Kenmore reviews $129 million six-year capital plan; council hears public hearing with no testimony

Kenmore City Council on Oct. 13 heard a public presentation of proposed Ordinance 25-0633, the city's six-year Capital Improvement Program for 2025'2030, which lists 52 projects with a total value of $129 million. The council opened a public hearing on the ordinance; no members of the public signed up to speak.

City staff told the council the updated CIP adds projects and funding since last year's plan. "We are now at 52 projects for the next 6 years, including this year, at valued at a $129,000,000," Finance and Administration Director Melinda Merrill said. Staff said state grants are the single largest funding source identified in the draft (listed in staff materials as $22,670,000), with other sources including REET, municipal grant programs, federal grants, impact fees and limited use of debt and carryover local funds.

Merrill and other staff emphasized a substantial funding gap. "We've got almost a $120,000,000 worth of projects this evening that we do not yet have funding for," she said, describing many line items as placeholders that let the city compete for future grant opportunities. Staff said the CIP also separates projects that are already secured from those that are still dependent on grants or state funding.

The draft CIP breaks projects into program areas:

- Parks: Projects include ongoing mitigation and monitoring for wetland plantings at Tilakwids, Log Boom and Rhododendron Park; a feasibility study for an accessible playground near City Hall; and a Moorlands Athletic Field turf replacement feasibility study. Assistant City Manager/Community Development Director Debbie Bent said the park program remains the smallest portion of the six-year CIP and that the department lacks dedicated park capital project managers if construction activity increases.

- Transportation: Engineering Director Jonathan Cinti and project staff outlined multiple sidewalk-infill and pedestrian-safety projects (60th/1st Street sidewalk completion, 80th Avenue sidewalk with chicanes and a reduced speed limit, Arrowhead Drive sidewalk, 180th/150th corridor work), traffic-calming elements, ADA curb ramp replacements, the Burke-Gilman Trail accessibility study and a Lower Swamp Creek bridge replacement project currently estimated at about $5 million. Project manager John Vicente described grant applications under way for several projects and noted schedule dependencies (for example, combined culvert-and-sidewalk work where closure and coordination are required).

- Surface water: Environmental Services Director Richard Sawyer summarized a prioritized program of culvert replacements and stream-restoration projects focused on fish passage, flood reduction and long-term maintenance. Sawyer described the Little Swamp Creek project as a larger relocation and restoration effort that includes new fish-passage culverts and drainage reconfiguration.

- City facilities: Public works director Jennifer Gordon said the new Public Works Operations Center is under construction (site work and geothermal well installation underway; building bid planned), and listed smaller capital improvements including Kemmer Senior Center accessibility upgrades funded by a King County grant, a City Hall EV-charger expansion and expanded City Hall solar arrays supported by grant funding.

Council members pressed staff on several recurring themes: how projects are selected and scored for grant competitiveness; the size of unfunded placeholders; coordination with partner jurisdictions and WSDOT (for Bothell Way/SR 522 safety work); whether the city can take the lead on limited safety improvements on jurisdictional corridors; and the need to standardize CIP narrative and funding breakdowns across projects. Councilors also urged staff to look for partnership opportunities with Lake Forest Park and Sound Transit where projects cross jurisdictional lines.

Melinda Merrill said the council will consider adoption of the ordinance at a future meeting; staff noted that adoption would feed into needed budget amendments. "Once this is adopted, this will flow into the budget amendments," she told the council.

Votes and procedural actions: earlier in the evening the council approved its consent agenda by voice vote; the clerk recorded the consent agenda as approved unanimously. The public hearing on Ordinance 25-0633 closed with no speakers.

What's next: Staff will continue to refine the CIP narratives, pursue grant applications for high-priority projects, and return to council with adoption materials and any required budget amendments. The council signaled interest in further review of project-level funding breakdowns and interjurisdictional safety work on SR 522.