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HomeMy WebLinkAbout02 February NewsletterNewsletterNewsletter City of Port Townsend 250 Madison Street (360)385-3000 www.cityofpt.us FEBRUARY CITY COUNCIL MEETINGS: February 2021 02/01/21: Business Mee�ng 02/08/21: Workshop Mee�ng 02/16/21: 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 Monica MickHager 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: • Arts Commission MAKE A DIFFERENCE IN YOUR COMMUNITY! www.cityofpt.us • Lodging Tax Advisory Commi�ee (collector) • Parks, Recrea�on and Tree Advisory Board • Planning Commission Hello to you all. As I begin my second year on City Council, it is my privilege to write to you in the City newsle�er. Although I've spent many years on the City Park Board and Planning Commission, I've never held an elected office before, and as someone almost qualified for Medicare, this isn't a stepping stone to bigger poli�cal opportuni�es. I serve this community that has included me for more than 35 years and my goal is to give value in return for that inclusion. One of the happiest revela�ons of my first year is the genuine commitment to public service and ci�zen inclusion demonstrated by our fairly new City Manager, who has served in his capacity for two months longer than I have been a Councilor. Our City Manager is cut from different cloth than we were accustomed to, but as he reveals his strengths and competence, I believe we are very fortunate in that hiring process. I would offer the same praise to our new and mul�-talented Public Works Director, who joined us just as the pandemic hit hard, and I have great hopes for the hiring of our new Police Chief. At the same �me, there is no denying the sadness of losing important staff due to budget cuts to balance the budget. In our Council subcommi�ee assignments, our Mayor assigned me to the Council Finance subcommi�ee and that is precisely where I hoped to serve, as I ran for elec�on on my concerns about facing fiscal reali�es and increasing transparency in government. Who knew that the pandemic would land on us with such force? Yet we managed to balance both the 2020 and 2021 budgets in the budgetary firestorm ignited by the consequences of the pandemic. The development of cross-jurisdic�onal collabora�ons among City, County, Board of Health, PUD, Port, and others to respond to the pandemic has been very successful. Our city was out in front of many others with the permi�ng of streateries to help keep local restaurants open. We developed a program to assist those residents who were struggling to pay their water bills. City staff have been agile in moving government to an almost en�rely virtual format wherever possible while s�ll responding rapidly to unexpected calami�es, like the water main break in front of the American Legion. While the Engage PT effort has made government far more accessible to most residents, I look forward to the days when we can meet in person and discuss all the issues that are s�ll in front of us. In the coming year I pledge to con�nue to ask the hard ques�ons and work with the other council members to make the best decisions we can for all of us. When we are able I will go back to having office hours on Monday a�ernoons to be available to all who wish to get involved and talk about what is important to them for our community and as always I am reachable by email so don’t be shy if you want to talk with me! May we all remain safe and con�nue to do the best we can to keep ourselves, our loved ones and our community united and strong in our strange new world we live in. -Monica I would like to turn my mayor’s column over this month to one of our newest council members, long time resident Monica Mick-Hager - Mayor Michelle Sandoval A Note From City Manager John Mauro City of Port Townsend • 250 Madison Street • (360)385-3000 • www.cityofpt.us With the federal leadership transi�on behind us, all levels of government are universally focused on comba�ng the virus and the recovery that must ensue. This has been a sustained focus of our federal and state delega�ons for months now. I’ve been apprecia�ve of their efforts and their frequent updates and accessibility to our community’s voices and needs. Our local elected officials have also been hard at work, powering through significant constraints and challenges to put some of those federal-to-state CARES Act dollars to best use to meet the urgent needs of our community. I’m hoping that anything wri�en about the federal scene will become quickly outdated in the coming weeks due to progress being made. I suggest you stay tuned to our new president’s plans and the Moving Forward Act which starts a pivot toward long-term issues like housing and infrastructure more clearly than the previous bill’s “stop the bleeding” approach. Our City team and our partners are ge�ng as ready as we can to compete for any more federal dollars that could help us recover and build las�ng resilience here at home. At the state level, the legisla�ve session has begun. Despite the unusual nature of a virtual session, we’ve worked with them to be�er understand the legisla�ve landscape and have kept our 2021 legisla�ve priori�es brief and focused. As passed unanimously by the Port Townsend City Council, we have three main priori�es for partnership with the state: Housing • Support from the state for funding for shovel-ready backbone infrastructure. Affordable housing requires many pieces and players to come together; a major hindrance in our community is the cost of infrastructure. This is a place where the City can and will play a key role. Transporta�on • Protect and enhance the Port Townsend-Coupeville Ferry Service. A Port-led partnership with County, City and PUD enabled a data-based understanding of the poten�al impacts and the study is a tool to help advocate to keep and enhance this and the Kingston-Edmonds route. • Partner with WSDOT to optimize the Mill Road and Kearny Road Signal Replacements. We need to get these intersec�ons right for bikes, pedestrians and general streetscape – so are looking for $1.7m in addi�onal state funding to get the best community outcomes. • Build the Olympic Discovery Trail (ODT) Extension from Anderson Lake to Discovery Bay. An infusion of $13.5m to build another sec�on will keep us moving toward comple�ng this well-used and well-loved trail all the way to La Push. Climate Ac�on • Provide funding for municipalities to adapt to climate impacts. Our community is on the front lines of climate change, with major infrastructure, facili�es and services along miles of low-lying water front. Sea level rise is