The following items were taken from Bainbridge Island Police Department incident reports by reporter Ethan Fowler. For more blotter, visit bainbridgeislander.com and click on Bainbridge blog link on the right side of the screen.

Crime log from Oct. 26 to Nov. 1: 3 found property, 3 traffic accidents, 2 theft arrest charge, 2 suspicious persons/situations, 2 theft in the third degree, 2 identity thefts, 2 miscellaneous, 1 forgery/counterfeit, 1 residential burglary, 1 hit and run unattended property damage, 1 harassment, 1 assault in the fourth degree, 1 mental investigation, 1 domestic verbal, 1 agency assist, 1 warrant arrest by outside agency.

Nov. 1

Assault in the fourth degree: A 38-year-old man and a 52-year-old man were involved in a fight at Waterfront Park at 2:48 a.m. The younger man accused the older man of untying his boat’s dingy. This led the younger man to push the older man and cause him to fall into the younger man’s boat and the older man to hit his side. The older man told police that this caused him to beat up the younger man, who had minor injuries to his face. The older man said he only knew the younger man as a live aboard. It appeared to the police officer at the time that the assaults were mutual. At the request of the younger man, the case was referred to the prosecutor’s office.

Oct. 30

Hit and run/unattended property damage: A 45-year-old woman was a victim of a hit and run at 12:45 p.m. The woman was shopping at a Winslow Way grocery store between 12:45-1 p.m. when a store employee informed her of the incident. The employee also gave the woman the license plate number of the vehicle that hit her car while it was parked in the north parking lot adjacent to Winslow Way. The woman’s car was damaged on the left rear quarter panel. Witnesses observed the woman’s car rocking after it was hit.

Miscellaneous: A 61-year-old woman reported a jewelry store on the 100 block of High School Road had mischarged her for watch repairs totaling more than $1,000. The woman said she requested only an estimate on what it would cost to repair and clean the watches, which were 100 and 70 years old, when she dropped them off.

Oct. 29

Identity theft: A 41-year-old man living on the 3000 block of Point White Drive reported the last four digits of his social security number were used to open a cable account. The suspect charged more than $500 to the account. The victim learned of the theft when he was contacted by a collection agency.

Oct. 27

Suspicious persons/situations: At 2:20 p.m. on the 4000 block of Rockaway Bluff Road, a 44-year-old woman reported a white van registered in Bremerton was in her driveway for the second straight day. When the female homeowner approached the white man in his 50s that was driving the vehicle, the man said he was looking for Mills Heights. But when the woman told the man where they were, the man said “fantastic.” A neighbor observed the van in the woman’s driveway the day before.

Bainbridge Island’s advisory Harbor Commission was busy crafting designs for a new city dock well before the planning workshops for Waterfront Park began last month.

The city held two planning meetings in June to discuss potential upgrades for the park and dock, and is now circulating a survey to gather more input. A 30-minute update on the planning process is scheduled for tonight’s City Council meeting.

Members of the Harbor Commission feel the discussion so far has centered heavily on the park’s uplands. They hope to rekindle interest in rebuilding the aging city dock.

The commission is circulating refined conceptual drawings for an expanded dock. The new dock would feature four fingers with space for more visiting yachts as well as club sailboats, rowing shells and kayak rentals. The plan calls for moving the head of the dock to the west of the existing boat ramp.

Public Dock Plan Drawing 06.01.13 by tsooter

The city designated $1.85 million of a recent Washington State Ferries settlement to upgrading Waterfront Park, and plans to seek additional grants. Many visions for the park were floated during the June workshops, and not every idea will fit in the final project.

In an open letter to the boating community this week, Harbor Commission Chair Mark Leese said he felt boaters were underrepresented in the discussion. He urged more boaters to get involved:  Continue reading →

Waterfront Park will soon get an upgrade, but for now it won’t be getting any larger.

The city recently declined to make an offer on a residence for sale adjacent to the downtown park. The city had a long-standing right of first refusal on the property, which is listed at $428,000.

City Manager Doug Schulze said the potential acquisition was discussed during a City Council executive session. Council members decided the property was too expensive and not necessary for the park, he said.

The 8,000-square-foot lot borders the northeast corner of Waterfront Park.

Planning for a revamped Waterfront Park will continue Sunday with a second community workshop. The event runs 1:30-4:30 p.m. at Waterfront Park Community Center. Islanders can join a walking tour of the park and dock at 1 p.m.

The city and Sustainable Bainbridge launched the planning effort with a well attended community meeting June 1. Prolific walkable communities consultant Dan Burden helped guide the conversation. Participants brainstormed ideas for the park and voted on their favorite design elements (you can see the voting results here).

