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STATE OF THE CITY | Mayor Amy Walen addresses where Kirkland has been and is going [11]
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 10, 2014
A DIVISION OF SOUND PUBLISHING
Honored | Kirkland teacher gets surprise from Seahawks and Symetra for her work in the classroom [12] Bob’s back | Kirkland business owner, photographer thanks community for support after nearly drowning [6]
City Council moves forward with discussion on plastic bag ban City of Kirkland staff takes direction on possible ordinance during council meeting BY TJ MARTINELL tmartinell@kirklandreporter.com
T
he Kirkland City Council has restarted discussion on a potential ban on plastic bags and directed city staff to begin prepar-
ing an ordinance on the subject. The ordinance, proposed at the council’s Oct. 7 meeting, would ban single-use plastic grocery bags and mandate stores charge five cents each for paper grocery bags.
The idea of a plastic bag ban has proved contentious in the past. John MacGillivray, the Solid Waste Program’s lead with Public Works, stated that before an ordinance
can be written, however, the council has to make decisions on important details, such as when the ordinance would take effect, and whether or not they want different compli-
A decade of Google
ance deadlines for big and small businesses, as well as any exemptions such as fish bags, take-out bags, dog waste bags and clothing store bags. In 2013, the council directed MacGillivray and staff to complete a study on whether Kirkland should or should not
be a candidate for taking action on either banning or charging for plastic bags. A phone survey later that year showed 69 percent of 407 residents polled opposed the ban of plastic shopping bags, while 90 percent favored encouraging citizens to [ more BAG page 3 ]
Seattle nonprofit floats idea of a subway across Lake Washington the subway would either cross Lake Washington via bridge or go underA Seattle-based ground. Where exactly it nonprofit has proposed would go through downusing a subway system to town will also be left for help solve traffic on the engineers to decide. Eastside and the greater “There’s some different Seattle area. options,” Hopkins said. Seattle Subway has cre“We’re kind of agnostic ated preliminary outline to that … ultimately our of a subway system that effort is to get Sound would run from Seattle Transit to consider it. to downtown Kirkland For Kirkland residents and then to Redmond and it would mean a much Bellevue. quicker trip.” The plans were pubThe subway would lished in late September leave Sand Point Crossing by Sound Transit as part and go through downof its Long Range Plan town Kirkland, though Supplemental EIS study. Hopkins said it would They will be studying the remain underground plans until December, through the city. The when they decide only part of it visible whether to put this would be exits and to the voters. The entrances to the KIRKLAND corridor, if built stations. would create a For Kirkland direct route to residents, Hopmajor medical and kins said, a subway educational centers would enable students such as the University of to reach the University Washington and Everof Washington in seven greenHealth hospital, to eight minutes during as well as the Microsoft rush hour, rather than campus in Redmond. having to drive or take Some of the important the bus across the 520 details, however, are still floating bridge. It would vague, including the also reduce the number overall cost of the project, of vehicles on the road, should the legislature alparticularly in downtown low Sound Transit to put Kirkland, Hopkins said. it on a ballot measure for “You want people to be voter approval. able to live there (KirkJonathan Hopkins, land), and if they work the political director elsewhere, they need to for Seattle Subway, said [ more SUBWAY page 2 ] BY TJ MARTINELL
tmartinellkirklandreporter.com
Peter Wilson, foreground, cuts the cake at Google’s 10th anniversary celebration in Kirkland. Wilson is joined by, from left, Kirkland City Councilman Dave Asher, Google employee Chee Chew, Councilman Jay Arnold, Kirkland Mayor Amy Walen and Councilwoman Doreen Marchione. TJ MARTINELL, Kirkland Reporter
Free Wi-Fi for two Kirkland parks Google officials make big announcement during anniversary celebration BY TJ MARTINELL tmartinell@kirklandreporter.com
Google celebrated its 10th Anniversary in Kirkland by announcing a $200,000 grant to provide free Wi-Fi to two city parks. The Google grant to the city will provide free wireless Internet for residents at Everest Park and Houghton Beach
Park. The announcement was made by Chee Chew, VP engineering site lead, during their anniversary celebration at the Google Campus Oct. 1. Chew said the work had started as soon as the announcement was made. Brenda Cooper, chief information officer for the city of Kirkland, said they plan to have the wireless Internet avail-
able in the parks by next spring. “The Google donation will fill a strong and often requested need in the city and represents the close partnership between the city and Google,” she said. The network will be owned and operated by the city. The grant will cover the city’s costs of installing and maintain-
ing the equipment for three years. The city already offers free wireless network in downtown and at Peter Kirk and Marina parks. With the growing use of iPads and other electronic tablets, Chew said the free Wi-Fi at parks enable people to better communicate with each other wherever they are, [ more GOOGLE page 3 ]
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