PO Box 173
Manchester, WA 98353-0173
“it’s a great place to live…”
Action Items:
1) If you are interested in being a member of a sub-committee exploring the options with the Haida property, contact Council Secretary John Winslow.
2) 2005 dues for voting members are payable to Treasurer Carol Kowalski by February 1.
3) Ron Robinson will chair the next regular meeting on January 25th.
Minutes:
The meeting was called to
order by Chairman, Bob Ballard at 6:33PM in the Manchester Library. Bob
welcomed the 38 people in attendance and then introduced our special speaker for
the evening, Bill Zupancic who is a Transportation Planner for the County Public
Works department, as well as a 26 year Manchester resident! Bill’s remarks
covered the planning behind the Mosquito Fleet Trail.
Guest Speakers comments:
The Mosquito Fleet Trail plan
is detailed in “The Mosquito Fleet Trail Master Plan” document which was
published in August 2001. Back-up data is contained in a separate appendix
document. Bill promised to have additional copies made available at future MCC
meetings. The plan was an outgrowth of the 1995 Kitsap County Greenway Plan
(copy should be available in the Library). Essential elements of the Greenway
Plan were Transportation, Recreation, Scenic resources, and Natural resources.
As an outgrowth of the Plan, in 1996 the planning process began for the Mosquito
Fleet Trail. In a poll of the population, it was determined that the eastern
shore of Kitsap County was a favored recreational destination of residents. The
goal was to provide a continuous pedestrian/bike trail from Southworth to
Kingston.
As the Mosquito Fleet Trail
concept developed, its route ended up connecting four cities, 17 communities, 11
schools, and 24 historic docks. One significant impetus to the creation of
pedestrian paths and bikeways was a 1992 Federal Grant to encourage their
development.
The implementation of such a
vast plan is handled through the County’s planning process which is grouped into
six year segments. In years 0-6 the emphasis is on paving and constructing road
shoulders, re-striping, and adding bike route signage where the bike path
standards are currently met. At this point, years 7-20 will focus on the path
development.
In our area, the current
proposal is to have the path along Beach Drive to Main Street in Manchester, and
out of town on Colchester Drive. This would continue on Mile Hill and on to
Southworth Drive to the ferry terminal. Bill mentioned that there will be a
public meeting on this subject at the South Colby Methodist Church on December
1. At this point, there are no plans to make significant changes along
Colchester in the 6-12 year planning range.
Along the Trail there will be
differing types of pathways depending on constraints of existing conditions,
these include Separated trails (Costly, but best), Bicycle lanes (has designated
striped lane), Bike routes (widened shoulders), and shared roadways (no
shoulder).
At the conclusion of his
remarks on the Mosquito Fleet Trail, Bill was asked if he would address the
issue of the property near Haida which is owned by Public Works and has gotten
recent attention in the press. Bill’s first remark was that any change to the
way the property is used is up to the community. It is currently a reserve
tract which is being used by Public Works as a storm drain easement. The Parks
Department had recently transferred the property to SSWM’s and is now under
control of the Public Works Department. Public Works is willing to listen to
proposals from the community. He commented that currently, less than 2% of the
shoreline in Kitsap County is accessible to the public. There are, however,
liability and risk issues involved.
If a community group wished to
pursue changes to such a parcel, there would necessarily be an open discussion
with the entire community impacted by such a change. There are no public funds
available to support any such changes to these properties. The Public Works
Department has recently asked County Risk Management to look into liability and
risk issues, especially associated with the rock lined ditch on this property.
Several members of the audience
provided first hand knowledge of the potential for rapidly growing water volumes
in the swale during heavy storm events. This was a major concern by many of the
adjoining property owners in attendance.
Bill was also asked what the
definition of “Pocket Park” was, since that term had been used several times in
reference to potential changes to the parcel. Bill described that term to
generally mean a place where bicyclists and pedestrians could have a rest stop,
but by no means was the County promoting that concept.
Another audience member asked
about the likelihood of a sewage pump station being located within this
property. Paul Gilligan, a member of the audience and a civil engineer working
with the LID #8 group, mentioned that this property is the most likely spot for
a pump station should sewers be extended down along Colchester that far. Such a
sewer pump station would likely require a footprint of approximately 12’
diameter.
Bill stated that Public Works
does not build trails on public rights-of-way. If the community wanted to
pursue some level of development, Public Works would provide a survey, but would
insist that no significant trees be removed and the community would have to
maintain the improvements and provide trash removal. Any development would have
to follow the steps of a public hearing with a wide-distribution mailing to
affected property owners.
A contingent of adjoining
neighbors uniformly expressed their concerns about their safety and the security
of the property if there were any improvements made. They don’t want to have an
enthusiastic group make a number of improvements and then fade away and leave
the neighbors to deal with the consequences of neglect. This group expressed
the desire to let the public use Pomeroy Park and leave this parcel for limited
use only by the existing neighbors who currently use the property as a beach
access. It was mentioned that in the recent past, some Boy Scouts have
performed limited clearing of pathways on the property. A very informal vote of
those in attendance was taken regarding having any development of the Haida
property; the tabulation of votes indicated four in favor, 16 opposed, and the
remaining 18 abstained.
Chairman Bob Ballard then
wrapped up the discussion with a perspective on Council’s interest in the
parcel. The Council was formed as a goal of the original Manchester Sub-Area
Plan (available on the Kitsap County web-site). The Council is exploring the
options with this parcel since it was specifically mentioned in the Plan (Page
32 “To improve the awareness and functionality of the park…”). The Council
realizes the limitations of this parcel and don’t currently anticipate and
significant developments. We have an obligation to explore the options and
community interest in this property since it is specifically mentioned in the
Plan. As a community we can also offer suggestions for changes to the Plan if
the community deems that desirable. The Council wants involvement and
participation in the process by the entire Manchester community.
