A few weeks ago, I mentioned that the arrival of full-electric police cruisers is inevitable. I referenced how the automobile industry is beginning to produce electric police vehicles and how cities across the country are changing their fleets. The City of Bainbridge Island is anticipating and planning for our own full-electric police cruisers. 

There is another all-electric conversation that is occurring; this one much sooner than later. The City of Bainbridge Island is beginning the process to convert our collection of gas-powered hand tools, such as leaf blowers and weed whips, to zero-emission electric tools. In a report by the California Air Resources Board prior to 2017, it reported that without change, by 2020, emissions from leaf blowers and other small gas-powered engines would exceed that of vehicles. Earlier this month, California banned the sale of “small off-road engines” that produce less than 25 gross horsepower and will eventually prohibit their use as early as 2028.

Public Works Director Chris Wierzbicki is beginning to inventory the City’s gas-powered hand tools. According to Director Wierzbicki, this is a good time to look at the conversion. Many of our hand tools are reaching the end of their life. They need to be replaced.

A professional-grade all-electric-powered weed whip with extra battery costs around $500. An electric-powered industrial-grade leaf blower with battery costs about the same. A gas-powered version of the same tool costs about $150 less. So, to put it out there, all-electric equipment costs slightly more. But the industry is making significant gains in the quality, durability, power and battery life of all-electric equipment (a full battery charge lasts approximately 30 minutes).

Since I began to closely watch all-electric industrial-grade hand tools in 2016, I have seen improvement in tools and increased marketing activity by the industry. The major companies, such as Stihl, Husqvarna, Honda, etc. have a line of industrial-grade hand tools. The conversion to all-electric hand tools for the City of Bainbridge Island is occurring now. We hope that we can pass on what we learn to other agencies and property owners. We’ll let you know how things are going. 

The Sustainable Transportation Task Force is meeting this morning (Friday, Oct. 29) on Zoom. The meeting is scheduled through noon, and public comment will be taken at the end.

The Task Force is reviewing the preliminary groups of projects and programs identified for the Near-term Action Plan, encompassing the next 10 years of transportation infrastructure.

An unidentified man tried to steal an ATM at Fletcher Bay Mart early Wednesday morning, and police are asking for help to find him.

Around 2:40 Wednesday morning, an officer on patrol saw a U-Haul truck in front of the closed business at 8800 Fletcher Bay Road. When the officer pulled into the parking lot, the U-Haul truck took off.

The officer found the front door of the Fletcher Bay Mart smashed and a tow strap tied to the ATM inside the store.

The officer attempted to stop the truck on High School Road but the driver accelerated to more than 50 miles per hour. In accordance with state law that became effective in July 2021 and BIPD policy that became effective in October 2015, the officer did not pursue the vehicle after the suspect failed to stop. Additional agencies saw the vehicle as it traveled through Kitsap County, but the driver refused to stop.

The vehicle was last seen traveling east on State Route 16 in Gorst. 

Detectives learned during the investigation that the vehicle had been stolen from a business in Tacoma around 1:00 that same morning.

During the burglary, the man wore a mask, hood, dark clothing and gloves.

Police posted two surveillance videos of the incident on the BIPD Facebook page.

If you have any information, please contact Det. Jon Ledbetter at 206-842-5211.

The heavy winds and rain during the past week kept Operations and Maintenance crews busy. Crews removed trees that had fallen, and closed three roads due to downed power lines. There was one partial road closure. All roads were reopened by Wednesday.

Crews continued to prepare for more wet weather throughout the week by prepping sand bags, and ensuring that known flooding locations were monitored for issues.

On Sunday, Police responded to 12 weather-related calls (most due to downed wires or trees blocking roadways). On Sunday afternoon, 911 received a call regarding a disabled boat with two adults and a teenager aboard. A tow boat was unable to reach them due to the rough weather conditions, so BIPD officers responded aboard Marine 8 and located the vessel. The boat and its occupants were safely towed to the public ramp in Poulsbo.

