Bainbridge Island leaders are looking into requiring residents to use electric rather than gas-powered outdoor tools.

Also, city committees will give their annual reports and work plans at the City Council meeting March 18 at City Hall and online on Zoom. at 6 p.m. Reports will be given on wildfires and tsunamis, too.

The city started replacing gas with electric a few years ago, but now is considering expanding that to the public.

According to state House Bill 2051, gas- and diesel-powered outdoor power equipment emit pollutants. An example is one hour using a gas leafblower is equal to driving a car 1,100 miles. Nationally, the Department of Transportation says 3 billion gallons of gas were used running outdoor equipment in 2018, the same as what is used for 3 million homes.

California has banned the sale of gas engines 25 horsepower or less. About half of the nation has banned or restricted the use of gas-powered lawn tools; three have prohibited such bans.

A draft BI law was shared with the city’s Race Equity and Climate Change advisory committees. They had concerns the law was too restrictive and would limit the number of commercial landscapers on BI. They said there was an equity issue with cost having all required at once so they recommended a phased-in approach.

If a law is enacted, BI Metro Parks and Recreation and the BI School District would prefer as much transition time as possible. Bloedel Reserve says electric tools are not as effective at this time.

The city plans to look at which tools should be prohibited; should the property owner or user be targeted; and should there be incentives or tool lending programs to help with cost?

Also at Tuesday’s meeting, there will be a report on Wildfire Risk Mitigation by fire chief Jared Moravec. A slide show says vegetation fires on BI increased from nine in 2021 to 27 last year. The city’s Climate Action Plan prioritizes wildfire risk reduction. Its Firewise charts show what people should do to be safe, such as clean roofs and gutters of dead leaves, debris and pine needles. Required mitigation includes: clearing the area around structures and using ignition-resistant construction. It points out only 50% of BI has fire hydrant coverage.

As for the committee reports, in 2024, the REAC worked with the city’s Equity and Inclusion manager; organized workshops with the council; helped plan and support Indigenous Peoples Day, MLK Day and the Juneteenth celebrations; provided feedback on the Racial Equity Toolkit; gave input on Winslow Subarea and Comprehensive plans for outreach; responded to community instances of racism and bias both publicly and personally; and more.

For 2025, REAC plans to continue many of those same efforts and also: initiate discussion on national issues; guide the council through policy decisions using a racial equity lens; initiate events to help the public respond to hate behavior; expand REAC members to those off-island who have significant ties to the community; and support council’s commitments to immigration and community safety.

For the Ethics Board, the main change last year was the City Council and Advisory Group members now receive ethics training. The work plan includes: filling three positions on the board that expire in June; be available to answer questions about ethics to city committees; increase public exposure to the program by being part of community events; and use the ethics program as an educational resource to provide government transparency in obtaining public trust.

Meanwhile, last year, the Design Review Board had 17 meetings and made recommendations on these projects: 257 Wood Ave. cottages; Housing Resources Bainbridge-Ericksen; Clark Construction office; Pippinger four-lot short subdivision; Deercliff community; Nishi Gardens short plat; Perilstein Kallgren preliminary short plat; and PBV south subdivision. This year it will update procedures to ensure consistency; support amendments to the Planning Commission and council; and review development projects as submitted.

The Utility Advisory Committee in 2024 worked on projects such as: Winslow Water Tank; Puget Sound Energy franchise agreement; Sewer District 7 agreement; Stormwater System Plan; Wastewater Treatment capacity upgrades; and the Wastewater Reuse study. This year it will work on many of those same things along with updating water utility rates; the Water Systems Business Plan; adopting a Fat, Oils, Grease law; the Groundwater Management Plan; and solid waste management.

Anne LeSage, BI’s emergency manager, will give a report on tsunamis, which are a concern here due to the proximity to a possible Seattle-fault zone earthquake. The report says BI is well-prepared compared with other cities. LeSage plans to have the city website updated with TsumaniReady information; continue outreach (especially in the liveaboard community and inundation zone); and continue to identify gaps in tsunami signage.

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