Reporter Central Kitsap
SPRING FORWARD:
Set your clocks forward on
Sunday
FRIDAY, MARCH 7, 2014 | Vol. 29, No. 23 | WWW.CENTRALKITSAPREPORTER.COM | 50¢
CK Safe and Quiet wants action on gun ordinance BY LESLIE KELLY LKELLY@SOUNDPUBLISHING.COM
A petition signed by more than 300 residents who live near the Kitsap Rifle and Revolver Club was presented to the Kitsap County Commission last week, demanding that the county commission adopt a county gun range ordinance. The group, CK Safe and Quiet, presented the petition to commissioners on Feb. 24. Commissioners accepted the petition without action or comment. Terry Allison, who has been active with CK Safe and Quiet since its inception in 2009, said neighbors in the area of the
Kitsap Rifle and Revolver Club (KRRC) have been waiting for the county to pass a gun range ordinance since July 2010. “We’re tired of waiting,” said Allison. “It’s been almost four years and we don’t even have a draft ordinance to look at.” Allison and another member, Kevin Gross, said they’ve been told that the committee that is currently studying possible regulations and drafting the proposed ordinance will have its final meeting on March 12. The committee is expected to make recommendations to the county on what should be in the ordinance and within 30 days an ordinance should be on an
agenda for commissioners to review. There should be a public comment time of 60 days following that, and then, the commission is expected to take action. With that time frame, Allison said, July would be about the earliest that an ordinance would be in place. “Residents around here have endured way too much for way too long,” Allison said. “We’re tired of the noise and we’re tired of worrying about bullets leaving the range.” The issue of regulation of gun ranges in Kitsap County has been a hot topic for a number of SEE SAFE AND QUIET, A9
Leslie Kelly/staff photo
Terry Allison, left, and Kevin Gross, the main force behind CK Safe and Quiet, display ammunition that is legal to be used at KRRC.
CKCC to lead campus project BY LESLIE KELLY
LKELLY@SOUNDPUBLISHING.COM
Seraine Page/staff photo
Brownsville Elementary may be partially renamed shortly.
School name change on hold BY SERAINE PAGE
SPAGE@SOUNDPUBLISHING.COM
The Central Kitsap School board has delayed its decision on possibly renaming all or part of Brownville Elementary after John D. “Bud” Hawk, a wartime hero and former educator. Last Wednesday, the board listened to a presentation on why the school should only be
partially named after Hawk, who taught at Brownsville and was a Medal of Honor recipient. Hawk received the Medal of Honor for his efforts in World War II near Chambois, France in 1944 while serving as an Army sergeant. Hawk passed away on Nov. 4 last year. SEE SCHOOL, A9
The Central Kitsap Community Council is taking the lead on the planning and expansion of the Central Kitsap Community Campus. Recently the council authorized its president Natalie Bryson, to send a letter to the Kitsap County Commission, acknowledging that it will serve as the coordinator for the work on the campus. “From the beginning, the Central Kitsap Community Council has been involved in the planning and vision for the community campus,” Bryson wrote. “It now proposes, through its campus committee, to act as interlocutor with the county and the stakeholders.” It will do so by being the focal point for knowledge about the current state of campus development, by creating a liaison with each of the interested parties to facilitate the sharing of information regarding campus development and to inform them and to invite them to meetings of mutual interest. The CKCC campus committee will also work to identify shared goals and guiding principals for future development and to
encourage collective solutions for moving forward. The committee will coordinate closely with Linda Streissguth, the county commissioner representing the Central Kitsap area, the county’s special projects division and will provide prompt minutes of meetings to the county and all interested parties, Bryson stated. Streissguth was at the meeting where the CKCC approved the letter and has taken it back to the full county commission for review. County commissioners had previously asked the CKCC to oversee the planning for the campus. The Central Kitsap Community Campus, which is generally located between Silverdale Way and Randall Way, and between Bucklin Hill Road and Ridgetop Boulevard, has been in the making for more than 10 years. Currently it houses the YMCA Haselwood Branch, a precinct office of the Kitsap County Sheriff and the CSTOCK theater and Silverdale community center. Plans are underway for a new West Sound Performing Arts Center to locate on the campus. And there is a possibility that a new Silverdale Branch Library, part of the Kitsap Regional Libraries system, will locate on
the campus. According to the CKCC letter, the next phase of development will include possible demolition of the existing Silverdale Community Center and relocation of the sheriff ’s office. Future decisions will include the design work for the performing arts center and possibly the library. There also is conversation about building a parking garage on the campus. If all of these aspects come to fruition, there needs to be coordination, Bryson said in the letter. And hence, CKCC, with its history of planning for the Central Kitsap Community Campus, should be the one to do that, she stated. The letter is expected to receive the approval of the county commission soon. The CKCC plans to host a public meeting at 7 p.m. March 20 with the Kitsap Regional Library for a discussion and update on plans for a new Silverdale Library. A similar meeting was held with West Sound Performing Arts Center organizers in January. The meeting will be at the Central Kitsap Fire and Rescue Administrative office at 5300 Newberry Hill Road in Silverdale.