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| Photo by Jan Hansen |
The difference between day - and night
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| Photo by Jan Hansen |
Thursday, November 21, 2024
Shoreline adopts budget with amendments
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Back row from left: Councilmembers John Ramsdell, Betsy Robertson, Annette Ademasu, Eben Pobee, Keith Scully Front row from left: Mayor Chris Roberts, Deputy Mayor Laura Mork |
On Monday, November 18, the Shoreline council adopted the city’s 2025-2026 biannual budget and capital improvement plan with amendments. This is an update from the previous article on the city budget.
The council unanimously approved a $40,000 contribution towards a feasibility study for a bike bridge to Edmonds over SR104 to close a dangerous gap in the Interurban Trail.
The bike bridge was absent from the city’s original budget and capital improvement plan but after community feedback and public comment, the city added an amendment to pitch in a small amount for a study of the project when and only if another jurisdiction takes the lead.
The council adopted an amendment from councilmember John Ramsdell to add $145,000 for mental health counseling services for low income seniors at the Shoreline Lake Forest Park Senior Center.
A previous article incorrectly said the amendment would pay for a case manager. Ramsdell’s amendment will fund a mental health counselor, not a behavioral health case manager.
Counseling and case management provide distinctly different services.
In an email, Ramsdell clarified, “Although the senior center's social worker provides many critical services for our seniors, mental health counseling services is not one of them. The need for counseling has been clearly identified as an unmet need at the center.
For example, of the 136 clients served in 2023 by the onsite social worker, 65 exhibited symptoms indicating possible underlying mental health concerns that were impacting their functioning and quality of life.
These include signs of depression and anxiety, unresolved grief, addictive behaviors, and cognitive decline. These clients would have benefited from treatment by a behavioral health provider, which the senior center does not currently provide.”
Earlier this year, the city council added a new goal to conduct neighborhood subarea planning with a focus on High Activity Areas (HAAs) and neighborhood commercial centers and corridors.
City staff had allocated $600,000 in the proposed budget to pay for two subarea plans but the city council voted five-to-two to cut the funding.
“This is a huge amount of money,” said councilmember Keith Scully speaking against funding for subarea planning. “I don't think we get any value of subarea plans,” he said.
“I respect the opinions from our colleagues on the Chamber of Commerce, but quite frankly, a subarea plan doesn't get us to any of the goals they've mentioned,” Scully said in response to public comments from the community and chamber of commerce.
“What this ends up doing is getting a ton of staff time, a ton of neighborhood involvement, a ton of comments on a plan that, quite frankly, may never become reality.”
The city has previously completed subarea plans for North City in 2001, Ridgecrest in 2008, the Town Center and Aldercrest in 2011, the 185th Street Station and 145th Street Station in 2015, South Ridgecrest and Briarcrest in 2016, and Point Wells in 2020.
The city is finalizing its 2024 Comprehensive Plan which studies all areas in the city and will update zoning rules in all neighborhoods.
“In the next month, we are going to be reviewing the entirety of our development code and our comprehensive plan,” Mayor Chris Roberts said in opposition to subarea plan funding. “We have money in the budget for a comprehensive review of the development code,” he said.
In 2023, the city hired a temporary Grant Administrator who helped the city receive $1,414,803 last year and an anticipated $5,165,250 this year with millions more in pending grant requests.
The temporary position is set to expire in early 2026 and councilmember Laura Mork proposed an amendment to make the position permanent. The council voted one-to-six against making the position permanent after city staff told the council they can consider making the position permanent in next year’s mid-biennium budget.
- The City was awarded a $20 million federal grant for the 145th Street corridor project.
- The state awarded a $5 million grant to partially pay for the 145th Street project.
- With an estimated price tag of $43.6 million, the 148th St non-motorized bridge will be funded in part with grants from the Washington Department of Transportation, Sound Transit, King County, and the $20 million federal grant.
