Reporter Central Kitsap
FRIDAY, JULY 27, 2012 | Vol. 27, No. 46 www.CENTRALKITSAPREPORTER.com | 50¢
kitsapweek week J u l y 2 7— A u g . 2 , 2 0 12
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LIFE AND CULTURE
Picture perfect
Kitsap photographer Martin Bydalek’s greeting card images put the ‘here’ in ‘Wish you were here.’ — Story and more images, pages 2-3 week’s
highlights
FAMILY FUN RIDE SUPPORTS LOCAL ANIMALS The PAWS and Pints Fun Ride, Aug. 5, helps support programs at PAWS of Bainbridge Island and North Kitsap: low-cost spay/ neuter and veterinary financial
assistance, a lost and found pet registry, pet adoption, Senior Veterinary Assistance, a pet food bank, Animal Assisted Activities and Feral Cat Assistance. PAWS and Pints Fun Ride is cosponsored by Classic Cycle and the Treehouse Cafe. The event includes two optional 5-mile bike rides around the Lynwood Center neighborhoods and a festive after-ride gathering featuring live music, refreshments and a display of the annual PAWS
Picture Your Pet photo contest entries. Everyone pre-registered for the ride before July 31 will receive a complimentary gift bag and will be entered in the raffles (prizes include a Raleigh Cruiser and a Trek children’s bike). Non-riders can participate in games and vote for the Picture Your Pet People’s Choice award, as well as enjoy soft drinks, beer provided by Stone Brewery, and complimentary acoustic music
by members of the popular Seattle-based folk rock band The Maldives. Rider check-in begins at 10 a.m. and the bike course and all other activities run from 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Music begins at 12:30 p.m. Treehouse Cafe owner Arnie Sturham initiated the event last year, along with Classic Cycle coowner Paul Johnson, to support animal welfare while also creating a fun and familySee PAWS, Page 3
This photograph of this handsome fellow won the People’s Choice Award in the 2011 PAWS Picture Your Pet photo contest.
Kitsap Week Greeting cards, family fun and pet stories Inside
PAWS
65,000 circulation every Friday in the Bainbridge Island Review | Bremerton Patriot | Central Kitsap Reporter | North Kitsap Herald | Port Orchard Independent
Bremerton Pride
Kevan Moore/Staff Photo
Members of the Rainbow City Band’s drill team perform during Sunday afternoon’s Kitsap Pride Celebration. The event started out in Seabeck, but moved to downtown Bremerton’s Evergreen Park where it has been held annually ever since. For a more detailed story on the event, please turn to Page A10.
Greg Skinner/Staff Photo
Chelso Barrett was last year’s second-place finisher in the 64th U.S. Amateur held at Gold Mountain Golf Course.
Gold Mountain on the brink City scrambles to find new manager and avoid tax subsidies to keep golf going at city owned links By KEVAN MOORE kmoore@soundpublishing.com
Debt remains after county sale By Patrick McDonough pmcdonough@soundpublishing.com
An agreement to sell debt-laden Silverdale properties owned by Housing Kitsap was recently reached with a private buyer, however the $2.1 million sale price would still leave the housing authority millions of dollars in debt. The properties, located in Old Town Silverdale, include a parking lot near Linder Field which sold for $200,000 and a Bayshore Drive building that once housed the Kitsap Consolidated Housing
Authority, sold for $1.9 million. Sale of the properties are pending inspections and restructuring of boundary lines, but county officials said much of that work has already been finished and should be completed by August. The building and lot have been among properties for sale for three years. Any money garnered from the Silverdale transaction would be required to go to pay off debts totaling $3.3 million owed to Key Bank by the housing authority on the building. The $3.3 million is part of a larger debt
owed by Housing Kitsap that in 2005 amounted to $40.5 million and involved loans involving multiple projects including the Harborside Condominium Project in Bremerton. To keep the financially faltering agency from defaulting on the loans, the county took out a $40.5 million loan in 2005. As a result of that bailout, the county also assumed responsibility to sell the agency’s property portfolio, which include the Silverdale proper See housing, A7
The City of Bremerton is scrambling to figure out how to manage Gold Mountain Golf Course when Scott Alexander, who has run the facility for the past 28 years, retires at the end of the year. Beyond the immediate need of figuring out a future management solution for the golf course, the city continues to struggle to figure out ways to get golfers to tee it up. The stakes couldn’t be much higher because long-term projections are dire as debt service on the Olympic Course and clubhouse bonds are set to increase significantly during the next couple of years. Asked when Gold Mountain will fall off a “financial cliff,” City of Bremerton Financial Services Director Becky Hasart said, “About two years.” “If you’re going to rely just on the revenue coming in from the golf course, about two years,” Hasart said. “But remember, general fund can always subsidize, so that’s really up
to council. And that’s not what we want to do, and that’s what we’re trying to avoid.” A $5 million bond was issued in 1996 for the Olympic Course and $3.1 million bond was issued in 2001 for the clubhouse. The number of golfers hitting the links, meanwhile, continues to slide steadily downward. Revenue projections were not met in 2011 and the prognosis isn’t much better in 2012 while the economy, inclement weather, a saturated golf course market and other factors conspire against what many believe to be one of Bremerton’s crown jewels. Alexander announced in early May that he would end his spectacularly successful career when his contract expires Dec. 31. Since then, though, the city has been slow to figure out what do next. City Attorney Roger Lubovich told city councilors in a recent study session that he is reluctant to opening up Gold Mountain operations to national bids because of See GOLD MOUNTAIN, A7