We are constantly looking for ways to improve our communication with the community. We sincerely desire that the community know about their city. To help inform the public, we use this weekly newsletter, COBI Connects, the City’s website, and various social media platforms. But, we also want to hear and listen to the community as well. In this Weekly Update, there is a piece on the upcoming City Council decision to spend the $7 million American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds. This piece encourages the reader to go the City’s Engage Bainbridge page to take a survey and provide your insight into the expenditure of ARPA funds. You will be asked in simple terms your level of enthusiasm for the short list of projects. Please take a minute or two and participate.

While you are looking at Engage Bainbridge, you will see some blackberry recipes, information on neighborhood traffic calming, the PSE Franchise Agreement, and other topics. Please keep checking the Engage Bainbridge portal for more information and opportunities to provide your opinion and participate.

An important anniversary for the City of Bainbridge Island is on the horizon. This November will mark the 30th anniversary of the naming of the City of Bainbridge Island. This anniversary will give us a chance to recognize past City leaders and have a little fun. If you have an idea for the 30th anniversary, please let me know and we’ll see if it is something that we can include as part of our celebration.  

During the Sept. 21 City Council study session, City Manager Blair King will restart the process for a new Police and Municipal Court building with the introduction of a video that highlights the deficiencies of the current police and court facilities. The current buildings are a seismic risk, lack security and are outdated for conducting effective and essential civic services.

In April 2021, City staff postponed construction bid advertising for the retrofit of the 8804 Madison Avenue N building, purchased for $8.975 million in 2020 as the future Police-Court facility site, until Blair King came on board as city manager to have King lead the City through the project delivery.

Over the years, the City has analyzed 18 potential sites and spent roughly $11 million on the Police-Court replacement facility project.

The City now owns three sites identified over the years for a new Police-Court facility:

Learn more on the project page at bainbridgewa.gov/policecourt.

City Manager Blair King has selected Autumn Salamack as the City’s first Climate Mitigation/Adaptation Officer to help the City implement the goals of the Climate Action Plan (CAP).

The CAP, approved by City Council in 2020, includes more than 180 actions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and prepare our community for the impacts of climate change. The Council identified implementation of the CAP as its highest priority item for 2021-2022. During the 2021-2022 budget process, the Council added the Climate Officer position to carry out the CAP priorities and provided $500,000 to support CAP implementation.

Salamack has served as Environmental Services Coordinator for the City of Shoreline since 2019. Prior positions include Assistant Director of Sustainability for the City of Bloomington, Indiana, Sustainability Coordinator for King County Metro and Sustainability/Resource Conservation Manager for Kitsap County. She expects to begin her employment with the City in mid-October.

Read the full announcement.

The City is trying to determine how to use $7 million of federal stimulus funds - formally known as the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) - and is seeking community input.

ARPA, a $1.9 trillion national economic stimulus bill passed by Congress in March, aims to help communities recover from the COVID-19 pandemic. These funds are restricted to certain types of programs or expenditures and are subject to time limits.

The proposed projects include:

Two proposed projects previously on the list were removed:

Please review the projects and share your thoughts on our Engage Bainbridge page.

The community-based COVID-19 test site on Bainbridge Island reopened on Monday, and tested 152 people (more than double its highest number from the previous operation held Nov. 4, 2020 to March 31, 2021).

The drive-thru test site, at Rolling Bay Presbyterian Church lower parking lot (located at 11042 Sunrise Dr NE), will be open 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Mondays.

Appointments can be booked one week in advance. In general, we would like appointments to be made for people who are symptomatic, have a known or confirmed COVID-19 exposure, or meet other criteria for testing. Testing kits for pre-travel clearance purposes are available for purchase online and at many local pharmacies.

Thank you to our volunteers, Rolling Bay Presbyterian Church, Kitsap Public Health District and Kitsap County Emergency Operations Center for getting the drive-thru site up & running!

Kitsap County Public Health and the Kitsap County Emergency Operations Center are also operating test sites across the county at the following locations:

Additional testing site options: https://kitsappublichealth.org/CommunityHealth/files/COVID/COVID-TestingFacilities.pdf

Repairs along Country Club road, between Toe Jam Hill Road to Upper Farms Road, are anticipated to begin Monday, Sept. 20.

Please plan ahead, as delays up to 15 minutes are expected.

The project consists of bulkhead repairs along approximately 200’ of shoreline, as well as embankment and roadway restoration.

Out of concerns for public safety, the City implemented a closure of the westbound lane to traffic in June 2020 because of the failing conditions. The plans for permanent repairs are pending the required permits, which can take several years to obtain.

Learn about the project.

At their Sept. 14 meeting, the City Council agreed to an expanded scope for the Madison Avenue Sidewalk Project that will potentially include the bundling of three priority projects (Madison Avenue Sidewalk, Village Basin Sewer Improvements, and Madison Avenue Reconstruction) that would be combined into a single project and would also include traffic calming and a separated bike facility on both sides of one or more segments of the Madison Avenue corridor between Winslow Way and State Route 305.

