Month: June 2008

The Council received an update on the Landing at our Committee of the Whole Meeting on Monday night.

Financially, the road, utilities and parking garage projects are all on track, and coming in within budget. At the same time, Harvest Partners (the owner of the Landing) has been completing lease deals on schedule, and generating the new tax revenues needed to cover the city’s infrastructure. In short, the money is working out.

The more interesting part of the presentation revolved around the new tenants that are signing on, many of whom are still maintaining some privacy at the moment.

The announced tenants are all shown on this chart: (Click to enlarge)

The unannounced tenants are another good news story, although our Economic Development staff has kept a close lid on specific tenant names. In many cases, council does not even know exactly who is coming in. We do know that we have apparel stores, restaurants, a spa, a brew-pub, and many other specialty shops likely to fill out this “second-wave” of smaller spaces at the Landing.

Ironically, the pressure that Westfield is placing on the big-name mall companies is probably helping the Landing to develop into a unique and desirable spot. We are told Westfield (which owns hundreds of malls) is pressuring it’s usual national tenants to stay out of the Landing, which leaves the Landing as a mall for smaller start-ups and high-end Northwest companies. I think this will give the Landing a unique character which will keep our project from being like “Westfield Every-mall USA,” something which may work well for Renton. Especially since we are squeezed between Bellevue Square to the North, which is one of the most successful malls in the Nation, and Southcenter to the South which is about to become the biggest mall in the state. Offering unique shops will no-doubt work well for us.

Best of all, there appears to be good progress in an area that has been the most-requested feature of all…. a high-end grocery store. We are told that a high-end store is seriously considering the location, and at the same time Harvest Partners is pursuing a “Market Hall” concept to add more variety. The Market Hall would be a shared Market Space, similar to Pike Place Market (only smaller of course), or more specifically Granville Island in Vancouver BC for those of you that have been there. The Market Hall would be a great place to buy cheese, wine, produce, tea, coffee, flowers, and similar items, but would still not provide all the staples of a grocery store.

Click the image below to enlarge it, to see the concept better:

As a final note, we received an update that the second property (where the Sonics were considering an arena) is being marketed as possible office space in lieu of more retail. Apparently, the office market is perceived to be strong in our area right now. Such a use would likely bring more high-wage employment opportunities into our city, so we would support such a use.

Similarly, we are seeing some hotel proposals around the same site, and in general around the Southshore of Lake Washington.

I’ll share more when I get some more news!

Randy

HUMAN RESOURCES & RISK MANAGEMENT
DEPARTMENT

MEMORANDUM

June 20, 2008

TO: All Employees

FROM: Nancy A. Carlson
Human Resources and Risk Management Administrator

SUBJECT: USE OF CELL PHONES WHILE DRIVING

On July 1, 2008 a new Washington State Law regarding the use of wireless communication devices will go into effect. Specifically, the law reads, “a person operating a moving motor vehicle while holding a wireless communications device to his or her ear is guilty of a traffic infraction.“

There are some exceptions to the law which include; public safety personnel operating an authorized emergency vehicle, the coroner, and the prosecuting attorney’s office. The law also exempts an individual that is; reporting illegal activity, summoning medical or other emergency help; calling to prevent injury to a person or property, and those who are required to use a hearing aid.

The law does not completely ban the use of wireless communications devises, as it allows the use if the devise can be used in a “hands-free mode.” Hands-free mode has been defined to mean a wireless communications devise with a speaker phone, headset, or earpiece.

City Administrators understand that many of you depend on your cell phones to communicate with your supervisor, colleagues, and customers of the City, and that many of these calls are made while you’re driving from one appointment to the next. Before we all attach a device to our phones to comply with the law, it is important to remember why this law was passed. The legislative intent of the law reads:

“The use of wireless communications devices by motorists has increased in recent years. While wireless communications devices have assisted with quick reporting of road emergencies, their use has also contributed to accidents and other mishaps on Washington state roadways. When motorists hold a wireless communications device in one hand and drive with the other, their chances of becoming involved in a traffic mishap increases. It is the legislature’s intent to phase out the use of hand=held wireless communications devices by motorists while operating a vehicle.

Your safety is the most important issue. Therefore, we would strongly suggest that you pull over to take or make a call. If it is an incoming call that can wait, let the call go to voice mail and return the call when you stop. You are allowed to use your phone while driving only if it has a speaker, or is attached to some other device which makes it hands free. Departments have been authorized to purchase the necessary adaptors to allow you to use your phone, hands free. The Bluetooth device has not been approved.

