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HomeMy WebLinkAboutOctober 2014From Mayor David King October 2014 As I write this we’ve just had significant rain for the first time in what seems like months. My apologies. I shouldn’t have tried to paint my house. I’ve stopped now, so the weather should clear up for a bit longer. Even so, I think it’s fair to assume that the best summer I can remember (admittedly a declining number) is finally drawing to a close. So to prepare for the dark, short days ahead I thought I would focus this month’s column on a few of the Good Things that have been going on during these long summer days. In no particular order: Paying for Filtration On advice from Congressman Derek Kilmer the City applied to the US Department of Agriculture for financial help in adding secondary treatment to our water system. A great deal of hard work by City staff on a complicated application process has resulted in pending approval of a loan of $11,209,000 @ 3.25% over 40 years plus a grant of $3,004,000. This will enable us to stay within the rate schedule and capital surcharge plan we approved last year despite the fact that moving from UV treatment to filtration added $3 - 5 million to the project cost. It's not quite yet a done deal - the USDA has to sign the obliga- tion letters and get them back to us to make it official - hopefully by the time you read this. Our Paper Mill Further downstream Port Townsend Paper had its first open house at the mill since 1949. It filled to capacity and was very well received by those attending. About the time this newsletter comes out they will be attending the sixth annual Pulp and Paper International awards ceremony in Boston where our mill is a finalist for two PPI awards – Environmental Strategy of the Year and the Water Efficiency Award. A Very Festive Summer The fabulous weather supported a memorable festival season. Anyone reading local papers will know that the transition to management by the Fort Worden PDA of the Fort Worden campus area was not without some challenges. But by the most important measure – the public’s experience at the Park – it was a very successful first season. Rob Birman told me that at- tendance at Centrum festivals continued to climb – up an average of 25%. And though we had the biggest Wooden Boat Festival in history it was the variety of activity and the air of serendipity of the 37th Festival that was memorable to me, not just the size. For instance I witnessed several connections made by strangers over wooden boats they’d both owned or sailed on many years apart. My favorite vignette was the “teenage” seal that decid- ed to sleep right in the middle of the old boat ramp in Point Hudson on Friday night - happily slumbering while raucous music and carousing took place yards away. Janine Boire, Executive Director of the Port Townsend Marine Science Center told me the seal had been observed throughout the day, swimming and napping among the boats in the marina. While it slept on the ramp the PTMSC put out some sawhorses and tape and had a volunteer there to keep people (and dogs) at a distance. Ap- parently it just liked hanging out with humans. Another milestone for the Festival: Official Marine Mammal Approval. The good weather persisted handsomely for the Port Townsend Film Festival. The City Manager and I got to ride in an Edsel for the opening (implying?) and I had a great time with the films I saw - rating every one excellent. The weather was so fine that waiting in line in front of the Rose Theater or on the deck of the Maritime Center was no hardship (…but how does “The Secret of Roan Inish” end? I had to go inside. Do they move back to the island?) Looking Ahead From Wikipedia: “Collective Impact is the commitment of a group of actors from different sectors to a common agenda for solving a specific social problem, using a structured form of collaboration. The concept of collective impact hinges on the idea that in order for organizations to create lasting solutions to social problems on a large-scale, they need to coordinate their efforts and work together around a clearly defined goal. Initiatives must meet five criteria in order to be considered collective impact:  Common Agenda: All participating organizations have a shared vision for social change that includes a common understanding of the problem and a joint approach to solving the problem through agreed upon actions.  Shared Measurement System: Agreement on the ways success will be measured and reported with a short list of key indicators across all participating organizations.  Mutually Reinforcing Activities: Engagement of a diverse set of stakeholders, typically across sectors, coordinat- ing a set of differentiated activities through a mutually reinforcing plan of action.  Continuous Communication: Frequent communications over a long period of time among key players within and across organizations, to build trust and inform ongoing learning and adaptation of strategy.  