Clyde Hill News: May Council Meeting Recap
Make way for ducklings...
Clyde Hill Public Works crews rescued some adorable ducklings recently. Here’s a photo:
More details on this and other news below. Just one more item before our disclaimer: if you find this newsletter useful or interesting, please forward it to your Clyde Hill neighbors and friends. Thank you!
Disclaimer: while I am a councilmember on the Clyde Hill City Council, I write this newsletter in my capacity as an individual resident. Any opinions expressed are my own and not necessarily the position of the City. The information and references here are from public sources. I welcome email responses — and if the topic is about City business I will respond from my City email account.
Clean up Day
From a resident point of view, the biggest thing to know is something not mentioned at the meeting: Clean up day is in a few weeks, June 9 & 10. You can read more about it here (link).
Threat at Chinook Middle School
At Tuesday’s Council Session, Chief of Police Kolling reported that late Monday night last week, a parent saw a social media post involving a replica gun and kids saying "Today is our day, everybody better respect us."
While there was no directed threat, the school and police took many precautions, including a Bellevue Officer at the bus stop and four officers at Chinook for three hours. The school appears to have decided to return to business as usual the next day.
Here’s the Chief giving his report:
State tries to push Cost of 520 Lid Maintenance to Clyde Hill and Neighbors
The State Department of Transportation surprised the Mayors of the points communities last week with a plan to push the costs of maintaining the lids above 520 to Clyde Hill, Medina, Hunts Point, and Yarrow Point, according to the Mayor Tuesday night.
Currently, the communities are negotiating as one entity with the Mayor of Hunts Point, Joe Sabey, as its unified voice. Clyde Hill’s Mayor asked the Council for approval to continue in this arrangement with the other Points Communities.
Some readers have requested more video of the Mayor in action at our meetings, so here’s the original report from the meeting:
And the rest
Budget Process. The Council and Administration agreed that resident engagement is important. The Council also encouraged the Administration to consider feedback from previous Budget Advisory Committee participants and the City Council in making adjustment’s to this year’s Budget process.
Virtual Meetings. The City Council approved an ordinance that enables virtual meetings to continue.
Planning Commission’s Land Use Code (Title 17) Review. The City is now five chapters closer to finishing its review of its Land Use code! Some of the code (e.g. for swimming pools in Clyde Hill, what are the fencing requirements?) went through the full public review process.
Other chapters — Accessory Dwelling Units or Fences — may get more attention from Clyde Hill residents.
Finally, from the Administrator’s Weekly Report (link), paying for the consultant leading the Comprehensive Plan may hurt a little less:
Earlier this week Staff received notification that the City of Clyde Hill should expect to receive a total of $125,000 in grant revenue from the WA State Dept. of Commerce over the next two years to help pay for the updating of its Comprehensive Plan ($62,500/year for expenditures made after July 1, 2022). The total cost of updating the City’s Comprehensive Plan is currently estimated to be $165,000, meaning that the net cost to the City for updating the Plan is estimated to be $40,000
National Police Week
At the start of the meeting, the Mayor approved a resolution brought forth by the Council to designate
“the week of May 11 to 17 2022 as National Police Week in recognition of the service given by the men and women (both past and present) who stand guard to preserve the rights and security of all residents. Further, City Council calls upon the residents of Clyde Hill to observe May 15, 2022 as Peace Officer's Memorial Day in honor of those fallen law enforcement officers and those who became disabled in the performance of their duty.”
According to the Clyde Hill Police Sentinel,
In 1962, President Kennedy proclaimed May 15 as National Peace Officers Memorial Day and the calendar week in which May 15 falls, as National Police Week. Established by a joint resolution of Congress in 1962, National Police Week pays special recognition to those law enforcement officers who have lost their lives in the line of duty for the safety and protection of others.
“Teeny, tiny nets to catch ducklings with”
Details from the duckling rescue, from the Director Public Works Tuesday night:
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Dean Hachamovitch