POULSBO — The Poulsbo City Council has a full agenda March 18, with some items that have drawn considerable public attention.
Aside from making expected utility tax hikes official and cementing funding for a school resource officer at Poulsbo schools, the council is expected to address the future use of the Little Valley ballfield and rename the pavilion at Muriel Iverson Williams Waterfront Park.
The council meeting begins at 7 p.m. It is open to the public.
The city acquired the ballfield on Little Valley Road from Kitsap County and decided to find a third party to maintain it for public use. Four organizations have vied for the field: the Diamond Dusters youth softball team, North Kitsap Little League, Kitsap Children’s Musical Theater, and the Evergreen Mountain Bike Alliance, which wants to convert the site into a pump track. A pump track is a man-made track with hills and dips, used by mountain bikers.
After a meeting to consider the four options, the city’s Parks and Recreation Commission has recommended to the council that either the pump track or the Diamond Dusters would be the best use.
The matter now comes to the council, which will determine the future of the public space. It could choose any of the four organizations.
The second big decision: A group of residents has proposed renaming Kvelstad Pavilion in honor of Bill Austin.
The pavilion’s current namesake is Rangvald Kvelstad (1906-1998), a longtime teacher in Poulsbo schools. As a historian and writer, he documented Poulsbo’s history in articles for historical society publications, and compiled and edited the book, “Poulsbo: Its First 100 Years” in 1986.
Austin has long worked to beautify the downtown area. He bought and revitalized properties, and established a non-profit — the Bight of Poulsbo — to work on community improvement projects, among them construction of Kvelstad Pavilion.
Among his contributions: advocacy for the city’s purchase and creation of Nelson Park; restoration of the Nelson Farmhouse and the Martinson Log Cabin; remodel of the Poulsbo Marine Science Center, the Lindvig Building, and the Aroy Dy complex at the head of the bay, as well as several downtown buildings; and construction of the Oyster Plant Park nautilus and waterfalls on both ends of Front Street. He also coordinated public art projects, such as the Viking mural downtown and the Norseman statue on Viking Avenue and Lindvig Way.
The Poulsbo-North Kitsap Rotary Club and the Greater Poulsbo Chamber of Commerce are planning a public celebration honoring Austin on May 2, noon to 4 p.m., at the pavilion, in recognition of his 80th birthday. Also to be honored is Ardis Morrow, who is turning 90. She is a longtime advocate for survivors of domestic violence and served on the North Kitsap School Board from 1967-1974.
