City of Lake Forest Park

17425 Ballinger Way NE
Lake Forest Park, WA 98155
www.cityoflfp.com
206-368-5440

August 2020

Mayor Jeff Johnson

The Path Forward to 2021/2022 - Adjusting Expectations

As we have all seen, the COVID-19 pandemic has hit the entire country hard, with no city or town left unaffected. While the City of Lake Forest Park has a solid property tax base, and does not rely as much on sales tax as other cities in our region, we are, still, hit with a serious reduction in revenue.

In previous newsletters, we provided updates on the impact the pandemic has had on the City of Lake Forest Park directly. In this article, I am sharing major considerations I am using to develop a balanced 2021/2022 biennial budget for presentation to the City Council at its regular meeting on September 10, 2020.

Basically, everything is tight right now, and will be well into the upcoming budget cycle. With this said, I am asking Lake Forest Park residents to join me in reassessing our expectations for service delivery. For the remainder of 2020, City employees are being furloughed for 8 days, with a corresponding salary decrease of 9 percent. In addition to the furloughs, open positions are frozen through at least the end of 2020. This freeze impacts the Public Works, Building, Engineering, and Municipal Court functions of the City.

When I submit my proposed 2021/2022 budget to the City Council, you can expect to see a 12 percent loss in revenues, and a significant reduction in expenditures. The passage of I-976 last November further ties the City's hands financially, by eliminating the only revenue source for capital road maintenance projects, amounting to $800,000 per biennium. Fortunately, grant-funded projects are proceeding as planned.

While employees are working hard remotely, there are some challenges to service delivery, including the eight furlough days and hiring freeze. In addition, our employees with young children face difficulties as area schools have announced they will resume remote learning in the fall.

With all of the complications caused by the pandemic, we are doing our best to keep the City moving forward. I ask for your help in remembering all of the above and adjusting your service delivery expectations correspondingly.

--Mayor Johnson

Now is a Good Time to Go Online with Your Sewer Bill

If you are sending us a paper check when you pay your sewer bill did you know our online bill service lets you view and pay your sewer bill, go paperless, set up auto-pay, and receive reminder notifications when your sewer bill is due?

Paying with an electronic check from your bank (EFT) is free. If you pay by credit card, a fee of $3.95 is assessed by the online service provider (Invoice Cloud). There is a limit of $300 per transaction for credit card payments. Information you need to access the online services is the name on the account (last name is enough) and the account number.

To get started, click here to access the online payment portal.

Two chairs on a patio in a summer backyard

A nice place to relax for Labor Day weekend

Council Corner - Update on the City's Noise Ordinance

As we head into the last several weeks of summer weather, and especially with a holiday weekend approaching, I want to remind all our residents that the City Council improved our noise ordinance last year, with the intent to control the level of noise in a manner which promotes the use, value and enjoyment of property, sleep and repose, and the quality of the environment. Council also recognized that inadequately controlled noise adversely affects the health, safety and welfare of the people.

All of us deserve to enjoy peace in our own homes and yards, especially in the evenings and on weekends and holidays. This is even more important as we all cope with the stress and uncertainty of the COVID-19 pandemic and most of us are spending more time at home.

Our noise ordinance prevents commercial construction sites from using noisy tools or equipment before 7:00 a.m. and after 8:00 p.m., Monday through Friday, and before 9:00 a.m. and after 5:00 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday, and at any time on the following holidays: New Year's Day, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving Day, and Christmas Day.

The noise ordinance also asks residential property owners to be mindful of their neighbors by stopping use of powered equipment such as leaf-blowers, lawnmowers and power tools by 9:00 p.m. on weekdays, and 6:00 p.m. on weekends and holidays, including Labor Day. We also ask that residents not start using powered equipment before 7:00 a.m. on weekdays and 8:00 a.m. on weekends and holidays.

If you would like to read the ordinance in full, you may do so here: LFPMC 8.24.005.

I wish you all an enjoyable and relaxing Labor Day and holiday weekend.

--Deputy Mayor Phillippa Kassover

LFP Municipal Court Jury Trials Resume in September

We introduced this information in our July issue, and are repeating it here to help reach as many of our residents (potential jurors) as possible before jury trials resume in September.

Lake Forest Park Municipal Court will resume jury trials in September, after pausing them in April in response to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Extensive new safety precautions have been implemented to protect juror safety and public health as trials resume. Jury summonses have been mailed, with the first potential trial planned the week of September 1.

New jury processes are in place to protect juror safety, including a front door greeter who will do a brief health screening and take temperatures with a touchless thermometer. The screener will offer each person a new KN95 mask or a face shield. Hand sanitation is required and available throughout the building.

Jury questioning will be done in two groups. People who have internet and video access on home computers can participate from home on the Zoom platform. Jurors without video access will come to the court in a group of no more than 12 people. The six individuals chosen for jury duty will come to the courthouse to hear the trial.