Backbone Organization: Ongoing support provided by an independent staff dedicated to the initiative.” Many of the successful major projects in our community – the Maritime Center and the McCurdy Pavilion for instance - involved an informal collective impact process. Several years ago our YMCA inaugurated an explicitly named Collective Impact Initiative which adopted a goal to retain and attract young families to settle in our community. Over many meet- ings a diverse group of stakeholders, elected officials and interested citizens settled on the creation of a Family Service and Aquatic Recreation center (a Full Service YMCA) as their project to help achieve this goal. The “Y” commissioned and completed a feasibility study for the project, which, among other things, determined Mountain View to be the best location for the new center. It’s gratifying to see the community embrace the possibilities at Mountain View. The City Manager has proposed to set aside a portion of the repair funds that would be provided by the voted bond for Mountain View for the Family Service/ Aquatic Center project and defer repairs that the project would make unnecessary. If the fundraising effort for the center is effective that money will be allocated to that project. If unsuccessful or significantly delayed the money will be used to address deficiencies there as originally intended. Addressing the deferred condition issues at the campus will complete that foundation begun by the City and School District and set the stage for what the community decides will happen there next. Library Returns Home to Carnegie Speaking of taking care of what we already have, I think City and Library staff and volunteers have done an incredible job of completing both the restoration of the Carnegie building and optimizing the space and use of the existing annex. I’m personally thrilled with the results. Restoration of the iconic Carnegie building was at least as important a component of the recent library project as the proposal to replace the existing annex. The Carnegie building is better, and by better I mean both functionally modernized and authentically historic in its appearance, than at any other time in the 36 years I’ve lived here. I am sometimes complimented on being moderate and flexible in my approach to City issues. The simple truth is that I know I’m often wrong (though not as often as Alice thinks), so I’m not that attached to my own ideas. Last summer I sup- ported the significantly scaled back version of the library expansion that was on the ballot. Now, as I watch the library settle back onto its campus, I see how much of the library’s importance to members of our community comes from the extraordinary level of service that is provided there by the staff and volunteers. I wonder if we’d have been able to main- tain that service level in a larger facility with the same budget for operations – particularly now that our cost recovery poli- cy requires us to accurately assess and manage the total cost of its operations to the City. At the very least, it seems to me, the City library staff would have been too occupied with managing its much larger new facility to have made the dra- matic progress on collaboration with the School Library as reported in the Leader on September 24th, extending library services into the lives of all members of our community. I am getting what I wanted in a way I did not anticipate. Local Schools It is often difficult for taxpayers to accept that public funds used for operations may not be applied to capital improve- ments or repairs. Operational funds for the library cannot be used for replacing its HVAC systems or the roof on the an- nex, for instance, which is why Council will have to go to a voted or councilmanic bond for that purpose. As the State struggles to meet its obligation to adequately fund public education under the McCleary decision a likely consequence will be much less State support for capital improvements or major replacements of local school district fa- cilities. Communities will have to manage that on their own. The Maritime Discovery Program has raised over $175,000 towards placed-based education in our school system and recent test score results emphasize the dramatic progress our schools are making programmatically. But facilities lag way behind and ours are very old. My son was in the first class attending what is still the newest public school building in Port Townsend - Blue Heron Middle School. He’s now thirty-two. Coda Mountain View, the Library, and our Schools – Attracting new young families to our community and retaining those we have will require the collective impact of the entire community. As always it will be a long and difficult process to balance the community’s needs and ambitions with available resources. We have an excellent record of creating significant com- munity impacts, but we will need to resist the tendency to become too attached to specific solutions in order to be suc- cessful with what are bound to be increasingly complex collaborations. FREE SWIMS! Beginning October 12, and every second Sunday of the month, a collaboration of local organiza- tions and businesses is sponsoring FREE swims at the Mountain View Pool. From 1:00-2:00 p.m., it's adults only for lap swimming, water walking and exercise. Then from 2:15-5:00 p.m., the pool will be open to all ages for a family, open recreation swim. Working together for our community are the JeffCo Aquatic Coalition, the YMCA, the Leader, and the City of Port Townsend, plus Jefferson Healthcare and a monthly business sponsor (October's sponsor is Jordini's restaurant.) October 2014 National Mental Illness Awareness Week October 5 – 12 To help raise awareness about those struggling with mental illness, the local affiliate of NAMI (National Alliance on Mental Ill- ness) will sponsor events throughout October: Monday, October 6 – Proclamations by County Commissioners and City Council Wednesday, October 8 - National Day of Prayer for Mental Illness Recovery and Understanding Sunday, October 12, 12 noon – FREE MOVIE showing of Call Me Crazy at the Rose Theatre. Five vignettes about various mental illnesses, both enlightening and hopeful – starring Brittany Snow, Jennifer Hudson, Ashley Judd and Jason Ritter. Join local members of NAMI for a ques- tion and answer period after the film. Port Townsend Main Street Girls Night Out-“Gatsby Glitz!” Thursday, October 2 11 a.m. - 8 p.m. A day and night of female camara- derie and shopping fun! Dozens of participating businesses will offer special events, in-store promotions and refresh- ments. The evening ends with a ―Wrap‖ Party at The Belmont