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Home My WebLink About07 July NewsletterMessage from the City Manager Your City is Opening – Slowly, Carefully and Safely I’d like to thank the large number of our residents who understand how challenging it’s been to keep City services going during the pandemic. Our team – a smaller team due to significant temporary furloughs – is working hard to ensure services like water and wastewater, public safety, development review, parks and finance contfnue to meet your needs. As Jefferson County contfnues to move through phases of reopening, we’ll contfnue to reopen services and facilitfes like we have done recently with many park facilitfes and some library services. Please note, though, that we will be unable to bring back services in direct alignment with Phase 3. We need to ensure that we can do so with the safety of residents and staff in mind and that we can do so with fiscal prudence. We are projectfng a significant budget impact from COVID-19 this year. Unfortunately, you will notfce a reductfon in the level of service you are used to as we keep a close eye on our changing financial reality. You can find the latest informatfon on our website at www.cityofpt.us/covid. Please contfnue to bear with us as we try our best to do more with less. We’ll get through this. Engage PT – Working Together on City-wide Issues Robust community engagement is critfcally important to me and my team, to your elected councilmembers and to a productfve and fair de- mocracy. We do better when we listen to each other – and in this tfme of heightened crisis, we need to listen more closely and to work more thoughtiully and inclusively on our collec- tfve path forward. This year’s pandemic presents a huge challenge for us, given the radical reductfon in public interactfon and oppor- tunitfes for engagement. It’s also a huge challenge given the additfonal financial burden that COVID-19 places on us all. That new pressure compounds a more insidious, structural sustainability gap that predates COVID in how we fund the ecosystem of City services. That said, these two pressures will force us to try new things and to address the need to build better engagement and resolve deeper issues of financial sustainability. We will Engage PT on important issues like: • Budget and Annexatfon: Constructfng a fiscally responsible budget in a tfme of financial uncertainty and ad- dressing whether/how to levy increased property tax revenues from the East Jefferson County Fire District an- nexatfon of the City Fire department. Continued on Page 2 City of Port Townsend • 250 Madison Street • (360)385-3000 • www.cityofpt.us • Golf Course: Evaluatfng the golf course operatfon, looking at the viability of a contfnued contract model as well as other optfons for the uses of the land to benefit the public. • Mill Agreement: Updatfng the operatfons agreement between the City and Port Townsend Paper Company to manage our $100+ million water supply asset with the next 100 years in mind. • Law Enforcement: Understanding how to better address our community’s public safety needs in light of the natfonal discourse around police brutality and racism. • Library Strategic Plan: Understanding current and future community needs as we consider how best to pro- vide lastfng library services. • Recovery & Resilience: Building a community-driven COVID recovery and resilience actfon plan in partnership with individuals, organizatfons, businesses and agencies as part of the Intergovernmental Collaboratfve Group. • Shoreline: Undertaking the periodic review of the Shoreline Master Program and the policies and regulatfons that apply to shoreline areas. • Sewer Outiall: Replacing the aging sewer outiall pipe at North Beach and renewing the NDPES permit to stay in compliance with the Federal Clean Water Act. • Streets: Developing an implementatfon strategy and identffying funding to deal with street repair costs that approach $20 million while keeping in mind related initfatfves like Open Streets, Discovery Road improve- ments, traffic calming, transportatfon choice and safety. For all of these issues, Engage PT will be the brand and campaign to follow as we strive for effectfve and inclu- sive public engagement. Community engagement isn’t just important to inform the policy and financial deci- sions that affect us all, it is also important as a public-facing, creatfve community process that is fun and builds a more cohesive, inclusive and caring community. Please stay tuned and join us! Continued from the front page COVID-19 City Utility Bill Relief and Donation Program We’re accepting utility bill relief applications for residents experiencing financial hardship due to COVID-19. In order to qualify, applicants will need to prove a reductfon in work hours due to COVID-19 and their current total household income is below 200% of the Federal Poverty Level. The applicatfon is available on the City’s website under Utflity Informatfon. Please review the applicatfon for qualificatfons, income