Loading...
09/09/2019 - Minutes 1 City of Port Orchard Economic Development and Tourism Committee Meeting Minutes Monday, September 9, 2019 Committee Members Present: Council Members Bek Ashby (Chair), Jay Rosapepe Committee Members Absent: Council Member Scott Diener City Officials and Staff: Mayor Rob Putaansuu, Community Development Director Nick Bond, Public Works Director Mark Dorsey, City Clerk Brandy Rinearson, Long Range Planner Keri Sallee Guests: Jack Edwards, Matt Murphy, Axel Strakeljahn, Kathleen Wilson Chair Ashby called the meeting to order at 9:30 am. 1. Discussion: City Transportation Needs. Chair Ashby said that because most of the funding available right now for City transportation projects is intended to address the effects of future growth on the transportation system, she would like to know how the City can also pay for needed maintenance and upgrade projects as well. Several neighborhoods are in need of pavement repair and the City cannot tell them when this work will be done. Mayor Putaansuu said that the City’s biennial budget process includes a pavement management system using sonar, which prioritizes repairs to City streets based on their subgrade condition and how much the repair work will cost. The City is also required to retrofit sidewalks and transitions for ADA compliance, and may need to upgrade sewer and water utilities, when roads undergo major repair. Ashby suggested the creation of an ad hoc committee to study City transportation maintenance needs and funding requirements, as no other Council committee specifically focuses on these issues. A committee could study ideas for funding road maintenance, such as putting a bond package out to voters, or increasing car tab fees. Public Works Director Dorsey said that improvements and repairs on sections of Pottery Road and Sidney Road are scheduled for 2020-2021. Several streets between Bethel, Sedgwick and Maple may be torn up and repaired as part of the Well 13 project. Putaansuu said that the topic of street funding could be a significant discussion item at the next Council retreat, including putting together a list of potential projects and going to the voters with prospective ways to pay for it. He added that the City would know more about its budgetary restrictions within the next 90 days, after the City’s mid-biennium budgetary review has been completed and the Eyman initiative (I-976, Limits on Motor Vehicle Taxes and Fees) has been voted on. 2. Update: Community Center. Putaansuu shared a draft interlocal agreement (ILA) and agreement task attachment with the committee. The documents as revised are scheduled to be sent to the Public Facilities District (PFD) by the end of the week. The City is requesting $12 million and wants a financial commitment from the PFD to the entire project, not just to a feasibility study, and the PFD seems receptive to that. The attachment specifies each task and deliverable within the project, as part of an overall risk assessment for financial viability, and provides direction on how the PFD could direct their cash flow. It also clarifies the roles and contributions of each partner in the development. Ashby said that if the PFD is in charge of Task 1 (Feasibility Study), she is concerned that it may not be completed in a time-efficient manner. Putaansuu said that he did not disagree with that concern; however, the PFD had requested responsibility for that task to ensure a transparent, independent outcome for the consultant selection and work. Putaansuu will continue to work on revisions to the ILA and attachment, and will bring the documents to the full Council for discussion at the September 10 meeting. Putaansuu hopes to have the ILA on the PFD’s next meeting agenda on September 23. 2 3. Update: Applications for 2020 Lodging Tax Funding. Putaansuu said that the Port Orchard Bay Street Association (POBSA) recently withdrew from the Lodging Tax Advisory Committee (LTAC) due to time constraints, and he will recommend that the City Council appoint the Saints Car Club in its place. City Clerk Rinearson said that the City has received six LTAC funding applications so far, and is expecting three more by the deadline of 4 pm that day. All applications received will be forwarded to the LTAC that week. She said that the City has received its first invoice for summer foot ferry services, covering the period from May through July, which showed ridership of approximately 4,600. A small amount of funding may need to be provided from the Mayor’s discretionary budget to make up for any shortfall in the allocated budget; however, the City has not yet received ridership and revenue totals for August, which includes The Cruz car show and Taste of Port Orchard. Ashby said that local businesses and events need to promote the foot ferry more heavily. Support for Sunday foot ferry service continues to be problematic, since on Sundays Kitsap Transit does not provide bus service and the high-speed Bremerton ferry does not run. Rinearson said that recipients of LTAC funds may be asked to start submitting their reports on annual fund expenditures to the City no later than December 15 of each year, so that the City’s finance department can complete its annual payments and reporting by the end of each calendar year. Currently, recipients have until the first week of January to submit the previous year’s reports. Matt Murphy, executive director of the Chamber of Commerce, asked when the Chamber could weigh in on how much funding is granted to the foot ferry and which time slots or events should be given priority. Rinearson said that the City usually meets with its foot ferry funding partner, the City of Bremerton, during October budget discussions to set the next year’s foot ferry budget and proportional contributions. Jack Edwards, manager of Days Inn, said that he was not supportive of additional foot ferry funding that would focus more heavily on events that did not put “heads in beds”, i.e. would not bring tourists to stay overnight in Port Orchard, such as the Argosy day cruise ship stop in Bremerton. 