In anticipation of 100,000 new residents who are expected to call Kitsap County their home in the coming decades, North Kitsap saw many changes in 2006. And many more are anticipated in 2007.

Here’s a look at some of the events that helped shape the Little City by the Sea, Hansville, Suquamish, Indianola, Little Boston, Eglon and all points in between this year.

KRCC supports Port of Kingston’s position on leasing

KINGSTON — The Kitsap Regional Coordinating Council announced its support of the Port of Kingston in early January, encouraging Washington State Ferries to continue with lease negotiations for the port’s three-acre property.

The port leases a portion of its waterfront property to WSF for the Kingston-Edmonds ferry terminal, but the state has expressed interest in purchasing the property outright, rather than continuing its lease. The KRCC — a council of governments that includes Kitsap County, the cities of Bainbridge Island, Bremerton, Poulsbo and Port Orchard as well as the Suquamish and Port Gamble S’Klallam tribes, the Port of Bremerton and Naval Base Kitsap — is hoping WSF backs off.

Suquamish Canoe Family heads back east to perform

SUQUAMISH — The Suquamish Canoe Family Singers and Dancers were invited to sing and dance during the opening ceremonies of a new Northwest exhibit at the Smithsonian Institute’s National Museum of the American Indian in Washington D.C., which opened Feb. 3. The invitation came after the NMAI contacted Suquamish Tribal Museum director Marilyn Jones in 2005 about borrowing items from the Suquamish museum for the exhibit.

Kingston UGA plan appealed

PORT ORCHARD — While the Kingston Subarea plan has been appealed to the Central Puget Sound Growth Management Hearings Board, it is another attempt for several concerned residents to try and prove to Kitsap County the inconsistencies in its land-use planning tools.

The group Kitsap Citizens for Responsible Planning and Port Orchard resident Jerry Harless submitted an appeal of the subarea plan Feb. 17 to Kitsap County. The plan was adopted by the Kitsap County Board of Commissioners in December 2005, which amended the county’s comprehensive plan by expanding Kingston’s Urban Growth Area boundaries and redesignating certain lands from rural to urban use.

Thirteen down,

five more to go

MILLER BAY — It’s a day the members of the Friends of Miller Bay were thrilled to see.

After working for seven years to preserve 18 acres of forest within the Miller Bay watershed, the group reached a milestone April 10.

Members were present as the Kitsap County Board of Commissioners passed a resolution to transfer the title of a portion of the property from the county to the Great Peninsula Conservancy.

The county purchased 13 acres of the property within the Cowling Creek corridor, just southwest of Miller Bay Road, in 2003 to prevent it from being bought by developers. The catch was that FOMB had to raise the money within three years to reimburse the county. FOMB achieved that goal and the Kitsap County Board of Commissioners passed a resolution stating that the group was reimbursing the county for the property and it will now sell the property to the Great Peninsula Conservancy to be permanently protected.

Heronswood uprooted from Kingston home

KINGSTON — An answering machine seems to be all that is left of Heronswood Nursery. The message still sounds the same, giving away nothing, no sign that the nursery is no longer open to those who enjoyed it most. The gardens are devoid of visitors and workers, and soon will be moving away from Kingston altogether.

May 30, a seemingly normal day for the employees of Heronswood, representatives from the Pennsylvania-based W. Atlee Burpee Company, which owns the nursery, showed up and shut it down.

House of Knowledge will be complete in 2007

LITTLE BOSTON — The small, humble building that houses the vast knowledge books provide will soon fade into the background. The newer building will boast the same number of books, but also more room for community. It seems fitting the final building in the Port Gamble S’Klallam House of Knowledge complex is its library.

Tribal chairman Ron Charles spoke of small beginnings of the tribe growing into a wealth of opportunities during a June 20 groundbreaking ceremony for the $936,000 project.

Tour de Duck hatches into full-grown race

INDIANOLA — With a shot from a miniature cannon, 2,500 rubber duckies were released as residents watched with baited breath. The duckies broke free and, well, floated gently down the cork race course. As a result, many had to expel their breath, or risk passing out from lack of air. In the background, Creedence Clearwater Revival’s “Proud Mary” played and the audience cheered good-naturedly as their ducks bobbed along leisurely.

The rubber duckie race was hatched by Joan Lobdell to raise money to save the Indianola Clubhouse. Funds raised from the ducks, $10 a piece, food and T-shirts sales went into the $370,000 pot to repair the dilapidated Indianola Clubhouse. Lobdell said about $28,000 was raised.

Indianola Dock

is whole again

INDIANOLA — February’s fierce windstorm may not have produced a sea monster from the depths of Puget Sound to wreak havoc on the Indianola Dock, but the effect was the same.

Busted stringers. Ripped decking. General shambles.

This concept was portrayed July 22 and 23 at Indianola Days through a sand sculpture depicting the creature clamping down and chewing on the wooden structure.

But due to timely repairs of the Indianola icon, residents and visitors were able to get a bird’s-eye view of the sculpture from the very dock it portrayed.