starting at 8 p.m. and features a no-host bar, appetizers, desserts, door/raffle prizes—all for a $5 suggested donation at the door. Goodie bags and raffle tickets are on sale in advance this year starting September 30. For details, check www.ptmainstreet.org. Proceeds benefit the Jefferson County Public Health Breast and Cervical Cancer Program and the Port Townsend Main Street Program, a 501c3 nonprofit. To date, the Girls’ Night Out event has raised $26,800 to assist women in need to receive cancer screenings. This event is sponsored by the Port Townsend Main Street Program, Jefferson Healthcare and participating businesses. The Boiler Room will be offering pink drink specials all day Thursday, October 2, in honor of Girl's Night Out. Proceeds will benefit Jefferson County Public Health Breast and Cer- vical Cancer Program and the Port Townsend Main Street Program. Halloween, Friday, October 31, 3:15 p.m.–5:30 p.m. Water Street will be closed from Madison to Polk for: Port Townsend Main Street’s 20th Annual DOWNTOWN TRICK OR TREAT & COSTUME PARADE Children Pre-school through 6th Grade in costume are invited to participate and must be accompanied by an adult. Children assemble at 3:45 pm under the Bank of America clock at Adams & Water Streets Parade begins at approximately 4:00 pm Parade participants march down Water Street to Polk Street Trick or Treat immediately following the pa- rade at participating businesses throughout Downtown (Water Street, Washington Street and in between) Sponsored by the Port Townsend Main Street Program and Participating Merchants. www.ptmainstreet.org. Friends of the Port Townsend Library Used Book Sale Saturday, October 11 9 a.m. - 3 p.m. (8 a.m. for Members of the Friends) Held at the Community Center in Uptown KPTZ FALL FLING DANCE PARTY Friday, October 24. Keep Community Radio thriving in Port Townsend and East Jefferson County! Join in the fun for KPTZ 91.9 FM with rockin’ tunes by Floating Otis at The American Legion. Tickets $10—available at The Food Co-Op, Quimper Sound (lower level of the Mount Baker Block Building Water/Taylor) or stop by the station at Moun- tain View campus. The Boiler Room Booster Club is ready for its second prize offering! The club’s goal is to financially support The Boiler Room. The Boiler Room makes significant contributions to the community of Port Townsend and in the past year has:  Distributed 4,767 meals through its free food programs, is the largest distributor of free hot meals in Jefferson County, and will meet a goal of 8,000+ meals this year.  Started a hygiene ―pantry,‖ distributing 700+ hygiene products.  The Boiler Room provided consistent entertainment in a drug, alcohol and tobacco free environment with weekly Poetry Screams, Open Mics and Movie Nights, as well as shows and dances throughout each month. Booster Club membership tickets are $20 each, and are entered into a series of membership drawings for a $60 prize every Thursday in October and November. A Grand Prize Winner of a $400 cash prize will be chosen from all tickets at The Boiler Room Annual Auction on December 6. Every ticket is entered into every drawing and it is allowable to purchase more than one ticket. Members may join throughout the drawing period, so chances of winning vary every week. Membership is for a six month period, and Booster Club Members will receive special recognition in The Boiler Room Zine. If you are interested in becoming a Boiler Room Booster or for more infor- mation, please contact Booster Club President Thomas Overman at 360-774-0311. In addition, information about volunteer activities at The Boiler Room can be found at: https:// www.facebook.com/porttownsendboilerroom. State Board Approves Grant Funding to Grow Port Townsend’s Economic Garden On September 18, the Washington State Community Economic Revitalization Board (CERB) approved $1.4 mil- lion in public investments, including a $48,750 grant to the City of Port Townsend to conduct a feasibility study to evaluate the economic benefit provided by planned zoning changes and stormwater infrastructure investments along Howard Street. City Manager David Timmons notes, ―The Howard Street/Upper Sims Way Corridor is one of three economic anchors for the City, along with Fort Worden and the Downtown Waterfront‖. The study will include marketing analysis and strategy, zoning and land use analysis, identify measurable eco- nomic outcomes and data collection processes along with projected employment figures. ―Our goal is to return to CERB for a request to help fund stormwater infrastructure along the corridor,‖ says Mr. Timmons. As Washington’s strategic economic development resource, CERB is focused on creating private sector jobs in partnership with local governments by financing infrastructure improvements. For more information on the City’s CERB grant, contact Liz Hoenig with Capital Projects & Engineering at 360- 390-4039 or lhoenig@cityofpt.us. KPTZ FALL DRIVE October 27- November 1. Become a member, a sustaining member, renew your support and pledge. Please call (360) 554-4430 during the fund drive and keep KPTZ going strong or pledge online on our secure website at www.kptz.org. MAKE A DIFFERENCE! Citizen Advisory Board Recruitment The following committees currently have vacancies. Appointments are for three years. Arts Commission Non-Motorized Transportation Advisory Board Library Advisory Board Parks, Recreation and Tree Advisory Board PEG Access Coordinating Committee – Video Professional Position Applications are available in the City Clerk’s Office on the second floor of City Hall, 250 Madison Street, Port Townsend, WA. Call 379-5083 with questions and to request an application form or download from www.cityofpt.us (Boards & Commissions). City residency or employment within the City is a requirement for most positions.