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INSIDE
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 2011 | Vol. 111, No. 46 | WWW.BAINBRIDGEREVIEW.COM | 75¢ WINSLOW GETS SOME GREEN
City disciplines two officers Police Guild president appeals suspension; secretary resigns. By RICHARD D. OXLEY Staff Writer
Dennis Anstine/Staff Photo
Workers for Garrison Creek Landscaping of Kent wrestle with one of about 25 trees planted along Winslow Way earlier this week. A foreman for the company said that besides the trees, some 3,000 planting of shrubs, annuals and perennials were being placed in the new planters along the street and its sidewalks between Madison Avenue and State Route 305.
Two Bainbridge Island police officers received disciplinary action in the wake of separate investigations that have resulted in one officer's suspension and another resigning. Police Officer Scott Weiss, president of the Bainbridge Island Police Guild, has filed a grievance of his current suspension of 160 work hours without pay after an investigation revealed he was involved in surveillance of a City Council member "for personal reasons." The suspension does not affect his current standing as the president of the police guild.
In a separate action, Police Officer Michelle Vollmer, the guild's secretary, resigned in lieu of termination after an investigation pertaining to her "surreptitiously recording" a meeting between City Manager Brenda Bauer and members of the police guild. "We believe we have a very good police force … they work hard," Bauer said. "If there are people who make mistakes they will be held accountable. If there are people who aren't a good fit, there will be consequences." Surveillance allegations Weiss was alleged to have followed and "surveilled" SEE POLICE, A5
Storyville plans coffee bar/market downtown By DENNIS ANSTINE Staff Writer
The owners of Storyville Coffee Co. LLC, a roaster located on Bainbridge Island, have purchased the old Winslow Hardware building with the goal of establishing a retail coffee business in the large space. The 6,000-plus square foot building, which housed Port Madison Home for seven years, has been vacant since April when John Hays closed his high-end furniture store on Winslow Way. Kris Rosenstrater, president of Storyville, said he signed the sale papers on Tuesday; previous owners were Ken Schuricht and Mary Hall of Winslow Paint Co. “I’ve been keeping my eye on it,” said Rosenstrater. “First it was for lease and then when a ‘for sale’ sign went up we got more serious about it. “It’s one of the most amazing properties on the island and a great opportunity, so it was decided to check it out,” he said.
Rosenstrater said the business model is to have multiple tenants, anchored by “a high culinary coffee bar.” The goal is to have a “marketplace” with a retail food and drink emphasis. Storyville is unique in that its roasted coffee is marketed primarily on the Internet and its orders are then delivered overnight to individuals and a few businesses by priority mail. On the island, only Rolling Bay Cafe uses Storyville as its exclusive coffee. “We first wanted to establish a brand by selling our fresh-roasted coffee directly to the consumer,” said Rosenstrater. He has been with the company since it began roasting in 2006 in a large twostory space at Sportsman Park Business Complex. “Our approach has been simple and we’ve been rewarded with steady growth,” he said. “We roast beans to perfection, bag them, box them and send them to our customers. Now that we’ve done that, we want to build our business with our first coffee bar, replicating our
Storyville courtesy Photo
A half-dozen coffee connoisseurs participate in a “cupping lab” at Storyville’s test kitchen and roasting headquarters on Coppertop Loop. Such quality control events occur on a smaller scale daily at Storyville’s roasting studio. approach in a physical location.” Rosentrater said the company will continue to roast its beans at its Coppertop Loop building, keeping the emphasis on the suc-
cess it has established there the last five years. “The Winslow coffee bar and the market will be dependent on the foot traffic on Winslow Way,
which we think will grow tremendously during the next two to five years,” he said. He believes Bainbridge Island has the potential to become “a premier beverage and food destination” with it drawing heavily from the Seattle area. He also sees an increase in younger people with small children moving to the island from the metropolis. “It’s coming and we want to be part of that,” he said. “You’ve got great restaurants like Hitchcock already and others like Marché coming. There is also a lot of local food produced by island farmers.” Rosenstrater said it will take months to attract tenants, design the space, get building permits and “just perform our due diligence. There’s a lot of work to do, but it’s an exciting time.” He said the goal is to open with a full building – no empty spaces. “The earliest would probably be in June,” he said, “but we’re just beginning. We just bought the building. There’s a lot of hard work ahead.”