North Kitsap Beat

You could probably take Dylan’s “The Times They Are A-Changin’ ” and apply it to the newspaper industry right now.

On that note, you probably guess what’s coming, eh?

Now my duties are a-changin’, too. I’ve been fortunate to stay employed as many in the industry, and (too) many of my friends here at the Sun can attest. But when you have fewer people with, arguably, more demands – or at least new ones – it takes a bit of restructuring.

First, I won’t be maintaining this blog anymore, because I won’t be covering North Kitsap. I’m not one for mushy goodbyes, so I’d just like to thank you readers and commenters who kept this space a viable, interesting place on the Web.

I do have one big request, though. I’d like some of you to help this blog keep going. Share with your neighbors what’s going on in your neighborhoods and schools. If you are interested, or know of someone you think would be a great blogger, please contact our Web Editor Angela Dice at (360) 415-2673 or adice@kitsapsun.com.

I’ll be splitting my time between videography and general assignment reporting. I’ll also still cover both tribes, so you might see me running around the north end on occasion.

You’re probably wondering who’ll cover North Kitsap, right? We’ll have a team of three reporters focusing on community and government issues. (Steve Gardner, Chris Henry and Brynn Grimley) I’m sure I’ll pop in for a few stories now and again, too.

You can read about North Kitsap political and government doings at the Kitsap Caucus blog, and our freelancer Marietta Nelson is keeping up with NK education issues at the Kitsap Education blog.

Tammy Adamson-McMullen will also continue covering Poulsbo community events for Poulsbo Life.

Feel free to e-mail me with story ideas, too. dsheppard@kitsapsun.com

If you really miss my witty prose (Yes, I’m kidding.) I’ll be a contributor on an as-yet unnamed photo/video blog. Keep an eye out for it. I also occassionally post my (mis)adventures in the kitchen in The Food Life blog.

North Kitsap High School students are pitching in for a free Thanksgiving meal on Thursday.
The North Kitsap High School ASB and girls basketball team organized to provide the free meal at the Poulsbo Middle School cafeteria between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m.
The school is at 2003 NE Hostmark Street in Poulsbo.

If you know of any other free meals, post times and locations in the comments.

The Poulsbo City Council has agreed to sell property for a cancer care center to a local hospital of $2.8 million.
The council approved the purchase and sale agreement with Harrison Medical Center Wednesday night for site on 10th Avenue near the Poulsbo Fire Department – which was once destined for a new city hall.
“All this is, is an economic shot in the arm,” Mayor Kathryn Quade said.
Harrison plans to open an outpatient cancer-care center, and has told the city it’s ready to begin construction in 2009.
In the economic downturn, the hospital deal is an example of Poulsbo’s diversifying economic base, Quade said.
The hospital’s intentions have been public since August, though work has been ongoing since 2005.
Councilman Ed Stern said the facility will turn Poulsbo into a regional medical hub.
The city had originally intended to use the land on 10th for a new city hall until voters declined that notion in a 2006 advisory vote.
The land was purchased originally for $2.1 million. Because of Harrison’s not-for-profit status, and because the land was city owned, the deal required it to be sold for a fair market value.
The sale of that land is now part of a complex plan to afford a new city hall destined for land in downtown Poulsbo. The 10th Avenue property is one of three the city plans to sell to pay for bonds needed for construction.
Plans are on hold now for the new city hall because of the constricted economy and frozen bond markets.

I was dispatched today to film a Veterans Day ceremony at the Fairgrounds. Here’s the result:

Yep, Keyport’s fairly well-know steak establishment is opening a slightly different restaurant in downtown Poulsbo.

Poulsbo Middle School math teacher Joe Power has been voted Evening Magazine’s teacher of the year in the Best of Western Washington Contest.

The show will be 7 p.m. Wednesday on King 5.

Power, an 19-year teaching veteran, left a note to his supporters on his school Web site:

Thank you for all of your support in the Best Teacher in Western Washington contest.  I WON!!  I could NOT have done it w/o all of you. 

What do baseball and complaining about traffic have in common? Both are American pastimes.

So if you’re feeling sentimental, you can get your fill of Americana on Wednesday night in Poulsbo.To be fair, I’m sure the city would much rather you bring measured, reasonable suggestions about its traffic study, not just “Cars drive too fast down my road!” complaints.

At 5 p.m. Wednesday the city council will hold an open house on the Traffic Demand Management study. Sounds exciting, huh?

In short, the city paid for study to figure out ways to improve traffic – primarily around downtown. (Please keep in mind that Highway 305 is a state route, and they’re the ones who have control over traffic measures there.)

The biggest proposals are lots of stop signs, and a one-way loop of downtown down Front and Third, both of which are now two-way streets.  I’ll post the short version of the traffic recommendations below the jump, but you can download the study summary HERE, or the full study HERE. (PDFs)

(more…)

Kingstonites brought their views directly to the school board Thursday night and the message was clear: We want to play our home varsity football games at home.

“Overwhelmingly, nobody wants to be here,” Kingston Athletic Boosters President Greg Wright told the board, citing the consensus from a recent meeting that I attended, and used to help write this story.

They’re lobbying for Saturday afternoon home games so they don’t need lights. (Which don’t exist there now.)

The issue stems from what some say is rumor, some say is fact, that the district was going to paint the stadium either neutral, or to reflect the colors of both North Kitsap and Kingston high schools.

