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08/10/2020 - Minutes 1 City of Port Orchard Economic Development and Tourism Committee Meeting Minutes Monday, August 10, 2020 Committee Members Present: Councilmembers Bek Ashby (Acting Chair), Fred Chang City Officials and Staff: Mayor Rob Putaansuu, Councilmember Cindy Lucarelli, Councilmember Jay Rosapepe, City Clerk Brandy Rinearson, Community Development Director Nick Bond, Finance Director Noah Crocker, Long Range Planner Keri Sallee Guests : Gary Anderson, Jack Edwards, Coreen Haydock, Matt Murphy Acting Chair Ashby called the meeting to order at 9:30 am. Ashby asked if there were any questions or concerns from the City’s business community. Matt Murphy, Executive Director of the Port Orchard Chamber of Commerce, asked if there was an update on the City’s CARES grant funding. Mayor Putaansuu said that the City has 20 CARES grant slots to fill, and received 18 grant applications. The City is working to resolve some issues with applicant information and paperwork, and the Mayor hopes to have a determination of how many complete applications the City has for the August 11 City Council meeting. He will ask the City Council for input on how any remaining slots should be filled, but would prefer to open the application back up for those slots. Coreen Haydock, President of the Port Orchard Bay Street Association (POBSA), said that Wisteria Lane and Victory Vape will be closing, but she is grateful that more businesses have not closed during the pandemic. POBSA is trying to do a few fun, socially-distanced events to bring more people downtown. 1. Discussion: Lodging Tax Funding. City Clerk Rinearson said that she reached out to hoteliers and bed & breakfast operators to find out if they wanted to participate in the lodging tax funding allocation process this year. After she receives these responses, she will then reach out to nonprofits. She hopes to complete the outreach process within the next couple of weeks, and open up the application period in the first part of September for a couple of weeks. The Lodging Tax Advisory Committee (LTAC) would then meet in October to select the allocations, which would coincide with the City’s 2021-22 budget process. Finance Director Noah Crocker said that in the 2020 the City allocated $100,000 in LTAC funding, has collected approximately $53,000 more this year so far, and has spent only about $9.400 due to the cancellation of many events. Crocker expects that only about $20,000 of the funds will be spent in 2020. This will leave about $80,000 to be reappropriated, in addition to any new amount that LTAC wants to have added to that funding pool. Councilmember Rosapepe said that there is also about $100,000 in reserve funding, and it may be helpful to spread the allocation of these funds over the next two-year budget cycle to help businesses recover. Crocker said that this could be done with the understanding that businesses will be notified that the enlarged funding amount would be an anomaly. Haydock said that if businesses are aware that increased funds are available in the next couple of years, they will work extra hard to take advantage of the opportunity and bring visitors back to Port Orchard. Ashby asked Putaansuu if he had any idea when Kitsap County might move to the next phase of reopening. He said that although the County is doing well on some of the markers, the trace contacting and number of contacts is presenting more difficulty than when the original shutdown occurred in March. The County may not get to Phase 4 in 2020. 2 Councilmember Lucarelli asked if LTAC funds could be used for the proposed South Kitsap Community Events Center (SKCEC). The Mayor said it might be possible to set some funds aside as seed money for the SKCEC, but he wants to be sure to help businesses in their time of need. It may also be possible for current awardees to roll their awards over to next year. Rinearson said she is looking for guidance from the City Council on whether the LTAC application process should be opened in September as usual, or should be postponed until early next year. If Council wants the application process to move forward now, the LTAC will need guidance on what type of events can be held safely and should be considered for funding while the county remains in Phase 2. The committee agreed to take these issues to the August 18 Council meeting for discussion. 2. Update: South Kitsap Community Events Center. Community Development Director Bond said that the City has executed a contract with Rice Fergus Miller to design the South Kitsap Community Events Center. Currently, six sites are being considered. Putaansuu said that these options will undergo refinement and the City is still considering other sites. The goal is to narrow down the sites to three preferred alternatives. Putaansuu said that by the end of the year, the City needs to be in Olympia asking for site-specific funding for real estate acquisition, and this requires Kitsap Bank to settle on its new headquarters site before then. Port of Bremerton Commissioner Gary Anderson said that the City may also want to consider the property where the Western Washington Center for the Arts is located. Additional Discussion: Bond provided an update of development activity in the City. The Department of Community Development (DCD) has issued 72 single-family building permits so far this year, with 20 waiting to be picked up, and 10 to 20 more applications are expected in 2020. This compares to 80 single-family building permits issued in 2019. The McCormick Woods subdivisions that have accounted for the most development activity are nearly built out, but a number of additional lots will be coming online in 2021 with new final plat approvals. Blueberry Ridge will have 105 lots, the Geiger Plat will have 50 lots, and Stetson Heights will have 100 lots in Phase I. McCormick Parcel A is waiting for hearing examiner approval, and if approved may start clearing operations in late August or September. McCormick North Phase III has been cleared for 84 homes which are intended to be built in 2021, and the remainder of single-family homes in McCormick North are also in the pipeline for 2021 development. McCormick has also submitted plans for the Campus Parkway Roundabout to the Engineering Department. McCormick West has a plat amendment under review, which will confirm the plat alignment with the new water main that will serve McCormick West and the rest of the 580 Zone from the new reservoir. McCormick also wants to start building on a few hundred lots here as well in 2021. McCormick has stated that their target is 400 homes per year. Bond said the 580 Zone reservoir is under construction, and Well 12 has received recommendations for permanent drilling and installation, and is expected to yield around 1,000 gallons per minute. The Rush Development Company is coming in with an application for 56 live/work units at the corner of Sidney and Sedgwick. Building permits have been submitted for 136 apartments on Sedgwick next to the Fred Meyer, for 99 units in Phase II of the Overlook Apartments on Mile Hill, and the 39-unit mixed-use building on the old Cheers site. Ashby asked if the City has staff capacity to handle this anticipated permit volume. Bond said that he hopes the upcoming organizational study will address this issue, but he believes the biggest bottlenecks will be Public Works’ engineering review, since they are doing two to three times the reviews of the DCD planners, and building inspection. The City’s current building inspector, John Robinson, has stated his intent to retire, and it will take a while for a replacement to get up to his speed. The City may need to hire an inspection consultant as needed. Acting Chair Ashby adjourned the meeting at 9:57 am. Next Meeting: September 14, 2020 at 9:30 am, via Zoom teleconference.