If you have a public works emergency after hours that threatens public health, safety or the environment such as a sewer spill, loss of water pressure, flooding, downed stop sign or downed tree in the City’s right of way, please call 911. Kitsap 911 will contact our emergency personnel for response.

For non-emergency issues (e.g., potholes), please submit a report to SeeClickFix.

The COVID-19 booster clinic appointments for Oct. 30 are full.

We are planning our final Moderna and Pfizer booster clinic on Saturday, Nov. 13 at the Commodore Options School lower gym. Appointments for that vaccination clinic will open on Monday, Nov. 8 at noon and will be posted on the TimeTap page at https://covidbi.timetap.com/#/

The current guidance states that people are eligible for a booster if they are:

If you meet this criteria, you may get your booster dose six months (second dose on or before April 30) after your second Pfizer or Moderna vaccination or two months (initial dose on or before August 30) after your Johnson and Johnson/Janssen vaccination.

In anticipation of full approval of Pfizer vaccinations for 5 to 11-year-olds by the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA), Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC), and Western States working group, we are scheduling a clinic just for that age group for Saturday, Nov. 6 and Sunday, Nov. 7 at the Commodore Options School lower gym. This clinic is strictly for 5 to 11-year-olds because they receive a lower dose of the Pfizer vaccination. Once approved, additional information on scheduling appointments will be posted on the City's COVID-19 vaccine page and shared in a Nixle alert.

Celebrate the new Sound To Olympics Trail Sakai Connector at a dedication and “trail mixer” event at 12 p.m. next Wednesday, Nov. 3. The trailhead is at the northwest corner of the High School Road and State Route 305 intersection near the Chevron station.

The speakers will include:

The event is hosted by the City of Bainbridge Island, Bainbridge Island Parks Foundation and Bainbridge Island Metro Park & Recreation District.

The Sakai Connector is the second Bainbridge Island leg of the Sound To Olympics Trail, a regional nonmotorized trail that will link the Winslow ferry terminal with the Kitsap and Olympic peninsulas.

The short, paved connector runs from the intersection north to Sakai Park, where it links up with trails in the park’s wooded lower bowl. Those trails lead through the park, around scenic Sakai Pond and up to Madison Avenue and the school campus.

The Planning Commission will hold a public hearing Nov. 18 to receive community input on whether or not to extend the City’s Housing Design Demonstration Projects (HDDP) Program. The program, available in the Winslow area, is intended to promote the development of projects that increase housing diversity and meet green building certification standards with incentives such as increased density and flexible development standards.

On Oct. 28, the Planning Commission discussed Ordinance No. 2021-35 that would extend the City's HDDP program until Dec. 31, 2023.

The program, adopted in 2009, was extended in 2019 for two years and narrowed to only be available for development projects that provide at least 50% of residential units as designated affordable housing.

Following the Nov. 18 public hearing, the Planning Commission will make a recommendation on the ordinance then it will be provided to the Council for consideration.

The Council this week directed the City Manager to return to the Nov. 9 meeting with a permanent landmark tree ordinance to end the interim control.

Staff will provide the City Council the ordinance they delivered to them in April 2021 that captured the Planning Commission's recommendation.

The most notable change is that the permanent ordinance will apply to all zoning districts except R-0.4, R-1 and R-2. Currently, the interim control applies only to the Winslow Master Plan area.

The City Council adopted landmark tree regulations in 2018 to protect landmark trees after hearing from concerned residents about the loss of these trees on Bainbridge Island due to land clearing and development activities. The ordinance designates landmark trees based on their size, age and species, requires a permit to remove any landmark tree and imposes fines if a landmark tree is removed without a permit. A list of landmark trees and the criteria for removal can be found on the City tree regulations page.

The City Council this week approved new regulations that will help property owners safeguard the area immediately around their homes from wildfires. The "wildfire defensible space exemption" allows property owners to maintain vegetation near habitable structures (homes, ADUs, garages) on their property without a permit.