Subsequent to the conclusion of
the meeting, the Executive Board held a wrap-up discussion and realized that we
neglected to seek volunteers for a sub-committee to further discuss and outline
a course of action (or inaction) on the Haida property. If you are
interested in participating in a sub-committee to investigate potential
recommendations for how the property can best fit the community’s desires,
please contact the Council Secretary, John Winslow. No sub-committee has been
formed as yet. All potential sub-committee members are encouraged to attend the
1/25 regular meeting. John can be reached at
johnwinslo@aol.com, or via our
Manchester Community Council, PO Box 173 in Manchester (98353-0173). A
separate meeting of this group will be arranged at the Library and all of those
interested in participating in the process will be invited.
Business meeting:
Review and approval of
past meeting’s minutes: The minutes for the 10/26/04 meeting have
been previously distributed by e-mail and were posted in the Library. The
minutes were approved as written.
Correspondence: There was no correspondence.
Reports:
Treasurer: Carol Kowalski reported that our October balance forward was $20, expenses included a receipt book and financial ledger for a total of $8.55, and dues payments of $105 for a current balance of $116.45.
Sewers Sub-Committee: Ron Rada, chairman of the sub-committee, reported that LID#8 is continuing work on the sewer extension along Miracle Mile. They have over 51% favorable response and at this point it would take a 40% unfavorable response to discontinue the efforts. The group will be sending out a mailing to all those in the Sub-Area who are not currently within a sewer service area (approx 500-1000 parcels) to measure interest in further extension of the sewer lines. The entire letter was read and the motion to endorse the letter was approved.
There was some discussion by an
audience member who has been struggling with a failing septic system; he
expressed his frustration at having invested considerable monies at the behest
of the County to correct his septic system and only now he’s learning of the
efforts to extend the sewers. The Committee is sympathetic to the situation,
but unfortunately the County is not a significant player in the effort to extend
the sewers and no one can predict the timing or likelihood of extensions. Any
sewer extensions will necessitate the formation of LID’s through the efforts of
citizen groups. The Committee is just trying to provide a mechanism for
individuals to form into groups to assess local interest.
Crime Prevention Sub-Committee: Bud Larsen, chairman of the sub-committee reported on efforts underway by his group. Their focus has been on increased law enforcement and presence in Manchester. They meet weekly at the Manchester Inn on Thursday mornings at (brace yourself!) 6:45 AM. The group has had regular guest speakers at their meetings including Sheriff Boyer, CentCom staff, the Fuel Depot civilian manager, and several officers from the Sheriff’s office. The group has been discussing means to get a more visible presence of the Sheriff in our community by promoting a way-station in Manchester where the deputies could do their paperwork. Future guest speakers will include the Fire Chief on December 9 and Dusty Wiley of the Traffic Department on December 16.
Additionally, they are
promoting the formation of blockwatches (approximately five currently exist or
are in formation in central Manchester). More information on this can be found
on the MCA web-site,
www.manchesterca.org.
As a way of promoting the
relationship between the sheriff and the community, plans are underway to have a
public safety booth at the annual Salmon Bake on Father’s Day with officers and
equipment on display and an opportunity for fingerprinting children.
One audience member suggested
that it may be beneficial to promote having officers who live in the area, but
work for another police agency, be allowed to drive their cars home at night to
deter crime.
Public Facilities Sub-Committee: Bob Lamb, chairman of the sub-committee on Public Facilities gave a brief report on his group’s progress to-date. Their efforts have been directed at exploring the potential options for the vacant property at the intersection of Colchester and Main. At this point, the committee has been unable to reach the property owner. This group is not involved with the Haida property.
Old Business:
Action items: JB Bartel reported that she is proceeding with development of official letterhead for the Committee. She needs a good digital photo of the view from Manchester that captures the uniqueness of our area.
Dues were discussed by the Executive Board in
a meeting on 11/18 and based on projected expenses (meeting room, PO Box, and
minimal printing and postage) and estimating likely membership, it was decided
that the dues payable on January 1 would be $20 per year per voting member.
Dues for existing members are considered delinquent after February 1, 2005.
(New members dues are payable IN FULL upon joining as a voting member. Those
COMMUNITY MEMBERS attending for information only, and not voting, are not
required to pay dues. DUES FOR THE CURRENT CALENDAR YEAR MEMBERSHIP ARE NOT
PRORATED.) Contact Carol Kowalski to arrange for your dues payment (or mail
to the Committee’s PO Box).
Due to a room scheduling conflict, the
meeting previously planned for December 21 is cancelled.
New Business:
Subsequent to the meeting, Chairman Bob Ballard mentioned he would be
unavailable to run the next meeting. First Vice Chair Ron Robinson will
substitute for Bob in his absence.
There being no other
discussion from the floor, Chairman Ballard adjourned the meeting at 8:32 PM.
Next Meeting: Our next meeting will be Tuesday January 25th at 6:30-8:30PM in the Manchester Library.
Ron Robinson and John Winslow will jointly
develop an agenda for our next meeting
for distribution with the reminder, several days before the meeting. At this
point the tentative agenda includes a presentation by a representative of the
Department of Community Development on the proposed review of the Sub-Area Plan
scheduled for 2006 (At our meeting, this was mentioned as 2005, but the County
clarified that it really is 2006). If you have any additional items for the
agenda, contact John Winslow prior to January 18th.
Respectfully submitted,
John Winslow, Secretary-Manchester Community Council