The City of Bainbridge Island should not rush into making a decision regarding the offer made by Washington State Ferries (WSF) for lease of one acre of the maintenance yard property, or money to be used by the city on a water-related project.

None of the details for either offer have been negotiated by COBI, such as: length of the lease; cost of the lease; the amount of money; who will oversee the project; what does WSF want in return? These details need to be known, and presented to the public.

WSF Director David Moseley has written that he would like an agreement to be reached by the end of the year. Maybe it will take until February to reach a well-thought-out decision.

This issue is 36 years old going back to a 1974 ruling that a portion of the adjacent land be set aside for community maritime use.

Two public forums are planned: Sept. 27 to discuss the money offer; and Sept 28 to discuss the use of the land. If details of both offers are not known by then, these meetings should be rescheduled.

I am very concerned about the process COBI will be using to arrive at this very important decision. Here are just a few of the decision-making criteria for both offers that need to be weighed: the number and type of jobs created; revenue for the city and local businesses; development, operations and maintenance costs for the city.

This is an opportunity for council to show an open process that is well thought out.

Wini Jones

Bainbridge Island