Public tours to be held on Sakai property

Bainbridge parks officials are inviting residents who want to visit the Sakai property to take an upcoming tour of the land.

Bainbridge parks officials are inviting residents who want to visit the Sakai property to take an upcoming tour of the land.

Bainbridge voters will decide during the Feb. 10 Special Election on a $5.9 million bond measure to buy the Sakai property; 22.87 acres of largely undeveloped land that sits between Madison Avenue and Highway 305 and includes a 2.2-acre lake.

If approved by voters, the land would be turned into a public park.

Commissioners with the Bainbridge Island Metropolitan Park & Recreation District want to give voters a chance to see the property before the vote, and tours will be held on three successive Saturdays.

The tours will be offered from 10 a.m. to noon on Jan. 24, Jan. 31 and Feb. 7.

Parking is available along Madison Avenue North or in the Bainbridge Island Aquatics Center parking lot.

If approved by voters, the 20-year bonds will be repaid by an excess property tax levy of approximately 8 cents per $1,000 of assessed valuation — or $36 per year on a $450,000 home.

Park officials note, however, that the levy is not expected to change property taxes because the start of the levy will be structured to coincide with the retirement of the district’s Gazzam Lake and Grand Forest bonds (which finished in 2014) and the Aquatic Center bonds (scheduled to end in 2018).

For questions, contact John DeMeyer at 206-842-2306, ext. 120 or demeyer@biparks.org.