Great Peninsula Future Festival

Last month, I wrote about the Great Peninsula Future Festival. I am happy to report it was a resounding success. An estimated 5,000 folks attended this festival dealing with sustainability issues. Port Gamble was a terrific venue and Olympic Property Group deserves a big thanks for donating the site. The entertainment was superb, and the vendors and exhibitors had everything from local produce to plug-in hybrids to information on green building materials and practices. The Navy even brought in a team of draft horses they use for low-impact logging and festival goers got to “drive” the team for a bit.

This is a great first step for what is destined to become a great annual event in the future.

Waaga Way extension

Kitsap County’s financial problems get so much publicity that it’s easy to fall into the trap of thinking that nothing positive is going on. Nothing could be further from the truth.

July and August have been busy months for the county with lots of things getting done. In late July, the three commissioners held a groundbreaking ceremony for the Waaga Way extension in Silverdale. This is the first major road project in Kitsap County in over a decade. It will provide a bypass around downtown Silverdale for local residents. More importantly, it will also open up a major new area for commercial, industrial and business development. This will clearly be an economic driver for Silverdale and Kitsap County for many years. It is an example of how the county can contribute to economic development through its land-use planning and infrastructure investments.

Norwegian Point Park

In early August, the county purchased the remaining piece of land to complete the acquisition of Norwegian Point Park. This 1.8-acre parcel is a corner piece that is critical to the relocation of Finn Creek from the drainage ditch to a meandering path across the park. The county has applied for a grant from the state to begin improvements to the park.

Village Green

The Village Green advocates in Kingston got two pieces of good news in August when we learned that a proposed low-income senior housing project that is part of the Village Green Master Plan received tentative approval for a $1 million low-interest loan from the U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Development program. A regional developer of these facilities has entered into an agreement with the county and the Kitsap County Consolidated Housing Authority to raise the funds and construct the project. This is important because it means the Village Green project is actually moving forward.

After many months and hurdles, the old Navy housing at the Village Green site is finally scheduled for demolition in September. When complete, the site will be graded and seeded to provide an open area for community use. The Sheriff’s Department SWAT team may use the site for a practice drill just before demolition. That should provide some excitement for local residents, but we will work to minimize the impact on the neighborhood. This is a great place for the drill and we all benefit when the SWAT team can get realistic sites to practice at.

Carpenter Creek

Carpenter Creek in Kingston has suffered for years because of a small culvert that was installed to drain the estuary behind the road. The problem is that it has disturbed the normal tidal flow and silt is building up and filling in the estuary, which is an important resting place for salmon smolt. Also, because the culvert is so small, the velocity of the water coming out of it is too strong for the smolt to swim against (I’ve been told that some folks “surf” there with their kayaks on outgoing tides).

The county has received state funding for a bridge to replace the culvert, but funding for the Corps of Engineers portion of the project has been on an off. The county, Stillwaters Environmental Center and others have been active lobbyists for the project. Thanks to our congressional delegation, federal funding to build the project is specifically called out in the 2009 budget. There will be some disruption for local drivers, but this will be a permanent and important improvement for the area.

Hansville Greenway

Last winter, the county purchased 112 acres of land from Olympic Property Group to complete the Hansville Greenway connection between Puget Sound and Hood Canal. This effort has been ongoing since 1991. The Greenway Association, which is a model of citizen stewardship groups partnering with the county, is now responsible for over eight miles of trails and considerable open space in the Greater Hansville Area. On Aug. 15, the county and the Hansville Greenway Association celebrated the completion of the trail connection and named the trail for Sid Knutson who had the vision for the Greenway almost 20 years ago. Congratulations to Sid and the Greenway Association for creating a lasting legacy for the entire county.

The budget

As summer months draw to a close, the county will turn its attention to balancing the budget for this year, 2009 and beyond. Although we started this year in balance, declining sales tax revenues mean that we are facing as much as a $2 million shortfall for this year. That will mean imposing a hiring freeze and making other cuts so we end the year with a balanced budget. We knew when we balanced the budget for 2008 we would face another shortfall in 2009 and that is still true. We will be surveying residents about county programs and use that feedback in balancing the budget for 2009. I’ll share more information as the budget process develops.