Ferries created

for commuters

KINGSTON — In the midst of the hullabaloo surrounding Aqua Express’ and Kitsap Transit’s attempts to restart the Kingston-Seattle passenger ferry, an independent group has decided to dive into the deep waters of the commuting business.

They feel they’re well qualified, too, being commuters themselves.

Members of the Kingston Express Association surfaced for the first time during the Sept. 6 Kingston Citizens Advisory Council meeting, presenting another option in hopes of getting the service running again. The association is comprised of commuters who used the Aqua Express passenger ferry during its short stint in Kingston.

Suquamish honors Virginia Cowling

SUQUAMISH — Fifteen years after selling 13 acres of her land at bargain prices and donating her house, and the one acre that it sits on, Virginia Cowling was formally recognized and thanked Sept. 16 by the Suquamish Tribe.

The tribe was the recipient of Cowling’s donations, and honored her accomplishments and gifts during a traditional salmon bake.

About 150 people attended the celebration, said Suquamish Tribal Chairman Leonard Forsman.

Kingston chimes in on community center plan

KINGSTON — Gathering within the Kingston Room at the Kingston Community Center, residents were able to view rough concept drawings that sketched out hopes for a new center. While the current building has housed everything from the library to the chamber of commerce, members of public made it clear Sept. 25 that they were ready for an upgrade.

With the 15 people in attendance, the Kingston Community Center Foundation unveiled its rough outline for the new center, which will be attached to the Village Green project.

Kathleen Sutton auction

raises $12,000 for cancer

KINGSTON — The Kingston Cove Yacht Club glittered with items Oct. 14 afternoon, drawing residents in for the fourth annual Kathleen Sutton Inspirational Fund Auction. Handbags, gift baskets, baseball hats and other commodities were laid out on a maze of tables, all sparkling with the color of the day: pink.

Those items featured in the silent and live auction brought in $12,000, which will continue to support the fund and women in the area with breast cancer, said fund board member Vivi-Ann Parnell.

Port Gamble General Store set to close

PORT GAMBLE — After three years behind the counter at the Port Gamble General Store, co-owners Pat and Susan Wright will be cashing out the registers one last time at the end of the year.

Olympic Resource Management, which owns the historic building, decided not to renew its lease with the Wrights, opting instead to close the business temporarily for repairs before opening with new tenants.

Voters increase Port of Indianola by 130 homes

INDIANOLA — Residents who live on the Indianola Spit have always felt like a part of the community, using the private beach and participating in neighborhood events. They were only visitors, though, as opposed to an official part of the Indianola family.

After the Nov. 7 election, however, they have validation on paper that their neighborhood is indeed part of the community.

The Port of Indianola’s Proposition 1 was approved by an overwhelming majority to include about 130 homes from Indian Bay in the port boundaries. The properties join some 850 houses already included.

Main Street program takes Kingston by storm

KINGSTON — With roughly 28 ferry loads of cars driving through Kingston daily, not to mention all the vehicles rushing to the ferry terminal, the newly formed Downtown Kingston Association is wondering how to entice drivers and passengers to stay in Kingston longer than “the next boat.” Perhaps some new store signs, fresh paint and a little economic restructuring will do the trick, as the Main Street approach they are putting to use suggests.

Inspired by other towns that have utilized the National Trust Main Street Center’s program with positive results, Downtown Kingston Association members Nancy Martin and Karen Ross dove into the suggestions and advice with gusto, forming the new association in mid-November. The two decided the best way to ensure the changes were put into effect was to form a committee to oversee the process.

Hansville Futures may spring forth committee

HANSVILLE — As the final report of the Hansville Futures Project makes its way through the community, residents are being encouraged to help chart the course of how the Greater Hansville Area grows in the next couple of decades.

Plotting took a new direction Dec. 7 as discussions got rolling on how to best apply the plan created by the Hansville Futures board. The general consensus of those gathered at the the Hansville Community Center was to form an advisory committee similar to the Kingston Citizens Advisory Council and the Suquamish Citizens Advisory Committee, though there was talk concerning the level of county influence on the proposed group.

“There were variations, people talked about all degrees from very little to similar to the Kingston advisory group,” Hansville Futures steering committee member Ken Shawcroft said Friday. “The (Hansville) group has put together some bylaws and a mission statement, now we just need to form and decide how to work with the county.”

S’Klallam, county

reach settlement

LITTLE BOSTON — The Port Gamble S’Klallam Tribe received a welcome, and not unexpected, early Christmas gift Dec. 18 in the form of $2.75 million settlement from the Kitsap County and Waste Management of Washington, Inc.

The settlement has been 11 years in the making.

Discussions began in 1995 when the tribe discovered that the Hansville Landfill — the original dump, which was used before Waste Management opened its solid waste and garbage dump site off Hansville Road — was contaminating streams, creeks and water tables that flowed through tribal land.

The county, which owns the property which houses the now capped landfill, is paying about $1.53 million of the money awarded to the tribe, according to county communication official PJ Ramos. The funds will not be used for cleanup of the contaminated areas, some 300 acres, but will be used to resolve a potential claim the tribe would have filed.