City Manager Morgan Smith is out of the office this week.

The Kitsap Public Health Board will hold a special meeting today (Friday, June 19) at 9 a.m. to consider approval of an application to move from Phase 2 to Phase 3 of the state's Safe Start plan for COVID-19 recovery.

The public can listen to the meeting using a computer or phone and submit verbal comments during the time allotted for public comment. Zoom instructions are listed at the end of the meeting agenda.

The health board meeting will be broadcast live on Comcast channel 12, WAVE channel 3, and the BKAT website. This is a virtual meeting. Board members and staff will participate remotely.

The Board of County Commissioners has scheduled a special meeting immediately following at 10 a.m. to consider accepting the recommendation of the Kitsap County Public Health Officer and Board of Health. If approved, the Phase 3 application will be submitted to the state Secretary of Health. The Commissioners' meeting will be held virtually on Zoom. Access the meeting information here.

City Hall will reopen to the public Monday, July 6 following the extension of the Open Public Meetings Act (OPMA) and Public Records Act issued by Gov. Jay Inslee on June 18.

The proclamation was extended through July 1, which means that City Council meetings, and all other City Advisory Group meetings, will continue to be held virtually and that public comment will be accepted in writing and by participation through Zoom. At this time, the City plans to hold all meetings in July using Zoom. A date has not been set for when in-person meetings will resume.     

When the doors reopen to the public at City Hall, you should expect the following changes:

During the closure, the public can still access many City services by phone and online. City Police personnel and Public Works Operations and Maintenance crews will continue to perform their regular duties, within the limitations established by the current restrictions. The Municipal Court will remain closed to in-person appearances until further orders of the Washington State Supreme Court. See the City’s COVID-19 page for more information on City services.

The City Council will discuss a proposed ordinance during next week's June 23 meeting that would require masks to be worn to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

At the June 9 meeting, the Council passed a resolution strongly encouraging people to wear face coverings to prevent the spread of COVID-19. The resolution applies to properties that adjoin Winslow Way, from the Washington State Ferry Terminal to Grow Avenue. Learn more about the resolution here.

As a separate topic next week, Councilmember Deets will propose efforts to make face coverings widely available, and an outreach program to provide information to the public.

How has COVID-19 affected your daily life? Kitsap Transit is fielding a new community survey to learn about the choices Kitsap County residents and workers are making during the COVID-19 pandemic and how their travel choices may be affected. Among other things, the survey will shed light on public perceptions of health risk and public attitudes toward behaviors aimed at preventing the spread of COVID-19.

To take the survey, click on the link below:

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/GC3K63T

Those who complete the survey can enter a drawing for a $150 grocery gift card. The survey closes on Sunday, June 21. Customers who lack access to the Internet or need assistance taking the survey can contact Kitsap Transit Customer Service at 1.800.501.RIDE.

Please see the message below from Chief of Police Joe Clark.

Recent discussions around police practices have included conversation about the accreditation of law enforcement agencies. Accreditation is intended to ensure the policies and practices of the organization are consistent with professional standards and meet the needs of the community we serve. This includes updating policies as standards evolve to reflect community expectations. The Bainbridge Island Police Department attained Washington State Accreditation in 2017 after a lengthy process.

The accreditation process begins with a self-assessment phase where the agency evaluates its ability to comply with standards and to adopt policies that are consistent with best practices. The agency begins collecting documentation, also known as proofs, that show compliance. The next phase includes on-site inspections by outside assessors. Compliance with standards is verified through the physical inspection of agency records, equipment, and facilities, and through interviews with personnel. There are just under 150 standards where agencies must show compliance.

To maintain accreditation, the BIPD must submit annual reports to the Washington Association of Sheriffs and Police Chiefs (WASPC) regarding ongoing compliance with standards.

What is accreditation? 

In 1976, the WASPC was directed by the Washington State Legislature to develop standards and goals for law enforcement. Since that time, WASPC has maintained an operational accreditation program. The current program was established in 2007. The purpose of accreditation is to professionalize the law enforcement industry by establishing best practices and standards and creating a review process to ensure that agencies are operating in compliance those standards.

What are the benefits of being accredited? 

The benefits of accreditation include increased public confidence, increased credibility, a systemized agency self-assessment, intensified operational effectiveness, assurance that the recruitment, selection, and promotion processes are fair and equitable, the strengthened understanding of agency policies and procedures by agency personnel, increased morale and pride, decreased susceptibility to litigation, the potential for reduced liability insurance costs, and state and local recognition of professional competence.

What is evaluated?

The accreditation process scrutinizes the agency’s goals and objectives, role and authority, use of force practices, management, staffing, organization and utilization of personnel, records management, information technology, unusual occurrences, health and safety, fiscal management, recruitment and selection, training, the performance evaluation process, code of conduct, internal affairs, patrol function, investigative function, evidence/property control function, and prisoner security.

What are the next steps? 

Law enforcement agencies must be reaccredited every four years. During the reaccreditation phase, agencies repeat the entire process to include on-site inspections and interviews. In 2021, we begin the reaccreditation process which includes on-site interviews and inspections. Additional information on WASPC and accreditation can be found here.

