The City Hall Advisory Committee has scheduled a number of meetings to engage the public including small neighborhood talks with committee members and larger community meetings with the project architects. The first community meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, March 28, at Mountlake Terrace Senior Center/Ballinger Clubhouse, 23000 Lakeview Drive (Doors open at 6:00 p.m., presentation at 6:30 p.m.) and the neighborhood chats begin March 15.
The City Hall Advisory Committee began meeting in January and to date they have brought on ARC Architects, toured Interim City Hall and the Police Station, and developed a community outreach program. Key goals for the committee include gathering input from the community and developing a cost-effective project at an affordable price to recommend to the City Council in early June.
Some of the goals for the March 28 community meeting include learning about why voters were for or against previous measures, feedback from early neighborhood meetings and public comments, the public's perception of a Town Center, and program results from space planning meetings. A vision statement will develop and lead to discussion for the second community meeting on April 20.
The community outreach plan includes the following neighborhood meetings scheduled in March: Wednesday, March 15 from 1:00 to 4:00 p.m. at the Mountlake Terrace Senior Center/Ballinger Clubhouse, 23000 Lakeview Drive; Thursday, March 16 from 2:00 to 4:00 p.m. at Vineyard Park Lobby, 23008 56th Avenue West; Saturday, March 18 from 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. at Grand Pere Bakery, 24008 56th Avenue West; and Friday, March 24 from 2:00 to 6:00 p.m. at the Mountlake Terrace Library Small Conference Room, 23300 58th Avenue West. More neighborhood meetings are in the works and will be posted on the city Facebook page (City of Mountlake Terrace Government) and project webpage, www.cityofmlt.com/1899.
For residents who cannot attend meetings this month, more are being scheduled for April and May as the project develops. In addition, an online comment form will be available this week on our City Hall Advisory Committee webpage.
While the committee reaches out to the community, ARC Architects are now meeting with city staff about current and future space needs. Those results will be brought back to the committee. Once the size and shape of City Hall is determined, further discussion will take place about where to site the building to make the best use of the space to make the Civic Center a pleasant gathering place in the city’s revitalizing Town Center. Eventually, different concepts will be brought forward for community input.
A postcard mailing with the dates of four community meetings will be sent soon and more information will be in the April issue of City Happenings. Updates continue to be posted on the project webpage, www.cityofmlt.com/1899. You can also sign up for notifications by clicking on the “Notify Me” button on our home page, www.cityofmlt.com.
For more information, please email cityhall2017@ci.mlt.wa.us or call Community Relations Director Virginia Olsen at (425) 744-6206.
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