Iverson’s proposal for Warren Ave Bridge liked by Council — but didn’t make it to Public Works design. Iverson proposed single 14-foot wide non-motorized lane for Warren Ave Bridge, Council was enthusiastic, asked for feasibility study but Grover, new Project Mgr – A woman! A PW official who’s a woman! – says her design team was given 8’-12’ as fixed design guidelines. So a rethink there before it’s brought up at 8/5 meeting (Item A4). Creative Arts District in the works for downtown, up to $58K from WA Arts Comm. A tourist destination that will drive economic development (A1). My idea — We could do this by focusing access on best tourist pool – Bremerton. Many have volunteered that they love what’s happening with downtown but no way to get there. Duty presentations on cost overrun of $30M on Kitsap Way and Warren/Wheaton project(A2). Bill Davis on Recoating of a Casad Dam outflow (A3). Street painting & signage installation to further Complete Streets, downtown and Austin Dr. (A5). Simpson decries actions no one is proposing, e.g.,narrowing lanes on Warren Ave bridge and train on that bridge. He says we don’t want to do these things, which is true –  there’s no will to perform these actions, he’s defending us against imaginary threats.

A. BRIEFINGS on AGENDA BILL ITEMS (Younger is absent.)

1. Briefing on WA State Arts Commission’s “Certified Creative District Program” (Information only)

Annette Roth, WA Arts Comm. Community Development, Creative Districts Program Mgr, gives 15-min Power Point presentation. She is not in Bremerton, she does not know Bremerton, she does not know basic facts like population of Bremerton, or that we are cleaved by a fjord of the Puget Sound. She is very good at and very focused on arts administration. She has long blonde hair but she does not toss it once in 57 minutes.

We’re here to talk about Bremerton, what’s the status of Arts & Culture, how can it form a long-term sustainable economic development. Arts bring money! They improve the environment! They are at the center of a healthy community. The program began in Jan 2018. A creative district is a right-sized contiguous geographic area; a vehicle for jobs & economic opportunities; focal point for arts and culture; a tool to promote community’s unique assets; broad definition of creative. [It brings tourist dollars, sounds like.] “We look at the creative district as an opportunity and a Vehicle for jobs, and for economic growth. You know that’s one of the primary focuses of the creative district.” Think beyond music and theatre to encompass the new “creatives” class, e.g., “we’re also talking about things like app development graphic designers, architects, landscape designers specialty food manufacturers brewers Distillers you know all of those things help to make up a really interesting and unique place.” Artists are small businesspeople, though they may not think of themselves that way. One interesting thing she said was that arts orgs typically don’t talk to each other & promote each other, this would facilitate that. Edmonds was the first Creative District, Port Townsend’s another. Bremerton is in the Active-Stage Planning stage. They support with resources & guidance, equitable applicationprocess, networking opportunities, ongoing technical assistance, and grants (once you’re certified, for start-up and for capitol projects), affordable housing, leadership training. A successful CAD has clearly defined arts & culture identity, broad community support, strong organizational partnerships, city approval/cooperation (though not necessarily administrative role), a sold plan and long-term vision for activities & growth. Communities gather a planning team, plan the Creative District, apply, and begin (with plan & planned monitoring / oversight). [Note that every photo so far is of middle-class white people with legal pads, post-its, and similar tools. All look as though taken by some PR firm’s good photographer.]

