Bike wreck A
man saw a young teenage girl walking down Hyla Avenue with a bloody
face, wearing a bike helmet March 18 about 7 p.m.
She told the man she had flipped over her bike’s handlebars while
going down Beach Crest Drive nearby and was trying to walk home,
according to the police report.
She appeared disoriented and “not fully aware of her
surroundings.”
Police found the bike in the bushes along Beach Crest Drive, and
the girl was flown to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle for
“treatment of significant facial injuries and head trauma.”
Missing bench A city maintenance worker reported
property damage and a stolen bench at the Port Madison Trailhead on
March 25.
There were axe cuts in one picnic table and two stumps in place of
where an old wooden bench had been, the police report said.
The bench legs had been “hacked away” to remove it.
The damage is estimated to be $500.
A view from along Manitou Beach
Drive. (Kitsap Sun file photo)
The city is proposing a “small parking area” on Manitou Beach
Drive, making it easier for residents and guests to enjoy the
city-owned waterfront property.
While there are views of Puget Sound and Seattle from the
shoreline, Manitou Beach Drive is a narrow two-lane road without
shoulders.
The city owns .13 acre of waterfront land across the street from
9865 Manitou Beach Drive, according to the county parcel
search.
The city owns about another acre next to 9865 Manitou Beach
Drive, where six parking spots are being proposed.
A public meeting Wednesday night will help identify how many
parking spots are needed or wanted for access to the waterfront,
said Mark Epstein with the city’s capital projects coordinator.
Bainbridge Island city officials are trying to figure out who
has been leaving plastic produce bags filled with “liquid food
waste” on trash bins for animals to tear open.
The city’s maintenance crews have been finding these bags around
Winslow — including Waterfront Park and City Hall — the last
several weeks, according to a news release from Kellie Stickney,
the city’s spokeswoman.
The bags have been torn open by birds and raccoons, causing the
waste to spill out. And City officials say the oily waste
is a “potential human health hazard” and can wash into
the drainage system that flows into Eagle Harbor.
They haven’t be able to tell exactly what type of food is in the
bags, and their best guess is that it is either soup or leftover
food from cooking, Stickney said.
City officials have not been able to find who is responsible and
is asking residents to report any suspicious behavior to the Public
Works Department at 206-842-2016 or the county’s Spills Hotline at
360-337-5777.
Thief settles
debt A neighbor on the 200 block of Ericksen Avenue told
police he spotted a stranger with a flashlight around an oil fuel
tank at a nearby office on March 16 about 11 p.m.
While on the way to the call, Officer Trevor Ziemba saw a man
biking southbound on Ericksen Avenue with a “large five gallon
water jug on the back” with red fluid. The fluid matched what was
dripping from the business’ oil tank, which is used to heat a
furnace.
The man admitted to taking the fuel for his boat and told police he
had done it one other time at the same oil tank, but that he would
“make things right with the owner.”
He also told police that he took the heating oil because it has a
“lower flash point and runs the [boat] engine better.”
The business owner called police two days later to let them know
the man had “settled up” with him for stealing the heating oil and
he did not want to press charges.
Found gun A cyclist commuting from the island to
Poulsbo for work found a small handgun with bullets in a black case
along Highway 305 on March 16 about 9 a.m.
Police picked up the gun from the cyclist and found no record or
information related to the gun based on its serial number.
Claire Hicks plays fetch in the
water with her dog French at Pritchard Park on Bainbridge Island.
(LARRY STEAGALL / KITSAP SUN)
Bainbridge Island City Council is moving forward with changes to
the city’s animal ordinance, which will affect where dogs need to
be leashed on the island.
The ordinance updates will require dogs to be leashed in two
major business areas on the island — Winslow and Lynwood Center —
and give teeth to the park district’s current leash rule.
Under the city’s current code, dogs can be off leash on city
property if under voice command.
The school and park districts already have their own regulations
that require dogs to be leashed on their property, except at
Strawberry Hill’s off-leash dog park. Those rules are not included
in the city’s current city ordinance.
Updates to the city’s animal ordinance will include that dogs
must be leashed on park district land, providing penalties for
violators.
Dogs owners can face up to a $300 fine for not keeping their
dogs under voice control or on leash.
Dog owners who do not prevent their dogs from injuring or
intimidating pedestrians or cyclists can face up to a $1,000 fine
for having a dangerous animal.
The city began discussions about changing its animal ordinance
months ago at the request of the park district, which has struggled
with enforcing its leash rule.
One resident who spoke out against changes to the ordinance
Tuesday night said the park district hasn’t enforced its own
leash rule.
Terry Lande, the park district’s executive director, previously
said that the park’s rule has little teeth without the backing of a
city ordinance and its penalties. Violators of the leash rule can
only be asked to leash their dogs or leave the park property, Lande
said.
The city had previously considered requiring dogs to be leashed
in city owned parks as well, but has since decided to only apply
the leash regulations to park district owned parks.
