Homes for All provides “innovative leadership toward ending homelessness” in Kitsap County.  Members of the South Kitsap community have built eleven small cottages. Churches and organizations building cottages include: Ekklesia Church, First Lutheran Church, Port Orchard United Methodist, South Kitsap High School, Kitsap United Way, Grace Bible Church, Habitat for Humanity, and Kaiser Permanente with more pledged.  A site for locating these homes will be selected soon.

The Homes for All leadership group continues to discuss ways to support those who have no shelter. They learned about challenges with food preparation at their August meeting. Fran Miller, nutritionist for the Suquamish Tribe, introduced ideas regarding healthy eating and nutrition for those that rely on food pantries and limited grocery budgets. She spoke of the challenges in terms of food storage and preparation, such as having neither refrigeration nor running water to wash hands or food; and lack of a stove, pots, pans, cooking utensils and food storage containers.

After the presentation, attendees received a recipe and materials to make low-cost and nutritious menus from food items likely distributed at a food bank. None of the items required cooking. Participants made – and tasted -- dishes including Islander Tuna Salad, Light My Fire Chicken Crackers and Apple Sauce Parfaits.

More information about Homes for All may be found at https://www.facebook.com/HomesforallKitsap/.

The Harper area in South Kitsap was occupied seasonally by the Suquamish Tribe prior to being discovered by white settlers and the lumber companies, that began claiming land there in the 1860s. The Tribe established villages at Southworth Point and what is now Colby for access to food resources, such as fish, shellfish, and edible plants.

As with most waterfront communities in Kitsap County, timber was the first industry introduced by the settlers.  Harper was soon discovered to have large clay deposits, of the type that would make good bricks.  After the Harper Brick and Pottery Company formed in 1900, a factory was constructed where Harper Park is now.  The first kiln of bricks was burned in October 1900, and the factory operated until 1927. A tram delivered the bricks from the factory to the estuary where they were loaded onto barges for shipment – especially to Seattle, but even as far as San Francisco.  

Although the factory buildings are long gone, their impacts on the estuary remain.  The estuary had been dredged, filled and altered by construction of docks, buildings and roads to allow easy transport of their products. In addition to the countless bricks dropped into the water during that process, the estuary was also used as a dump for “clinker” bricks, which did not meet the standard to sell for building purposes.

Last year, the Department of Fish and Wildlife, in consultation with Kitsap County, sought to undo some of the early damage to the estuary from the brick factory and other projects. An undersized culvert under Southworth Drive was replaced with a larger one, as well as removing fill and bricks in the estuary. Phase 1 of the Harper Estuary project is now complete, and the search for funds to build a proposed Olympiad Drive bridge continues.

Commissioner Garrido often hosts neighborhood meetings in Harper about subjects of local interest. The estuary project, of course, remains a popular topic; and community conversations have addressed community assets such as the waterfront, the park, and the proposed passenger-only ferry service from Southworth.

The fishing pier is a big draw to Harper.  The Port of Bremerton reopened the Harper Pier in 2015 after replacing an unsafe wooden dock with a new structure.  Kitsap County had widened a portion of Southworth Drive in 2009, providing brick-colored shoulders to increase safety for walkers and bikers along the scenic roadway between the pier and Harper Park (where the brick factory used to be). Many Harper residents have lived in this unique waterfront neighborhood for decades, and value their scenic vistas and community networks.

The Washington State Department of Ecology recognized two of Kitsap County’s wastewater treatment plants for outstanding performance in 2016. The Manchester Treatment Plant and the Central Kitsap plant in Brownsville both received the award this year. Manchester has received the award for 22 consecutive years! It is the only facility in Washington State to receive the award since the award's inception in 1995. 

The Department of Ecology evaluates all state treatment plants for:

• Compliance with monitoring and reporting water quality,
• Amount of wastewater discharged,
• Spill prevention,
• Other permit requirements

A huge congratulations to all Public Works Sewer Utility employees, whose efforts earn these awards!  Thank you each for the extremely valuable service contributed to our communities and for helping protect the water quality in Puget Sound.