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COMMUNITY | Coyote sightings up in Medina; police give residents tips on how to protect themselves, pets [ 21 ]

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B E L L E V U E

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 14, 2011A DIVISION OF SOUND PUBLISHING

NEW

SLIN

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Business | New downtown grocery store to feature organic products, plus many favorite non-organic products [ 19 ]

Sports | Interlake’s Jordan Todd powers Saints past Sammamish to take Crossroads Cup, 53-25 [ 14 ]

BY NAT LEVY

nlevy@bellevuereporter.com

Four City Council seats are on the ballot this November with two incumbents facing sti� competition. Claudia Balducci and John Chelminiak are being challenged by Seattle � re� ghter Patti Mann and AT&T executive Michelle Hilhorst, respectively.

Another seat is open as Grant Degginger decided not to run for another term, citing a loss of congeniality on the council. Land-use attorney Aaron Laing and retired lawyer John Stokes are facing o� for that spot. In the fourth council seat Councilmember Jennifer Robertson is running unopposed.

Much of the debate and discussion in the contested races has centered on light-rail. Laing and Mann have publicly stated their prefer-ence for a route that runs along the BNSF rail corridor, known as the B7, while Hilhorst has not indicated a choice. � e City Council favored B7 by a 4-3 margin.

Hilhorst, Laing and Mann have received donations from Betty and Kemper Freeman, and both Mann and Laing have gotten money from Councilmember and developer Kevin Wallace.

Stokes and the council incumbents have received dona-tions from the Bellevue Club, Bellevue � re� ghters, and prominent developers John Su and Ron Sher.

Balducci and Chelminiak are running on their track record. Responding to a question at a forum last week, Chelminiak noted he can help Bellevue be a power player. Pointing to his cell phone, he said he knows just about everybody in the area, and when he calls, people will pick up.

Both Mann and Hilhorst emphasize � scal leadership and public safety. With nearly 30 years experience as a � re� ght-er in Seattle, Mann calls herself the public safety candidate.

Stokes, who serves on the city’s Parks and Community Services Board, has emphasized schools and city services. He wants decisive, open discussion on projects that move forward at a brisk pace.

Laing, an Enatai resident, says he is passionate about the quality of Bellevue’s neighborhoods. Along with being a vibrant job center, he wants to preserve a family-friendly Bellevue. He says he will � ght to make sure neighborhoods don’t lose valuable projects, such as getting sidewalks all throughout town.

Nat Levy can be reached at 425-453-4290.

BY NAT LEVY

nlevy@bellevuereporter.com

Arjun Sirohi takes in a cool fall morning on his second-story deck. A lush, green backyard � anked with a line of trees and hedges protects the home from the noises emanating from the nearby street.

Situated just o� 112th Avenue, one of the main thoroughfares into down-town, Sirohi’s home is close to the action. A quick walk takes him into Bellevue’s bustling downtown where he works as a so� ware engineer. His day done, Sirohi can return to his

dwelling.But he can’t help but look at the or-

ange line drawn midway through his backyard – the place, he says, where Sound Transit may locate tracks for its East Link light-rail trains.

As currently envisioned, the train is proposed to head north into down-town on the east side of 112th Avenue before crossing at Southeast Sixth. But two design changes considered by the council would take the train west sooner – a route that could impact the locals, but may also take some of the intersection crossings and noise problems out of the equation.

Sirohi said he feels “terrible, but not hopeless,” about the prospect of a train coming into his backyard.

� ese options could put the train less than 20 feet from his back door. Sirohi cited Sound Transit’s data saying that it would intrude 21 feet into his property line, leaving only 18 feet between the train and his home. Sound Transit o� cials said they won’t know all the details until they delve into the � nal design process that will occur over the next three years.

One of the options has the train at

A train in his backyard?Arjun Sirohi looks at red a line painted through his backyard that he says is one of the options Sound Transit sees for its light-rail line. CHAD COLEMAN, Bellevue Reporter

Bellevue man worries light rail may be 20-feet from his house

[ more BACKYARD page 18 ]

Council incumbents face stiff oppositionLight-rail hot issue among candidates

MORE ELECTION NEWS ON PAGES

8-11

[18] October 14, 2011 www.bellevuereporter.com

Open House

A Ask teachers, staff and students about admissions, academics, activitiesA Teacher classroom presentationsA Guided tours through the school, last tour leaves at 7:45 pm Children Welcome!

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Sacred Heart School Pre-Kindergarten, Kindergarten through 8th Grade Tuesday, November 8, 6:30 pm to 8:00 pm

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The State of Washington, Department of Transportation is acquiring property and/or property rights for the SR 405, NE 8th St to SR 520 Braided Ramps I/C Impts project. Negoti- ations to acquire the property de- scribed below have reached an impasse; therefore the State is preparing to submit to the Attor- ney General’s Office a request for acquisition of this property and/ or property rights through a condemnation action. This is done to assure that the rights of the individual property owner and the rights of all the taxpayers of the state are equally protected. The final action meeting at which the State as condemner will decide whether to authorize the condemnation of the property will take place at 10:00 AM, Tuesday, November 1, 2011, at 15700 Dayton Ave. N., Shore- line, WA. The property owners

may provide information prior to the meeting for the State to con- sider at this meeting. Information may be submitted in writing to the State of Washington, Depart- ment of Transportation, Attn: John Jensen, Real Estate Services Manager, P.O. Box 330310, MS 118, Seattle, WA 98133-9710, or by phone to John Jensen at 206-440-4163, prior to the meeting.Assessed Owner: Keystone Capital Company, Inc.Taxpayer/Lessee: Lowe’s HIW, Inc.Property Address:11959 North- up Way, Bellevue, WA 98005Tax Parcel Numbers: 2825059047 & 2825059038Brief Legal Description: Ptn NW¼NW¼ of Section 28, T25N, R5E, WM Published in the Bellevue Reporter on October 14, 2011 and October 21, 2011. #535553.

