Peninsular Thinking A conversation about Bremerton, Port Orchard, Poulsbo, Silverdale, Bainbridge Island, Kingston, Manchester, Seabeck, Southworth, Suquamish, Belfair, Keyport, Olalla, Bangor, Hansville, Indianola, Port Gamble, Allyn, Port Ludlow, Gig Harbor and every once in a while something about the good folks who don't have the good fortune to live here.
Like many of us, Brenda Prowse and her
husband, Hugh, spent Friday night watching the harrowing coverage
of a series of terror attacks that
killed more than 120 people in Paris.
But Prowse happened to be watching it from her
apartment near the Eiffel Tower.
The former Poulsbo realtor has lived in
Paris since January
2013. As gunmen and suicide bombers carried out the worst
violence in Paris since World War II, she arrived at their
apartment for the evening in the 7th arrondissement not knowing it
was happening.
“We were unaware of the horror last
night until we returned from dinner and started receiving text
messages from friends,” she told me.
They watched the news until almost 4 a.m. Saturday.
Only days earlier, they had gone to a bar near Place de la
Republique, where two of the shootings occurred. While it feels
close, in some ways, it also feels distant, this being Paris, she
said.
“Threemiles
is not that far away but in a city this densely populated it is
almost another world,” she said.
When they awoke Saturday, she went for a run. Their
apartment manager lit a candle in the foyer. And while the streets
were a little quieter, she said people were still going about their
business.
“Buses, metro, taxis were all
operating this morning,” she said, adding a visiting friend took
the train to London without incident. “Cafes were serving
lunch.”
Even as the memorials grow around
the city, it seems there’s an incredible resiliency in the City of
Light, though its iconic Eiffel Tower is dark for the
moment.
“Parisians are out and about today
and though wary, are not afraid to celebrate life,” she told
me.
Vida Shapanus watched U.S. planes fly through the night to
Normandy, France, for the D-Day Invasion on June 6, 1944.
She was serving as an American military nurse in the British
Isles during World War II. Although there were rumors around the
base of a U.S. invasion coming, she didn’t know where the planes
had been going at the time.
Vida Shapanus, far right, and
friends during their World War II deployment in Wales.
Two days after D-Day, Vida started treating soldiers from the
invasion who had been stabilized in field hospitals and sent to her
base in Wales.
Now, the 93-year-old Poulsbo resident is looking to print a book
about her military service experience, including the night of D-Day
planes.
Vida is searching for a professional editor, graphic artist and
publisher to help finish the book, said her oldest daughter, Joanna
Shapanus.
Vida grew up in Fresno, California, where she graduated from
nursing school in 1943 before joining the Air Force as a nurse. She
has lived in Kitsap County since 1990.
She met her husband Tony Shapanus, who died Oct. 20, 1998,
during basic training. They kept in contact through letters as
friends during the war and started dating once she returned to the
states. They have four children, six grandchildren and six great
grandchildren.
She was stationed at a rural base made of portable buildings
surrounded by farmland in Wales.
“We had livestock wandering through the hospital grounds,” she
said.
Once she ran straight into a cow during a night duty.
“I bumped into something big and solid,” she said. “One end
mooed at me.”
No lights were allowed on the base at night and only a small
flashlight pointed at your feet could be used to move around, she
said.
Vida Shapanus, 93
She spent less than two years in the British Isles before coming
back to the states to be discharged in January 1946.
While overseas she saw the wreckage of London from Nazi bombing,
and rode a French cruise ship refurbished as a military vessel
since it had been left behind when Germany invaded France.
Although she kept in contact with several nursing friends she
made during the war, all of them have died.
Olumide Ogunubi, a Lagos State firefighter, died
Saturday during a “deep well rescue,” Wright said in an email.
Ogunubi was one of 90 Nigerian firefighters who
Wright and several regional firefighters trained through Targhee
Fire.
“Nigerian firefighters face risks and challenges that are hard
to fathom for those in the West,” Wright said. “We send our
thoughts and prayers to the Lagos State Fire Service family and the
family of firefighter Olumide.”
Olumide was assigned to the Ikotun station in Lagos
State.
A map of where the new benches
will be place. They are the blue rectangles. Map courtesy of the
city of Poulsbo.
There will be quite a few more spots to sit back, relax and
enjoy the view at Poulsbo’s waterfront park next month.
The city is installing 10 new benches between the
Austin-Kvelstad Pavilion and the parking lot. The metal benches
will be similar to the blue benches at the park, although the new
ones will be dark brown to match the pavilion, said Mary McCluskey,
park director.
Workers plan to pour concrete Thursday, and all the benches will
be done by the end of April.
Viking
Fest, one of the city’s largest event, is in mid-May.
Questions and discussions centered around parking and traffic
concerns during a neighborhood meeting last Wednesday evening about
a proposed assisted living development in Poulsbo.
“It’s the project that will create the least amount of traffic
and parking problems that you can put on the site,” Co-developer
David Smith told about 30 people at the meeting.
The facility, known as Poulsbo Place II, would
have underground parking to provide enough space for
residents, guests and employees at the assisted living facility, he
said.
There would be 40 parking stalls under the facility along Third
Avenue, with another 52 stalls at the corner of Third Avenue and
Iverson Street. There is the possibility of an expansion above the
52 parking stalls.
There also would be four handicapped parking spots by the main
entrance of the building, although the area would be mainly for
picking up and dropping off residents.
The north end of the development along Sunset Street would have
three stories with retail on the ground level. A majority of the
parking would be unground along the Third Avenue.
Although the Third Avenue buildings would have three-stories,
including parking on the lower level, it would appear to be
two-stories from Sunset Street, said Ian Andersen, a Rice Fergus
Miller architect working on the project.
While residents had questions about traffic and parking, only
one spoke out in favor of leaving the property undeveloped or
developing a building that would have even less impact on traffic,
such as a church, she said.
The property — 2.2 acres of grass and blackberry bushes with no
trees — is assessed at $183,700.
Smith compared available parking and traffic of the proposed
project to the existing Liberty Shores Senior Living in Poulsbo
where his mother-in-law was.
Liberty Shores has 102 units, and Poulsbo Place II would have
100 units, fewer than a dozen of those being two-person units.
“It works great except on Christmas and Thanksgiving,” Smith
said about Liberty Shores. “Other than that, I’ve always had
parking.”
Most of the traffic at the proposed facility would be during a
change shift for employees at the facility.
Drivers would enter underground parking near the curve on Sunset
and Third Avenue, and exit on Iverson Street. Drivers can only
enter and exit via right turns.
There will be an elevator, along with emergency stairs in the
parking garage area.
Dumpster for the facility will be in the garage area and set out
for a few hours for pickup on trash day.
The residents also would be “captive customers” that would help
support nearby businesses and downtown Poulsbo just a couple blocks
away, Smith said.
When one woman questioned whether residents would actually get
out and about, Smith said that he often went on walks with his
mother-in-law around Liberty Shores and they would go out eating or
shopping about once a week.
Developers are still negotiating with Martha & Mary — which
runs a nursing home in Poulsbo — to manage the assisted living
facility, Smith said.
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.
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.
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 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.
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.”
