A portion of Sportsman Club Road will be northbound-only next week, as the city begins work on bicycle and pedestrian improvements. The city expects major construction to be wrapped up before the Rotary Auction opens for donations June 21.

Here are details and a detour map from the city:

BAINBRIDGE ISLAND, June 13, 2013 – Work will begin on Sportsman Club Road next Monday, June 17. The City has contracted with Lakeside Industries Inc. to install non-motorized shoulder improvements on the west side of Sportsman Club Road from Wardwell Road to approximately 400 feet south.

During construction hours, between 6 am and 5 pm Monday-Friday, Sportsman Club Road will be restricted to one-way northbound traffic. A detour route will be established for southbound traffic and residents/local traffic accessing Wardwell Road. Shoulder work is expected to last for approximately one week, with paving to follow as weather permits.

Citizens are encouraged to access Sportsman Club Road from the south when delivering donations to Woodward Middle School for the Rotary Auction, beginning Friday, June 21.

This improvement project is part of the City’s Core 40 Program which targets 40 roads for upgrades around the island for non-motorized improvements.

Sportsman Club Detour by tsooter

A School Configuration Committee was convened last fall to examine reconfiguration as a way of cutting costs and maintaining educational programs in the face of declining enrollment and tightening budgets. The committee, which includes district staff, community members and school board representatives, recently decided to hold off on making a recommendation until 2014. 

Materials from the committee’s study sessions and the public meetings are available on the district website.

The working document released by BIPD (and posted below) shows what actions the department is taking to meet those recommendations and what changes are already complete. City Manager Doug Schulze made the document available in his weekly report, along with an update on Crisis Intervention Team Training.

According to Schulze, 11 of the island’s 18 sworn officers have completed the 40-hour training, which prepares first responders for situations involving the mentally ill. The entire force will have received the training by the end of October, Schulze said. The need for Crisis Intervention Training was a key finding in the Ostling trial last year.

The updates come as the department prepares to transition to new leadership. Newly-hired Police Chief Matthew Hamner (pictured) is expected to start Monday. There will be a public swearing-in ceremony and reception for Hamner at 7 p.m. June 20 at City Hall. Interim Public Safety Director Larry Dickerson has led the department since last summer and will assist with the transition.

LEMAP Response – Working Document 6-6-13 (2) by tsooter

Here’s the Bainbridge Islander preview for June 7. Feel free to give your events a plug in the comment section below.

Bainbridge Island is one of three Kitsap cities hosting National Marina Day festivities Saturday. Similar Marina Day  recognitions will take place across the country this weekend.

Events are scheduled at Waterfront Park from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. One unique activity planned for Eagle Harbor is an “anchoring with a local” workshop. Boaters will partner with an island mariner to learn how to anchor in 30 feet of water.

Back of Beyond Outfitters will offer a free “small boat mess-about” all day. There will be a rodeo for small non-motorized boats, demonstrations, and canoe tours of the harbor. Participants can bring their own craft or rent one on-site.

Other Marina Day activities will include free vessel examinations, a flare demonstration, sailboat rides, ROV hull inspections and rigging lessons.

Eagle Harbor also welcomed a special guest this week. MV Lotus (pictured above) is anchored off the Harbour Marina. Lotus will be on hand this weekend and on June 15-16 for the Bainbridge Wooden Boat Festival, according to the Lotus page on Facebook. Lotus was launched in 1909 and has plied Puget Sound and the Inside Passage for more than a century.

(Tad Sooter photos)

A Bainbridge driver whose Dodge Sprinter van wound up in a ditch on Henderson Road on May 30 told police he’d been run off the street by Ford F-150. The driver was able to provide a description of the suspects. He told police there were two men in the truck and they both looked like “hillbillies.”

The blotter is below:

June 2

Shoplifting: Police were called to a High School Road grocery store at about 2:30 p.m. to interview a woman detained by store employees. The 35-year-old woman was shopping with two young children when employees saw her place a bottle of tequila, a bottle of vodka and package of fruit in her purse. The items were valued at $115. The woman was cited for shoplifting.

June 1

Suspicious incident: A 39-year-old island woman contacted police after spotting a disturbing ad posted on the “baby+kids” category of Craigslist. The ad was titled “The devil,” with a listed price of $10,000. The ad featured an image of Satan and Jesus arm wrestling and the text: “I’m taking contributions this time, please tell everyone. You can make your contribution in person so you know it’s me.” An Eagle Harbor address was listed. Police were familiar with the resident from previous reports of “devil-related” activity.

