All posts by Rachel Anne Seymour

About Rachel Anne Seymour

Multi-media Journalist at the Kitsap Sun. Covering North Kitsap and Bainbridge Island.

Poulsbo parks board gives bike track, softball field thumbs up for Little Valley Ball Field

Residents and supporters cram into the Poulsbo City Council chambers to hear proposals for what the Little Valley Ball Field should become.
Residents and supporters cram into the Poulsbo City Council chambers to hear proposals for what the Little Valley Ball Field should become.

Poulsbo’s park board will be recommending two of four proposals for Little Valley Ball Field — a bike track and softball field — to the City Council.

The board ranked the proposal after every organization presented Monday night at Poulsbo City Hall where a crowd of residents and supporters spilled out into the hallway.

“We certainly know this process works,” said Mary McCluskey, Parks and Recreation Department director. “That was the best part of it. Know what? We could do this again if we had another piece of property.”

Evergreen Mountain Bike Alliance West Sound Chapter proposed a bike pump track, while the Diamond Dusters wanted a “home” softball field. North Kitsap Little League also wanted to leave the property as a ball field to use for practice, and Kitsap Children’s Musical Theater wanted a new facility for rehearsal space.

The board did not discuss why the bike track and softball field proposals were chosen over children’s theater or the little league field, although McCluskey said it was likely a combination of factors, such as timeline, cost, support and the organization’s need.

While five proposals had originally been submitted to the city, one — a solar park proposal — was withdrawn at the request of PIE Inc. owner Pedro Valverde, who told the city via email that partners for the $1 million project did not come through.

The children’s theater proposal also had changes announced at Monday’s presentations. The Kitsap Children’s Musical Theater decided to scale back plans for a $5 million performance and rehearsal center to a $3.9 million rehearsal only facility.

The project would take about five years to complete fundraising and construction.

After the board announced its recommendation, the neighbor who shares a driveway with the ball field spoke up about concerns with being able to leave and enter his property, along with preventing contamination to the shallow wells on his and his father’s property nearby.

Maurice “Gene” Foster, who has lived by the park for 55 years, told the board he did not want to favor any one proposal, although he wanted the board and the city to consider his comments.

“I really support the children of this community,” he said. “I built that field. I built that driveway. Every time we have asked the teams to keep the driveway vacant, I’ve had to weave around cars and ask people to move.”

Poulsbo City Council will consider the parks board recommendation, although council members will review all four proposals.

The final proposal must meet building code and environmental standards, McCluskey said.

You can read more details about the proposals in my previous story.

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Poulsbo’s new bus route has started

Poulsbo Bus Route No. 44
Poulsbo Bus Route No. 44

Kitsap Transit fired up its newest Poulsbo bus route this week.

Poulsbo Central route No. 44 will be free for the first month, according to the Poulsbo city website.

The bus makes a full loop around town about every 30 minutes, giving riders access to the Doctors Clinic and Group Health, the Poulsbo library branch, Hostmark Apartments, downtown, Olympic College, WalMart, Central Market and the NK Medical Center.

Poulsbo has three bus routes running Monday through Saturday.

Kitsap Transit buses do not operate on Sunday anywhere in Kitsap County.

Read  Ed Friedrich’s story on the Poulsbo bus route changes.

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Four candidates vie for Poulsbo City Council seat

Poulsbo City Councilwoman Linda Berry-Maraist announced her resignation in December. She was an advocate for the city's parks and area trails. LARRY STEAGALL / KITSAP SUN
Poulsbo City Councilwoman Linda Berry-Maraist announced her resignation in December. She was an advocate for the city’s parks and area trails. LARRY STEAGALL / KITSAP SUN

city logoPoulsbo City Council will interview four candidates and appoint a new member Wednesday night to Linda Berry-Maraist’s vacant seat.

Berry-Maraist announced her resignation at the end of last year to focus on family and starting her career back up. Her term did not end until December 2015, along with three other council members’ terms.

Boone Eidsmoe, Hunter McIntosh, Kenneth Thomas and Shane Skelley are vying for the seat.

Each candidates said they would like to run for election in November.

Council members serve four-year terms and earn $6,000 a year.

BOONE EIDSMOE

Eidsmoe, a recent graduate of North Kitsap High School, is a sale associate at Dahlquist Fine Jewelry in Poulsbo. During his time at North Kitsap High he was the drama president where he helped budget for projects and productions, his application says.

