The Bainbridge Island Community Based Testing Site is up and running at the Town Square. Appointments are now limited to four weeks out for booking.

Not everyone needs to get tested. You should schedule a test if you have COVID symptoms, were a close contact to someone with COVID or had some other worrisome exposure, need a negative test to return to work or school, or recently traveled to an area with a high case rate.

The City testing site should not be used for pre-travel clearance and is not an approved site for travel to Hawaii. Additional information on the testing site is available here.

On. Nov. 10, Washington State Department of Health (DOH) released the latest statewide situation report on COVID-19 transmission, which shows disease transmission is happening at an accelerated pace across the entire state.  

Report findings include:

Read the full update here.

“We all need to do our part to flatten the curve,” State Health Officer Dr. Kathy Lofy said during a Nov. 10 telebriefing to provide an update on the state's ongoing response to COVID-19.

Lofy is calling on Washingtonians to stop socializing for the next several weeks to slow the spread of COVID-19. If people do need to socialize, Lofy says to limit your social contacts to no more than five people outside your household per week.

“I’m particularly concerned at this point about a surge in hospitalizations that could put huge strain on our hospitals and overwhelm their capacity. We’re at the point that if we cannot change the current trajectory of disease by changing our behaviors we’ll need to take actions that will hurt our economy -- and no one wants to do that again," Lofy said.

Watch the telebriefing here.

Public health professionals perform case investigations and contact tracing to help slow and prevent the spread of infectious diseases like COVID-19. Contact tracing is one of the best tools we have to slow the spread of COVID-19 in our community and prevent more people from getting sick.

When Kitsap Public Health is notified of a positive COVID-19 case in our community, they interview the case and learn about the people they interacted closely with during the time they were contagious. "Close contacts" are advised to quarantine (stay home and away from others) for 14 days from their last contact with the case. It is also recommended that close contacts get tested for COVID-19. This process can greatly reduce the potential for COVID-19 being passed from one person to another.

If you get a call from Kitsap Public Health, please respond!

Learn more about case investigations and contact tracing from the Washington State Department of Health.

During this week's Nov. 10 budget workshop, the Council affirmed majority support for three additional adjustments to the 2021-22 biennial budget.

The final adopted budget ordinance is scheduled for the Council to consider approval on November 24.

Also this week:

We’re seeking input on the cable television services provided by Comcast on Bainbridge Island, as part of a franchise agreement renewal process. If you are a City resident or the owner of a business located on Bainbridge Island, please join us for a Zoom meeting Wednesday, Nov. 18 at 6 p.m. to share your thoughts.

The purpose of the Nov. 18 meeting is to hear the community’s views on the cable television service they receive from Comcast to help the City understand the needs of the community as the City reviews Comcast’s franchise agreement.

The Nov. 18 Zoom meeting will include a presentation from the City’s consultant team, River Oaks Communications Corporation, on current cable communications policies and the Cable TV franchise renewal process.

For more information on the franchise agreement and the renewal process, please visit the City’s Comcast Cable TV Franchise Agreement webpage.

At the November 10 business meeting, the City Council approved the Goals and Objectives for the Sustainable Transportation Plan (STP), including a primary goal of reducing 90% of transportation-related carbon emissions on the Island by 2045. A link the details can be found here. The Goals and Objectives will inform the next steps in the process, including helping to prioritize sustainable transportation projects and programs that will be identified and discussed with the project’s community Task Force over the next several months.

The next Council briefing on the STP will be November 17^th, when the Council will hear a brief overview of the decision-making framework that is proposed for sorting and prioritizing projects and programs according to the Council’s goals. Once the Council has agreed on the overall direction of the framework, the Task Force will be digging into the details and making recommendations to the project team and Council about the final form and process for using the framework going forward.

The Nov. 10 Council meeting included a recognition of service for outgoing North Ward Councilmember Kol Medina.

Medina resigned his City Council seat to take the position of President of the Blue Mountain Community Foundation in Walla Walla, where he spent his childhood.