- According to the city budget, the cost of the 175th project is currently not fully funded and could exceed $90 million but the city was awarded a FEMA grant to rebuild the road near Ronald Bog to mitigate the risk of the street collapsing during a major earthquake.
- The city is in line for another $3 million grant for 175th and $4 million to fund Shoreline’s Trail Along the Rail.
The road is the city’s oldest paved road and has an unusually wide 90 feet of city right-of-way. The council voted unanimously to expand the scope of the study northward into the residential portion of the road which could be repurposed as open space in a neighborhood with few parks.
The council also approved funding for a historical marker on Firlands Way.
An amendment from councilmember Keith Scully to cut $27,500 annually for councilmember travel and training expenses was rejected in a three-to-four vote. According to city staff, councilmembers took 23 trips in 2024 and 24 trips in 2023. Before COVID, councilmembers took 13 trips in 2018 and 21 trips in 2017.
The council voted to add a 318 foot section of sidewalk along 25th Ave NE north of Brugger's Bog Park the city’s 2025-2030 Capital Improvement Plan (CIP). A sidewalk is already planned to be built along the front of Brugger’s Bog Park and further south, the city plans improvements to its maintenance facility which will include adding a sidewalk. But no plans for a sidewalk north of the park have been planned.
The proposed sidewalk is not in the Transportation Improvement Plan nor is it on the city’s list of future sidewalk projects. The city says it could cost $500,000 and will evaluate how and when to complete the sidewalk.
The council unanimously approved funding for a winter light display at the Park at Town Center sponsored by councilmember Betsy Robertson.
Earlier this year Shoreline ended its twenty-year sister city relationship with Boryeong City, South Korea. The council approved a proposal from councilmember Eben Pobee forming a new sister city relationship with Akropong, Ghana.
Since 2021, the city has spent American Rescue Plan funds on a Community Support Specialist to help residents in need get connected with services. Those funds have now been spent. The council approved one time funds to keep the specialist position for another two years.
The council will extend its Sound Transit Light Rail Project Manager position for six more months to close out and finalize remaining work.
Wednesday, November 20, 2024
This Saturday - Underground Holiday Market
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This Saturday! Join us for ShoreLake Arts's Underground Holiday Market, Saturday, November 23, 2024 from 10:00am - 4:00pm at the parking structure at the Shoreline City Hall, 17500 Midvale Ave N, Shoreline WA 98133.
There will be over 70 local artists selling their handmade goods, several food trucks, and live music to enjoy. Stress-free parking available at Brotherton Cadillac with complimentary shuttles to and from the market.
Brought to you by ShoreLake Arts, the City of Shoreline, and the Shoreline Farmers Market. More info at shorelakearts.org/holiday-market
WeatherWatcher: Most damaging windstorm since December 14-15, 2006
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| City Light Outage Map for Shoreline 12:30am November 20, 2024 |
Around 30,000 City Light customers were without power in Shoreline and Lake Forest Park after midnight Wednesday morning. If you consider that each City Light customer likely serves more than one person on average, that likely covers most of the population. These widespread power outages were just short of a complete blackout.
As a region, over 600,000 electrical utility customers were without service at the peak of this event. This is the most number of power outages since the Hanukkah Eve windstorm of 2006. By wind speeds this storm wasn't nearly as big for Shoreline and Lake Forest Park. The unusual wind direction out of the east, in combination with some deciduous trees with foliage still left on them likely contributed to the widespread damage.
Wind gusts reached between 40-50mph in Shoreline and Lake Forest Park. The maximum gust measured was recorded at Central Market with a reading of 40mph at 7:13pm. My Richmond Beach station lost power shortly after 7:15pm and recorded a gust of 31mph just before going dark.
I was doing maintenance on my Northridge weather station, and running various errands between 5:30pm and 6:45pm that took me from 145th street and Aurora Ave N, up to 205th street and 6th Ave NE. During that time I observed winds gusting out of the east between 20-45mph. There was also a tree down blocking the northbound right lane of Westminster Way N. However generally, I didn't observe any wind gusts that alarmed me, or any extra tree damage.