The exemption includes tree removals within 5 feet of habitable structures and allows trees to be removed (or thinned) to ensure that there is 18 feet between the edges of tree canopies within 30 feet of a habitable structure.

This exemption only applies outside of critical areas and the shoreline jurisdiction, and also does not apply to landmark trees.

City Arborist Nick Snyder worked with the Bainbridge Island Fire Department on the new regulations to incorporate recommendations of Firewise USA, a national program that guides homeowners in making their properties more resistant to wildfire threat.

Learn more about the new rules.

As a preliminary step in the development of the Winslow Master Plan, the City has engaged the University of Washington’s Livable City Year (LCY) Program. LCY is a program that involves UW faculty and students across multiple disciplines to perform hands-on work to address high priority projects.

In September, the LCY program began a review of available data on the Winslow Master Plan study area, transportation data, and statistical analysis regarding growth trends. The work is scheduled to be completed in December and will provide a valuable baseline as the Winslow Master Plan is updated. The cost for the engagement is $10,000.

Depending upon the results and quality of the work, the City may consider using the LCY program to gather additional information on utility usage, code compliance, and questions of environmental quality.

The Winslow Master Plan, which will aim to strengthen the vitality of Winslow as the town center by promoting connections between sustainability, livability and downtown business vitality, was identified as one of the Council's highest priorities in 2021.

On Tuesday night, the Council authorized the City Manager to execute an interagency agreement with the Washington State Traffic Safety Commission allowing the Police Department to act as a sub-recipient of funds under the Region 9 Target Zero Task Force. The grant provides reimbursement of overtime funds to the City for participating in high-visibility enforcement traffic safety emphasis patrols in the region.

The goal of the grant is to prevent traffic crashes to reduce traffic-related deaths and serious injuries through active, visible, consistent, and targeted traffic law enforcement. High-visibility enforcement events will be coordinated with agencies in Kitsap County and focus on impaired and distracted driving patrols. Over the next 12 months, these agencies will participate in patrols held during local festivals or community events and as part of National enforcement campaigns, including “Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over” and holiday DUI patrols.

The total funds available under the grant for all agencies in Kitsap County is $39,800. The grant will be managed by the Kitsap County Traffic Safety Task Force coordinator. The first event will take place in December as part of the National Holiday Campaign targeting impaired driving.

The City Council authorized the City Manager to engage ECONorthwest to perform additional work on the City’s Transfer of Development Rights (TDR) Program. This authorization comes after Council’s initial direction in July 2021 to re-engage ECONorthwest to complete their work on the exchange rate for “sender” properties. The work on the TDR program was paused in early 2020 largely in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

A TDR program allows landowners to sell development rights from their land to a developer who then can use these rights to increase the density of development at another designated location. The program conserves land by redirecting development that would otherwise occur on this land (the sending area) to an area planned to accommodate growth and development (the receiving area).

The City currently has a TDR program that allows landowners of designated sending areas (all lands outside of designated centers) to separate the right to develop some or all of their land. Through TDR, the separated right(s) are turned into a transferable commodity that can be bought and sold – just as land can be bought and sold. Currently, the Winslow Mixed Use Town Center and High School Road Districts (with limitations), NC Districts and R-8 Districts are receiving areas.

A functioning TDR program will help the City achieve the following:

ECONorthwest will amend our current TDR ordinance and identify the resources necessary to implement a functional program.

ECONorthwest is scheduled to begin their work in the spring of 2022.

TDR was identified as one of the Council's highest priorities in 2021.

The Nov. 2 Council meeting is canceled due to the election. The next City Council meeting is scheduled for Nov. 9.

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.

Please be aware that Winslow Way from Madison Avenue N to Ericksen Avenue will be closed this Sunday, Oct. 31 from 3 to 5 p.m. for Halloween activities.

The event is expected to bring more than 500 participants so masks must be worn indoors and outdoors, per a statewide requirement.

Learn more about the event on the Bainbridge Island Downtown Association’s Facebook page.