On Sept.16, about 40 people attended a ward meeting at City Hall to primarily discuss what to do about an offer from the state to settle the disposition of a one-acre lot next to the ferry maintenance facility.

Sounds easy doesn’t it? Well, it wasn’t. Two hours later, most of us left wondering why we were there.

It turns out the city had a legal right to lease the property for the last 15 years and no one at the city knew about it.

Now that those concerned are aware, the discussions between the state Department of Transportation, the governor and the city are: you can lease it or we will give you $2 million to go away, but you have to use the money on a water-dependent project.

The council members present had no details of the agreement because there is no agreement yet.

The city manager and the state have been actively working on questions and negotiations. The city has scheduled public meetings for Sept. 27-28 to discuss the offer it doesn’t have.

Please urge the city manager and the council to postpone their meeting until they have an offer in hand.

We need to participate in the decision. Times are tough for our city.

We need to urge the council and the city to develop a plan that doesn’t create new debt.

We should be concerned about the process the city uses to arrive at its decisions. What will be its considerations for the two offers? The number and type of jobs created? Revenue to the city and local businesses? The development cost to the city? Operational costs to the city? We need skilled input and ideas.

Maybe it’s time to decide we don’t need more tourists. We can plan projects that create new jobs, and work for the people that live here.

How many times this summer did you not shop in Winslow because of no parking spaces or too many people?

We have remarkable, talented people on the island. Let’s find them and use them. And maybe one of those talented people could even figure out how we could use the $2 million to pay off the city’s debts.

This is an opportunity for the council to show that they can participate with the people who voted for them in an open, well thought out decision making process.

Carol King Aexel

Bainbridge Island