As Poulsbo Public Works inches closer to moving into its new building on Viking Avenue, the City Council approved last week to have an outside engineering consultant design an auxiliary generator for the building in order to be prepared for emergencies.
The new building, at 22097 Viking Ave., is the old Nazarene Church, and the city purchased that property in 2021. PW staff began remodeling soon after, and the department plans on moving into the building in June, council documents say.
Seattle engineering consultant Gray & Osborne will complete the design of the generator for $29,870, which is within the budget.
The city developed a preliminary scope of requirements which requires multiple phases of construction due to extremely long lead times on generators and parts. That consists of: developing an electrical design for a manual transfer switch that can be used with the city’s existing tow-behind emergency generators; develop an electrical design for the auxiliary generator and automatic transfer switch; develop plans, specifications and estimates for the project; and assist the city during the bidding and construction phases.
The design is supposed to be finished in July, followed by the bidding process for construction. Completion of the generator is not expected until September of 2023.
Also for Public Works, the council approved the 2022 road striping contract.
Kitsap County has historically provided street striping services to the city but was unable to the last two years due to manpower and equipment issues. The city advertised for street striping services and contracted with Specialized Pavement Markings, LLC out of Auburn for $42,225, plus 10 percent for change orders, documents read.
The Streets Traffic Control Devices intergovernmental budget is $55,000 for traffic signal maintenance and street striping. The county traffic signal maintenance contract is $38,220, and traffic signal repairs recommended (LED upgrades) is $7,000.
The total budget needed is $91,667, and PW was given an increase of $37,000 to traffic control devices within the streets budget to cover the cost and will be looking into a baseline adjustment in the new 2023-24 budget cycle.
In other council news, the city received a $75,000 grant from Department of Commerce for implementation of the Housing Action Plan. The grant provides funding for cities to develop strategies to meet their housing needs, per documents. Commerce awards funds to communities to research housing needs, engage the community and identify zoning changes or programs to encourage private developers to build more housing that meets the needs of residents.
Poulsbo is building on the approved HAP and evaluating implementation of the following strategies through the grant funds:
• Strategy 2: identify city code and process barriers for permit efficiencies.
• Strategy 4: partner with faith-based, nonprofit and government housing programs that produce affordable housing stock.
• Strategy 5: Increase diversity in housing choice through expanding “missing middle” development opportunities.
• Strategy 9: encourage the development of multifamily housing.