I then traveled north towards Everett, where I encountered violent winds on the freeway through Lynnwood at about 7pm. Gusts were knocking traffic in and out of their lanes within seconds, giving drivers no time to react. It was the first time in my many hours of severe weather driving that I've had my car get pushed sideways by a gust of wind. I would estimate those gusts were closer to 60-70mph.
The National Weather Service contradicted most other forecasts earlier Tuesday and downplayed the wind threat for the Seattle metro area as wind advisory criteria, forecasting gusts up to 45mph. At 8:03pm Tuesday night the National Weather Service upgraded the advisory to a high wind warning, noting gusts to 65mph were likely. A little too late for many as much of the damage had already occurred.
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| A large Douglas Fir falls on to Pam's house. Photo by Pam Cross |
Regionally, for weather stations that retained power and data logging abilities, there were gusts in the Puget Sound lowlands recorded as high as 74mph. Seatac had a gust of 59mph, Paine Field in Everett had a maximum wind gust of 48mph at 7:56pm.
Bomb cyclones: Also known as Explosive cyclogenesis, is not a new term, but has become a very popular term in recent years. The Pacific Northwest is no stranger to Pacific cyclones or bomb cyclones, as many develop off our west coast each year. Most stay too far offshore or weaken before they get close enough to have any significant impacts on our region. Typically, they are far north of us, or south of us, and bring the usual fall and winter rainstorms with them.
Tuesday's cyclone stayed about 300 miles off the west coast. A combination of this particular storm becoming strong, high pressure lining up just east of the Cascade Mountain range, and its proximity to our west coast, was what resulted in our unusually strong easterly winds. Impacts could have been far worse had this storm made landfall.
The next cyclone: We have another storm expected to rapidly develop off our west coast on Friday. This storm is not expected to become as strong, but it is expected to get closer. Some forecasts have the storm on a track to make landfall on Vancouver Island.
There is potential that this one could make a wind event, particularly over the northern half of Puget Sound, which could include Shoreline and Lake Forest Park. The forecast is calling for breezy or windy conditions Friday afternoon, with gusts to 30mph out of the southwest. There are no watches, warnings or advisories from the National Weather Service at this time, but that could change.
For current weather conditions please visit www.shorelineweather.com
LFP: Charge your personal devices at City Hall, King county libraries, or Senior Center
If you need to charge personal devices, especially personal medical devices, please feel free to utilize public buildings, such as City Hall and any King County Library that has power, during normal business hours.
If utilizing these spaces, please give priority to individuals charging medical devices over personal cell phones.
The Shoreline/Lake Forest Park Senior Center will also be open Thursday and available for our senior community to charge devices or get warm if needed. They will also be serving lunch as per their normal routine.
As a reminder, please stay clear of any down wire until it is confirmed safe by the appropriate utility provider.
Also, please help our Public Works personnel by, if it is safe to do so, clearing debris from your property that may be blocking sidewalks or roadway edges.
If you have any questions or specific concerns, please feel free to reach out to the Emergency Manager at klowery@cityoflfp.gov
Pedestrian struck on SR 99 in Edmonds
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| Photo courtesy Edmonds police |
Tuesday November 19, 2024 at 6:30pm a pedestrian was struck by a vehicle at 238th on SR 99 in Edmonds six blocks north of the border with Shoreline.
The subject was transported to Harborview in serious condition. The driver was cooperative and there was no evidence of impairment.
Traffic was impacted during the response and investigation by Edmonds police.
Storybooks & Swordfights: Build a D&D Character to Explore Identity - Thursday November 21, 2024
STORYBOOKS & SWORDFIGHTS : A Library Role Playing Game event series
Sponsored by a generous grant from the Washington State Library
Thursday, November 21 6:00pm
Room 4202 (Parking is free during this time!) or Zoom
This interactive activity will focus on character creation with an eye toward self-representation and exploring different identities.