Thank you for your cooperation and please drive safely.

PLEASE POST THIS NOTICE IN AREAS WHERE EMPLOYEES DO NOT HAVE INDIVIDUAL EMAIL

Our Communications Director sent this out today. I think her marketing skills, combined with our mayor’s publishing background, are producing some informative and attractive news pieces.

Here is here note:

Attached is the June/July issue of Renton Now, your one-stop information source on city news, new programs, community events, and more. This issue celebrates the one year anniversary of Renton Now.

Renton Now was mailed this week to all Renton area residents along with the utility bill, and also sent directly to multi-family residents and Benson Hill area residents. We hope you enjoy reading Renton Now – please do forward to others and share it with your friends and family.

As part of our ongoing efforts to encourage paper conservation, we will only provide hard copies of Renton Now to employees who are not able to access an electronic version. Renton Now is also posted on our website and you can subscribe to the Renton Now page to receive an email notification when a new issue has been published. To subscribe, click the subscription icon from the page and create an account. Select Renton Now newsletter and save.

Thanks

Preeti Shridhar
Communications Director
City of Renton
1055 South Grady Way
Renton, WA 98057
425-430-6569
www.rentonwa.gov

(Click on each page below to enlarge)

 

In Mobile Alabama they are canceling a planned ground-breaking ceremony for the Air Force Tanker finishing center. I am of course glad to hear this, as I am one of the many, many Washingtonians that is confident that our local product was the better one in the Air Force Tanker competition. Still, I can’t help but feel a little sad for the good people of Alabama, who are being whip-sawn in this race just as much as we are here in the Seattle area.

As a Renton councilmember, I can’t help but be uplifted by the latest developments. Even though Boeing moved it’s corporate headquarters to Chicago, the airplane maker’s commercial headquarters home remains right here in our beloved town of Renton. And the tanker airplane is very much a derivative of a commercial product, whether it is on a Boeing 767 platform or an Airbus 330 platform.

So we should celebrate this latest win for our home team, while remembering that there are good people, just like us, in Mobile that are dissappointed.

There are also many Europeans that are dissappointed, and they are also some very nice people; but I still question whether they should ever get the lions share of a 35-billion-dollar US defense contract when our US economy is faltering and good American-made options are available.

Click here for an interesting CNBC blog entry on this topic.

Boeing has won congressional support for it’s protest of the Airbus Tanker deal!

Here is the story.

Thank you all for your supportive comments about the Blueberry Haven appeal (see blog from Tuesday below).

In that blog, I mention that I think we need a study to determine conclusively whether Kennydale Creek flows constantly, or is intermittent.

After thinking about it for a couple days, I decided I can do a study for free, or at most one-hundred dollars, depending on the outcome.

Here is my study.

I WILL GIVE $100 CASH TO THE FIRST PERSON THAT CALLS ME IF KENNYDALE CREEK STOPS FLOWING (as long as it has not been artificially damed up).

If it dries up, as has been claimed by some people, give me a call and get $100! My number is 425-271-6913. As an alternative, you can also post to my blog if it dries up, and I’ll drop by, see for myself, and then send you $100. (Be sure you leave me some contact info). This offer will never expire… so keep you eye on the creek this summer, next summer, the summer after that, and the one after that, etc!

For the record, I don’t think I’ll be having to give $100 to anyone.

The idea of an eastside commuter rail line, which would utilize all or part of the Burlington Northern Rail Line, is getting a lot of traction lately. Puget Sound Regional Council is even setting up a committee to study this project.

Here is a note that city council received on this item:

__________________________________________
You all were copied on a letter from Puget Sound Regional Council to Mayor Law asking for our jurisdiction to appoint a representative to an advisory committee for a study of the feasibility of a commuter rail line on the BNSF Railroad’s Woodinville Subdivision.

PSRC and Sound Transit are establishing an Ad Hoc BNSF Eastside Commuter Rail Feasibility Study Advisory Committee to provide input on policy questions and how local jurisdictions view the potential commuter rail uses of this corridor. The Study Timeframe is quite compressed with the majority of the work occurring in the next 6 months. With that in mind, they are porposing to meet only a couple of times. First in late June to assist with study scope and evaluation criteria and review the compilation of existing studies and later in the fall to review the draft and final study reports.

The first meeting of this Ad Hoc Committee is scheduled to meet on Wednesday morning, June 25, from 9 am to 11 am in PSRC’s fifth floor Conference Room. 1011 Western Ave. in Seattle.

Are any of you interested in serving on this?

Julia