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HomeMy WebLinkAbout04/09/2026 - Special - MinutesDocusign Envelope ID: EF3653A8-SAAB-8B71-8363-CDF95F774C78 Contact us: Meeting Location: Phone (360) 876-4407 McCORCHARD 5155 McCormick Woods Clubhouse odsr Email 5155 McCormick Woods Dr SW cityhall@portorchardwa.gov Port Orchard WA 98367 www.portorchardwa.gov City Council Special Meeting Minutes Town Hall of Thursday, April 9, 2026 Roll Call was taken by the City Clerk as follows: Present: John Morrissey, Mayor Pro -tern, Position No. 2 Scott Diener, Councilmember, Position No. 3 Jay Rosapepe, Councilmember, Position At -Large Shirah Dedman, Councilmember, Position No. 6 Mark Trenary, Councilmember, Position No. 1 Eric Worden, Councilmember, Position No. 4 Heidi Fenton, Councilmember, Position No. 5 Robert Putaansuu, Mayor Staff present: City Clerk and Communications Specialist Hansen. 1. Call to Order - Opening Mayor Pro -tern Morrissey opened the meeting at 6:02pm. He briefly went over the meeting outline, including the timeline for each speaker. 2. Council Presentations Councilmember Rosapepe spoke about the following topics: • Comprehensive Plan and Parks Plan, explaining those are the source documents for the road map for the City; • Supporting the PSRC 40 -year vision as it helps plan for growth that is coming; • Future of park needs, including make sure they are accessible, safe, well maintained; and • Asked for support from residents, should it be brought to the voters for a Park District as it is the most reliable way for long-term funding. Councilmember Diener spoke about the following topics: • Right of way improvements and how it relates to State funding; • Reminder Tremont cost over $22,000,000 and took many years to complete; • Bethel Phase 1 (Salmonberry to Blueberry) hoping to go out to bid. The estimated cost Docusign Envelope ID: EF3653A8-SAAB-8B71-8363-CDF95F774C78 with today's dollars is $28,000,000 to construct, including multimodal, streetscapes, and stormwater improvements; • Lincoln and Mitchell roundabouts; • Anderson Hill and McCormick Woods Drive roundabouts; • WSDOT requirements to improve natural fish and wildlife passages thoughtout State highways, protecting salmon habitat; and • Sidney right-of-way improvements near Berry Lake have begun and is almost complete. Councilmember Worden said there are flyers at the front counter with the City Council's contact information and feedback forms should they be interested. Councilmember Worden spoke about the following topics: • Introduced himself, length been on the Council and his experience in government; • Explained utility billing charges, including how often it is due, mentioning it includes sewer and stormwater fees; • City has incurred lots of new residents and that we are dealing with the sins of our past in that we have aging infrastructure and can no longer put them off; • Water rates were shifted from residents subsiding high usage of commercial building to now everyone is billed based on actual usage; • Completed a $14,000,000 lift station improvement which serves approximately 90% of the City; • Explained where most of utility money is spent, saying it is typically on infrastructure underground work, meaning improvements are hard see; • Encouraged to reduce water during the summer, which will help preserve water and reduce usage; and • We have installed new meters to save on staff time, identify leaks sooner, efficiencies. Councilmember Trenary spoke about the following topics: • Said this is the first town hall in his years of service as a councilmember and provided a brief background of his experience with the City; • Said the City is one of the fastest growing communities and has been for several years; • Talked about the changes that comes with growing; • Explained the process of hiring officers and the length of time it takes them to be out on patrol; • Acknowledged that speeding is an issue in all areas of the City and we need to change the behaviors; and provide some data on how the police determine which areas get patrolled; • Spoke about the state of the City's finances; • Announced the City has received back-to-back good audits and has good debit management; • Due to good debit management practices and investment policies, we have great ratings should the City need to borrow money, meaning we get really good interest rates; April 9, 2026, City Council Town Hall Meeting Minutes Page 2 of 6 Docusign Envelope ID: EF3653A8-9AAB-8B71-8363-CDF95F774C78 and • We receive lots of grants to help offset the burden of the infrastructure cost to the citizens, reducing the impact on the general fund. Councilmember Dedman introduced herself and asked the attendees to take 3 minutes to meet each other. She spoke to the following: • Committees she serves on; • Provided date/times when Coffee with Council meet; • Provided when the City Council meetings are ; • Provided her contact information, including having virtual office hours; and • Asked attendees to subscribe to the City's social media and newsletters. Councilmember Fenton spoke about the following topics: • First year FIFA World Cup series will be in Washington, which will bring economic and tourism to our downtown; • Provided timeline of when the soccer games will be playing; • Mentioned the City of Bremerton is a designated Fan Zone; • City contracted to have a Mural downtown that captures our downtown waterfront and ferry; • Downtown is bringing back hanging baskets; • Adding additional picnic tables and benches to the downtown area; • The older homes along the Bay Street Pathway have been taken down enhancing the waterfront; • City partnering with downtown property owners on a grant for downtown storefronts for them to improve their facade; and • City has organized the annual community cleanup day. Councilmember Morrissey spoke about the following topics: • Downtown projects that included updates on the Community Center and Orchard Street Plaza; • Talked about the changeover in Kitsap Bank ownership; • Downtown buildings grant program; and • Bay Street Pedestrian Pathway update. 