Report: Shoreline - Lake Forest Park joint council meeting

LFP and Shoreline city councils meet
Photo by Steven H. Robinson

By Steven H. Robinson

On Monday, June 13, 2016, the city councils of Lake Forest Park and Shoreline held a joint dinner meeting at Shoreline City Hall.

Verbal presentations and welcomes were made by the city managers, followed by a discussion of topics of mutual interest, such as:

• Sound Transit 3 and the work of the five cities including LFP and Shoreline to provide input to the final proposal related to items of mutual interest.
• The redesign of the NE 145th corridor related to traffic and the light rail station proposal for NE 145th Street. This discussion included concerns for bus rapid transit to and from the light rail station and available bus staging for routes.
• Concern over congestion at NE 145th Street and Lake City Way and increasing PSRC (Puget Sound Regional Council) funding grant application for NE 145th corridor.
• Bus Rapid Transit routes need to be increased to get drivers out of their vehicles.

LAKE FOREST PARK council reports:

Lake Forest Park reported that their current concerns include traffic access to transit, cut through drivers in the neighborhoods, congestion and safety related to Shorecrest High School, congestion on SR104 and SR522 with the proposed light rail connections.

There is supposition that drivers from east county will create more congestion on SR 104 and 522 and increased parking issues when Northlink light rail is implemented. They will be conducting roadway counts.

Another concerns is healthy creeks and they reported on the culvert replacement across SR522 and the 54 hour shutdown of traffic on SR522.  They will be focusing on going upstream and work on the replacement of culverts in hope that this will promote more fish migration and spawning.  They are also concerned about storm water runoff and pollution in the natural streams.

LFP is close to completing their first long range plan.

The current agreement for LFP resident to have use of Shoreline Parks and recreation programs was appreciated and coordination related to park services and combined projects was put forward.  Some ideas brought up were about a combined facility which could include a new pool, human services, senior center, arts council, meeting space, etc.

Lake Forest Park will be working on a project to create 300 vehicle park and ride lot.

SHORELINE council reports:

Parks and Recreation plan update to be completed in 2017 after community input and survey of park users.

Maintenance and Operations levy has expired and a vote in the Fall 0f 2016 for a replacement levy is suggested. Under the current proposal, the average homeowner would pay an additional $62 per year if the levy were passed with the $1.48 reset and pegged to CPI after that. The $62 is based on a median priced home in Shoreline of approximately $350,000. More discussions concerning this will take place in future council meetings

The issue of land use in Lake Forest Park, Shoreline, Kenmore, and Bothell will impact transportation issues in both LFP and Shoreline.

Healthy streams are also an issue in Shoreline.

The possibility of pay parking at park and ride facilities and light rail stations is a something being considered by Sound Transit.  There also discussions about the private operators of bus/ shuttle services such as the “Microsoft Connector” helping financially with funding of regional projects.

The Shoreline Pool maintenance has just completed and should extend the life of the pool for seven more years. They are in need of lifeguards and are hiring new guards at the time if anyone knows of individuals looking for a job.

The meeting concluded with the agreement that future joint meetings should be held at least annually, or more often when specific items of mutual interest arise.

Corrected meeting date 6-24-2016