Who says the Bainbridge Island City Council does not lead by example?

At a recent meeting, Councilmember Clarence Moriwaki pointed out that four of seven on that board drive electric vehicles. That’s 57%. The city hopes to increase overall usage from 3% to 65% by 2030, so the council has basically already met that goal.

The council was discussing the city’s 2021 Greenhouse Gas Emission inventory. The study says Bainbridge wants 80% of vehicles by 2045 to be electric; to increase public transit up to 5% by 2030 and 10% by 2045; and reduce GHG by 25% by 2025 and 90% by 2045. The inventory shows transit steady, off-road travel rising; ferry travel declining, along with air travel; and passenger and freight rising.

Deputy mayor Kirsten Hytopoulos said the Climate Action Plan may need some revisions as it will be hard to get people out of their cars and on to bikes or their feet. She said housing for people who work here would reduce off-island trips. She liked the idea of making ridesharing for trips with kids more attractive. And she said, “We need to know what the return is on our investment.”

Councilmember Leslie Schneider said society just needs to make it more expensive to have cars. She said London has been doing that for decades and now bikes outnumber vehicles there. She was told anything that can make driving less attractive will help, and that people actually enjoy traveling outside of their cars.

Schneider said a road-usage charge “won’t get off the ground politically,” but things like decreasing vehicle trips related to kids, converting tourists to not take cars on the ferry and a flex circulator bus on BI might work. She wants to find “what levers we can pull to close the gap” of GHG emissions. “It’s hard for us to move the needle.”

She was told many who take the ferry to BI are traveling beyond to the Peninsula. But for those coming to BI, if it was a lot cheaper to take the ferry with a bike and if parking fees were higher that could encourage fewer vehicles. As for kids walking and biking more, that would mean safer and more accessible trails would be needed.

Councilmember Jon Quitslund was critical of this research as its scope was limited to miles traveled by residents. “I’m impatient with this type of focus,” he said. “It puts the transportation plan ahead of everything else. It all has to fit together if we’re going to change anything.”

Councilmember Joe Deets liked the idea of subsidies for electric bikes. He was told in Denver there is a rebate system of from $400 to $1,200, depending on income.

Councilmember Michael Pollock said a city policy is needed that would require a GHG estimate for every project. For example, to widen a road what would the GHG emissions be, and how many bike trips over what period of time would be needed to gain that back?

Mayor Brenda Fantroy-Johnson said vehicle trips are the result of “services I can’t get here. That’s why we travel off island. For me it is the shopping.”

City documents say federal and state laws will help reduce GHG, along with BI’s Sustainable Transportation Plan, which will double the city’s bicycle network and increase sidewalk mileage 30%.

In evaluating that plan, consultant Fehr and Peers says vehicle miles traveled could be reduced 6% resulting in 600,000 new walk trips and 1 million bike trips annually. Strategies that could help even more include: rebate for electric bike purchases; electric car shares; fee for on-street parking; reduce off-island single occupancy vehicle trips by developing retail on BI; build multifamily housing for workforce to discourage commuting; increase teleworking; and connect community centers.

City manager Blair King said the final report will be done by September, and staff will bring back ideas for specific actions.

Waste management

After hearing a report about Waste Management Services for BI, the council seemed to agree that more needs to be done locally to decrease GHG emissions.

“We haul stuff all over the place,” Pollock said, adding BI needs a policy on the cost-benefit of projects related to GHG emissions.

Deets added: “We have to get control of our island’s waste. I really feel like we’re under the gun to get moving on this.” He suggested BI buy a biodigester so it doesn’t have to transport so much waste.

Fantroy-Johnson suggested getting a handle on organic waste so it isn’t sent anywhere, adding to emissions in landfills.

A consultant with Tetra Tech said much of the waste does go a long distance so it would be interesting to see what those impacts are and if closer locations could be found.

King said next steps include how active the city wants to become in handling solid waste.

The Waste Management Services evaluation’s matrix included mandatory three-stream waste collection services for residential and commercial trash, recycling and organic waste. Pro and con examples include:

•Environmental: Diverts waste from landfill, reduces greenhouse gas emissions—increases traffic.

•Financial: Potential grants—increases fees to ratepayers.

•Social: Supports behavior change in waste reduction—requires outreach and infrastructure to promote change.

•Regulatory and planning: Helps meet city climate action goals—city would have to take over collection contracting.

•Service levels: Streamlines collection and improves diversion—need for adequate facilities to process diverted material.

Other areas to look at include:

•Waste audits: Needed every few years to gauge results to laws.

•Community partnership: Work with groups on reduction and diversion initiatives.

•Edible food recovery: Partner with organizations on compost hubs for food scraps.

•Contract services: City would contract out waste collection services to private firm while setting rates and collecting fees from customers.

The city is served by the private solid waste company Bainbridge Disposal. It provides voluntary garbage service including recycling and yard waste. It is regulated by the state Utilities and Transportation Commission. Next steps include the possibility of the city developing its own waste management contract. The council will determine if it might be met better if the city had greater control over solid waste, city documents say.

The 2020 BI Climate Action Plan identifies solid waste as a significant opportunity to reduce GHG. That is due to the transport and landfilling of waste and the generation of methane gas organic waste decomposes. The ability to reduce GHG will be affected by the level of control the city is able to exert over those systems, per documents. BI is working in that direction by passing laws in recent years to: only allow single-use food service products when a customer asks for them; and reduce plastic waste associated with onsite dining, to-go food orders and packaging for personal care products. The CAP also includes targets to reduce waste-related emissions, with goals to reduce residential, commercial, and industrial waste generation; increase diversion of waste from landfills; and optimize collection and disposal systems to minimize GHG emissions.