trail on the Eastside Rail Corridor as long as the track is salvaged upon removal. The petitions outline the
railroad company’s hopes to secure the right to reactivate rail service along the Woodinville to Bellevue rail line, even though it doesn’t operate or own property along the corridor, according to court documents. The company also asked the board to transfer the rail assets to them at net liquidation value.
City argues delay would cost taxpayers Court documents filed by the Ballard railroad company’s attorney Myles L. Tobin with Fletcher & Sippel, LLC, state that the company will be irreparably harmed if the city is not directed to stop rail removal. Removal would “moot the pending proceeding” for their petition and would “impede their efforts” to reinstate rail service, they say. Also, reinstalling the rail and crossing materials would cost $10 million, a substantial cost for the railroad company. Byron Cole, a general manager and co-founder of the Ballard Terminal Railroad Company, said in a statement to the board that his company would also lose significant business, as he has been in “active discussions” with several shippers – the owners of CalPortland and Wolford Trucking and Demolition, who submitted letters to the board in support for restoring rail service. The companies would likely ship commodities by road or find another rail carrier if freight service wasn’t restored, Cole said. Attorney Hunter Ferguson [ more CORRIDOR page 5 ]
Market opens at Marina Park
Above, a young choir from Bright Horizons preschool sings to commemorate this year’s season during the Kirkland Wednesday Market’s opening day on June 5 at Marina Park. The Kirkland Wednesday Market runs from 2-7 p.m. every Wednesday through Sept. 25. Left, siblings Naomi and Robbie Boyd pack some sweet treats for a customer. The two operate the company Maggies Desserts out of Naomi’s Kirkland home. CARRIE RODRIGUEZ, Kirkland Reporter
Bridle Trails’ ‘Party in the Park’ to raise funds for park BY RAECHEL DAWSON rdawson@kirklandreporter.com
The Bridle Trails Park Foundation invites Kirkland residents who enjoy horses, 10K runs and a plethora of pancakes to the 11th annual “Party in the Park” celebration set for June 22. As the foundation’s
biggest event of the summer, president Ken Hite expects hundreds of volunteers and at least 1,000 people from the community to attend Bridle Trails State Park that day. “It gets pretty crowded,” said Hite. “It’s one of several events we put on to get people to the park, get people enthused and
get donations.” Hite and other board members of the foundation are tasked with funding half of the net operating costs each year for 40 years in accordance with a 2003 donation agreement with the State Parks and Recreation Commission. “Bridle Trails State
Park was on the closure list,” Hite said. “The state was going through budget woes like they are today and to save money, they were looking at closing the park.” But the Kirkland community reacted by forming the nonprofit Bridle Trails Park Foundation and [ more PARK page 2 ]