Bainbridge Conversation

A portion of Sportsman Club Road will be northbound-only next week, as the city begins work on bicycle and pedestrian improvements. The city expects major construction to be wrapped up before the Rotary Auction opens for donations June 21.

Here are details and a detour map from the city:

BAINBRIDGE ISLAND, June 13, 2013 – Work will begin on Sportsman Club Road next Monday, June 17. The City has contracted with Lakeside Industries Inc. to install non-motorized shoulder improvements on the west side of Sportsman Club Road from Wardwell Road to approximately 400 feet south.

During construction hours, between 6 am and 5 pm Monday-Friday, Sportsman Club Road will be restricted to one-way northbound traffic. A detour route will be established for southbound traffic and residents/local traffic accessing Wardwell Road. Shoulder work is expected to last for approximately one week, with paving to follow as weather permits.

Citizens are encouraged to access Sportsman Club Road from the south when delivering donations to Woodward Middle School for the Rotary Auction, beginning Friday, June 21.

This improvement project is part of the City’s Core 40 Program which targets 40 roads for upgrades around the island for non-motorized improvements.

Sportsman Club Detour by tsooter

A head-on collision just south of the Agate Pass Bridge closed Highway 305 for nearly four hours Monday afternoon. Two drivers were airlifted to Harborview Medical Center and remained in serious condition Tuesday afternoon.

Response to the collision closed the highway in both directions from about 2-5:30 p.m. Monday. Backups stretched for miles.

We’ve heard from a few frazzled commuters and followers on social media wondering why the highway remained closed for so long after the drivers were evacuated. It’s a fair question, and I thought it would be interesting to break down what goes into a response of this nature, according to first responders:

• The collision was reported at 2:09 p.m. Monday by Bainbridge Fire Assistant Chief Luke Carpenter, who happened to driving from the island to a meeting in Bremerton at the time. Carpenter was only a few cars behind the sedan involved in the collision when the wreck occurred.

• About 20 firefighters responded to the scene. The drivers were trapped in their vehicles and had to be cut free. Both drivers were transported away from the scene by 2:35 p.m. The last fire department vehicle cleared at 3:06 p.m. (This aerial image from KOMO nicely illustrates the scope of the scene). (more…)

Civic-minded islanders have a busy dance card tonight. They can choose between a potluck and discussion with new City Manager Doug Schulze or a Washington State Ferries community meeting.

Discussion group VillageSpeak will hold a dinner forum with Schulze beginning at 6:30

p.m. at OfficeXpats in the Bainbridge Pavilion. The conversation will include opening remarks by the city manager, a moderated discussion and a Q&A session with the audience.

The event is free but attendees are encouraged to bring a dish to share and a $5 donation. A standing reception will follow the discussion at 8:30 p.m. Schulze (pictured) joined the city on Nov. 5. He previously served as manager of Normandy Park.

Another meeting will take place across town at the same time. WSF brings its traveling community outreach tour to Bainbridge at 6 p.m. in the Art Museum.

Ferries chief David Moseley will discuss the upcoming legislative session, staffing issues and other topics. This is a good time for ferry riders to bring forward questions and complaints. WSF already held a meeting in Bremerton, where proposed service cuts are a hot topic.

Tad Sooter photos

If islanders are perturbed by a proposed new vehicle registration fee, they didn’t show it Wednesday.

A hearing on a resolution creating a charge of up to $20 per vehicle to support road work drew no attendees to City Hall on Wednesday evening. The Transportation Benefit District board — made up of City Council members — did not vote on the proposed fee. Instead, a vote may come at the district’s Dec. 5 meeting.

A few islanders have spoken out for and against car tab fees at past meetings. Some believe the charge is a fair way to raise money for badly needed road repairs. Others, including car collectors, say it would unduly burden households with multiple vehicles.

The city estimates a $20 fee would generate $330,000 each year for road projects.

The full draft resolution can be read here.

After listening to 11 days of testimony and deliberating the the better part of three days, a federal jury took a middle path with their verdict on Friday.

Of the four main claims made in the lawsuit by the parents of Douglas Ostling, the mentally ill man who was fatally shot by Bainbridge police in 2010, the jury agreed with just one – that the Bainbridge Island Police Department failed to properly train officers in how to deal with the mentally ill. The jury awarded the Ostlings $1 million.

The jury disagreed with claims that officers illegally entered the Ostling family’s home, used unnecessary force and failed to render aid to the wounded Douglas Ostling.