Eidsmoe also is the youngest Poulsbo Lion’s Club member, joining last year. His volunteer work includes helping rebuild trails around Raab Park.

His three highest priorities for the city would be dealing with the issue of drugs and homelessness, along with bringing more businesses to Viking Way.

HUNTER MCINTOSH

McIntosh is the managing director with The Boat Company where he has worked since 2000, with a two-year stint in computer communications from 2006 to 2008. The Boat Company is a “nonprofit educational organization offering luxury eco-cruises through Southeast Alaska,” according to its website.

McIntosh’s career has been spent working with environmental policy for nonprofits, his application says.

His earned his bachelor’s degree in political science, communication and marketing from Sacred Heart University in Connecticut in 1999.

McIntosh has lived in Poulsbo for two years, and half of his community involvement is in Alexandria, Virginia, near Washington, D.C. He served on the city’s Parks and Recreation Commission, the Environmental Policy Commission and the Youth Policy Commission.

His three highest priorities would be redeveloping Viking Avenue, create a “college town” with Olympic College and strengthen the city’s position as a destination local via water access.

KENNETH THOMAS

Thomas bought a Poulsbo home in 2009, before becoming a full-time resident there in 2012.

He is a retired Naval officer, working with the Navy for about 20 years and was most recently responsible for a maintenance training program in the Puget Sound region last year.

Previously he taught high school and middle school in Arizona from 2001 to 2005, after working with the Navy since 1982.

He also served as an elected Goodyear City Councilman in Arizona from 1977 to 1979.

Thomas earned a bachelor’s degree in political science at Arizona State University in 1991 and a master’s in secondary education from the same university in 1997. He also earned a bachelor’s in history at Regents College in New York in 1991, and “completed graduate-level courses in public administration,” which was taught by city managers, his application says.

His top three priorities as councilman would be preparing the city for review of its urban growth areas in 2016, ensuring public safety with a well staffed and trained police department, and maintaining Poulsbo’s quality of life and character..

SHANE SKELLEY

Skelley is a general contractor and owner of Skelley Works LLC in Poulsbo, which he started in 1998.

His company does bid on public works projects, his application said, and it has helped with city projects, including the educational amphitheater at Fish Park.

Skelley has lived in Poulsbo seven years, graduated from North Kitsap High School in 1993 and attended Clatsop Community College in Oregon from 1993-1995.

He was a member of the Poulsbo Planning Commission and Port of Poulsbo Citizen advisory board. He is currently a member of the Poulsbo Rotary Club and Poulsbo Chamber of Commerce.

Skelley’s top three priorities would be “keeping ahead of new storm regulations,” establish stormwater fee incentives for commercial and residential property owners to reduce impervious surfaces, and help streamline permitting processes, “especially when it relates to habitat restorations and projects involving non profits,” according to Skelley’s application.

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Technology, tweets replace Poulsbo’s police advisory board

Towsend-Twitter

Technology has made Poulsbo’s Community Police Advisory Board obsolete, leading to the City Council disbanding it.

The board was established in 1991 to “ensure quality citizen input and information exchange concerning police services and programs,” Police Chief Al Townsend told the City Council Wednesday night.

Before Twitter, Facebook or even easy access to the internet, the board members were the connection between the community and police department.

It was not an investigative, watchdog or review board, Townsend said.

Townsend and the Poulsbo Police communicate directly with citizens these days using an email newsletter and Townsend’s Twitter feed, which has nearly 700 followers.

“These new methods of communication reach a considerably wider audience and supply immediate feedback from both supporters and critics of the police department,” Townsend said.

The department doesn’t have a Facebook. It’s too trendy for that right now.

“The high schoolers tell me that is old school,” Townsend replied in a tweet.

The Twitter account is where the department reaches its younger and “more mobile audience,” he said.

Beyond emails and Twitter, the department has neighborhood meetings, survey audits for those that contact the police and individual meetings with citizens.

“I still have meetings with people in our community routinely. I had one this morning at 8, another one at 1:30,” Townsend said Wednesday. “We are still reaching out. We’re still doing the one-on-one conversations with people, but now we have new methods to reach a much wider audience.”

While online communication grows, the department was struggling to fill the nine board seats and had only seven members.

“People’s schedules have changed over the years,” Townsend said before noting evening meetings are difficult for residents to routinely make, pointing to the small audience of four at the council meeting.

Mayor Becky Erickson also noted that when the board first formed there were no City Council committees, which now include a public safety committee chaired by Councilwoman Connie Lord.

