Looks like FISH food bank will have access to former transit land for expansion

After more than a year of negotiating with the city, it appears Gig Harbor’s Peninsula FISH Food Bank and Community Services finally will get access to property where it could offer expanded services.

The City Council approved a resolution Dec. 10 that calls on Mayor Kit Kuhn to sign the appropriate documents to transfer a former Pierce Transit property on Hunt Street to FISH.

“This is an early Christmas gift for us and the community, and a gift that will be impacting the community for years to come,” said Ron Coen, president of FISH.

The City Council voted unanimously last spring to have Kuhn begin work on a contract between the city and FISH to transfer ownership of the 1.01-acre parcel, the Gateway previously reported. The contract was expected to be approved at the Sept. 24 council meeting but was taken off the agenda after Coen requested some wording be adjusted.

Coen said recently his organization badly needs access to the Hunt Street property because the current food bank is not large enough to serve an ever-growing need. A new building envisioned on the Pierce Transit property would be twice as large as the current space used by the food bank, he said.

The food bank is an all-volunteer, nonprofit organization that has been working to help people since 1976.

“Many people in our city are low income, above the poverty line, and any sort of hiccup would put them right at the edge,” Coen said. “That group in our community is growing, and we know it won’t stop. We are looking forward to helping all kinds of people. No one can say they won’t need help. We are trying to be ready to help as many people as we can.”

Coen said the new facility won’t be built for a few more years, but getting the land transferred is a crucial victory.

Coen was very thankful to the City Council, specifically council members Jim Franich, Michael Perrow, and Spencer Hutchins, who were members of a special committee that sorted out the logistics of the agreement.

“The city did a great job and was very helpful though this whole process,” Coen said.

This story was originally published December 17, 2018 at 4:27 PM.