Daugs asks: Is this focused on a specific part of B’ton, or just part of it? Roth: right-sized district agreed upon by group. Daugs: What do you guys specifically look at besides the stakeholders? Roth: opportunities to build community, e.g., working with community college or local school district. Roth explains that there’s no cost to apply, but grants are typically matching grants. Daugs asks about 5-year program, Roth says there’s recertification process and even decertification process. She asks Arts Commission to look at Bremerton in a broad way, not just focused on downtown. She wants the CAD to be city-wide. Roth explains – must be contiguous. Simpson: What’s the average grant structure offered by your commission? Roth: $5K for start-up may go up to $8K. Capital projects grants $25K in 2020, $40-$50K per community, but all in planning stage. We’ve had an official Arts District since the 90s, per a member of the B’ton Arts Comm, which helps us substantially in our application. [Appears this has been in the works for a while, as Eric Younger prepped WA Arts Comm for this presentation, and Roth referenced several different meetings.] Sullivan echoes Daug’s ask for inclusion of the various arts centers in Bremerton, like Community Theater on Lebo. Roth explains that this doesn’t work. Gorman thinks it’s a very nice plan. No action taken; Councilors will mull the information. No new information requested by any Councilor.

2. Supplemental Agreement No. 1 with SCJ Alliance for the Kitsap Way (SR310) and Warren Avenue (SR303) Traffic Signal and Multimodal Safety Project

This is the project several times discussed: new signals for both stretches of road, Kitsap Way also gets green bike lanes, ped refuge islands. SCJ needs an additional $30M dollars, Archer-Parsons asks for an add’l $329,671 to cover cost overruns. Daugs asked, in study session, why the discrepancy, why does W Bremerton get all the extras and we in E Bremerton do not. [I like how she’s a fierce rep for her district.] Answer: We applied for all this stuff for both stretches, but the Powers That Be granted Kitsap Way, not Warren/Wheaton Way. Moved to General Business.

3. Public Works Agreement with Long Painting Company for Casad Dam Morning Glory Overflow Coating Replacement Project

Possibly dullest most useful presentation ever. This gets my vote. Bill Davis presents the case for coating these structures not painted not once since the 1970s. [The photos are as horrifying as Driver’s Ed videos, the coating has so long since worn away that the bare metal is warped and pierced. Davis is fascinated by materials and structures and forces. He is trying to talk to people who don’t think about those two subjects throughout the waking day. Simpson asks 2 questions about surface tension. I can not follow them at all, and I studied hydrology as a working wetland scientist. Moved to General Business, I think. Check me on this one.

4. Professional Services Agreement with SCJ Alliance for Design of the Warren Avenue Bridge Pedestrian Improvements Project

Vicki Grover, newly promoted Project Mgr, presents, per Ned Lever. Wow! A woman of a certain age! With her own natural face which is not a face you would cross idly. If you had a good, real reason, she’d welcome you crossing her. She likes debate but taking up her valuable time with nonsense, she would speak her mind on that. Dianne Iverson, a few months back, proposed a new, structurally sound, feasible, and no real add’l cost, alternative to the Warren Ave bridge ped access – have it real wide on one side, like Manette. So this has to be investigated, designed, and planning documents produced. That’s what this phase covers. Simpson: [Start Transcript] Yeah, so the Warren Ave bridge is one of the it’s some of the infrastructure that connects our city east and west and it’s vital that we maintain it.
And our white club [no idea what this phrase was before it was phonetically transcribed], put together a pretty good presentation that gave it gave a lot of the council a pretty good path forward and how we’d like to see this implemented. Thank you.
And I understand that the state has some, some inspection Requirements that may or may not conform to that particular design but I think that’s probably the that was probably the direction that the council has steered public works to go with and narrowing
lanes for traffic on the bridge is going to be a bad idea. [Note that it was explained to Simpson several times, in Council meetings, that there is no plan to narrow the lanes. Again: no plan, no current proposal, no intention to narrow lanes on Warren Ave Bridge.] 18:18:22