3. Mayor Remarks Mayor Putaansuu introduced himself and provided the length of his tenure with the City, including his time spent as a Councilmember. He said he has the best job in the world. He briefly spoke about the following: • Current and upcoming construction projects; • Public should follow the City on social media as changes will be posted regularly; • Changes to the building and permitting department are in the works, including April 9, 2026, City Council Town Hall Meeting Minutes Page 3 of 6 Docusign Envelope ID: EF3653A8-SAAB-8B71-8363-CDF95F774C78 implementing new software and we have invested in customer experience training; • Design phase of the Ruby Creek Center near Sidney, saying we are partnering with Kitsap Transit for them to build a park and ride lot to allow that section of the City to partake in commuting by ferry and fast ferry. The development is a mixed use of retail space and housing; • State legislatures showed support of the need to improve Sedgwick/Hwy 16 relating to traffic conjunction, but it did not get funded. However, he was pleased that they are now talking about it, versus it never being considered; • Working on water interties for our water system in the McCormmick Woods/Anderson Hill area of the City; • Working on road improvements at Anderson Hill, we are in the design phase and looking for more funding to compete the project; and • Police department is just about fully staffed, which has not been that way since before COVID. 4. Q&A Session Attendees asked the City Council and Mayor questions. They included: Q: How the impact of Kitsap Bank buy out impacts the Community Event Center? A: It does not impact the project. The project is funded with City funds, grants, and the Kitsap Regional Library. They do not have any dollars connected with the project. Q: What is Council doing about homelessness downtown and what is the City policy on it? A: We are doing what the State has authorized. We offer services, but they must want the service. Although it may not be what some want, being unhoused is not a crime. Our officers, especially Sergeant Main, are familiar with all of them and monitors the area and will continue to reach out to them to encourage them to get the help they need. Q: What is the update on Kitsap Transit's downtown waterfront project? A: As of today, there are no plans to move forward with the project. There has been no recent discussions. Should they decide to move forward, they will be required to seek City Council approval, as we own the building. Q: What is the City doing about downtown, we have such a beautiful waterfront? A: More details about the downtown Buildings Grant program the City is offering was provided. Q: Where and why are people moving to Port Orchard? A: PSRC's 2040 Vision plan calls for an additional 10,000 people over the next 15 years is the major driving force. Most are migrating from Seattle as we are more affordable. Other areas of the County have little room for development; we still have more areas for development. It was stated that once the Fast Ferry was implemented it was a game April 9, 2026, City Council Town Hall Meeting Minutes Page 4 of 6 Docusign Envelope ID: EF3653A8-SAAB-8B71-8363-CDF95F774C78 changer. The City is experiencing similar growth as the City of Gig Harbor. Q: What is the process for the citizens to set Council priorities and what to fund? A. Council sets priorities from citizens whom they have interacted with. Annual retreats are where Council can provide feedback to staff and the Mayor on what they have heard from the community. In addition, when the public reach out at Council meetings, we take the feedback and incorporate them into their meeting, via change or at the next Council work study or retreats. Lastly, they also get feedback from Coffee with the Council get- togethers. Keep in mind that some changes are set by the State and we are required to make some policy changes and that tend to be unfunded mandates. Q: Does the City have building codes in place to prevent new construction blocking views? A: We do have a section downtown, Overlay District, that protects view. We have a map on the City's website people can look at to see if you are in a protected area. Q: When are you planning to widen Bethel? A: It is a complex answer. We fund projects of that nature mostly by impact fees. We have started collecting them from developers as they build. This project also involves purchasing property that is adjacent to the road, which takes significant amount of time. We also need to work with other partners for their utilities and the City's underground infrastructure. The City has planned it in five phases. The first phase is scheduled to start in 2028. There are a lot of moving parts with this project. Q: I was told that the parks and trails in McCormick Woods are property of the HOA, is that true? A: Not accurate. The City was donated the property during the annexation of the area. They are public and anyone can use them. Q: What is going on with the Fire Station in McCormick Woods? A: The South Kitsap Fire and Rescue purchased property to build a fire station. However, when they were ready to build they were told that the wetlands around the property increased, making the property no longer buildable. They have since purchased a different property and plan to move forward with building it there. Mayor Pro-tem Morrissey reminded the attendees that we have feedback cards and would encourage everyone to provide their feedback on how this meeting went and what they would like to see for future meetings. 5. Breakout Conversations Mayor Pro -tern Morrissey ended the Q&A session and thanked the public for their participation. He said if anyone had additional questions and/or comments now is their time to speak to individual Councilmembers on their spoken topic(s). April 9, 2026, City Council Town Hall Meeting Minutes Page 5 of 6 Docusign Envelope ID: EF3653A8-SAAB-8B71-8363-CDF95F774C78 Mayor, Council and public thanked each other for having the meeting in the area and spoke about projects and plans for the City. The next meeting will be at Gathered by Josephine's on June 4th. 6. Adjournment Councilmember Pro -tern Morrissey adjourned the meeting at 7:50pm. LAISigned by: w� B0011� Brandy Wallace, MMC, City Clerk �.5igned by: Doti Pt, MJA sin. 2RQrAQ9P'APrAA7n Robert Putaansuu, Mayor April 9, 2026, City Council Town Hall Meeting Minutes Page 6 of 6