This week I had the good fortune of meeting with Barbara Clark and Amanda Williamsen to hear their thoughts on establishing a City of Bainbridge Island Poet Laureate program. They came to our meeting with the support and endorsement of Arts & Humanities Bainbridge, the Bainbridge Public Library, and the Bainbridge Island Senior Community Center. Also attending the meeting was Councilmember Schneider. The basic idea of a Poet Laureate is to plan and assist with poetry readings at City facilities, to increase the public’s awareness and appreciation for poetry and literature, and to be available as a general resource. What was interesting for me was that I had coincidentally read an article about Artist-in-Residence Programs in Granite Falls, Minnesota and Boston, Massachusetts.

Granite Falls, Minnesota is a small town of 2,260 in western Minnesota. Since 2020, Granite Falls has housed an artist at its City Hall. The role of the Granite Falls artist is to “design and implement arts and cultural strategies that increase civic participation and community engagement in city policy-making, planning, and public processes.” Now, I’m not sure how pragmatically an artist-in-residence does this, but if we can use an artist or poet to increase public engagement, then this is an idea worth exploring.

I am not sure how things will progress with a Poet Laureate for the City of Bainbridge Island, but its something I am willing to learn more about, and I certainly appreciate the opportunity to hear from Barbara and Amanda.

____________________

We are back to wearing masks. If you plan to visit a City facility, please wear your mask.

COVID-19 boosters will be available this weekend for some high-risk individuals.

The City of Bainbridge Island, in partnership with Bainbridge Prepares, Bainbridge Island Fire Department, and Bainbridge Island Community Pharmacy, is offering third doses of the Moderna and Pfizer COVID-19 vaccines on Sunday, August 22 from 1 to 5 p.m. for individuals who meet the CDC and state definition of immunocompromised. This includes people who have:

You must have received your second dose of Moderna or Pfizer COVID-19 vaccines more than four weeks ago. Individuals who received the Janssen (Johnson & Johnson) COVID-19 vaccine are not currently eligible for a booster.

This clinic will be held at the Bainbridge Island Senior Community Center, located at 370 Brien Drive SE. Appointments are open and available to book online at https://covidbi.timetap.com/#/ 

We continue to monitor state and federal guidance on additional recommendations for booster doses and we anticipate holding additional clinics in the coming weeks and months.

Gov. Jay Inslee this week announced that face masks will be required for everyone over five years of age in most public indoor settings regardless of vaccination status.

The order reflects the recommendations of all 35 local health officers in the state of Washington and recent changes to CDC guidance that all people, regardless of vaccination status, wear masks in indoor public settings in areas of substantial or high transmission. With the rise of the more infectious Delta variant, every county in Washington is currently categorized as having substantial or high transmission.

The updated order goes into effect on Monday, Aug. 23.

Read the full announcement.

Drivers should expect possible delays on several Bainbridge Island streets with the start of the City of Bainbridge Island’s annual street maintenance project.

The project started this week and is anticipated to run through early September.

Next week, the City's contractor is anticipated to work at all locations listed in the map below.

The launch ramp and boat trailer parking at Waterfront Park will be closed Monday, Aug. 23 to Thursday, Aug. 26 due to work on Shannon Drive. If the ramp is available sooner, then a message will be sent out through the Harbor Notices list. We apologize for the inconvenience.

Drivers in the areas of work can expect single-lane traffic with flagging between approximately 7:30 a.m. and 7 p.m. Local access will be maintained with access for emergency vehicles and delivery trucks.

Learn more about the project at www.bainbridgewa.gov/270.

The Traffic Operations Committee (TOC) held its first meeting this week to discuss evaluation criteria for project proposals and options to improve traffic heading to the ferry terminal.

The purpose of the committee, which is made up of City staff, is to provide the City Manager with a technically-based and objective approach to traffic operations issues as related to City-owned rights of way. The meeting format is similar to City Advisory Group meetings and allows for public comment.

The first meeting agenda primarily covered the initiation of the committee processes and a review and discussion of the evaluation criteria that is proposed for evaluating and implementing traffic operations-related requests and issues.

Additionally, the Committee discussed signage and other options that could be implemented to better inform the public and manage traffic heading to the ferry terminal at the Winslow Way and SR 305 intersection.

The committee is likely to meet monthly or every other month going forward depending on the workload.

The committee is charged with reviewing and providing the city manager with recommendations that are based upon applicable technical documents such as federal, state and local standards and guidelines that address traffic/pedestrian/bicycle safety, traffic operations, traffic circulation, parking, and other mobility issues that may arise. It is the intention of the city manager to thoroughly review the recommendations of the committee, but it understood that the City Council may or may not act in accordance with committee recommendations.

The City’s contractor completed the paving work for the separated bike facilities on Eagle Harbor Drive last week.

The next phase of the non-motorized improvements project will involve the placement of topsoil along the separated areas for hydroseeding and future planting. Wider separation areas along the curve on the southern end of the project are identified for native plantings, which will be generously planted and maintained by community volunteers.

Striping of the facilities is the last remaining large project task; project staff expect that it will be performed later in the month to allow adequate time for the asphalt to cure prior to applying paint.

The City Council this week requested more information from staff to learn how

non-motorized improvements along the Madison Avenue corridor between Winslow Way and State Route 305 relate to the upcoming Sustainable Transportation Plan (STP) recommendations, which will be ready for Council discussion this fall.