While gamers create a character sheet for an role playing game experience, they will explore the ways in which a fictional setting allows us to explore our own identities and to better understand the experiences of others.
Open to the community. Register here.
Open to the community. Register here.
City of Shoreline: November 19 storm clean-up
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| Photo by Carl Dinse |
It also left a lot of trees and debris in our roadways. Shoreline crews worked throughout the night and today to clear roadways of trees that were blocking or interfering with traffic.
Any areas that crews haven’t completely cleared on Wednesday they will clear Thursday.
Once crews have cleared these larger trees they will begin clearing arterials of large branches that have fallen and are in the right-of-way. The street sweeper will also begin sweeping arterials.
You can help with clean-up!
If safe to do so, please help.
- Clear leaves and debris off the top of storm drains near your home. If you would like to adopt a drain near you to keep clear all year long, please join our volunteer team.
- Rake leaves and debris out of the street in front of your home and throw them out in your yard waste bin. Don’t throw debris from your yard into the street, this can clog up the street sweeper and slow down clean-up efforts.
- If you see storm drains overflowing or flooding in the city, please report to City Hall 206-801-2700.
Briarcrest, Brookside, Highland Terrace, and Lake Forest Park elementaries are closed Thursday unless power is restored
Briarcrest, Brookside, Highland Terrace, and Lake Forest Park elementary schools are currently without power.
Families and staff at these schools will receive notification of their school's status via ParentSquare alert as soon as we have information to make a determination about each school, no later than early tomorrow morning.
Buses will be operating on normal routes, and our drivers and transportation team will make every effort to safely pick up and drop off students at their regular bus stops.
Shoreline Schools were closed today
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| Photo by Curtis Campbell |
In addition to the day's school closure, all afternoon and evening events at our schools were also canceled for Wednesday.
They are waiting to make a decision about holding school on Thursday.
What a mess
By Diane Hettrick
My power went out just before 7pm on Tuesday, November 19, 2024, along with a lot of other people.
At the worst, Seattle City Light had over 100k customers without power. Many are still out but they had whittled it down to only 60k by noon Wednesday.
Someday I'll find out the exact numbers for the circles but this is not a good time to ask questions.
Almost all of the Echo Lake and Meridian Park neighborhoods were restored at 1am. As far as I can tell they all came back online at once, so it was either something easy and/or the crews were in the area.
Or perhaps the Universe was compensating for turning off the power ten minutes before the ELNA Zoom meeting was going to start. (It has been rescheduled for next Tuesday November 26).
The northwest corner of Shoreline and most of Lake Forest Park were hit the worst.
An area near Hamlin Park lost power early but also regained power first. I assume they got a restoration crew before everything started going dark.
All the utility companies prioritize to restore power in this order:
- Life Safety - Crews are dispatched immediately to fix downed powerlines that pose any immediate safety threats to the vicinity.
- Emergency Services - Crews are dispatched to emergency services and facilities critical to public health and safety, such as hospitals, police, and fire.
- Customers and Residents - Crews repair areas that will restore power to the largest number of customers and continue working until all customers are back in service.
The outages affected a large portion of western Washington, all the way to Bellingham.
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| Snohomish county PUD |
PUD Snohomish County Service Area Update
11/20/24 10:54 AM - Outage update: PUD crews continue to work on restoration efforts across our service area. We have made good progress, restoring power to more than 80,000 customers. Efforts are currently focused on critical infrastructure like hospitals and schools.
Heavily impacted areas: Damage is extensive throughout our service area, including trees down blocking multiple roads creating challenges for crews making repairs. Lake Stevens and Snohomish were the most heavily impacted areas.
We have a total of 35 crews in the field, including line, service and tree crews. Currently, 11 mutual aid crews have offered to help in restoration efforts.
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| PSE outage area, plus Cameno and other isolated areas |
PSE Update
The windstorm caused extensive damage to our system late afternoon yesterday and into last night. As of 11:55am, we have 382k customers out of power.
