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HomeMy WebLinkAbout11 November NewsletterNewsletterNewsletter City of Port Townsend 250 Madison Street (360)385-3000 www.cityofpt.us NOVEMBER CITY COUNCIL MEETINGS: November 2020 11/02/20 Business Mee�ng 11/09/20 Workshop Mee�ng 11/16/20 Business Mee�ng Mee�ngs are subject to change. Please view our website calendar for an up-to-date mee�ng schedule. www.cityofpt.us/calendar A Note From Council Member Amy Howard Consider applying to be on a Ci�zen Advisory Board or Commission. Visit our website for descrip�ons, applica�ons, and mee�ng schedules: For more informa�on contact the City Clerk’s Office at (360) 379-5083. The following Boards and Commissions have vacancies: • Ac�ve Transporta�on Advisory Board MAKE A DIFFERENCE IN YOUR COMMUNITY! www.cityofpt.us I’m Amy Howard, serving you from Council posi�on #6. In addi�on, I serve as the Chair of the Finance and Budget Commi�ee and serve on the Housing Commi�ee, the Rules Commi�ee and as the City Council representa�ve to the OlyCAP Board of Directors. I also serve as the council liaison to the Ac�ve Transporta�on Advisory Board, a group of local residents that “advise the City Council on the planning, funding, and maintenance of the City's non-motorized transporta�on facili�es, including implementa�on of the Non-Motorized Transporta�on Plan and promo�on of walking and bicycling for both recrea�on and transporta�on throughout the City.” Are you familiar with Port Townsend’s advisory boards, commissions, and commi�ees? They’re important! I strongly believe that it takes many voices to create strong public policy and to transform those policy decisions into ac�on. Advisory boards, commissions, and commi�ees serve a very important role in local government. They are made up of people of wide-ranging interests and exper�se, who volunteer to par�cipate in the democra�c process by providing a ci�zen perspec�ve—a necessary viewpoint, o�en different from that of elected officials or city staff. The goal of an advisory board is to prepare well-developed, though�ul recommenda�ons to the Council, and in order to do so, they put in a lot of �me researching, studying, hearing from residents, and reviewing staff reports and recommenda�ons. O�en, advisory boards can serve as training or a stepping stone for people who may be interested in later running for an elected posi�on—both of your most recently elected City Council Members put in their �me in this arena! Port Townsend has the following Advisory Boards, Commissions, and Commi�ees: • Ac�ve Transporta�on Advisory Board • Arts Commission • Civil Service Commission • Climate Ac�on Commi�ee • Historic Preserva�on Commi�ee • Library Advisory Board • Lodging Tax Advisory Commi�ee • Parks, Recrea�on, and Tree Advisory Board • Planning Commission For more informa�on about your local advisory boards, including how to join, visit the City’s website www.cityofpt.us or contact the City Clerk Joanna Sanders at jsanders@cityofpt.us. How can you help your community be the community you want to live in? Get involved! As the saying goes, we’re be�er together. Thank you, Amy Howard Happy Autumn everyone! I am happy to be able to share the Mayor’s column this month with my colleague Amy Howard. - Mayor Michelle Sandoval • Lodging Tax Advisory Commi�ee (collector) • Parks, Recrea�on and Tree Advisory Board • Planning Commission Winter Weather Road Conditions A Note From City Manager John Mauro November for me means a full trip around the sun while here in Port Townsend. Yes, a year has passed and it’s been a lively, unexpected, humbling, challenging, inspiring, difficult and gra�fying year at that. One of my passions in this role and generally is to connect. I like to connect people together, people to collec�ve decision-making, people to their place and history and with people myself. It’s a complex ecosystem of humanity, our lovely community. It’s a place of abundance and abundant possibility, with a range of interconnected ini�a�ves, challenges and steps needed to move further toward fulfilling our collec�ve community vision and poten�al. Engage PT has been one embodiment of that – I know I’ve spent a good deal of space in previous newsle�ers explaining this approach and you hopefully know the link to learn more and to engage yourself: www.cityofpt.us/engage. So I’ll just say thank you to those ambassadors who have facilitated conversa�ons, thank you to community members who have visited our tent at the Farmer’s Market, and thank you to listeners who have followed along and engaged with me and department directors on KPTZ each Thursday from 12:10-12:40. In the spirit of connec�on, I’ve found it enthralling – and complex! – to guide how our City works. Over the course of the past year, my