Other updates to the ordinance will require dogs be leashed in
the Winslow and Lynwood Center business areas. The Winslow business
area will extend from the waterfront to High School Road, and fall
between Madison Avenue and Ferncliff Avenue.
The city-owned Waterfront Park will be included in the Winslow
business area, and dogs will have to be leashed there.
The city also is considering a trial period to specifically
allow off-leash dogs at Pritchard Park, another city-owned park,
during certain hours, days or in certain parts of the park.
The off-leash experiment for Pritchard Park is expected to be
discussed at a later council meeting.
Eventually, the city plans to transfer nearly all of the
Pritchard Park over to the park district. About half of the park is
already co-owned by the city and park district, where the
Bainbridge Island Japanese American Exclusion Memorial is
located.
The park transfer is expected to take place some time after
September, said City Manageer Doug Schulze.
The city won’t make any conditional requirement in favor of
off-leash dog spaces or times at the park for the transfer to take
place, Tollefson said.
While leashes will be required in more areas on the island,
there are no plans to change the animal control budget for
enforcement or code penalties.
Updates to the city’s animal ordinance are expected to be
adopted next week.
Multiple
mailbox thefts
A neighbor along the 10000 block of Duncan Lane saw a smaller,
four-door SUV parked at group of neighborhood mailboxes March 5
around 7 a.m. as she walked her child to the bus stop.
The woman told police that when she walked toward the SUV, it drove
to the next group of mailboxes and the driver reached into the
mailboxes.
The next day she saw the SUV again taking mail from the
mailboxes.
There also were piles of potentially stolen and discarded mail
reported on March 6 along Miller Road near Bergman Road and two
other incidents on North Madison Avenue, one which included stolen
medication, according to Bainbridge Island police reports.
There was an earlier report of stolen mail on the 600 block of
Winslow Way E on March 1.
Bainbridge Island architect
Michael Wangen talks to residents about the proposed Creative Space
development.
Developers and Bainbridge Island residents Dave Christianson and
Terry McGuire shared details and took questions about their
proposed community workspace for arts and artisan Monday night
during a public meeting.
Christianson is with Tseng Properties, LLC, which is leading the
development on a 4.5-acre property off of Day Road near the
Bainbridge Island Saddle Club’s facility.
Only 1.5 acres of the site is buildable land because of
wetlands, said Michael Wangen, the Bainbridge Island architect
working on the project.
Construction on the 10-building project, known as Creative
Space, could start as early as this summer and be finished in six
to 12 months, said Christianson.
All 10 of the Creative Space buildings are 40 feet by 48 feet,
and proposed uses include boat and vehicle restoration, woodwork,
painting or sculpture work. Space is not intended to be used for
office or retails space, although there could be display and sales
events open to the public, Christianson said.
Two of the buildings would be 1.5 stories with a
1,920-square-foot garage on the first floor and a 920-square-foot
loft above. One building would be a residence for the facility’s
manager. No other units would have residential space.
Eight of the buildings would be divided into two studio spaces,
each side about 960 square feet, with the possibility a
440-square-foot storage loft. Tenants could potentially rent the
whole building.
The developers want to rent space at about 75 cents a square
foot, they said Monday.
McGuire said the goal is to rent the 960-square-foot studios for
about $720. A unit with a loft would be about $1,050. The final
price would depend on construction costs, which are still unknown,
she said.
McGuire and Christianson also live next to and have their own
personal workspace by the proposed development. They have lived on
the island for about 25 years, Christianson said.
Access to Creative Space would be off of the same gravel road
used to drive to the Saddle Club facility and Manzanita Park.
There are no proposed changes to the road or its overhead tree
canopy, although about a dozen Saddle Club members at Monday’s
meeting voiced concerns about who would maintain the road with the
new development.
There is an easement for the road use and the county will be
looking into who is responsible for the road’s upkeep according to
that easement, said Heather Beckmann, a planner with the city.
Christianson said he was “willing to pony up” and help maintain
the road.
“If I am causing wear and tear on the road, I have to cover the
expense,” he said.
Saddle Club members also were concerned whether the road could
handle more traffic and how how safe it would be because it has
mainly been used as a trail.
Juliet LeDorze suggested creating a trail alongside the road for
equestrians and pedestrians.
Beckmann said the city would talk to the park district about
that possibility.
The project is in the pre-application phase and there will be
another public comment period after an application has been
submitted to the city.
The Federal Communications Commission recently granted the city
of Bainbridge Island a 10-year license to operate an AM information
radio station.
The city expects to have the station — which will be transmitted
on 600k Hz and 1700 kHz — broadcasting in late summer or fall,
according to the city manager’s report.
The radio station will provide information about Amber Alerts,
school incidents, bridge closures, earthquakes and other types of
emergencies.
“During nonemergency times, the station could be used to inform
motorists of street repairs, traffic hazards, community events,
travel advisories, city history and even visitor information,” the
report says.
The city has been working to start a radio station alongside
Sustainable Bainbridge, an island nonprofit that created Bainbridge
Community Broadcasting.
Bainbridge Community Broadcasting provides podcasts and radio
shows online via its website.
Bike wreck