Staff is seeking the Council's approval for an expanded concept design of the Madison Avenue Sidewalk project. The expanded scope would include the bundling of three priority projects (Madison Sidewalk, Village Basin Sewer Improvements, and Madison Reconstruction) that would be combined into a single project that would also include a separated bike facility on both sides of one or more segments of the Madison Avenue corridor between Winslow Way and SR 305.

The advantage of combining and expanding the scope of these projects is that it would create cost efficiencies by overlapping utility and road replacements, and would also mitigate limitations on staff resources by focusing on a series of improvements along one corridor in a single project. Additionally, the separated bike lane element of the project would create an all-ages north-south corridor through Winslow that could potentially connect downtown with the library, schools, parks, and other commercial establishments.

Due to time constraints related to the secured federal grant funding for the project, City staff are seeking direction from the City Council on the project scope by the end of the month or early September.

Additionally, the Council discussed the use of American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funding to support the Madison Avenue project; a conversation that will continue at the Aug. 24 City Council meeting.

Watch the Aug. 17 presentation and discussion.

The City Council this week continued discussion on pursuing a Housing Action Plan, reviewed a draft Scope of Work prepared by staff and directed the city manager to issue a Request for Qualifications (RFQ) to hire a housing consultant to assist with developing the Housing Action Plan.

A Housing Action Plan would include an inventory of existing housing, a Housing Needs Assessment, and provide a strategic framework for making progress on affordable housing goals by identifying specific actions that would address particular identified housing needs from the assessment.

The Housing Action Plan would also include robust community engagement.

Grants for creating a Housing Action Plan are available from the Washington State Department of Commerce. During discussion, the Council indicated support for applying for a grant for this work.

The City Council this week asked the city manager to review the SMP Periodic Review project and expand outreach efforts.

The Planning Commission and City staff were directed to review the process and bring back a workplan to Council that ensures a high degree of community engagement and agreement regarding how to move forward.

The City is conducting a state-mandated periodic review of the SMP. The project began in 2018 and the state-mandated deadline was June 30, 2021. Periodic reviews are focused on targeted amendments instead of broad updates.

Please visit our Engage Bainbridge project page for more information.

The City Council will hold a public hearing Aug. 24 on Ordinance 2021-10 that would temporarily only allow bonus density to be used for affordable housing in the Winslow Mixed Use Town Center and High School Road Districts.

The ordinance amends Sections 18.12.030.E (Bonus Density in Winslow Mixed Use and High School Road Districts) and sections of the Bainbridge Island Municipal Code related to reducing the options for obtaining bonus floor area ratio (FAR) in the Mixed Use Town Center and High School Road Zoning Districts.

Draft Ordinance No. 2021-10 removes all the bonus FAR provisions of BIMC 18.12.030.E except the Subsection E.1 and Subsection E.7 related to affordable housing and relocating surface ferry parking under a building or below ground.

The FAR provisions related to preserving historic buildings would be moved to BIMC Chapter 18.24 Historic Preservation Program. By removing all the ways of achieving bonus FAR except through the provisions of affordable housing or relocating surface ferry parking through a mixed use project, draft Ordinance No. 2021-10 de facto eliminates most ways of using bonus FAR to build market-rate housing and all the ways to achieve bonus FAR for commercial-only developments (except for those properties with historic buildings).

This change means that there would not be a base and bonus FAR for commercial development, only a FAR standard for commercial development at the Base FAR level. This change is proposed for BIMC Table 18.12.020-3- see Exhibit A to draft Ordinance No. 2021-10.

The ordinance originates from the City Council passage of an Interim Zoning Control, Ordinance 2020-10, in March 2020.

The public is welcome to comment during the public hearing at the Aug. 24 City Council meeting. The public may also submit written comments to council@bainbridgewa.gov.

View the project webpage for more details.

Council will consider an ordinance next week that would raise the sales and use tax one-tenth of one percent to support affordable housing and related services. This would mean that the Citywide retail sales tax will increase from 9.0% to 9.1%.

In 2020, the Washington State legislature gave counties across the state the exclusive right to impose the countywide tax until September 30, 2020, and cities were given the right to impose the tax thereafter if the county had not already done so. Kitsap County did not impose the additional sales tax by September 30, 2020 but appears to be moving forward with enacting the sales tax in the near future. If a city has already imposed an affordable housing sales tax and the county imposes the same sales tax at a later date, the county must credit the full amount back to the city. In other words, the county will not receive any of the affordable housing sales tax revenues for any city that has already imposed an affordable housing sales tax.

At least 60% of the revenue must be used for constructing affordable housing, constructing mental and behavioral health-related facilities, or funding the operations and maintenance costs of new units of affordable housing and facilities where housing-related programs are provided. The affordable housing and facilities may only be provided to people within specified population groups whose income is 60% or less of the county median income. These groups include:

The median household income in Kitsap County is approximately $80,000 per year which means the eligibility for meeting this criterion is approximately $48,000.

If the City of Bainbridge Island does not assess the tax increment for affordable housing, we believe Kitsap County will.

The Summary of Actions for the Aug. 17 meeting are available on the Agendas & Minutes page.

Some of the Aug. 24 City Council business meeting topics will include:

The public is invited to contact members of the City Council to express concerns, questions and praise. Some council members are holding virtual office hours and others are available to meet upon request. Please visit the City Council page for more information on individual City Council members.