What Happened at KAN – The Kirkland Alliance of Neighborhoods Meeting?

By Debra Sinick

KAN? The Kirkland Alliance of Neighborhoods (KAN) met just last week to share information about the latest happenings in Kirkland. For those of you who don’t know, KAN is made up of representatives from each Kirkland neighborhood.  Guest speakers also make presentations at each meeting about topics which affect Kirkland.   Topics discussed ranged from Kirkland’s future as a livable city to manure providing electricity (yes, manure!) to the census, keeping our parks clean, and Google’s plans for Broadband.

Cascade Land Conservancy Workshop

Do you have a vision for Kirkland?

The first speaker represented The Cascade Land Conservancy because the group is sponsoring a class this Thursday in The Peter Kirk Room at City Hall.  The class will focus on establishing a plan for a livable city.

Cascade Land Conservancy Workshop: Taking Action in Kirkland
How to Shape the Future of Your Community

What are the most important issues Kirkland faces?  Where should future growth occur in Kirkland and what issues such as transportation and design need to be addressed? Learn how to take action and improve the quality of life in your community at Cascade Land Conservancy’s free workshop on participating effectively in the land use process.

Time: 6:30-9:00pm, Thursday, March 18th
Place: Kirkland City Hall, Peter Kirk Room, 123 5th Avenue, Kirkland, WA 98033
Free – but space is limited to the first 50 people who RSVP.

I don’t know if there’s still space available, but I thought it’d be interesting to attend, so I’ll be there.

The 2010 U.S. Census:

Did you know that $400 billion is at stake?  Who will get this money?  Do you have 5 minutes for 10 questions and your stake in that $400 billion?

Of course, no one gets it all, but the 2010 Census will determine how much we do get.  The more people complete the census forms, the better chance we’ll get our fair share of government funds.  However, according to Gail Gorman, a Kirkland Highlands resident, and a 2010 census official, about 20% of the people won’t return this form.  These 20% are going to be the people this year’s census workers will chase to get the answers to the 2010 census.

My husband just filled out our form and it took him all of 5 minutes to fill out the 10 questions.  Five minutes for our stake of $400 million? We in Kirkland, WA are all depending on you to take your 5 minutes to fill out the form. But for those of you who must be chased, there will be census workers who knock on your door.

There’s still available jobs for the 2010 census.  Contact 425-749-5093 for more information.

What Can You Do To Help Kirkland’s Parks?

Jason Filan from the City of Kirkland talked about the need for individuals and groups to volunteer to help maintain Kirkland’s parks.  Places as small as traffic circles to as large as our biggest city parks will all need some help.  It will, however, be important to coordinate any efforts with the Parks Department.

So before you grab your rake or some trash bags, contact Jason to find out where you’re needed most.

Jason can be contacted at 425-587-3341 or at su.aw.dnalkrik.icnull@nalifj.

Puget Sound Energy’s Green Power Program or How Do You Use Manure to Make Energy?

Fran Kwak, who does outreach and education for the PSE  Green Power Program discussed how manure could be one of the next great renewable energy resources in Washington State. Utility companies have to give back 15% of their energy usage by 2020, so the companies are looking at options and implementing programs.  PSE currently has 25,000 users who participate in the Green Power program.  The electricity used must come from sources which naturally replenish themselves with little or no pollution.  Ironically, neither hydro-electric power or nuclear power fit the bill.  Hydro because of the impact on salmon and nuclear power because of disposal issues.

So what kind of power fits the “green power” bill? Wind power, solar power, and methane digesters, AKA manure power.  Wind is 71%, solar is 19% (remember it’s cloudy here) and biomass is 28% of the “green power” supply.

Who provides the manure power? Local farmers do.  Large farms all over the region are providing power.  The farmers save money, provide energy to the community, and by-products from the manure for their cattle.

What’s the cost? Right now, it’s a little more expensive to use the “green power.”  On average, it cost about 10% more per month.  However, the more households that sign up to use the system, the more the price will go down.

According to Kwak, if you sign up for the program for a year, you virtually take the carbon emissions of one car off the road.

Google is Going Broadband

Kirkland is vying for Google Broadband service, like many other cities in the US right now.  Check out the Google website for more information about Google’s plan to develop faster service. Better yet, put your two cents in to support Kirkland’s efforts to be selected as one of the cities to benefit from Google’s planned service.