Medina was elected in 2015 and re-elected in 2019. He served a two-year term as Mayor during 2018-19 and was the Council's liaison to numerous regional organizations and agencies.

Residents interested in applying for the City Council North Ward vacancy have until 4 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 25 to submit an application.

Applicants must have lived in the City of Bainbridge Island for at least one year prior to Council appointment, must currently live in the North Ward, and be registered to vote. Click here to view the ward map on the City’s website to confirm your residence is in the North Ward.

The term of the vacated position will begin once a qualified candidate is appointed by a majority vote of the Council. The appointed Councilmember will hold office until a person is elected to the position at the next general municipal election, in November 2021, and after the results of that election have been certified.

Applications are due to the City Clerk by 4:00 p.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 25. Application forms are available on the City’s website at bainbridgewa.gov/217.

Click here for more information about the vacancy.

At the Nov. 10 business meeting, the City Council confirmed the process they will use to review applicants and to appoint the new councilmember. The Council also adjusted the review schedule to allow the new councilmember to be sworn in the week of Dec. 7. This will facilitate the ability for the new councilmember to participate in the City Council's review of final candidates for the City Manager position, which is currently expected to begin in mid-December.

This week, the City Council discussed the next steps in the City Manager search process with a consultant from SGR, the search firm which is leading a national search process for the City. The Council has identified a group of semifinalists and will invite finalists to participate in an interview process in December. At the meeting on November 10, the Council decided to make a determination about the components of the finalist review process at a special meeting to be held on November 16.

At the meeting on November 10, the City Council approved a Climate Action Plan (CAP) for the City of Bainbridge Island. The CAP was developed by the Climate Change Advisory Committee, a Council advisory group comprised of community volunteers, combining input from a greenhouse gas emissions inventory completed in 2019, community feedback, and expertise from the committee. 

Council adopted a CAP with over 170 recommended actions, and a list of roughly 20 immediate actions identified for priority attention. Next steps will be to develop specific workplans and schedules for the first priority activities, to be launched in early 2021.

The Planning Commission is recommending that the Ordinance is an interim measure to undertake while the City Council, the Planning Commission and Planning Staff address broader revisions to the zoning code, including base FAR and whether to replace it with other measures such as form-based zoning. Once that broader work is completed, it is likely that Ordinance No. 2020-16 will be revised.

This recommendation is an element of the work program for the Ordinance 2020-20, which extended the interim zoning control that suspended density bonus options until March 10, 2021. The interim zoning control was originally passed on March 10, 2020 (Ordinance No. 2020-10). 

Below are some of the topics to be discussed during the Nov. 17 City Council meeting.

If you would like to receive the City Council agenda by email when it's published, sign up on the Council Agendas webpage.

Councilmember Joe Deets will host virtual office hours 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. this Saturday, Nov. 14

Get the details for the Zoom meeting here.

The Planning Commission will hold a public participation meeting at 6 p.m. on Nov. 19 to provide an opportunity for the community to learn about the Wintergreen Townhomes proposal, a 74-townhome long subdivision proposal that incorporates affordable housing (as defined in the Municipal Code) on two lots totaling 2.94 acres. The project site is located at 1332 Wintergreen Lane.

The applicant is in the process of slightly modifying the proposal in response to comments from the Design Review Board’s Design Guidance meeting on Nov. 2. Learn more about the project proposal here.

Members of the public who wish to participate in the public participation meeting, can join via Zoom. Instructions will be included in the agenda when it's published.

The work is expected to last from mid-November through early 2021. Please visit the project webpage to learn more. 

The latest outdoor sculptures in the Something New III public art program have been installed in downtown.

The Public Art Committee (PAC) selected the following sculptures:

The Something New program provides both a dynamic public art experience and an ongoing opportunity for sculptors from around the Pacific Northwest to exhibit their work.

Every year, the project brings a collection of sculptures on loan to outdoor sites located around Winslow. The infrastructure at each site is permanent. However, the artwork on display is not. After each yearlong exhibition, new art is selected and rotated into place, bringing “something new” to Bainbridge Island year after year.