Eagle Harbor Waterfront Park and its new dock will be back on the city council agenda after the board rescinded last week’s vote following public outcry on the decision to prioritize the dock.
During the Jan. 6, the council voted 4-2 to phase in park construction as funds are available, because anticipated grant money didn’t come through and left the city $835,000 short on the project.
Council members disputed the original vision of the park priority and some noted the project had been listed as an information only item on last week’s agenda.
Councilman Wayne Roth and Mayor Anne Blair said the motion that passed last week in favor of prioritizing a new dock was also unclear.
Roth, who voted against last week’s motion, said that he isn’t against a new dock and had understood funding for it would be dealt with depending on what grant money was available.
The new dock is estimated to cost a little more than $2 million, and the park improvements about $1 million. Without the grant funds, the city has $2,232,000 for the project, leaving less than $250,000 for the park after paying for the dock.
Sarah Blossom and Steve Bonkowski voted against rescinding the vote Tuesday night.
Bonkowski said he didn’t believe the council was going in the wrong direction by prioritizing the dock, which he views as dangerous.
The city began looking at updating waterfront park last summer to improve the 5.5-acre park space and dock, which is more than 30 years old. Its 20 concrete floats and 23 piles are deteriorating, and also contain toxic creosote.
Along with a new dock, park improvements would include connecting trails to neighborhoods, along with ADA accessible paths and a viewing plaza or vendor area. The current plans call for turning the tennis court into a “multiuse area.”
Bonkowski said he understand previous discussions on the park concept to be for water access and “water access includes a dock.”
The project has been added to the Jan. 20 agenda for discussion and public comment.
A full story will be online with the Kitsap Sun on Wednesday.