Yeah, we don’t want to do that, we want to, we want to make sure that we’re working with a multimodal transportation to actually work with all the forms of transportation.
And one thing we’re not going to do is we’re not going to put a train on there because we don’t have the infrastructure to support it. [No one in my experience has ever brought up a train.] But what we are going to do is we are going to work with our biking community and with the pedestrians it may it may be able to use the bridge, and those that are in the transportation, less Able or transportation challenged, or modal challenged I suppose that is the mic [?}. So of the four options that are there there there are two that seem to be both sides of the bridge, and two, it seems to favor one side of the bridge over the other.
And I think those might be some of the ones in the latter two might be a stronger option for us. And one thing that we can also consider with the with the inspection of this is that we do have the technology to use drones to actually inspect the underside. We do have the technology to use drones to actually inspect the underside of the bridge. And that might be something that might might change our decision making ability on whether we go with the one side of the bridge, or the other side of the bridge
option, and I hope that’s taken into consideration. Thank you. [End Transcript]

Gorman asks about the 14’ wide ped pathway that Iverson and Dutky (whose names he inverts, putting the man first, odd since she presented as herself alone). Grover says they were given 8’-12’ as fixed design guidelines, she’s never heard anything about 14’. Lever havers. Grover talks about a website created as part of this project, which will accept public input. [What it will do with that information, heaven only knows. Grover does not mention it.] Moved to General Business, per Daugs, who thinks Bike Club might well want to comment.

5. Public Works Agreement with Sound Pacific, Inc. for Downtown Bremerton and Austin Drive Complete Streets Project

Chris Dimmitt, who looks like a graphic novelist, reads from a prepared script (he’s pinch-hitting for Shane, who’s on vacation, the lucky stiff) about this project which will start in early August, or maybe early September, or maybe later. Daugs asks how this very dense project in downtown is going to work out when there’s already a lot of construction down there, e.g., Washington Ave. Dimmitt explains that most of the work is striping, will happen evening and weekends. In short, they’re gonna prep, they’re gonna paint, it’s gonna dry; they’ll clean up. It’s not that intrusive. It’s 2 months of evenings and weekends. We’d work around high-volume events. Dimmitt concludes his presentation. Gorman is interested in the routing of traffic for bicycles during daily and high-volume times of peak bike traffic. Goodnow asks about other striping at a specific intersection. Gorman asks about bike routes from and to ferry via bike getting signage, appears they’re getting it. Moved to General Business, per Simpson.

B. GENERAL COUNCIL BUSINESS

o Public Works Committee Monthly Briefing – Vice Chair Kevin Gorman

Recap of PW projects discussed at this study session. If there was more, I missed it.

o Finance, Investment & Parking Committee Monthly Briefing – Chair Michael Goodnow

Interesting new take on shipyard guys parking downtown: previous Council rejected idea of peak-hour traffic meters that would disincentive shipyard workers from parking in downtown area. Gorman, Goodnow think it’s an idea whose time has come round again,

o Other General Council Business

This is billed as Good of the Order. But everyone uses it to do Council Reports anyhow, despite Gorman’s repeated definiing of what Good of the Order should be: a time to speak up for individual constituents, or talk about council process. NOT a time to talk about upcoming events. But they do anyhow. On this occasion, they did Council Reports once more. Pride Fest is this coming Saturday, 7/31, at the Fairgrounds, per both Daugs and Goodnow. Simpson declared it the anniversary of some astronomical event, I think, and said that his constitutents were concerned about a homeless encampment at Lulu Haddon Park. [I walk there often. 7 am last Monday there was a single guy tucked well up in his sleeping bag in the hollow hidden by the former community garden, on the knoll at the NW corner of the park, up above 15th & Corbett. There’ve been encampments in the past, with multiple tents along the S-facing slope where it’s all sandy. This wasn’t an encampment. It was one guy who’d created no litter.] But this actually is appropriate for Good of the Order, so good on Simpson for bringing it up to better represent his wealthier constituents – remember that his last sustained burst of district-specific demands was his twice-repeated urging to repaint Marine Drive to display the speed limit on the paving, even though Weber told him repeatedly in previous session that this didn’t work – Simpson says the community wants it.

C. ADJOURNMENT OF STUDY SESSION and so it came to an end around 7 pm. They’d been Council Reporting for a while, so I missed the exact moment.