Kingston parent and chamber director Jana Karmberger said most of the problems haven’t been with the kids, but the parents. Ultimately the issue could be resolved with a dose of parenting – from the school board.

“If you just lay out the rules, people will cooperate,” she said.

Later, sounding a bit parental, school board president Melanie Mohler laid out the board’s position by reading a statement. You can read the full text HERE. (PDF)

So, if everyone in Kingston wants to play home games in Kingston, they can have their way. But accommodations might be sparse.

“However, they do so with the understanding that no further plans will be made to enhance the District stadium to reflect multiple high school use AND there will be no additional funding from the Capital Projects budget for any “stadium” type item at Kingston High School. (i.e. no bleachers, no lights, no concession stand, no additional restrooms, etc.)”

It goes back to the 2001 bond that funded several school upgrades and the new high school. A stadium, or lights, were never in the plans for Kingston, and Mohler made clear it’s not the board’s intent to divert those dollars to Kingston stadium upgrades.

“There may be a time when a full stadium will be built for Kingston High School. But not with support from this Board and not with these Bond dollars. That’s for the voters to decide at a later date, perhaps within the upcoming levy or future bond. So, with that being said, let’s all redirect our focus to what we’re teaching our children and the academic success of ALL our students.”

(UPDATED)

Harrison Medical Center vice president of strategy and business development Tom Kruse confirmed that he received today a purchase and sale agreement for city property on 10th Avenue.

There are still a lot of details to workout, but the agreement could come back to the Poulsbo City Council early next month.

The city and Harrison have long been in discussions to locate a facility in Poulsbo, and in August the two unveiled the proposal for a 50,000 square foot medical center, primarily aimed at cancer care, on 10th Avenue land that had once been slated for a new Poulsbo City Hall.

I’m still waiting to hear from city officials to see if they’re willing to say the proposed selling price (again, the agreement is in the works so nothing’s inked yet.), but the land was purchased in 2005 for $2.1 million.

Both parties, one a government agency the other a non-profit, are bound in property sales to a “fair market value.”

“It’s not so fair that we love it a lot,” Kruse said. Both sides had the property appraised, and the proposed price falls within the overlap of fair market ranges that each agency had determined, he said.

If all goes well, the center could be fully functional within two years, Kruse said. It’s possible a first phase could be operating within a year.

Ultimately the focus is to bring cancer care services closer to people in Jefferson, Kitsap and Clallam counties. When patients undergo radiation and chemotherapy treatments in Seattle, they’re drained. And met with a long drive and ferry commute home.

“That’s just not the right environment,” Kruse said.

Mayor Kathryn Quade was pretty tight-lipped about the purchase and sale agreement because it’s still in the negotiations phase. Councilman Ed Stern suggested the return could be in the neighborhood of $500,000 above what the city bought the land for.

Looks like we’ll probably find out Nov. 5.

Stern also said he’s pulling his support of the continuing with the city hall project right now. The news today from the credit markets sealed his resolve in the decision, he said.

He’s confident in the city’s financing package, but feels the city should “zip up” the foundation work now and wait out the storm until credit markets free up.The project is planned in phases, so the foundation work now is separate from the actual building that may come later.

Instead of issueing the additional $9.5 million in bonds, they’ll set aside money in reserves as if they were paying the debt service on the bonds.

I ran a scenario past Quade to see if the analogy fit: (It’s not perfect, but similar.) I want to buy a new car, but need to save. So I figure how much my payments would be, and set aside the amount each month as if I’d purchased it. The city’s doing the same thing.

Did I mention there’s MORE news about the city hall? Steve Gardner wrote it yesterday in a story about layoffs at the housing authority, but the mayor said today that indeed, the Kitsap County Consolidated Housing Authority won’t continue to manage the project after the foundation work is complete.

Why? Quade said there were many factors, but the bottom line is that if the city doesn’t move forward with the city hall project because of the bond markets, it doesn’t make sense to have a contract for project management services when the project is on hold.

UPDATE: Here’s the PowerPoint presentation on the pool. (Note: I converted it to a PDF so more of you could read it, and because my blog software wouldn’t accept the PPT file.)

A budget presentation Thursday night showed the folks trying to keep the North Kitsap Community Pool afloat are doing well on the revenue side.

And they’ve asked the district to commit to keeping the pool open through August 31 – instead of the current conditional deadline of December 31.

In the name of fairness to give opponents a chance to speak, Dan Delaney urged the board to wait before voting on such a proposal. (It appears Delaney, and the other board members aside from Ed Strickland, support letting the pool people continue the efforts to keep it going.)

It could come during a Nov. 4 meeting, so you’ll have to pry yourself away from the cable news chanel of your choice. (In case you live in a cave, that’s Election Day.)

Jan Harrison, of the Citizens Pool Advisory Committee, said revenue projections through December are conservatively estimated at $20,000 more than budgeted.

They’ve installed the pool blanket that came courtesy of a city of Poulsbo donation, and apparently the boiler pooped out the first night it was on. When they came back the next day, the temp had remained constant. At least at first blush, that means it’s working.

A lot of what the folks are doing is running the pool more like a business. (Surprise, surprise.). The meeting is still ongoing, but I’ll have more if I can get a digital copy of the PowerPoint. It was pretty informative.