Our focus today is on critical infrastructure and public safety, as PSE has been fielding many 911 calls for safety/emergency needs. With daylight approaching, crews will continue assessing more of the overall damage to the region and provide restoration updates as information becomes available.
We anticipate a multiple day outage and encourage customers with critical needs to make alternate plans as we work to assess the situation and restore power.
PSE with customers covering most of western Washington reported over 400k customers without power and warned that it might be days before restoration.
Tuesday, November 19, 2024
Power outages in Lake Forest Park and east Shoreline
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| 11-19-2024 6:30pm |
Several areas in Lake Forest Park and one near Hamlin Park have lost power.
157 in LFP - estimated restoration 9pm
119 from 12th to 15th NE from 155th to 165th - estimated restoration 9pm
Bolted into concrete but didn't stop the wind
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| Photo by Zoe Alice-Nordstrand Maconnell |
Zoe Alice-Nordstrand Maconnell sent this photo of her garden. She said this was bolted into concrete but it wasn't strong enough to withstand the wind gust.
WeatherWatcher Carl Dinse has been driving around Shoreline and reports that the wind gusts are different everywhere - some places it's negligible and some it is very strong.
Wind already blowing in Shoreline - trees down by Westminster Way
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| Power outages in the north end 5:51pm |
We are already seeing power outages. Here's the link to the City Light outage map. My lights are flickering, which usually means that someone south of me has lost power.
There's a whole cluster of outages near I-5 around 120th - I counted nine, with one to seven customers each, which usually means a branch on a local power line.
But the evening is young and this is supposed to go all night.
WeatherWatcher Bulletin: Wind advisory but no "bomb cyclone" locally
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| Wind and water November 13, 2023 Photo by Jo Simmons |
Winds are expected to peak around 7-9pm gusting to around 45mph from the southeast.
There is a wind advisory in effect until tomorrow morning.
Another peak of winds could happen between 1-4am.
The bomb cyclone is staying offshore and will not directly impact us in the Puget Sound area unless you go east of Bellevue.
Local weather in one photo
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| Photo by Lee Lageschulte |
Really - this is our whole weather forecast in one photo. Take your pick - gray clouds heavy with rain, white fluffy clouds, a mixture of the two. Then glimpses of blue sky in varying shades of blue - and wait! there's even a tiny glimmer of (dare I say?) sun!
Stand in one spot for 15 minutes and you can have it all.
--Diane Hettrick
After three years, historic Federal Infrastructure Law delivers nearly $10B for Washington state roads, bridges, ports & airports
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| Interactive map shows county-by-county breakdown of every transportation project in WA funded by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law |
WASHINGTON, D.C. – This Friday, Nov. 15, will mark the three-year anniversary of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL), a once-in-a-generation investment in America’s infrastructure. Since 2021, the investments included in the law have delivered $9,889,700,277 to transportation infrastructure projects across Washington state.
An interactive map detailing the highway, road, port, airport, rail, ferry, and culvert projects across the state that have received BIL funds over the last three years can be found HERE. The map can additionally be broken down by county, Congressional district, and/or project type.
"Washingtonians are seeing many benefits from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, from a new passenger terminal at Spokane International Airport, to helping replace the outdated I-5 bridge, to billions in new energy grid upgrades, to restoring salmon habitat, to major new port investments that will boost exports and local jobs.
"All these historic infrastructure investments are making our economy stronger and more resilient, and should be continued regardless of the change in Administration,” said U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA).
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| Senator Maria Cantwell |
This year, major projects funded through the BIL included:
- $2.1 billion for the Interstate 5 Bridge Replacement Program: In December 2023, the Interstate Bridge Replacement (IBR) Program received a $600 million grant from the National Infrastructure Project Assistance program, or Mega program. Sen. Cantwell authored the Mega program in order to dedicate federal funds for projects that are critical for the U.S. economy, but too large or complex for existing funding programs. The Mega program was enacted in BIL and appropriated $5 billion to award over five years. Then, in June, IBR received an additional $1.499 billion from the BIL-funded Bridge Investment Program – making the I-5 bridge replacement the recipient of the largest-ever federal investment in a Washington state transportation project.