All participants in the trial will wear masks or shields, and there are Plexiglas barriers for the judge and clerk. The jury deliberation room is a spacious doublewide conference room and all seating is more than 6 feet apart. Photos of the courtroom showing the spacing of chairs for jury questioning and spacing for the final jury panel are posted on the Court webpage.

While City Hall remains closed, members of the public can watch court proceedings on the City YouTube channel. Enter the virtual courtroom through the link on the Court webpage. For more information, see the Court FAQs and other details on the website.

Suffrage Special Whistle-Stop Tour 1920-2020

Celebrating the 100th Anniversary of Women's Right to Vote

August 26, 2020 marks the 100^th anniversary of the 19^th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which provides for women's right to vote. The amendment was officially adopted by the U.S. Government on August 26, 1920. Did you know? After several wins and losses, Washington women permanently won the right to vote in 1910, ten years before national women's suffrage was enacted.

For more information, check out the eight-episode video series on the Washington State Historical Society website, which explores the State of Washington connections to the larger national history of women's suffrage, and honors women change-makers from Washington who led the way then, as well as those who continue to do so today. It is thematically based on the real life 1909 Suffrage Special train which carried local and national suffragists across the country and through Washington State from Spokane to Seattle in support of women's fight for the vote.

Lyon Creek near Whispering Willow Park

New Salmon Watch Program for North Lake Washington

Many folks will be interested in a new North Lake Washington Salmon Watch program being started by LFP resident Jeff Jensen. Jeff is a biology professor at UW Bothell who specializes in fish. He is an authority on Kokanee salmon, once native to our streams, and a leader in the effort to restore their populations.

North Lake Washington Salmon Watch is actually a more localized re-start of the Salmon Watchers program once run by King County to involve local residents in documenting and counting salmon in our streams. In brief, here is what you can do to participate:

Select a stream you are willing to watch for a total of 30 minutes per week from September 1 into November. If you live on a stream, you can observe in your own backyard or offer to allow other volunteers to view there
Review online training materials and attend one or more Zoom meetings
Record data during your observations on a form provided
Enter your data into an easy-to-use on-line form

For more information and a link to sign up, click here.

I have been interested in water quality and habitat restoration in McAleer and Lyon Creeks for many years. As a Councilmember, I represent our city on the WRIA 8 (Water Resources Inventory Area) Salmon Recovery Council (SRC), and currently serve as its vice-chair. The WRIA 8 watershed includes Lake Washington, Lake Sammamish, and all the streams that flow into them, plus Lake Union, the ship canal and the Ballard Locks. For 20 years, the SRC has directed county and state funds to habitat restoration, salmon monitoring, and citizen outreach.

Despite these, and many other efforts, the numbers of Chinook, Coho and Sockeye salmon in our watershed have continued to decline, now consistently below their 10-year averages. Many habitat problems have been addressed, but new culprits have emerged, like rising water temperature and increasing numbers of warm water predators, including perch and bass. It is clear that salmon recovery in our area will be a long process, and it will be vital to maintain citizen involvement and interest for the long haul. North Lake Salmon Watch is an important way that many of us can learn about salmon and be practically engaged in that work.

--Councilmember Mark Phillips

Block Watch Update

As we mentioned our July issue, the Lake Forest Park Police Department is getting its Block Watch program back up and running. If you are a Lake Forest Park resident and interested in being a Block Watch Captain, we would love to hear from you! Please email Lieutenant Rhonda Lehman or give her a call at 206-364-8216 x560 for more information.

It's Time to Start Thinking about Fall Yard Care

Fall yard care is right around the corner! Pesticides, weed and bug killers may pose a risk to young children, pets, and fish in our streams/lakes. For safer choices and ideas, click here.

Call the Garden Hotline, 206-633-0224 for practical advice on less toxic lawn and garden chemicals and techniques; or, check out the info online www.gardenhotline.org.

Project Site - 3507 NE 153rd Street

Site Development Permit Received

The City's Planning Department has recently determined a 10-unit commercial site development permit application complete. The project is located at 3507 NE 153rd Street, and involves construction of a 10-unit townhome development, with structured parking, and street improvements. The application will soon be noticed, and a Planning Commission public hearing will be required for the project, notice of which will occur separately. Documents for this project will soon be ready to view on our Planning Notices page. Please contact the Planning Department for any further information.

Reminder - Oral Citizen Comments Now Taken at City Council Regular and Advisory Body Meetings

While this item was also included in our July issue, we want to be sure our residents know that oral Citizen Comments are now being taken at public meetings, as noted below.

As of July 23, oral Citizen Comments are taken at regular meetings of the City Council, Council Budget and Finance Committee, Planning Commission, Tree Board, and Parks and Recreation Advisory Board meetings. Written Citizen Comments are no longer accepted.

At public hearings held by the City Council and Planning Commission, both oral comments and written comments are accepted.

Please see the Virtual Meetings during COVID-19 webpage for full details about how to participate in remote City Council meetings and for links to the comment process for the other advisory bodies.

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