REVIEW BAINBRIDGE ISLAND
BEST OF BAINBRIDGE Special Supplement to the Bainbridge Island Review
Friday, August 26, 2016 | Vol. 91, No. 35 | WWW.BAINBRIDGEREVIEW.COM | 75¢
INSIDE: Best of Bainbridge
City considering $15 million bond for bike paths, trail projects Council may pay for new police station with non-voted bonds BY BRIAN KELLY
Bainbridge Island Review
Bainbridge Island council members are planning to put a $15 million bond measure on the ballot next year to pay for bike lanes, sidewalks and other non-motorized improvements. Voters likely won’t be asked, however, to cast a ballot to approve the construction of a new police station. Instead, the council is now
considering issuing councilmanic, or non-voted, bonds to pay for the new facility. Bainbridge voters rejected a $15 million request last November from city hall to buy land and build a new public safety facility on Madison Avenue north of city hall. At the Bainbridge city council’s meeting this week, City Manager Doug Schulze set out the financing options — and the city’s current debt load — that should be considered as the council sets out its big infrastructure projects for the coming years. Also on the horizon: a remake of
Town Square next to city hall that some say could include a multi-level parking garage and the potential move of the Bainbridge Island Historical Museum. Winslow merchants have long clamored for a new parking structure that would free up parking spaces for shoppers on Winslow Way. Schulze said the longstanding citizen task force on parking, which is made up of mostly downtown business representatives, would bring forward a recommendation in the coming months after the community has had a chance to weigh in on what’s wanted.
A price tag has yet to be fixed for such a structure, but Schulze also cautioned the council that it was unlikely the project could gain approval by voters at the ballot box if they were asked to increase taxes to pay for it. All three of the projects — bike routes, the police station and Town Square makeover — could not be financed in a “pay as you go” approach by the city, Schulze said. Schulze also noted the number of property tax increases that have already been put before the voters in recent years. There was the police station
bond measure that lost in a landslide, but voters did overwhelmingly approve a $5.9 million bond measure to pay for the purchase of the 23-acre Sakai property for a public park, and a $16 million bond measure to finance new and improved fire stations on Bainbridge, early last year. Islanders also said “yes” earlier this year to an $81.2 million bond measure to replace Captain Johnston Blakely Elementary and Bainbridge High School’s 100 Building. TURN TO BONDS | A32
Group takes first crack at new Blakely
Blocking out the last days of summer
REPORT SETS OUT SIZE, SPACE NEEDS BY JESSICA SHELTON Bainbridge Island Review
Luciano Marano | Bainbridge Island Review
The Bainbridge High School football team is back on the field this week, with the first game of the year slated at North Kitsap High on Friday, Sept. 2. The Spartan squad is being led this year by newly appointed Head Coach Jeff Rouser, a former Kingston High defensive coordinator. Turn to page A27 for an in-depth interview with Rouser as he sets out his goals for the program.
The report is out: 290 pages. For four months, a 19-member committee of school board directors, teachers, community members and administrators have brooded over all the needs of a new Captain Johnston Blakely Elementary School and landed on some critical numbers and guiding principles. Pending the board’s approval late this week, the school will be built to serve 450 students, with site layout and systems designs TURN TO BLAKELY | A32
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