In next week’s City Manager’s Report, I’ll share information about body-worn cameras and use of force reporting.

Thank you,

Chief of Police Joe Clark

As the City Council considers improvements at Town Square, it requested this week that City staff prepare various alternatives and cost options as part of the upcoming biennial budget deliberations.

The Town Square is the area near City Hall and Bainbridge Performing Arts where the Farmers Market is held.

Earlier this year, and at the direction of the Council, City staff met with board members from the Farmers Market and the Bainbridge Performing Arts Center to discuss Council’s interest in building a cover for the Town Square area to provide shelter for people shopping at vendors' tents during the wetter spring and fall seasons. From those conversations, the group considered a cover, but also recommended that improvements to the ground conditions would also be a welcome and worthwhile investment of public funds. From there, the City worked with a design consultant to develop a “refresh” for the Town Square site that would include shifting the green space for better maintenance and pedestrian circulation, allowing more room for Farmers Market vendors, and opening up the space for other community gathering events. The improvements, as proposed, would cost approximately $300,000.

Watch the June 9 discussion here.

The City Council this week reviewed and adjusted its top priorities for 2020 and the next biennial budget. The priorities were selected during an exercise at the Council's annual retreat on March 6, 2020.

The current priorities include:

The Council removed the Suzuki Affordable Housing Project from the Affordable Housing topic, as members do not think substantial progress on the project can be made during the remainder of 2020.

View the agenda item here. The June 9 discussion can be watched here.

The City Council this week directed staff to move forward with gathering information for the self-service storage facilities moratorium workplan.

On May 12, the City Council extended the self-service storage moratorium until Nov. 26, 2020. As part of the Council's discussion during the May 12 meeting, they proposed amending the workplan to move forward with a prohibition on self-service storage, rather than have staff present various options.

Staff will compile information on self-service storage capacity and demand, and research regulations of other local jurisdictions regarding self-service storage.

Staff will also research the amount of jobs that self-service storage facilities provide and the vacancy rate of existing facilities (if available).

On Tuesday, Council also requested that staff look at the environmental impacts of self-service storage and the existing self-service storage square footage and how much that equates to square footage per person.

It's anticipated that staff will present an update to the Council in July and seek direction from the Council on how to proceed.

The various options for the Council to consider may include (but are not limited to):

Watch the June 16 discussion here.

Staff will discuss with City Council next week an update to integrate the City’s Shoreline Master Program (SMP) into the Critical Areas Ordinance (CAO) to make the regulations consistent for those within and outside of shoreline jurisdiction and to make changes to the nonconforming regulations. Nonconforming regulations apply to buildings or uses that exist but do not meet the current regulations.

The amendments to the SMP fall into two categories:

Following the discussion with Council, staff will prepare an ordinance adopting the SMP Amendment. A public hearing will be held, then Council will consider final approval of the SMP Amendment. The SMP Amendment becomes effective 14 days after final approval by the DOE.

Below are some of the topics scheduled for the June 23 business meeting. In order to streamline the meeting and promote clarity and efficiency, public comment on all topics will be accepted at the beginning of the meeting.

If you would like to receive the City Council agenda by email when it's published, sign up on the Council Agendas webpage.

The meetings are broadcast live on the City website. Visit the Agendas & Minutes section, then click on "In Progress" when the meeting starts. You can also watch the meetings on BKAT (Channel 12 on Comcast & Channel 3 on WAVE).

The City Council and Planning Commission will meet next week to discuss land use and affordable housing topics.

The goal for the joint meeting is to prioritize and clarify the most efficient order of affordable housing initiatives (since so many of the topics overlap).

The Affordable housing initiatives to be discussed will include Floor Area Ratio (FAR), Transfer of Development Rights, and Inclusionary Zoning.

The discussion will include a review of recommendations from both the Affordable Housing Task Force and EcoNorthwest, a consulting firm that presented various affordable housing options to the City Council in late 2019 and early 2020.

The second part of the discussion will be focused on the land use code review process with the goal of defining which sections of the code will be reviewed in the upcoming year.

The City Council approved a proclamation this week recognizing June 19, 2020 as the "Day to Celebrate Juneteenth 2020" and urges all Bainbridge Islanders to join in the celebration. Juneteenth, which celebrates the end of slavery, is the oldest known public celebration of the end of slavery in the United States. Read the proclamation here. 

The City's Race Equity Task Force (RETF) held a virtual meeting on Thursday, June 18 to resume its work following the COVID-19 restrictions.

In July, The RETF is planning to revise and update its workplan due to the changes required by COVID-19. The task force will also discuss recruitment and community outreach efforts.

Members of the task force will present a briefing to City Council in July. The date has not been set.

The Green Building Task Force (GBTF) will hold its first meeting in July with the goal of adopting a green building ordinance by February 2021.

The GBTF was formed earlier this year but the group has not been able to meet due to the COVID-19 restrictions.

The task force will attempt to meet entirely by video conference to further the City’s values to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Staff will provide the next green building update to the City Council on July 7.