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COMMUNITY | Bellevue City Council hears neighbors, will push PSE for more research on Energize Eastside project [2]
SPORTS | Newport blanks Monroe behind Wood to punch ticket to state softball tourney FRIDAY, MAY 30, 2014 in Spokane [12]
ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT | World premiere of ‘Layover’ a homecoming for Eastside filmmakers [15]
Bellevue mulls buying back cuts to Metro bus service BY BRANDON MACZ BELLEVUE REPORTER
A proposal by King County to have Bellevue buy back some bus routes planned to be cut by Metro Transit could be a hard sell. Members of the City Council on Tuesday insisted there be a return on investment that includes a plan to holster Metro efficiency and reduce its own operating costs.
King County Executive Dow Constantine earlier this month announced the buyback plan following the defeat of Prop No. 1, which was meant to provide funding to prevent massive cuts and revisions. Among the 16-percent cuts and revisions being proposed by Metro, Bellevue will see 26 of its 33 routes altered or cut. Seven routes are proposed to be deleted and two revised in September with two more rounds of cuts next year. The King County Council is set
to vote on allowing the changes on June 9. Mayor Claudia Balducci said she needs to know the value of the service before the city commits to paying for what would likely only be the routes with the most frequent use that would suffer most from the Metro cuts. Councilmembers agreed the county needs to preserve Route 271, which is proposed to be rerouted away from the Bellevue College campus to 148th Avenue Southeast. "It's our responsibility to do something,"
120-year-old Bellevue home to be razed for redevelopment
Balducci said, "and advocate is the minimum." Councilmember Lynne Robinson said she supports recommendations for revised cuts and route changes provided by Franz Loewenherz, the city's senior transportation planner. She said the King County Council is interested in reviewing those recommendations. SEE METRO, 14
Puget Sound veterinarians challenging county proposal on vaccination reporting Group worries releasing information violates confidentiality, will discourage pet checkups
Eastside Heritage, residents advocate preserving structure
BY BRANDON MACZ BELLEVUE REPORTER
BY BRANDON MACZ BELLEVUE REPORTER
The Eastside Heritage Center called on Bellevue residents to help save the city’s oldest Main Street structure from demolition to make way for future development. The plea was made during a public hearing Wednesday night at City Hall. The Philbrook House is a Victoriaera home built in the 1890s at 10133 Main Street that has been repurposed over the past 120 years and is listed on the city’s historic resources inventory, said Heather Trescases, executive director for Eastside Heritage. It began as a farmhouse and then a residence for a Civil War veteran before becoming a restaurant in the 1920s, which included serving whalers headquartered in Meydenbauer Bay. In the 1940s it was a plumbing store. It then housed various antique businesses from the ‘70s to ‘90s. Owners of the Gordon James Fine Diamonds store also own the his-
Above: The Philbrook House, built in the 1890s, began as a farmhouse and then a residence for a Civil War veteran before becoming a restaurant in the 1920s. COURTESY PHOTO, Eastside Heritage Center
toric structure behind the shop, and propose to level it to make way for a two-story, 1,600-square-foot office building. “We’re sad to see it go and to see it go off Main Street because it really represents the early Bellevue story,” Trescases said. “My hope would be that they do adopt a reuse and do what is needed to keep it in its place.” Eastside Heritage representatives and a number of concerned residents spoke out about preserving the historic building during Wednesday’s public hearing for design review of the project at City Hall. Trescases said if there were an option to move the historic home, it
The house as it is today would be razed to make way for a two-story office building. would not be paid for by the developers of the property.
Veterinarians are fighting a King County proposal to mandate the release of rabies vaccination records they see as an invasion of privacy and a shortcut to penalizing owners of unlicensed pets. The county says it wants greater compliance with the law, and hopes to reach an agreeable approach with vets. King County Animal Services canvassers began doorto-door checks of Bellevue residences in April, educating pet owners about a requirement to license all cats and dogs eight weeks or older and making licenses available for purchase. Animal Services formed in 2010, and contracts with 25 of King County's 39 cities. Cities that provide their own animal control include Seattle, Auburn and Renton. Pet licensing fees fund about 50 percent of the agency's operations, but the compliance rate remains low at about 21 percent, said Cameron Satterfield, a spokesman with the King County Department of Executive Services. "What we're looking into is a proposal to have veterinarians report their rabies vaccination information to King County," he said. "We've been working with the veterinary associations, the Puget Sound Veterinary Medical Association is one of them in particular, to try a voluntary program to have them educate their pet owners who come into their offices about the importance of pet licensing." Pet licensing allows owners to be reunited with lost
Brandon Macz: 425-453-4602, bmacz@bellevuereporter.com
SEE VETERINARIANS, 14
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