“We’ve really multiplied ways we do outreach to our community,” Erickson said.

Lord said that with current technology and outreach programs the Community Police Advisory Board’s time has “come and gone.”

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Locals help find, return lost Kansas dog

Patty headed home to Kansas by plane Thursday, July 23, after going missing south of Port Orchard on July 4.
Patty headed home to Kansas by plane Thursday, July 23, after going missing south of Port Orchard on July 4.

After Paul Sawatski arrived at the Tacoma Narrows Bridge toll booth and realized that his dog Patty was missing from the back of the truck, her leash and collar dangling over the side of the vehicle, he spent three days searching for her along Highway 16 without success.

More than a week after Sawatski returned to Kansas, several Kitsap County locals continued the search for Patty, a six-year-old hound dog Sawatski has had since she was seven weeks old, he said.

Patty was eventually caught in a live trap with the help of Julie Saavedra, of Bremerton, on July 18, and arrived back in Kansas July 23, almost three weeks after she went missing.

“She clicked her little paws three times and back to Kansas she went,” Saavedra said.

The dog was in good health when she was found, she added.

And Patty is now back to lounging on the bed at home, Sawatski said.

Sawatski and his fiancé Jessica Mahler were driving back to Kansas after visiting family in Kitsap County during the Fourth of July. Sawatski grew up in Seabeck and now lives in Wichita, Kan.

Patty and Jessica both dislike fire works, so Sawatski said he decided to take them and their other two dogs — Charlie and Franklin — to camp grounds were fireworks were not allowed. Somewhere between the Tremont Street exit and the Tacoma Narrows Bridge on Highway 16, Sawatski said he thinks Patty must have jumped out, something she has never done before.

“No one honked. I didn’t hear anything hit the truck,” he said.

Sawatski and Mahler spent the Fourth of July driving up and down Highway 16 looking for Patty. There was no sign of the dog in the road, which kept Sawatski hopeful, he said.

The couple stayed through the weekend searching and contacting local humane societies. Mahler flew back to Kansas for work on Monday and Sawatski stay an extra day to search for Patty.

After seeing online postings for the missing dog, Saavedra contacted the Sawatski and offered her helping locating Patty. Saavedra runs the Facebook page “Kitsap and Mason counties Lost and Found Furbabies.”

People would call Saavedra or Sawatski when they sighted the dog, narrowing where she could be found.

After several reported sightings around the Purdy Crescent Road exit, Saavedra set a live trap with a cooked steak, chew toy and T-shirt that Sawatski mailed her. The hope was that Sawatski’s scent would bring the hound dog into the trap, Saavedra said.

“I think the steak had something to do with it too,” Sawatski said.

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Child safety also a concern that lead to Poulsbo pot ban

Photo by Associated Press file The Poulsbo City Council voted Wednesday to ban marijuana-related businesses and collective gardens for medical marijuana.
Photo by Associated Press file
The Poulsbo City Council voted Wednesday to ban marijuana-related businesses and collective gardens for medical marijuana.

Before the Poulsbo City Council voted to ban marijuana related businesses and collective medical marijuana gardens Wednesday night, several council members and area residents voiced concerns about public safety.
Councilwoman Connie Lord said she was “appalled” to learn that home-based day cares would not require 1,000 feet buffer for marijuana businesses, a topic Chris Henry reported on earlier this week.
State regulations require marijuana businesses be at least 1,000 feet from certain areas:
— Elementary schools or secondary schools.
— Playgrounds.
— Recreation centers or facilities.
— Public parks.
— Public transit centers.
— Libraries.
— Game arcades.
— Child care centers.
In early March, the Liquor Control Board clarified that “child care centers,” as defined under state law, did not include “licensed family home child care,” where “care is provided for twelve or fewer children in the family living quarters where the licensee resides.”
Susan Ogilvie, a Poulsbo resident, said she was in the second phase of completing her home-based day care center that would be nearby the light industrial zone area of Viking Way where marijuana businesses would be allowed.
She asked the council not to approve a permanent marijuana ordinance, because of a nearby the Viking Way area zoned for marijuana businesses. Although there is a 1,000 feet buffer applied to the park where marijuana businesses would not be allowed, Ogilvie argued that many children ride their bikes through the area to get to the park.
Ogilvie also spoke out against marijuana related businesses in Poulsbo at the planning commission’s public hearing last month as the city moved forward with a permanent ordinance for marijuana businesses.
The commission voted to send the permanent ordinance to the City Council for Monday’s hearing.
In February, the council voted to extend the interim marijuana ordinance for six months.
If the council had decided not to act or voted down the ordinance Monday night, the current interim regulations would have expired in August.

