Council retreat highlights busy year ahead

The City Council took a retreat to Seabrook last Thursday to draft goals and a mission statement for what promises to be a busy year ahead in Ocean Shores.

The retreat provided the council an opportunity to set goals and priorities for issues such as economic development, infrastructure, maintenance, grants, transportation, and budgeting challenges. Concerns were raised about the seasonality of business in Ocean Shores, the need to review the city’s sign codes in the business area, and the erosion that endangers homes and property near the North Jetty.

“The purpose of this retreat is for you to throw those ideas out there and make sure we capture them,” said retreat moderator Jeff Myers, Hoquiam’s Police Chief. Myers urged the council to bring up any concern regardless if there is a current plan or solution to solve or fund it.

“It’s a real challenge for those that are living here to support the adequate levels of fire and police, water and sewer, whatever it is we need to be a viable community,” said City Councilman John Lynn.

Pt. Brown project

First up on the calendar is the effort to draft a new design for Point Brown Avenue, the city’s main entry boulevard and one that has long needed sidewalks, crosswalks, better street parking, and bike lanes.

On Tuesday night, citizens got their first look at several design alternatives that could begin the long process leading to construction over the next decade. The choice of the three alternatives will be a “key part in moving forward toward a final solution,” city Public Works Director Nick Bird said.

The alternatives are designed to maintain access while improving pedestrian and bicycle safety, revitalizing the commercial downtown core, and accommodating peak visitor events. Additional project priorities include improved aesthetics and continued easy access to local businesses with readily available on-street parking.

A consultant team led by David Evans and Associates Inc. (DEA) preseented the alternatives Tuesday after conducting an initial round of meetings with property owners and businesses last August.

Preliminary Design funding is provided by state and federal grants, as well as a Grays Harbor County economic development grant. Grants to cover future phases, including final design, right of way purchases and construction are being pursued by the city as the project design progresses.

Mayor Crystal Dingler noted the design plans have been reviewed by former Bellevue/Bremerton Mayor Cary Bozeman, who has assisted Aberdeen with its downtown redesign plans surrounding the Gateway Center project.

“I have reviewed the project and plan and this is very exciting , and can be transformational for your city,” Bozeman said in an email to Dingler. Bozeman noted he believes “there is funding in the state Transportation budget for this kind of a project.”

Shoreline Plan

The City Council over the next several months also will move forward with its massive update to the Shoreline Management Plan, currently under final revisions by the city’s Planning Commission.

The commission last week completed a key update to the shoreline plan’s policies on “Vegetation Conservation Along Shorelines” that would now allow for “the selective pruning of trees for safety and view protection.” It also would, “Allow private property owners to manage their view corridor on city property by trimming vegetation to no less than four feet in height, leaving the roots.”

Lingering issues

In another looming decision, the City Council will take up the Planning Commission’s recommendation to allow one more state-licensed retail marijuana store while continuing a ban on growing or processing operations within city limits.

The council faces another dilemma in how to maintain the city’s streets and roads and where the funds will come from, as well as how to afford potential project costs to bolster the jetty area from ongoing coastal erosion.

In the area of public safety, the city needs to fill the vacancy in the Fire Chief’s position and then find a way to pay the salaries of the seven new firefighters who were hired last year under a two-year federal grant.

Also on the horizon is a consultant’s report on operations at the Ocean Shores Convention Center from the Pinnacle group, which has made a longer range proposal to manage and market the facility for the city.

Dingler at the council’s retreat Thursday said the Pinnacle report is now in draft form. “I don’t want it to be a whitewash of anything,” she said. “I want to know what they really think we can do.”