City of Bainbridge Island infrastructure saw many updates in 2024, due in large part to the Design Review Board and the Utility Advisory Committee.

Chairman of the DRB Todd Thiel, a citizen advisory group to the BI City Council that gives input on the design standards of projects around the island, recapped the committee’s work for 2024.

“All the housing that’s coming in is very exciting — it’s never easy, there’s always a debate, but we do need more of it and it’s good to have those discussions,” Thiel said.

Further down the road of project review, the UAC worked on several capital projects and a few studies.

“Right now, what we’re focused on is reviewing the utility element of the city’s comprehensive plan, which has continued for several meetings and will continue for a while,” said Charles Averill, co-chair of the UAC. “We’re also looking at the utility rates, because that’s something that has to be adjusted and in particular, the expansion of the new water unit up by the high school that is increasing some of our costs, so we have to figure out how we’re going to match that.”