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Tracyton residents want to keep their fire station

Central Kitsap Fire and Rescue is considering closing Station 44, on Tracy Street. Rachel Anne Seymour / Kitsap Sun
Central Kitsap Fire and Rescue is considering closing Station 44, on Tracy Street. Rachel Anne Seymour / Kitsap Sun

While only a few Tracyton residents attended Monday’s meeting about the potential closure of the volunteer firehouse in Tracyton, a majority of those that did attend argued for keeping the station open.

“I don’t want to see it go,” Bob Kono said.

Bob and his wife, Kay Kono, have lived in Tracyton for 47 years and were both part of Tracyton’s Fire District 11 before a string of mergers that lead to today’s Central Kitsap Fire and Rescue. Bob was the assistant fire chief when he left the Tracyton Station in 1981, while Kay was a volunteer at the station for 11 years.

“It was the heart of the community,” Kay said.

Station 44, on Tracy Street, is the original building made from masonry blocks in 1963.

Now, it requires about $500,000 in repairs, according to a report by Paul Anderson, CKFR repair and maintenance manager.

Parking lot repairs and stormwater requirements would each cost an estimated $150,000 of that amount.

Other repairs included settling issues, electrical updates, chimney removal, kitchen remodeling and lighting, among others.

Tracyton resident Gary Keenan argued that the repair costs were estimated too high.

“I feel these numbers are grossly exaggerated,” he said. “I don’t feel like these are things that should be presented to us as things we need to do.”

Keenan also argued that the cost of keeping the station open is relatively inexpensive.

Basic utilities cost the district about $4,380 per year, but that does not include routine maintenance and upkeep, Anderson said.

Last year, CKFR reviewed its facilities and vehicles to determine what maintenance and repairs needed to be done, and where money should be invested while the district deals with balancing its budget.

CKFR projects a $1 million shortfall in its 2015 budget if expenses are not reduced.

A majority of the fire district’s revenue comes from levy’s based on assessed property values, which have been decreasing for the past six years, resulting in a loss of more than $2 million.

One Silverdale resident, Ed Stebor, suggested closing the Tracyton Station and selling the land to make money.

If this does happen, Bob Kono, who also lives close to the station, said he is concerned with what will happen to the land.

CKFR will be looking into and considering the station’s zoning location and how much the land could potentially make the district, according Fergus.

CKFR also is considering the community’s safety in the decision to potentially close the Tracyton Station.

Response times will not be significantly impacted, according to the district. Tracyton’s volunteer crews were the first on scene for about 60 of the 3,404 calls in their response area.

The station’s coverage area also overlaps with Meadowdale and North Perry Station 45 on Trenton Avenue. Both stations are staffed with career firefighters.

If the Tracyton Station closes, residents will not see a change in insurance rates because of the station overlaps, according to Ileana LiMarzi, CKFR public information officer.

And Tracyton Station volunteers will be reassigned to Meadowdale Station 41 on Old Military Road.

The district has not made a decision, Commissioner Dave Fergus stressed during Monday’s meeting, but the Tracyton Station will definitely be an agenda item in the future.

The next board meeting is April 14 at CKFR’s administration building.

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Kitsap area firefighters raise more than $46,000 in annual stairclimb

CKFR's Lindsay Muller at the Scott Firefighter Stairclimb in Seattle on Sunday, March 9.
CKFR’s Lindsay Muller at the Scott Firefighter Stairclimb in Seattle on Sunday, March 9. Contributed photo

Firefighters from Kitsap County and across the country, ran, jogged and sometimes leaned against walls on their way up 69 flights and 1,311 steps in full firefighting gear, including oxygen tanks and breathing equipment, Sunday during Seattle’s annual Scott Firefighter Stairclimb, a fundraiser for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.

CKFR firefighter’s eight-man team has raised more money than any other Kitsap area team with $16,036.13, beating its $12,000 goal.

CKFR also has placed in the top 10 fundraising teams per capita.

“Now we really set the bar too high,” joked firefighter Ryan Orseth, CKFR team captain.

Orseth himself made an impressive fundraising push. He was $403.95 short of making the list for the top 10 individual fundraisers. He raised a total of $5,201.05.

