The Bainbridge Island City Council approved an amendment to the city’s policy to remove items without permits from right-of-ways, a new ad hoc subcommittee for creating an ordinance that would potentially ban gas-powered leaf blowers, and a new police contract at its July 22 meeting.
The amendment to the city’s right-of-way policy concerns signs placed at the High School Road and Madison Avenue roundabout. The signs warn residents of the removal of objects from right-of-ways without a permit.
Councilmember Clarence Moriwaki shared his support for the update.
“So by doing this, we’re just being consistent. And these are our public right-of-ways. They should be clear and free. And so this isn’t anti-Flamingo or anything else. It’s really being consistent on how we can make sure that our community is protected in situations like that,” he said. “Nothing against free speech. It’s all about being consistent with our policies.”
Following direction from the council, the city will remove the signs from the roundabout, city manager Blair King said.
Councilmembers Joe Deets, Kirsten Hytopoulos and Moriwaki will serve on the new ad hoc subcommittee to review a future ordinance that could ban gas-powered leaf blowers on BI.
Previously, the council reviewed and discussed a staff-generated ordinance that, if enacted, would restrict the use of gas-powered leaf blowers. Council previously shared suggestions, including the size and type prohibitions, and time of year restrictions, King said.
Hytopoulos shared her evolving viewpoint concerning the proposed ordinance and creation of a subcommittee.
“If we didn’t feel it was ready for prime time, we should do some refining work on it to make it into something we think that our colleagues vote for, and not use any more staff time or committee time than we need to. Hopefully, we can get that done quickly as a subcommittee,” she said.
Council also approved a new contract with the Police Guild. The contract will be retroactive as of Jan. 1 of this year and run for three years. The guild represents 23 positions, King said.
The contract includes several housekeeping changes, including longevity pay and annual wage increases, city communications coordinator Shannon Hays said.
Also included in the contract is a stipulation in the event of a public record request for GPS and AVLS data, which is used to track the location of police vehicles and department-issued cell phones. Affected employees have up to seven calendar days to review the documents and to prevent the release, per city documents.
Hays said officers may take their patrol vehicles home, so the provision is intended not to disclose their home location. That provision has been in Guild contracts since at least 2019, documents state.
The contract states the primary purpose for GPS tracking is for officer safety. BIPD will not access or use the data for disciplinary purposes without a “written, signed, and dated complaint and such information is relevant to such written, signed, and dated complaint,” documents read.