How do you feel about the verdict? Cast your vote over to the right.

Head down below to see the results from the Bainbridge Conversation’s poll on how the city should pay for road fixes.

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This week, a city report indicated the city will need to pay $2.5 million each year just to maintain the current condition of its roads. Read more about it here.

The city hasn’t been coming close to that. Over the last four years, the city has put just $1 million into its road maintenance budget. This year’s $600,000 contribution was the highest in the four-year period.

The city would have to more than quadruple what it pays now just to break even on its roads, according to the report.

So, the big question is: where’s that money going to come from?

The City Council is moving toward a ballot measure in 2013 that – if approved – would boost taxes for a big infusion of road-repairing cash, possibly in the range of $8 million.

Others say the city should better manage the money it already receives from taxpayers, spending less on overhead and more on asphalt.

And of course there’s always the $20 car tab fee that’s been debated on the island for years. The $440,000 it would raise for roads each year isn’t nearly $2.5 million, but it could help.

Or maybe roads aren’t such a big deal. Some residents have urged the city to leave the roads as they are and put more money into arts and cultural programs boosters that they say drew people here in the first place. A few islanders even prefer a few potholes here and there to keep people from speeding.

What do you think? Cast your vote in the poll over to the right.

Drivers know the island’s roads aren’t what they used to be. Bicyclist know the roads aren’t what they could be.

Heeding calls for road repairs and new bike lanes, the Bainbridge City Council may put a multimillion-dollar bond measure on the November 2012 ballot.

The exact dollar amount and the scope of work has yet to be worked out, but one council member has floated the idea of an $8 million bond split between major road repairs and bike lane construction.

Would you vote for higher taxes if it made the roads less ragged and more safe for bike travel? Head over to the right (under the Facebook links) and have your say.

Halls Hill Road on the island’s south end will get some long-awaited fixes and a fresh coat of asphalt next week.

For more info, read the city’s press release below…

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The Kitsap Sun editorial board had a discussion with advocates for the creation of a Bainbridge post district this week.

They discussed the proposed port’s funding, overlapping services with the city, road end improvements and how the port could make Eagle Harbor more welcoming to out-of-town boaters.

Videos of the discussion are below.

PART I

PART II

Thursday is the last day to file to run for the proposed Port of Bainbridge Island.

The November ballot will let Bainbridge voters decide whether to create the new taxing district. At the same time, voters will chose the port district’s first batch of commissioners. If the port measure fails, the commission candidates will have to seek work/public service elsewhere.

There are five commissioner spots. Candidates won’t campaign directly against each other. The top five vote-getters in the race will serve on the commission if the port measure passes.

County elections officials decided on a very short filing period. It began on Tuesday and ends on Thursday at 5 p.m. So if you want to run (there is no filing fee, by the way), toss your hat in the ring here.

Port backers say they’re scrambling to find people to run. When I wrote about this issue last week, only four names were being floated as possible candidates. Most were associated with the city harbor commission and/or island yacht clubs.

The port district may have a broad reach, touching on marine environmental issues, the liveaboard community, pubic road ends, tourism, public docks and boat haul-out facilities. Some nearby port districts even run their own ferries (Kingston), air ports and industrial parks (Bremerton) and marinas (Poulsbo).

The money at the Bainbridge port’s disposal is expected to start at an annual $600,000. Commissioners are paid on the order of $90 per meeting they attend.

Here’s a link to the port backers’ website.

King 5 News had a piece late last week about the Winslow Way reconstruction project.

Reporter Eric Wilkinson found only discontent among the shoppers, tourists and business owners he spoke with.

One woman went so far as to call Winslow our “little Beirut.”

Another voice noted that shoppers would need the help of Sacajawea to navigate the maze of construction work.

The video is below.

King 5 News has a story about Grow Community, a large housing development set to take shape along Wyatt Way and Grow Avenue.

It’s aim is to be fully solar powered and to foster an earth-friendly lifestyle that’s oriented toward walking, cycling and growing food.

I had a story about it earlier this month, which you can read here.

Unlike most big developments on Bainbridge, Grow Community has drawn little criticism (so far). At a recent public meeting, most of the concerns were about traffic impacts. The development’s designers gave assurances that they’d actually be improving the area’s transportation infrastructure by adding sidewalks and bike lanes along Wyatt and Grow.

Grow Community will begin building an eventual 137 homes in May.