Although firefighters are done racing stairs in downtown Seattle’s Columbia Center, the second tallest building west of the Mississippi, they can accept donations until the end of the month.

So far, 1,800 firefighters from more than 300 departments have raised about $1.55 million.

Last year, the event raised $1.44 million with the help of 1,500 firefighters from 282 departments.

While every Kitsap area fire district and department participated in the event, not everyone is as closely connected with the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society as the North Kitsap Fire and Rescue is.

The district lost one of its own firefighters to leukemia on March 8, 1997, according to NKFR spokesperson Michele Laboda.

Tom Kenyon died at age 33, leaving behind his wife and six-month-old daughter, who is now a high school senior.

The stairclimb has always been close to and sometimes on the anniversary of Kenyon’s death, Laboda said.

This year, NKFR’s four-man team has raised $2,128, just a few hundred shy of it’s $2,500 goal.

Besides the gratification of fundraising for a noble cause, there also is a little pride in how quickly individuals and teams climb the stairs.

Each team can have any number of participants, but team times are calculated from the top three fastest times.

CKFR’s team time was 1 hour, 5 minutes and 30 seconds, while the North Mason Fire Authority had the fastest time for Kitsap area districts, finishing in 49:09.

The average firefighter takes 20 to 30 minutes to run up 69 flights of stairs, according to the event website.

Only firefighters are allowed to climb in the event.

This year’s fastest time was 11:03 by 32-year-old Missoula, Mont., firefighter Andrew Drobeck.

CKFR is looking at improving fundraising, not speed, next year.

Orseth said he would like to see CKFR on the top 10 fundraisers list.

This year’s top fundraisers ranged from $22,318 to $68,976.99.

To compete, Orseth suggested pooling Kitsap County’s resources to create a countywide team.

And he has already started campaigning for next year’s climbers, asking CKFR commissioners to consider joining the team.

They declined with laughter.

“There’s paramedics on scene,” Orseth said.

“You’re good.”

 

Local team results

Bainbridge Island Fire
 Time – 58:12
Team members – 7
Raised – $4,835.96
Goal – not listed

Bremerton Fire
 Time – 55:34
Team members – 7
Raised – $3,678.12
Goal – not listed

Central Kitsap Fire and Rescue
 Time – 1:05:30
Team members – 8
Raised – $16,076.13
Goal – $12,000

North Kitsap Fire and Rescue
 Time – 1:19:47
Team members – 4
Raised – $2,128
Goal – $2,500

North Mason Regional Fire Authority
 Time – 49:09
Team members – 4
Raised – $2,045
Goal – $5,000

Poulsbo Fire
 Time – 54:03
Team members – 8
Raised – $6,269.60
Goal – $10,000

South Kitsap Fire and Rescue
 Time – 50:12
Team members – 14
Raised – $11,348
Goal – $25,000

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Poulsbo Fire Department handling more than fires, medical calls

Poulsbo Fire Department's "C Shift" built a ramp during their own time for a family in need. Contributed photo
Poulsbo Fire Department’s “C Shift” built a ramp during their own time for a family in need. Contributed photo

As the Poulsbo Fire Department responded to a medical call last month, the crew tripped over a makeshift wheelchair ramp.

The ramp — made from a lawn mower loading plank on top of two pieces of two-by-eight lumber — left the four-man crew nervous about the family’s safety. A mother, who uses a wheelchair, recently moved in with her daughter, who also is caring for her husband.

“The family seemed a little overwhelmed,” Lt. Chris Rahl said.

After a quick conversation the group — firefighters Chris Rahl, Steve Behal and Chris Cribbs, along with paramedic Ed McLaughlin — asked the family if they could build a new ramp.

And on Feb. 12, a day that all four men were off duty, the crew made a morning supply run for lumber and built the ramp in place during the afternoon.

The new eight-foot long, non-skid ramp only took a few hours to build and was a relatively simple project, Rahl said.

And funding the project was simple.

The department has a community assistance fund that comes from fundraisers and donations, Rahl said. The fund also is used to pay for hotel rooms when a home is severely damaged by a fire, North Kitsap Fishline’s holiday meals and other community aid.

But the department doesn’t take requests, Rahl said.

When firefighters and paramedics see a need, like a new ramp, they take action.

While the fire department has built ramps in the past, the recent ramp is the first one in five or six years, according to Rahl.

Usually, you won’t hear Poulsbo’s firefighters talking much about their community assistance. They are humble and aren’t after recognition, according to spokesperson Jody Matson.

“They just did it to help.”

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