City Council Moves Forward on Improvements for Buildings, Streets and Website design
Winter Warming Shelter to be discussed later in April.
PORT TOWNSEND — Tension between council members during litigation negotiations did not tamper with the overall good news and positive community evolution that came from the meeting, including historic building restoration, bicycle and pedestrian safety and construction, and a new park kitchen shelter. An unexpected addition for next week's meeting came from a robust public comment.
A presentation on opportunity zoning 2.0, given by David Ballif, executive director of the Economic Development Council, explained the rural advantage of the federal tax incentive. The tax incentive will be determined by the Governor of Washington from a pool of project applications from around the state. Projects with high investment readiness are most likely to be selected. For example, contractor interest, sites, permitting, and, importantly, letters of support and interest from the community. Bailiff encourages the public to email admin@edcteamjefferson.org with project ideas.
YMCA chief executive officer Wendy Bart gave the YMCA annual report. Since 2022, they have seen service for a broader age demographic, doubled memberships to 1,300 and have 1,600 people a month use their facilities. They had 600 enrollments in swim lessons in 2025 and have started a gym credit incentive program for lifeguard training for high schoolers, and broke even.
Director of Communications & Marketing, Shelly Leavens, gave an update on the city’s website remodel. While not ready for a public launch, she shared a preview of the mobile-device-friendly site, with new buttons, scrolling pages and an easy-to-find public calendar. With only a $6,000 budget, the city believes this is a low-budget way to improve accessibility. As the team continues to build in ADA requirements, they are also moving information that is no longer relevant over to deep storage, making search results less dense and easier to navigate.
Public comment focused on the Winter Welcoming Center, requesting the council to consider extending the lease end date past April 15, hopefully year-round. City analysis on the possibility of extending the lease will be presented on April 13 at the scheduled workshop or at a special meeting after the workshop.
After an executive session, there was discussion about the litigation brought against the city by Affordable Port Townsend and the potential for negotiations with the group. Read more about the details here (Rachael’s article).
City staff asked the council to authorize applying for a Library Capital Improvement Program Grant for 2027-2029, for the historic Pink House's exterior restoration/improvements. Constructed in 1868 in the late Greek Revival style of architecture, the Pink House provides office space and hosts as a free community meeting space. With good odds of securing the grant, Friends of the Library have already pledged $100,000, with a potential for another $50,000 to match the grant. Council approved staff to apply for the grant. The plans are to re-roof the building before adding new siding, regardless of whether they receive the grant or not.
Lowering costs through material changes and simplifying design for the Chetzemoka Kitchen Shelter rebuild brought ten bids for the project. Anderson Homes was selected, and is waiting to sign the contract. The council approved the contract, and they will order materials in May, pour concrete in June and July, and by high summer, it should be open for rental. Mayor Howard is looking forward to using the “big scissors."
The Discovery Road reconstruction to make the intersection at Discovery/19th and Sheridan ADA accessible has been awarded to Flowline LLP after they bid $60k under the next closest bidder. The project will not change any parking, though it will extend the bike lane. The project will begin after school release and finish in August. The council unanimously approved the bid to move forward.
