Review Bainbridge Island
TALL ORDER: Spartans return to the court with younger crew. A14
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 13, 2013 | Vol. 113, No. 37 | www.BAINBRIDGEREVIEW.com | 75¢
HIGH DRAMA ON PUGET SOUND Woman rescued after jumping off Bainbridge ferry BY BRIAN KELLY AND LUCIANO MARANO Bainbridge Island Review
An unidentified woman was rescued by the Coast Guard after she reportedly jumped off the ferry to Bainbridge Island as the vessel was nearing Eagle Harbor Tuesday. Coast Guard Petty Officer 3rd Class Nate Littlejohn said the woman who went overboard from the ferry M/V Wenatchee was in “good condition” after having jumped from the ferry during the 1:15 p.m. sailing from Seattle. Donna Etchey, publisher of the Bainbridge Review, was on the Wenatchee during the incident. She said the vessel stopped just before it entered Eagle Harbor. “We stopped. And then all of sudden we saw a crew going to the back,” Etchey said. “At first, we thought it was a drill. Then a crewmember said, ‘Man overboard, can you please step back?’” Other travelers on the boat saw the woman jump off the stern end of the Wenatchee into the waters of Puget Sound. Etchey said two small boats were launched to look for the woman. The Coast Guard sent several boats to assist in the search-and-rescue effort after being notified of the situation by the ferry crew, including a 25- and 45-foot Response Boat Crew as well as a Dolphin helicopter from Air Station Port Angeles. Seattle Harbor Patrol Crews as well as teams from the Washington State Ferry vessels M/V Kitsap and M/V Tacoma assisted in the endeavor, but it was the Coast Guard crew of the 25-foot Response Boat who actually pulled the woman from the Puget Sound. A passenger aboard the ferry from Seattle to turn to ferry | A8
Cecilia Garza | Bainbridge Island Review
Councilwoman Debbi Lester tries to persuade the council to consider an alternative selection process in the Waterfront Park project. City Manager Doug Schulze watches her presentation.
Council members push to redo search for park consultant LESTER, BONKOWSKI PUSH BACK ON MANAGER’S CHOICE BY CECILIA GARZA Bainbridge Island Review
Richard Malzahn photo
Above: An inflatable raft from the ferry M/V Wenatchee sets out to search for an overboard passenger.
At right: Passengers on the ferry gather to watch the search in progress. Richard Malzahn photo
Two Bainbridge council members caused a stir this week with a last-minute attempt to restart the search for a consultant for the upcoming Waterfront Park and city dock renovation project. The city council had been expected to look at a contract for a design firm for the $2 million park makeover, but pushback from a pair of council members threatened to send the whole process back to square one. Others on the council, however, thwarted the attempt. “It sounds like you went through a very thorough process with some of the members of the staff, and evaluated eight applications and selected a firm,” Councilwoman Kirsten Hytopolous said to City Manager Doug Schulze. “And so why are we talking about re-doing the process?” In a presentation beforehand, Schulze said it had
been suggested to him that staff consider an alternative method of selecting a design firm. Mayor Steve Bonkowski, who joined with Councilwoman Debbi Lester in trying to redo the selection process, said he wanted park design proposals inhand before considering a contract. “I was not expecting the design of Waterfront Park to be like selecting a contractor to pave our streets or build a parking lot,” Bonkowski said. Although city staff had made a selection for a consultant using a “request for qualifications,” Schulze outlined an altogether new selection approach at Wednesday’s meeting that would add another month to the renovation project based on pre-meeting input from some on the council. The alternative process would select the three top consultants and require each to develop two conceptual turn to park | A21