4. Discussion: Plastic Bag Reduction Ordinance – Public Education and Outreach. Community Development Director Bond said that Kitsap County has been providing, and will continue to provide, community outreach and education about the January 2020 single-use plastic bag ban, in Port Orchard and Bremerton as well as in unincorporated Kitsap County. The County has informational booths in large retail outlets, at special events throughout the county, and is distributing reusable bags in various locations. Axel Strakeljahn, Port of Bremerton Commissioner, suggested that informational banners or placards be placed in all retail outlets, at the entrances or checkstands. Long Range Planner Keri Sallee said that she had spoken with Chris Piercy, Kitsap County Solid Waste Program Supervisor, and he indicated that while the County felt they had an adequate outreach program, the City might want to coordinate with the Chamber of Commerce and send individual notices to retail outlets, informing them of the upcoming ban and suggesting how they could assist their customers through the transition to recyclable and multiuse bags. Sallee will work with Murphy to get the message out to Chamber members. Ashby said that it could be helpful if County or City staff could speak to this topic at a POBSA or Chamber luncheon, and provide brochures and bags for distribution. The City will continue to provide information on its social media sites, and in December will place a banner link on the City’s website homepage connecting to the City’s existing informational page about the plastic bag ban. 5. Discussion: Business Community Discussion. Murphy said that it is his understanding that the City Council will talk about the Annapolis community’s concerns about the waterfront trail at the September 17 work-study meeting. Putaansuu confirmed that there will be a presentation with a timeline of action items and maps, including poster boards showing impacted properties. In 1990, a downtown pathway became part of the City’s transportation plan and comprehensive plan. There were numerous check-ins with the public, including a couple of hundred notices about the City’s plans that went out to property owners around 2010. Putaansuu said that he is not trying to minimize the impacts to Whiskey Gulch, including the acquisition of their 10 parking stalls, but the impacts to other properties are minimal. There will be no acquisition of any parts of buildings. Ashby said that the Whiskey Gulch building underwent ownership changes and obtained building permits in 2011, and the public 3 hearing notices for the pathway were sent in 2012, so it should not have been a surprise to anyone. Ashby stressed that the City is not responsible for leases that people have signed, or for a business’ operating plan or operating hours. The building owners have been included in all of the City’s public noticing, and people need to do their own due diligence as well. Ashby said that the September 17 presentation will not be a give-and-take discussion with the public; it will be an educational presentation, and will be for the benefit of several Council members who have been elected since the pathway project started, as well as for the public. Murphy said that he hopes this presentation will settle the rumors and allow people to have informed opinions. Putaansuu said he believes the presentation will show that the City has had a detailed, transparent process that began almost 30 years ago. He said that individual Council members are available to discuss concerns with citizens, and this can be more helpful to improve communication and understanding than just going to the podium at a Council meeting. Councilmember Rosapepe said that this informational meeting will be helpful to him, as he was not on the Council when the decisions about the pathway were made. He added that Council represents the whole city, and that what is an issue for one business is not an issue for three-quarters of the people he talks to, so Council has to work to balance the interests of all its citizens. Ashby said that she has read posts by citizens on social media saying that the Council has refused to meet with them. In her opinion, a group of two or three Councilmembers should not meet with citizens, because they cannot make any decisions outside the full Council, and discussions should take place in a public meeting that is recorded and available on the City’s website, so there are no “he said/she said” disagreements. Putaansuu said that it must also be remembered that with a federalized grant such as the City has received for the pathway, the City is not allowed to negotiate face-to-face about the property needed for this project with the property owners; it must be done through a right-of-way agent who serves as a middleman. Chair Ashby adjourned the meeting at 10:48 am. Next Meeting: October 14, 2019, at 9:30 am in the Council Chambers.