The chance of a horrific earthquake and following tsunami in Puget Sound is worse than previously thought.
Reid Wolcott, warning coordination meteorologist with the National Weather Service, spoke to the Bainbridge Island City Council about that Jan. 23.
Wolcott said the quake potential runs through the Seattle area, and is not just off the Pacific Coast, which was previously thought. “It wasn’t really a known model,” he said of the potential for disaster closer to BI. “It’s more localized. It would wipe out infrastructure.”
But it’s not all doom and gloom for BI. It is the first city in the inter-coast of the state to be designated Tsunami Ready, he said.
City manager Blair King said BI had to meet a certain standard of preparedness for before, during and after such a disaster. Working with Bainbridge Prepares, the plan “safeguards our community—property and lives,” King said.
Wolcott said the plan includes things like evacuation areas, warning centers, school preparation and promotion of public readiness.
Anne LeSage, BI’s emergency management coordinator, said because of the new 7.5 magnitude Seattle earthquake model the city plans to go out into neighborhoods this year to talk about the Tsunami Ready plan.
“We already have a very engaged community,” she said, adding this is an opportunity to explain to others the risks and what to do to prepare. In the neighborhood meetings the city will show maps and tell folks what they need to have, along with how to get to high ground safely.
Wolcott praised the city’s efforts. “Being first isn’t easy,” he said. BI is a “role model for other communities up and down the Puget Sound region.”
Also at the meeting, the council extended a ban on granting floor-area ratio benefits to developers on BI for another a year.
“It’s regretable it’s taken so long,” Councilmember Jon Quitslund said, adding the ban already has been in effect for 2 1/2 years. He said very little has been done on the topic in all that time. “We have outdated regulations.”
Quitslund said the work needs to be done and put into the Winslow Subarea Plan. King said that is expected to be done in about a year so the efforts will be done concurrently.
Public comments
Topics included affordable housing, bike paths and short-term rentals.
Rennie Bispham encouraged the council to “stay the course” regarding putting affordable housing at the former police-station site. He said creating 100 residences there affordable to those making $58,000 a year would bring much-needed diversity of people to BI. He said such a development would bring young families to town, which would mean more students for the school system. He also said government needs to check its biases and look at the issue with an equity lens.
Another spoke about the need for diversity in ages and experiences in people who live here to make the community more vibrant. Another said while he will miss the old police station it’s more important for more young people to live here to help the school system. He also said maybe part of the old police station could be incorporated into the design of what comes next.
Regarding bike paths, Fran Korten said the city made a commitment to construct them “for all ages and abilities.” She questioned whether some current efforts really do that, and if they offer the “lowest level of traffic stress.”
Al Phillips said the Eagle Harbor bike path plan needs to consider the Gaslight Garage and wetlands, along with cyclists. He said a suspended bike path across the wetlands would be a good solution.
Stephan Goldby praised the council for coming to a middle ground regarding regulations for short-term rentals.
Shannon Fitzgerald, innkeeper for Dahlia Bluff Cottage, also thanked the city for working with her and others on regulations that would be fair to those businesses and to the surrounding neighborhoods.
Online extra
For a city video on tsunami readiness go to www.bainbridgewa.gov/194/Preparedness
