On Feb. 5, Kari Page and Ray Steiger from the City of Kirkland met with myself, representing Kirkland Central COA as President and the President and Vice President of Plaza on State to bring us up to date about “Kirkland on the Move” and how it would impact our condominiums. During the briefing we were told that the Traffic Controller Box located near the bear statue on the corner of Kirkland Avenue and State Street (the box was approved by the City and installed less than three years ago) was going to be moved approximately 20 feet to the tune of $30,000. The Council on a vote of 7-0 approved this $30,000 expenditure Now that I have been scraped down from the ceiling I pose the following questions:

1. Why was Kirkland Central not notified about this? This move will have the most impact on our residents, especially the retail spaces that will be dealing with the moving of the box, including tearing up newly grown landscape.

2. If the box is moved, the skate boarders will now have a higher place to begin their decent down to the concrete benches that they currently use as one of their stops along the way to the Skate Park. It will also be a great place to put empty coffee cups when the trash cans are full. Was this addressed during the discussion prior to the vote?

3. In this economic downturn and the budget constraints that already exist in Kirkland, is this decision a good use of tax payers money?

We were told at our meeting that the contract has not been awarded yet. Do the right thing, rescind your vote and leave the traffic controller box where it is. Spend the $30,000 of tax payers money on something the City of Kirkland really needs.

Marna Hanneman, Kirkland