HomeMy WebLinkAbout051126 Special Session City Council Workshop Meeting MinutesCITY OF PORT TOWNSEND
MINUTES OF THE SPECIAL SESSION OF MAY 11, 2026
CALL TO ORDER
The City Council met in a special session on the 11th day of May 2026 at Salish Coast
Elementary Commons 1637 Grant Street, Port Townsend, WA 98368. Mayor Howard called
the meeting to order at 6pm.
CALL TO ORDER/ROLL CALL
Councilmembers present at roll call were Amy Howard, Monica MickHager, Neil Nelson,
Owen Rowe, Fred Obee, and Libby Wennstrom with David Faber excused.
Staff members present were People and Performance Director Cynthia Shaffer, Marketing
and Communications Director Shelly Leavens, City Manager John Mauro, Finance and
Technology Services Director Jodi Adams, Senior Planner Adrian Smith, Public Works
Director Steve King, Community Services Director Melody Sky Weaver, Planning Manager
Ryan Harriman, and City Clerk Alyssa Rodrigues.
WELCOME AND OVERVIEW
Mayor Howard welcomed everyone to the meeting.
2026 STRATEGIC WORKPLAN OVERVIEW
INTRODUCTION OF FACILITATION PROCESS
City Manager John Mauro presented the Quarterly Strategic Workplan presentation which
included Overview, Annual Report 2025, 2025 Strategic Workplan: 10 Accomplishments,
2026 Strategic Workplan: 5 Priority Areas, Adopted 2026 Budget, 2026 Strategic Workplan:
10 Selected Priorities, and Tonight's City Council Workshop.
ROUNDTABLE
May 11, 2026 Special Session City Council Workshop Meeting Page 1 of 7
Public broke into groups and rotated to different tables four separate times. Table topics
consisted of the following: Transportation projects and planning, budget and finance, PT
Creative District, arts and culture, Communication and engagement, Housing, Evans Vista,
comp plan implementation, & permitting, Infrastructure: water, sewer, facilities, streets,
parks, trails.
Discussion ensued around corresponding topics at each table.
ROUNDTABLE REPORT OUT
Council members reported out on their discussions at their tables.
(Discussion notes attached)
REAL TIME SURVEY
John Mauro provided information on how to participate in the Real Time Survey,.
CLOSING REMARKS
Mayor Howard provided closing remarks.
ADJOURN
There being no further business, the meeting adjourned at 8:08pm.
Attest:
Asa, gigues
City Clerk
May 11, 2026 Special Session City Council Workshop Meeting Page 2 of 7
Infrastructure: Water, Sewer, Facilities, Streets, Parks & Trails
• Parks- Blackberry Eradication
• Underbrush- fire hazard
• Inventory of Land- Ag on City Land
o Community Gardens
o Water
o BuildingforAg
• Ag infrastructure
o Processing facilities
• Wastewater Plant
• Food Waste
• Transfer Station
o Recycle
• Street Maintenance
o Local
• LOS
• Water- Projection
• OGWS
• Wells
o De Sal
• Evans Vista
o Grants
• Trails
o E-bike Speed
o Leash
• Newsletter
Communications & Engagement
• Access to public comment
• Access to city archives
May 11, 2026 Special Session City Council Workshop Meeting Page 3 of 7
• Granicus capability- more clear?
• Hours more clearly communicated
• How to find info in committee packets- buried details
• What are our measures of success?
• When engagement happens isn't always "ideal" or on the city's timeline- honor the
voices when they show up
• Times/methods varying engagement
• Direct voting on initiatives brought forward by community
• Access to council members- calendars to sign up for meetings aka office hours
• Human to human
• Clarify county vs. city projects
• Contact info for advisory boards
• Sm. Lens (reductionism) vs. broader view (bigger scheme)
• Staff being publicly engaged
• Sharing the details early and often (impacts)
• Complexity of the budget, grants, etc. once you have people engaged
• "Every dime has rules"
• Why- explain in detail or simple and visual
• Driving people to more info
• Where does council and community input show up in decision? (show the process)
Housing, Evans Vista, Comp Plan Implementation & Permitting
• Follow up re: Caswell Brown new units
• Info on how point in time Count is run and used
• Cost of housing
• Value of food and food bank growing
• Affordability requirements for Evans Vista
• Converting existing buildings to residential
• How comp plan makes development regs
• Ethos of PT
• Cappy's Trails
• Neighborhood meetings in future
• Historic preservation
May 11, 2026 Special Session City Council Workshop Meeting Page 4 of 7
Transportation Projects and Planning
• Fewer car trips, more bike infrastructure
• Expand public transit
• Pedestrian zones?
• Parking: paid! No!
• Issues with pedestrian/bike conflicts
• Support for sustainable streets plan
• Mixed feeling son ride share- is there a public option here?
• Trolly
• Lawrence st: encourage use of arterials
• Hotel and parking
• Traffic calming
• Speed enforcement- concern w/ surveillance
• Complete streets
• Paid parking: mixed reviews & concerns with surveillance and benefits for revenue
and reduction of cartrips
• Support for more public transit
• Support for bike infrastructure (and more)
• More neighborhood connections/greenways- concern with bike and roundabouts
• ELRs: general support bus still challenges with markings and safety and parking
• Traffic calming: general support and support for concepts in sustainable streets
plan
• More roundabouts?
Port Townsend Creative District, Arts and Culture, and Parks
Plus +
• Public art for arts sake
• Soundcheck
• PTFF
• Accessible playground
• Increase in ptac grant
• Paid art position
• Fairgrounds
May 11, 2026 Special Session City Council Workshop Meeting Page 5 of 7
• TPA
• KPTZ
• Bike access to downtown
• PT School Art Wave Show in April
• 1 % for the Arts
• Shipwrights- more women builders
• Historic preservation
• Craftsmanship
• Walkability
Minus -
• More musicians on PTAC and needs to be paid equitably
• PTAC members receiving PTAC grants
• Not everyone can afford to live in pt
• Invasive species and blackberry bushes
Missing?
• Parks regionalization
• Incubator building for artists
• Artist startup spaces
• Are wee guarding ethos of PT
• Youth camps
• Arts and culture at golf park performance space
• Accountability to know what happened with city engagement
• Not knowing what the creative district is
Finance and Budget
• Housing 2027 Budget Priorities
• Helping unhoused residents in 2026 and 2027
• Discussion and interest in looking at efficiencies in every dept.
• Discussed public records for the city
• How is any extra money invested
• Deeper dive into "piggy banks" for fleets, 1+, facilities and rainy day funds
• Talked about our current grants that have been rewarded to the city in 25 and now 26
May 11, 2026 Special Session City Council Workshop Meeting Page 6 of 7
• Funds for affordable housing. How would this be managed
• And how transportation benefit district fund has helped to receive grants and more
work can be done
• How can organizations work with the city
• Look at redundancies between local Jefferson County public agencies, PUD, County
City and Port
May 11, 2026 Special Session City Council Workshop Meeting Page 7 of 7