INDEPENDENT PORT ORCHARD
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 3, 2014 ✮ VOL. 123, NO. 36 ✮ WWW.PORTORCHARDINDEPENDENT.COM ✮ 50¢
Stormwater rates concern some citizens By DANNIE OLIVEAUX Editor
During the past three months, discussion about the proposed stormwater rate increase for Port Orchard has been a topic of city council committee and regular meetings, a public hearing and citizen comments. Under the proposal, rates would increase Jan. 1 from $7 to $14 per Impervious Surface Unit (ISU), which is based on 3,000 square feet,
according to Public Work Director Mark Dorsey. The proposed ordinance states that all single-family residential accounts, including mobile homes, and all duplexes and triplexes would be charged $14 per month per month. It also states that for all other developed property, including but not limited to multi-family and commercial accounts, would be charged $14 per month multiplied by the number of ISUs based on 3,000 square feet per
Proposal could add three ferries, routes to Seattle
Southworth could get a ferry in 2022 or 2023 By KIPP ROBERTSON For the Independent
There could be a new passenger-only ferry in Kingston if everything falls in place for Kitsap Transit in the next few years. A plan for the proposed ferry service between the Kitsap Peninsula and Seattle shows Kitsap Transit beginning with service in Bremerton in October 2015 and expanding to service in Kingston in the fall of 2017. Before ferry services can begin, Kitsap Transit will need to continue planning, including finding funding. The plan needs to be endorsed by Kitsap County Board of Commissioners and receive “adequate local tax support,” Kitsap Transit passenger-only ferry plan manager Carla Sawyer told the North Kitsap Herald in July. Under the proposed plan presented to the Kitsap Transit Board on Sept. 26, services would include Bremerton, Kingston and Southworth. Southworth would get a ferry in 2022 or 2023. The routes would go to
Pier 50 in Seattle. Sawyer said she expects the transit board to deliberate the topic in the coming months. Launching three routes would cost the transit service about $39 million between 2015-2023, according to the Sept. 26 presentation. Potential funding sources have been identified and include sales taxes, motor vehicle excise taxes and property taxes; the state Department of Transportation Regional Mobility Grant Program; and federal funding. Current Kitsap Transit revenues are insufficient to support the proposed service, according to the presentation. The proposed schedule for the three routes include three morning roundtrips and six afternoon roundtrips. Respondents of a survey indicated they would like to see the service expanded into weekday evenings, even before weekend service, Sawyer said. The goal would be to build commuter confidence in the service, Sawyer said. If Kitsap Transit could show commuters the ferry is not a test and will be around for the long haul, it could help build ridSEE FERRIES, A26
ISU. The extra money above the recommended step increases would be applied toward Capital Improvement Program. In 2015, $4.30 per ISU per month would go to improvements, and in 2016, 80 cents per ISU per month. During the two-year period, the city would collect more than $600,000 for improvements. Dorsey said according to the city’s code, impervious surfaces are roofs, driveways (gravel, paved or concrete)
patios and sidewalks. 3,000 square feet of impervious surface are assumed for all single-family residential through triplex residential. He said all single-family residents are charged for one ISU, once they are developed. “A triplex on a parcel would be assessed three ISUs,” explained Dorsey. “For four-plexes and up, apartments and commercial, the ISUs are based upon either 85 percent SEE STORMWATER, A26
WORK ON NEW HARPER PIER UNDERWAY
INSIDE Schools pore over McCleary case A3
SPORTS Wolves get last-second win at Yelm A14
Cody Wright from Milford, Utah, got a Saddle Bronc Riding competition Wed
Inside
A Section Editorial Robert Meadows Scene & Heard Sports Legal Notices Mary Colborn Obituaries
A4 A4 A5 A6 A7 A7 A8
INSIDE South Kitsap Helpline receives big donation A16
Inserts: Fred Meyer, RiteAid, Office Depot, Best Buy, Staples, Wal-Mart, Valassis Printed with recycled paper and environmentally friendly soybean oil-based ink.
Dannie Oliveaux/Staff Photo
Barges and a crane from Orion Marine Group position a piling during the beginning phase of construction of the new $1.4 million Harper Pier. The old wooden pier, which was demolished in February 2013, will be replaced with a 400-foot-long metal structure.
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