As we know, our neighborhood is special for it’s many wooded areas and the wildlife that inhabit them. We also know that our neighborhood is developing and is expected to continue seeing intensive development in the years ahead. On March 7th, our KMNA board is hosting a virtual General Meeting with special guests COB Planning Director, Blake Lyon, and COB Habitat and Restoration Manager, Annaliese Burns.
Planning Director, Blake Lyon joined the City of Bellingham in March of 2022. To read more about Blake’s previous work and his goals as the head of COB planning, check out this article. We are excited to have Blake connect with our neighborhood directly. He plans to talk about the development process in general and what makes for effective public comment/participation; upcoming efforts the City and planning department are taking; and, any hot topics you let us know you want to hear about!
As our city’s Habitat and Restoration Manager, Annaliese Burns is tasked with leading the multi-phase process of creating a strategic Urban Forestry Management Plan (UFMP). The purpose of the UFMP is to create a “plan that helps maintain a healthy and desirable urban forest through well-coordinated, consistent, efficient, and sustainable long-term urban forest management”. To read about the plan in greater detail, visit the UFMP site. Annaliese will present on what the first phase of the UFMP has recorded about our neighborhood and invite neighbors to engage in the coming phases.
Please send us your burning questions in a advance so our special guest will have time to prepare succinct, informative answers during our brief time together online.
To attend the meeting, RSVP on our home page: kmna.org.
P.S. KMNA board is looking for a keen neighbor to step up and take on the role of board Secretary. If you've been curious about joining the board, now is a great time. So much is happening and we need to keep track with thorough meeting minutes. If you are interested to find out more, please contact us at info@kmna.org.
Also:
The City of Bellingham is embarking upon a public artwork project that will enliven the underpass on the new Birchwood Avenue connector located between Squalicum Parkway and James Street. The City has created an Engage Bellingham site to gather guidance on the type of mural frequent users of this route would like to see. Our input will be provided to five artists who will be creating proposals for the site. One proposal will be selected. Here is the link to the survey - https://engagebellingham.org/birchwood-underpass-public-art-survey
The City is also looking for a representative to step up from our neighborhood (King Mountain) by 3/3/23 to sit on a committee along with reps from the Birchwood and Cornwall Neighborhoods to make the final selection. If you are interested in sitting on this committee please let us know (info@kmna.org) and we can connect you with the City organizers.