May 31

Collision: A 45-year-old Bainbridge woman told police she’d “blacked out” before her Dodge Caravan hit a tree on Sportsman Club Road and rolled over on the roadway at 8:30 a.m. The woman was driving north between High School Road and New Brooklyn Road when the crash occurred. The woman complained of knee pain. She told police she recently changed medications, which may have caused the black out.

Malicious mischief: Residents of Alexander Place reported an “inappropriate and explicit” graffiti tag sprayed on the roadway at 8 a.m. The tag included a name, “2013,” and a very long, lewd image. Public works was contacted to wash the street.

Drunken driving: Police driving southbound on Highway 305 shortly before 1 a.m. saw a northbound van driving halfway over the fog line. Police turned and followed the vehicle north toward the bridge. The van veered over the centerline and fog line several more times. Police stopped the van north of Agate Passage and contacted the driver, a 33-year-old Kingston man. The man performed poorly on field sobriety tests. He agreed to a portable breath test, which registered his blood alcohol content at .104. The legal limit is .08. He was arrested for driving under the influence and booked into Kitsap County Jail.

May 30

Reckless driving: Police responded to Henderson Road where a driver reported being run off the road. The man said he was driving his Dodge Sprinter van to work when he encountered a Ford F-150 truck traveling in the opposite direction on the narrow road. The man said he though the truck was pulling over to let him pass but it suddenly sped up and abruptly swerved toward his lane, forcing his van into the ditch. The driver saw two men in the truck who appeared to be “hillbillies.” The truck was not located.

Here’s the Bainbridge Islander preview for May 31. Feel free to give your events a plug in the comment section below.

The city and Sustainable Bainbridge will host two community meetings in June to discuss renovation plans for the downtown Winslow park. The first meeting is scheduled for 1:30-4:30 p.m. Saturday at Waterfront Park Community Center.

Participants can join a walking tour of the park at 12:30 p.m., before the start of the meeting. The stroll will be led by Dan Burden of the Walkable and Livable Communities Institute, who is helping facilitate the outreach event.

There are sure to be many visions for the park. The uplands and shoreline are enjoyed by walkers, picnickers, concert-goers, rowers, day sailors, kayakers and visiting boaters, to name just a few regular user groups. The city’s advisory Harbor Commission has already presented a proposal for an expanded city dock.

The Saturday meeting, dubbed “What could it be?”, is intended to be a brainstorming session. The second meeting – “How should we design it?” – is scheduled for June 30.

(Top photo by Meegan Reid)

A street sign for Sasquatch Lane off Sunrise Drive was reported missing from its post May 26. Perhaps not coincidentally, the four-day  Sasquatch! music festival opened at the Gorge Amphitheatre on May 24. The investigating officer speculated overzealous concert-goers may have swiped the sign to take on their road trip.

The blotter is below:

May 26

Theft: A sign for NE Sasquatch Lane went missing from its post. The officer noted this was the same weekend the Sasquatch Music Festival was taking place and suspected the events were related. Replacement was valued at $100.

May 25

Malicious mischief: A Fort Ward Hill Road resident reported their mailbox was knocked over the previous night. A neighbor’s mailbox was also damaged.

May 23

Theft: A bicycle was stolen from a Madison Avenue carport. The bike was a black Canondale H-400 valued at $200. No suspects.

Theft: A Salmon Run Lane resident reported $700 in jewelry stolen from her home. She suspected a family member who stayed with her briefly had taken the items.

Malicious mischief: A mailbox was knocked off a post on Seabold Church Road.

Malicious mischief: Vandals damaged an outdoor water fountain, garden ornaments, portable sprinklers, planter boxes and signs at a Mandus Olson Road property. Garbage and a small knife were left at the site. The vandalism was reported at about 9:30 p.m.

May 22

Theft: Two hanging flower baskets were reported stolen from a Winslow Way business over the weekend. The baskets were valued at $80.

May 20

Collision: A medical-related blackout was the apparent cause of a collision on Winslow Way at about 1:30 p.m. Witnesses told police a Toyota Camry was traveling west when it veered suddenly to the right, struck a parked car, continued over a sidewalk and rammed the deck of a business. The vehicle then reversed back into the street. The driver, a 93-year-old Seattle woman, said she couldn’t recall what happened. No injuries were reported.

Here’s the Bainbridge Islander preview for May 24. Feel free to give your events a plug in the comment section below.