team and I have been nego�a�ng with the Mill on our cri�cal water infrastructure, progressing an approach to our sewer ou�all and shoreline management, and advancing transporta�on projects like the Discovery Road Bikeway and Sidewalks project. We’ve con�nued our community-wide discussion on the future of the golf course, the future of our library, the future of our approach to policing and community safety, and the future opera�ons and improvements of our street network. We've been assembling a budget and stewarding financial sustainability with the tremendous uncertainty brought by the pandemic. We’ve also tried a few new things: launching our Open Streets Ini�a�ve, star�ng Engage PT, and helping set up a new mul�-agency partnership on COVID recovery and resilience. Finally, we’ve done this on top of the usual business of providing services that you depend on and during turbulent �mes in a pandemic, some�mes significantly understaffed and unsure of how the path ahead will unfold. We’ve had to quickly reinvent processes, rapidly shi� priori�es, and implement en�rely new protocols. I know we haven’t always go�en it right and I’m always grateful for an opportunity to learn from missteps and commit fully to con�nuous improvement. That said, I’m deeply proud of our team, our partners, our decision-makers and our community for how we’ve done this past year. I’m also deeply apprecia�ve of the warm welcome that my family and I have received and feel so lucky to call this place home. As we move through more uncertain �mes, let’s all commit to connec�on – connec�ng be�er with each other, connec�ng be�er with ourselves, and being kind to both. Doing so will ensure we’re able to move forward through the pandemic, to heal ourselves and our wider community, and to truly make progress on the things that ma�er. ENGAGE PT City of Port Townsend • 250 Madison Street • (360)385-3000 • www.cityofpt.us With the days ge�ng shorter, it is important to be on the lookout for pedestrians and animals as we drive to and from work or just around town. It is also important to keep your headlights on while driving, even if it’s light out. Washington State Law requires headlights “at any �me due to insufficient light or unfavorable atmospheric condi�ons” and at any �me from a half hour a�er sunset to a half hour before sunrise, and if you cannot see 1,000 feet ahead of you. Be on the lookout for icy patches on the road and make sure your vehicle is “winterized” (studded or all-weather �res and all recent tune-ups are complete). Also, it is common for trees and large branches to fall because of the wind, so if you see any within City limits, report it to the Public Works Department at (360) 379-5096. Visit our website www.cityofpt.us/publicworks for a snow route that will show the order in which streets will be plowed in town. Discovery Road Bikeway and Sidewalks Project City of Port Townsend • 250 Madison Street • (360)385-3000 • www.cityofpt.us Introducing City Staff CARES Act Funds Available for Nonprofit Culture and Events Organizations We are con�nuing to profile City staff members so you can learn more about the team and their work from their perspec�ve. Check back here each month so see a new staff profile. This month is Shilah Gould from the Library. Discover more about the City’s Discovery Road Bikeway and Sidewalks Project The City of Port Townsend is embarking on a project to upgrade the Discovery Road corridor between the Rainier Street roundabout and Salish Coast Elementary School. Design is scheduled for 2021 and construc�on is scheduled for 2022. The City is encouraging the Port Townsend community to provide feedback and input regarding this project, as we prepare to enter the design phase. To learn more about the project, check out the Discovery Road Project Story Map which can be found through Engage PT on the City of Port Townsend website at www.cityofpt.us/engage. At the end of the Story Map there is a survey. Please take the survey to help the City be�er understand your needs and vision for Discovery Road. Contact project manager Laura Parsons with any ques�ons or comments. Phone: (360) 379-4432, Email: lparsons@cityofpt.us How long have you worked at the City of Port Townsend? 