unavoidable so we must plan for it proac�vely. • Give local jurisdictions tools, signals and resources to drive down emissions state-wide. We’ve brought our emissions down, but need to double-down in order to reap the wide set of benefits of doing so. We’re also advoca�ng for other needs alongside regional and state partners. We hope these priori�es resonate with you. Consider ge�ng in touch with your representa�ves to tell them what you think – and please men�on these three City priori�es. Here’s to our collec�ve success! City of Port Townsend • 250 Madison Street • (360)385-3000 • www.cityofpt.us Compost Sales Will Resume in March Fall in Love with your Library: Curbside Cra� Kits EventWeek of February 9th Come to the library for curbside pickup and get Valen�ne cra� bags with goodies to enjoy. The take and make cra� kits are fun for all ages. While supplies last. Sponsored by Friends of the Port Townsend Public Library. Family Story�me - Thursdays at 10:30 a.m. Family story�me brings early literacy to kids and their caregivers with songs, rhymes, and ac�vi�es. The emphasis for this age group is on kindergarten readiness and fostering a love of reading. Ages 0-6 and Caregivers. Sing-a-Ling with Keeth Apgar - February 18, 10:30 a.m. 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. History and Opera�on of the Port Townsend Olympic Gravity Water SystemThursday, February 25th - 7:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. Port Townsend’s loca�on in a rain shadow at the north end of the Quimper Peninsula made it necessary for community leaders to develop a reliable water source in the Olympic Mountains. In 1928, a partnership with Crown Zellerbach paper mill was formed to construct a 28-mile long replacement water system. Under an agreement with the city, Port Townsend Paper Company con�nues to operate and maintain the transmission system while city staff provide treatment and delivery of the water to the community. Ian Jablonski is the Water Resources Opera�ons Manager for the City of Port Townsend, responsible for leading the water treatment and distribu�on staffs. He has administered the Coopera�ve Watershed Protec�on Program with the US Forest Service and par�cipated in a variety of study and planning efforts including Water Resource Inventory Area 17 watershed planning. During the past 27 years he has overseen a number of water system improvements including reconstruc�on of the Li�le Quilcene River Diversion, City Lake outlet pipeline replacement, development of the membrane Water Treatment Facility, and repairs to the Big Quilcene Diversion. You can access a zoom link for all of these virtual events on the Library’s event calendar: www.ptpubliclibrary.org/calendar PT Public Library and Online Programs Compost Hours: Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays, 12:00 p.m. - 3:00 p.m Compost Facility Phone: (360) 385-7908 Address: 603 County Landfill Road, below the transfer sta�on City of Port Townsend • 250 Madison Street • (360)385-3000 • www.cityofpt.us DM Disposal Mini Report 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 to see a new staff profile. This month is Autumn Hannafious from the Police Department. How long have you worked at the City of Port Townsend? I began working for the city of Port Townsend in June of 2013. What do you currently do in terms of job du�es? One of my primary du�es is serving as the evidence technician at the Port Townsend Police Department. Responsibili�es include booking, storing, transferring property or evidence, and occasionally ge�ng called out to a scene to secure evidence. I submit reports to the U.S. Treasury Department and work with Washington State crime labs regarding evidence tes�ng and fingerprint analysis. I am also the Port Townsend Police Department’s Public Records Officer, responsible for reviewing and providing public records requests. I am also responsible for training the front office staff and I assist officers directly with evidence and record-related ma�ers. What do you like or enjoy most about working at the City? There are two things I like most about working for the City of Port Townsend. I appreciate the City team’s size and the trust placed in me to carry out the different tasks that support mul�ple systems within the city, county, and state. I have go�en to know most of the City’s employees, who I can quickly contact when needed to address an issue or complete a project. Is there anything else you would like to share about yourself, your job, or your team with the public? One of the fun things to know about me is how much I enjoy karaoke! Aside from that, I love our area, having lived here for over 20 years. There are so many different things to see and do here, which explains why I enjoy my job and those I work with. Every day and every person I work with is unique! Introducing City Staff In April 2020, the new contract between the City of Port Townsend and Olympic Disposal/Waste Connec�ons was put into effect. The new service included every other week service, new roll out carts, and separated recycling. There will be less wear and tear to the streets, less air and noise pollu�on, be�er tracking of service performance, and no more missing container lids. While the DM contract addresses all city owned cans, privately owned garbage receptacles need to be maintained as well to keep trash from overflowing into the street, stormwater, system and ul�mately poten�ally into the Sound. The first quarter since implementa�on was a learning process for both the residents and staff. City Manager John Mauro, Public Works Director Steve King, and Opera�ons Manager Brian Reid went on a ride a long and staff got a tour of the facility in Sequim, as well as a first hand look at how the trucks operate. They were able to see the computer system and how the onboard computer and photograph system allows DM drivers to update the billing database in real �me to track containers that were not set out on �me and for extra containers. Behind the scenes, DM’s website got a complete makeover and now includes a user-friendly interface; all you have to do is enter your address and a calendar shows what days of the month your garbage/recycling/yard waste is going to be picked up! Check it out at www.olympicdisposal.com DID YOU KNOW? In 2020, 1,384 TONS of yard waste was picked up and turned into compost. The City has 3,970 residen�al and 345 commer- cial customers within city limits. In 2020, 4,900 tons of municipal garbage was picked up within city limits. Yard waste pick up has more than doubled in 2020 compared to 2019, thanks to the new contract.