The Council motion supported the expanded scope of work but asked for ways to reduce and cap the project’s costs. Alternatives will be developed for Council review that will allow the project cost to be flexible.

The advantage of combining and expanding the scope of these projects is that it would create cost efficiencies by overlapping utility and road replacements, minimize public inconvenience, reduce the amount of cuts to the road surface, and 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. The combined project will save approximately $500,000 versus the cost of the components individually.

Watch the Sept. 14 discussion.

City staff next week will update the City Council on progress related to the Neighborhood Traffic-Calming Program.

The Council last discussed the program at the March 9 meeting, at which time they authorized funding for a traffic-calming handbook and concept designs for four priority traffic-calming locations (Grow Avenue; Finch/Sportsman Club intersection; Point White Drive at Schel Chelb; and Miller Road at the Grand Forest).

At next week’s meeting, staff will present results from the traffic-calming call for projects, an overview of the traffic-calming handbook, and an overview of the process for evaluating traffic-calming projects through the remainder of the year and early 2022.

The concept designs for Grow Avenue; Finch/Sportsman Club intersection; Point White Drive at Schel Chelb; and Miller Road at the Grand Forest will also be presented.

The Council may consider moving forward with funding for the concept design plans and implementation at a subsequent meeting.

City staff next week will update the City Council on progress related to the Groundwater Management Plan. City staff have spent the last several months compiling and organizing the studies and data related to managing the City's groundwater resources. Additionally, City staff have met with the Climate Change Advisory Committee, the Utility Advisory Committee, and the Environmental Technical Advisory Committee to receive input on the potential goals and objectives for the Groundwater Management Plan.

As a part of this agenda item, City staff will present the Council with an overview of the groundwater data, as well as the input received from the committees, with the intent of receiving direction on priority goals and objectives for the Groundwater Management Plan. A formal Council action on the final goals and objectives will be planned for a subsequent City Council business meeting following public comment on the topic.

The Council this week approved a sales tax that will provide about $450,000 per year to affordable housing, and will begin implementation on Jan. 1, 2022.

60% of the funds are restricted by state law to affordable housing construction, mental and behavioral health-related facilities construction, or funding operation and maintenance costs of new affordable housing units and facilities where housing-related programs are provided. The remaining 40% must be used for the operation, delivery, or evaluation of mental and behavioral health treatment programs and services or housing-related services.

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. 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.

The new sales tax rate on Bainbridge will be 9.1% as of January 1, 2022.

Below are some of the topics scheduled for the Sept. 21 City Council meeting.

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.

The City is seeking proposals for cultural projects and activities that will benefit Bainbridge Island residents and visitors during 2022-2023. A total of $300,000 will be available for distribution.

Nonprofit entities that provide programs and services advancing the arts and culture of the island may apply for awards that range in size from $5,000 to $30,000.

An information session will be held on Zoom from 1 p.m. to 2 p.m. on Monday, Sept. 27. The Zoom link is available on the City-Funded Cultural Activities page.

Please review the request for proposals and application on the City-Funded Cultural Activities page. A paper copy can be requested by sending an email to admin@bainbridgewa.gov.

We hope you'll join us this Sunday, Sept. 19 from 9 a.m. to noon for the annual Bainbridge Island Beach Cleanup to help keep our waters and shores beautiful and safe for everyone.

In previous years, participants have collected large quantities of Styrofoam, an inflatable raft, pipes, tires, a fiberglass dinghy, metal, plastic debris, and more.

Learn more about the cleanup efforts and sign up to volunteer on the Sustainable Bainbridge event page.

This year's annual Day of Preparedness event will focus entirely on providing immunizations to the community.

In partnership with Bainbridge Island Community Pharmacy, volunteers on Saturday, Sept. 25 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. will provide free flu shots at the Commodore Options School (lower gym), located at 9530 High School Road.

Volunteers will also provide free COVID-19 vaccines: Moderna, Pfizer/BioNTech (Comirnaty), and Johnson & Johnson (Janssen).

Information about scheduling an appointment is available on the clinic registration page.

The City of Bainbridge Island's new electronic payment system for utility billing is now live. You can use the online account to:

There are no added fees for customers to utilize any of these new payment features.

Paper billing will still be an option for those who prefer this method.

We hope you enjoy this new service!

The Washington State Ferries fall sailing schedule begins next Sunday, Sept. 26. This year, sailing times will change only on the Anacortes/San Juan Islands route. All other routes will remain the same as they are now.

Vehicle reservations for the entire season, which runs through Jan. 1, 2022, are available for the Anacortes/San Juan Islands and Port Townsend/Coupeville route.

About 60 people attended the American Legion Colin Hyde Post 172 Patriot Day of Service and Remembrance ceremony last Saturday to mark the 20th anniversary of the Sept.11 terrorist attacks.

Chief of Police Joe Clark was among the speakers to recognize this somber anniversary.

The attendance was limited due to the COVID-19 pandemic; temperatures were checked for those who attended.

Thank you to the American Legion Colin Hyde Post 172 for hosting the Patriot Day ceremony.

We've shared additional photos on our Facebook page.