PORT ORCHARD — City of Bremerton staff, including its attorney,
sat poker-faced Thursday as elected officials from the port of
Bremerton and the city of Port Orchard agreed their pact stood
solid naming Port Orchard the sewer provider for the South Kitsap
Industrial Area.
They meet in a rare informal session to go over a few items, this
topping the list.
But that memorandum of intent was signed before SKIA was annexed
into the city of Bremerton.
“Suddenly we’re being told, ‘Well, that may not be the case,’ ”
Port Orchard Mayor Lary Coppola said. “Well, we disagree.”
He pointed to the $21 million his city has poured into sewer-system
upgrades.
Port representatives agreed the memo still stands.
Coppola added, however, that should the city of Bremerton ever be
interested in buying Port Orchard’s interest, his city would be
willing to listen.
There wasn’t a peep from Bremerton on Thursday.
SKIA stands undeveloped, empty and unreachable today, until a road
leading through it being built by the port is finished.
Port Orchard Garage
The other 800-pound gorilla in the room was Port Orchard’s desire
to build a parking garage downtown.
“And we’re looking for funding help,” Coppola told port
officials.
The proposed garage today calls for as many as 400 spaces, which
proponents hope would make the waterfront more park-like with less
parking.
A full range of funding options is being examined and Port Orchard
is seeking partners in the project, Coppola told the group.
Port Commissioner Bill Mahan asked Coppola to get more information
to the port so its leaders can decide what role the port will
play.
Port Orchard Marina Park
The Bremerton port and Port Orchard have circled around and around
on how to permanently designate free parking spaces for users of
the Port Orchard Marina Park.
Park users compete with Port Orchard Marina users and commuters for
the premium waterfront parking now.
Port Commissioner Larry Stokes has been a strong proponent for park
users in this squabble. That was certainly the case Thursday as he
convinced both sides to agree to find a way to designate 11 parking
spaces just for park users.
The group tasked their staffs to come up with recommendations.