8 years as staff and 3 years before that as a volunteer at the library. What do you currently do in terms of job du�es? Because we're closed for browsing, my main job duty right now is helping to deliver curbside services. On a regular day I also check books in, pull holds, process materials, and fill grab bags, which is one of my favorite things at the moment. You can request a grab bag on our website or call us and tell us what type of book or dvd you're looking for. We will then search the shelves to find the perfect item. What do you like or enjoy most about working at the City? I love being a part of the library community and working for an organiza�on that cares about and listens to every ci�zen. Is there anything else you would like to share about yourself, your job, or your team with the public? Our Library Director suggested I share a book I've enjoyed recently, and I'm going to go with the nonfic�on book Underland, by Robert Macfarlane. It combines natural history, human history, and adventure travel in a brilliant and wonderful way. Art and entertainment events in the City of Port Townsend and Jefferson County are integral to our community’s cultural and economic wellness. COVID-19 and the associated closures and limita�ons on events and gatherings have nega�vely impacted nonprofits in our region. The City and County have allocated $60,000 of CARES Act Funding to a grant program to help. For requirements and materials to apply, visit: www.cityofpt.us/finance/page/cares-actcoronavirus-relief-funds. Applica�ons close on November 13. Online Library Programs Washington Street Traffic Calming - 60-day Trial Period City of Port Townsend • 250 Madison Street • (360)385-3000 • www.cityofpt.us Water System Flushing through January The City of Port Townsend Water Department will be conduc�ng its annual water system flushing beginning in November and con�nuing through January. As part of the flushing program, fire hydrants are tested and operated to support fire protec�on in the community. Flushing traces of minerals and sediment from the pipelines may cause short term but harmless changes in the appearance to the water. The water may have a brownish color during flushing and can usually be eliminated by running taps for a few minutes. If this doesn’t help eliminate the brownish color, please call the Water Quality Department at (360) 379-5096. Photo shows a crew member doing a systema�c opening of hydrants which forces water through distribu�on pipes at high velocity, removing accumulated sediment. John Larison - Whiskey When We're DryThursday, November 12, 2020 - 6:30pm to 8:00pm Join 2020 Port Townsend Community Read author, John Larison as he discusses his book, to be followed by an “In Conversa�on” talk with local author, Adrianne Harun. A�endees will get a special announcement about the 2021 Community Read �tle! Sing-a-Ling with Keeth ApgarThursday, November 19, 2020 - 10:30am to 11:00am Sing-A-Ling gets toddlers, preschoolers, families and the greater community into our bodies and singing together. Part story �me, part sing-along and fully loaded with laughs, the select songs and rhyming stories in this show combine finger play, movement, picture books, upli�ing acous�c music and an engaging, highly-interac�ve banter between audience and presenter. Both programs will be held via Zoom. Check the Library’s website for details at www.ptpubliclibrary.org. Controlling traffic speeds (traffic calming) on City streets is one of the most common requests the City Engineering department receives. These requests are most common for main City arterial streets that traverse through residen�al neighborhoods. A great example of one of these streets is Washington Street between Sims Way and Downtown. This arterial street has an important func�on of access to the Courthouse, Post Office, Uptown, and Downtown. Historically, the street carries about 3,700 vehicles per day including some large delivery trucks. Our objec�ve is to implement traffic calming measures that result in reduced speeds while maintaining the volume capacity and func�on of the street. In addi�on to carrying traffic, these streets are important routes for non-motorized transporta�on. Thus, when iden�fying poten�al traffic calming measures to reduce speeds, many factors must be considered. Common traffic calming measures being deployed throughout many ci�es include speed humps, medians, chicanes, narrow streets, landscaping, mini-circles, radar boards, and more. The most effec�ve traffic calming measures are those that induce motorists to slow down and drive cau�ously. The City and the Washington Street neighborhood are working together to test two mini circles on Washington Street. Over the next two months, the City will be tracking the func�on of the circles and collec�ng data to determine if this traffic calming measure is effec�ve and meets the principles described above. We invite the public to submit comments through the Comprehensive Street Program ini�a�ve at www.cityofpt.us/engagept. As part of this program, the City will consider whether or not traffic calming measures such as mini-circles should be included in a Citywide traffic calming program intended to make our City streets safer, while improving the quality of neighborhoods in which these important arterial streets traverse.