POULSBO — Poulsbo Mayor Becky Erickson said the city is in the midst of a “booming construction economy right now.”
Because of this, she said, “everybody’s doing things more quickly. Things start to slide when you have that kind of pressure.”
One of those things, she said, is the cleanliness of construction sites, and she and the Public Works Committee are working to fix that.
“I drive the town every weekend,” Erickson said, “and I look at … new construction areas. I noticed that there was a series of construction sites that were really dirty: trash thrown around, fast food wrappers — one actually had an empty gas can in the driveway.”
Aside from being “unsightly,” Erickson said that it’s disruptive to people who may be living next to or near active construction sites. She said those neighbors already have to deal with “the noise and discomfort of construction,” and shouldn’t have to deal with garbage left lying around well.
“At the end of the day, they can take 10 minutes, pick up, clean up, tidy up, make sure the trash is taken out,” Erickson said. “That’s just being neighborly.”
She said that some construction companies have a “Tidy Friday” policy, where the workers take special care to make sure their sites are clean and organized for the weekend.
Erickson added that such messy construction sites aren’t good for the contractors either, as it makes it easier for tools, equipment and material to be lost or damaged.
“We’re not going to tolerate it,” Erickson said. “You have to have clean construction sites, especially when you’re building things in existing neighborhoods.”
Erickson said she and the public works committee recently discussed this issue, which has become a larger problem lately as more and more construction begins in the city. They plan to, in the future, include language in the conditions of approval of new construction that would mandate keeping the sites clean.
Before implementing it, Erickson said they plan to run the clause by the city attorney to make sure it’s legal and the language is correct, she said. Currently, she said they’re still working on developing it.
“We’re not asking anything outrageous here,” she said. “We’re just asking that you pick up a little bit.”
Since this hasn’t been fully developed yet, Erickson said they haven’t yet reached out to the Home Builders Association of Kitsap County, but will before the language is added to the conditions of approval.
“Not all construction sites are this way, and I’m deeply grateful for those that aren’t,” Erickson said. “(But) we need to make sure that everybody is picking up and keeping their sites clean.”
