Dear Finn Hill neighbors and friends: This is just a quick reminder that the annual FHNA member’s meeting is scheduled for this Wednesday, November 6, at 7pm in the Finn Hill Middle School Cafeteria (8040 Northeast 132nd Street Kirkland, WA 98034). We’ve got 3 main items on the agenda:
- Election of FHNA directors
- Update on Juanita Drive Corridor study
- Finn Hill Park & Recreation District (FHPRD) presentation on use of surplus funds ($185k) for Finn Hill parks and open spaces.
And we’ve received a lot of comments on how the FHPRD should spend the surplus funds in the FHPRD account. (See the email below for background information, in case you missed it last week.) Thank you for your recommendations! These have been forwarded to the FHPRD commissioners, who are grateful for the input. In a nutshell, your suggestions covered the following projects in or affecting OO Denny Park:
- Sprinkler system
- Second shelter
- Second playground
- Fence/benches around existing playground
- Waterfront benches
- Interpretive signs on trails
- Off leash dog area
- Improved parking
- Restoration of various areas along trail from Holmes Point Drive to stone bridge over OO Denny Creek
- Traffic calming measures on Holmes Point Drive north and south of park
- Boardwalk over/adjacent to Denny Creek near Juanita Drive
- Connection of OO Denny trails with Big Finn Hill trails
Other suggestions included:
- Improvements to Juanita Heights Park (which is within FHPRD boundaries)
- Tot lots or other park land acquisitions on Finn Hill (within FHPRD boundaries)
- Expanded trails on Finn Hill (e.g. from Juanita Heights Park to Juanita Beach; through ravine near Simonds Road)
- A new dog park
- Improved/expanded pedestrian/bike easements on Finn Hill
- Additional restroom facilities in Big Finn Hill Park (a King County park, not funded by FHPRD)
- Improvements to Juanita Drive
Several of the recommendations appear on the FHNA website, following the article about the FHPRD surplus funds.
It should be a very interesting meeting on Wednesday. We hope that you will attend!
Scott Morris
Finn Hill Neighborhood Alliance – President
(formerly Denny Creek Neighborhood Alliance)
www.finnhillalliance.org| 206-972-9493
PO Box 682, Kirkland WA 98083
I urge FHPRD to allocate some of the money for a fenced-in off-leash dog area. Such a recreation area is a necessity in the Finn Hill area. I walk to Big Finn Hill Park, keeping my dog on leash. Every time I go there, I encounter dogs playing off-leash, most of them not under particularly good voice control. Although I am the one obeying the law, I have to turn my steps in a different direction in order to avoid being rushed by the loose dog(s) and having my walk interfered with.
You can be sure that as long as there is no designated off-leash area in the neighborhood and no enforcement of the leash law, people will continue to use children’s playfields as off-leash areas. Dogs do need to run and there are a lot of dogs in this neighborhood. If residents can take their dogs to a safe, secured area, there’ll be fewer dog messes in people’s recreation areas and fewer dogs running loose in the parks.