- $200 million to replace the Hood River-White Salmon Bridge: In January, the Hood River-White Salmon Bridge received $200 million for a replacement project that will prevent the 100-year-old bridge from closing to trucks by 2030 and all traffic by 2040. The funds came from the Infrastructure for Rebuilding America (INFRA) Grant Program, which Sen. Cantwell authored in 2015 and secured a 78% funding increase for in the BIL.
- $51 million to repair the Hood Canal Bridge: In October, the Washington State Department of Transportationreceived $51,125,917 in federal funds to repair the Hood Canal Bridge, which allows more than 30,000 daily commuters and freight vehicles avoid a 100-mile detour around Puget Sound. The grant came from the INFRA program.
- $115 million worth of investments in rail systems across Washington state: In October, the Federal Railroad Administration announced nine major investments in the state’s rail infrastructure totaling $115,577,598, helping move our freight and agricultural products to market more quickly and safely. Funding came from the Consolidated Rail Infrastructure and Safety Improvements (CRISI) Program, which had its annual funding tripled by Sen. Cantwell as part of BIL negotiations.
- $65.5 million to upgrade our state’s airports: In the first six months of 2024 alone, airports across Washington state received a total of $40.9 million in Airport Improvement Grants (AIG) and Airport Terminal Program (ATP) grants, both established by the BIL. In October, Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, Tri-Cities Airport, Spokane International Airport, and Yakima Air Terminal received a total of $24.5 million in additional ATP funds.
- $44.5 million to modernize our state’s port infrastructure: Just today, ports in Tacoma, Bellingham, Port Angeles, Anacortes, and Neah Bay received a total of $44.5 million for infrastructure upgrades to reduce costs and carbon emissions. The funding came from the Port Infrastructure Improvement Program, which was established in 2019 and received $2.25 billion in BIL funding.
Sen. Cantwell authored several of the programs used to disburse BIL grants over the past three years. In addition to INFRA, Mega, and PIDP, she also helped create and fund:
- National Culvert Removal, Replacement, and Restoration: Helps remove or redesign culverts and weirs that create barriers to salmon migration. Sen. Cantwell authored the program and helped secure its inclusion in the BIL with $1 billion in funding.
- Air Traffic Control Facility Funds: In addition to the AIG and ATP grant programs, Sen. Cantwell also secured $5 billion in the BIL to upgrade Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) air traffic control facilities nationwide.
- Railroad Crossings Elimination: At-grade railroad crossings are safety hazards and a major cause of traffic congestion. This grant program helps local communities fund costly separation projects such as bridges or overpasses. The BIL provided $3 billion over 5 years for this program.
- Safe Streets For All Program: Safe Streets For All grants help local governments carry out Vision Zero plans and other improvements to reduce crashes and fatalities, including for cyclists and pedestrians. Sen. Cantwell created the program, steered its authorization of the program through the Commerce Committee, and ensured that the program was among the transportation investments included in the BIL.
- PacNW Transmission Upgrades: Utilizing a $10 billion increase borrowing authority included in the BIL, the Bonneville Power Administration has announced $5 billion in electricity grid improvement projects that will significantly increase the capacity and reliability of the Pacific Northwest grid and its ability to integrate new energy sources.
- Grid Resilience and Innovation Partnerships (GRIP): The Department of Energy’s GRIP program, aimed at making our nation’s electricity grid more resilient, is a $10.5 billion dollar program authored in part by Sen. Cantwell in 2007 and subsequently expanded and funded in the BIL. In October, the Department of Energy announced three federal grants totaling $208.4 million to help Puget Sound Energy, Avista Utilities, and E Source modernize their electricity grids and ensure homes and businesses in Washington state can count on affordable and reliable electricity service, particularly during natural disasters.