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One of the options has the train at street level into the downtown section, where it will go into a proposed tunnel. � e other option includes an approximately 40-foot � yover that would eliminate street crossings, and add an underground trench.

Proponents of the route say that by moving it to the west side earlier, noise is eliminated - by decreasing the number of crossings there are fewer bells to be heard - and the roads will be safer because of less interac-tion between cars and trains.

“By putting it on the west side you take these intersections out of play,” said Bellevue Club Presi-dent Bill � urston, one of

the main proponents of a west-running alignment. “You’re eliminating the bells and whistles, and for safety you are removing any type of crash.”

� urston believes the street-level route would be the more e� ective of the two because it could be tucked into the hillside, creating a natural noise and visual bar-rier for residents on that side of the road.

Sirohi’s neighbor to the north, Susan Ilvanakis is in the same position. She too cited a distance of about 20 feet distance between her home and a train. Ilvanakis imagines a scenario of a train buzzing just outside her door, or towering above her home.

“� at’s a four-story

structure over a single-story home,” she said.

Sirohi and Ilvanakis posed many questions about these new options to Sound Transit in private meetings earlier this month. � ey said they did not get answers to their questions about ground conditions and impacts to nearby properties.

Sound Transit o� cials said there would certainly be impacts to the properties, but the extent of the disrup-tion, and whether or not the properties would need to be bought out could not be determined until later in the process.

Residents are unnerved by the urgency of down-town tunnel negotiations, combined with the many unknowns present in the new design options. Sound Transit and Bellevue are continuing to negotiate on the route, and funding a downtown tunnel in hopes of reaching a Memorandum of Understanding by Oct. 25. � at document will point to a preferred option of either the original or one of the two new options, said Sound Transit spokesman Bruce Gray.

A� er this deadline passes, Sound Transit will go into � nal design, which will continue through 2015. � is is when everyone will get the full data and scenarios they seek. Should home acquisi-tions prove too expensive, or impacts too great, Gray said, the Sound Transit board can alter the route when it makes its � nal decision in late 2012 or early 2013. Still, Sound

Transit o� cials said they understand the concern on the part of residents.

“I know it can be frustrat-ing for property owners just being able to look at lines on a map,” said Gray.

Gray said more informa-tion will be known Oct. 13, when sta� presents new technical analysis to Sound Transit’s capital committee.

Gray maintained that these options are being examined because the Bellevue council requested them. It has only been a few weeks since these options came to light.

Both Ilvanakis and Sirohi said they were unsure about whether they would agree to a buyout of the properties should one of the two new options be chosen. Sirohi felt it would be poor logic to consent to a buyout upfront, and then be forced to wait on terms.

Gray said Sound Transit buys property at market value, and the estimation of how many homes could be needed won’t come until later. He could not put an exact time frame on when the buyouts would occur.

For Ilvanakis, waiting is a worst-case scenario. She is torn between attempting to move, or go forward with an expansion of the house. She would rather know her fate now then be stuck in this purgatory.

“I feel like a scarlet letter has been placed on our home, and we can’t do any-thing,” she said. “We can’t make improvements, and we can’t sell until we know what is going to happen.”

[ BACKYARD from page 1]

Some see proposedrail route as a safety issue

Bellevue Biography:Fred J. Eitel (1866 – 1938)

Fred Eitel was born in Minnesota to German immi-grant parents. He inherited his father’s business, a � our mill, and in 1894 he came to Washington state and opened up a new � our mill in Bridge-port (near Spokane).

In 1900 he came to Seattle, and in 1902 he started the Ei-tel Land Company. Eitel owned, bought and sold proper-ties along � ird and Fi� h avenues, between Pike and Pine streets. His o� ce was in the Eitel Building on Second and Pike (this building is still standing today).

In 1906 he sold the Eitel Building and formed the Belle-vue Land Company with William Norris and F. A. Sutphen. Eitel knew that the Lake Washington Ship Canal was coming, and he predicted that property values in Bellevue would increase once the canal was completed. Accordingly, he purchased property along the shores of Meydenbauer Bay and platted the Lochleven district.

Eitel did make a pro� t on the Lochleven properties a� er the ship canal came through in 1916. He remained in the area and stayed involved in Bellevue civic a� airs until his death in 1938. He was one of the founders of the Bellevue Water Company in the 1920s, he was instrumental in creating Meydenbauer Park, and he served on the Bellevue School Board.

Heritage Corner is a feature in the Bellevue Reporter. Material is provided by the Eastside Heritage Center. For more information call 425-450-1049.

The McKee family built this house on one of Mr. Eitel’s lots. Eitel later used the photograph to advertise his Lochleven real estate. Eastside Heritage Center, Dawes Collection

BELLEVUE’S PASTThis week’s…

Heritage Corner

Volunteers neededto plant trees

� e Mountains to Sound Greenway is seeking the help of volunteers to help kick-o� this fall’s tree plant-ing season in the Greenway by planting trees at Lake Sammamish State Park on Saturday.

� e event will take place from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. and feature food and music. No experience is required.

Registration is required and can be made by calling 206-812-0122 or at volun-teer@mtsgreenway.org.