limits, and relief amounts. Re- lief will be applied to city utflity accountholders on a first-come-first-approved basis untfl funds are depleted. A BIG thank you to those community members who have donated. We are stfll acceptfng donatfons and the form can be found on the City’s website under Utflity Informatfon. Please do not hesitate to contact us if you have any questfons about either of these programs, at (360) 385-2700. Did you know the City is on Facebook? Follow us! https://www.facebook.com/CityofPT/ Port Townsend Library Summer reading program Summer Reading is going on now! Sign up at http://cleoreads.readsquared.com/ to track your reading, earn prizes, play games, and take part in fun weekly actfvitfes. If you don't wish to partfcipate online, call the Library at 360-385-3181 to register and log hours. You can also set up a tfme to pick up a paper tracker with curbside pickup services. While no programs will take place in the Library building this summer, check out our online calendar at https://ptpubliclibrary.org/calendar to learn more about fun Zoom based programs for all ages through August 7. Thanks to the Friends of the Port Town- send Library for their contfnued support. Happy Reading! Featured Events: Read to Rover Thursday, July 9 10:30am-11:30am Dogs are wonderful listeners! Kids ages 5-11 are invited to bring their favorite book or choose one from our digital library, then build reading skills and confidence by reading aloud to a certffied therapy dog. Space is limited, so register on our webpage or by phone for a 15-minutes session. Anti-Racist Summer Reads with Samantha Ladwig of Imprint Books Thursday, July 16 at 7pm Join Library Director Melody Sky Eisler in conversatfon with bookstore owner and writer Samantha Ladwig for a discussion on recommended reads for antf-racist fictfon and nonfictfon books that we hope will educate and empower your summer reading. Zoom link is on the Library’s website. Port Townsend Main Street Program Due to COVID-19 impacts, Port Townsend Main Street Program’s Concerts on the Dock and The Uptown Street Fair are cancelled for summer 2020. The Port Townsend Main Street Program is adding some local color Downtown and Uptown in Phase 3 & 4. Look for buskers and small-scale artiul fun on the streets— with social distancing protocols of course! Support local businesses and come to town Thursday and Saturday afternoons, startfng July 2. These free performances are spon- sored by Homer Smith Insurance and The Law Offices of James A. Doros. Details at ptmainstreet.org –follow us on social media. #ptmainstreet #ptsafe&sound City of Port Townsend • 250 Madison Street • (360)385-3000 • www.cityofpt.us Downtown Poles Now that power and communicatfons have been placed underground, the poles along Water Street (from the fer- ry terminal to Taylor Street) will be removed. The work will be completed in July. The work will take approximate- ly five days. Bus schedules will not be impacted, and there will be no street closures while the work is underway. Every block will have parking on one side or the other throughout the duratfon of the project. Please follow along on our Facebook page and our City website for the most up to date informatfon. For questfons or concerns about the project, please contact Sarah Tiffany (360) 390-4115 or stfffany@cityofpt.us or Laura Parsons (360) 379-4432 or lparsons@cityofpt.us. DM Disposal Lids The new bins delivered by DM are designed to be animal resistant, but that is only effectfve if the lids are shut completely. Please ensure that the lids are completely closed when they are ready for pick up to avoid animals getting into the trash and spreading it. Additfonally, DM may charge for an extra bag if the lid is not fully closed. Facilities Rentals Please note: All facility rentals for the month of July have been cancelled due to COVID-19. Our hope is to reboot the program in August. For questfons or concerns, please contact Alex Wisniewski at AWisniewski@cityofpt.us. Kah Tai Lagoon Odor City Staff has received numerous complaints about odors coming from the Kah Tai Lagoon. We would like to let the public know that the odor is a result of natural processes and not from the sewer system. While the odor is unpleasant, it is part of the natural environment and it will pass. Compost — Yard Waste The compost facility has seen an increase of yard waste being delivered, and would like to remind residents what can and cannot be accepted at the facility. We can accept: • Christmas Trees • Grass clippings • Leaves and Shrubs • Tree branches less than 8’ long and less than 10” in diameter • Tree trimmings • Weeds As a reminder, compost is available for purchase (when available) from 12pm-3pm on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays at 603 County Landfill Road, below the transfer statfon. Miscellaneous Updates City of Port Townsend • 250 Madison Street • (360)385-3000 • www.cityofpt.us We cannot accept: • Demolitfon lumber • Dirt • Food scraps/waste • Plastfc bags • Rocks and gravel • Sod • Stumps