Sunday’s workshop will include presentations from specific user groups. Bainbridge Island Rowing has a proposal for a new boathouse. The city’s advisory Harbor Commission is promoting designs for an expanded city dock.

The city dedicated $1.8 million of a Washington State Ferries settlement to reinvigorating the downtown park and will seek additional grants. A request for qualifications from design firms was recently issued for the project.

The city has money to spend on Waterfront Park, thanks to a settlement from Washington State Ferries. Now it’s up to islanders to decide how to spend it.

The city and Sustainable Bainbridge will host two community meetings in June to discuss renovation plans for the downtown Winslow park. The first meeting is scheduled for 1:30-4:30 p.m. Saturday at Waterfront Park Community Center.

Participants can join a walking tour of the park at 12:30 p.m., before the start of the meeting. The stroll will be led by Dan Burden of the Walkable and Livable Communities Institute, who is helping facilitate the outreach event.

There are sure to be many visions for the park. The uplands and shoreline are enjoyed by walkers, picnickers, concert-goers, rowers, day sailors, kayakers and visiting boaters, to name just a few regular user groups. The city’s advisory Harbor Commission has already presented a proposal for an expanded city dock.

The Saturday meeting, dubbed “What could it be?”, is intended to be a brainstorming session. The second meeting – “How should we design it?” – is scheduled for June 30.

(Top photo by Meegan Reid)

The Kitsap Sun’s editorial board urged the city of Bainbridge to accept Washington State Ferries’ $2 million offer and use the money to build a new Waterfront Park dock.

“Taking a lump sum now — particularly in light of how city capital spending has dwindled the past few years — to complete a project that will be popular among residents and visitors is the most prudent approach, and the best option for Eagle Harbor’s future,” the board wrote in a Sunday editorial.

The City Council is set to choose between the dock proposal and a boat haul-out facility proposal at Wednesday evening’s meeting.

For more on the issue, head over HERE.

It appears that a dirty diaper is what led to concerns last week that Waterfront Park’s beach may be contaminated.

On Tuesday, the Kitsap County Health District took a water sample near the castaway diaper, which may have drifted up or been tossed on the Eagle Harbor park’s shore. Test results showed the water contained unhealthy levels of bacteria.

An announcement of the results by the state Department of Ecology led to some concerns that the beach would be closed.

But a second sample taken shortly after the diaper was removed showed the beach’s bacteria levels had returned to normal.

The diaper had essentially created a small “hot spot” near where the samples happened to have been taken.

“It’s quite a nasty thing,” health district water quality specialist Stuart Whitford said of the diaper. “I can’t believe someone would do that, but maybe it popped off some kid.”

The health district has a position on non-potty trained children frolicking on public beaches.

“The health district advises that if a toddler is not toilet trained, they not swim at a public beach,” Whitford said.

Whitford believes the bacteria died off fairly quickly.

“Because it’s saltwater and there was a lot of sunlight, nature took care of the contamination,” he said.

Plans to replace the Bainbridge senior center with a new $9 million dollar facility have fizzled out.

“It’s out the door,” said Tom Kilbane, a senior center member who has long championed the reconstruction.

Rather than push for a new multi-use, two story facility, senior center members are asking the city to help them make basic improvements on the existing building.

For more, read HERE.

The better part of a decade is a long time to wait to use the bathroom.

But relief is finally here.

The city announced today that the sweet swoosh of real, working toilets has returned to Waterfront Park.

“It’s open,” said city engineer Chris Hammer today. “You can go down right now and check it out.”

Not sure yet if there will be a ribbon-cutting, and I’ve heard no announcement about who had the honor of using the facility first.

The 300-square-foot, three-toilet, one-shower facility has undergone almost eight years of community debate after the previous Waterfront Park bathroom was torn down in 2001. City officials and citizen groups haggled for years over the facility’s placement, function and even its the decorations.

Earlier designs before the current prefab box was settled upon included sculpted roofs, rock climbing walls, waterfalls, viewing platforms and a gathering space fit for weddings.

One of the grander designs, coming in at $1 million, was considered too expensive. Pared-down versions were nixed over complaints that they didn’t fit the Bainbridge aesthetic.

The final version, the one now easing the burdens of Waterfront Park users, is expected to cost $325,000. The contractor had initially put in a bid that amounted to $281,000, but hey, what’s $44,000 when you’ve been waiting an equal number of days.

Some City Council members have joked in the past about having fireworks and champagne during grand opening. No official word on that yet.

In the meantime, load up the family, grab the camera and enjoy this long-awaited moment in island history.

The city’s hosting an open house on Tuesday to gather input on a few designs proposed for Waterfront Park.

None of the sketches were available today for a sneak-peek, but you can check out the design firm’s website to get an idea of the work they’ve done in the past.

Read my story below…

Continue reading →