Council roundup: Memories of Wilbert, transportation grant and moths

The Monday night meeting of the Gig Harbor City Council featured a special remembrance of former Mayor Gretchen Wilbert, who passed away on Nov. 15.

“Moon over Gig Harbor” — the song Wilbert championed for the city’s official song — played during the opening of the meeting. Mayor Jill Guernsey, council members and Pierce County council member and Gig Harbor native Derek Young shared memories of Wilbert. The meeting was followed by a special work session that covered the growth and future of the city’s finance department, information services department and tourism and communications department.

Remembering Mayor Wilbert

City Clerk Molly Towslee presented a slide show of photos and videos of Wilbert, which was followed by an introduction of members of Wilbert’s family in attendance.

Guernsey recounted her shock at reading Wilbert’s obituary and thanked her family.

“(Wilbert) was unique and she was ours ...We will not forget her,” she said.

This sentiment was echoed by other council members, and the memorial ended with a few words from Young: “(Wilbert) had that ability to make people fall in love with anything she was doing ...(she was) a hard act to follow, to say the least.”

A public memorial for Wilbert will be held at 10:30 a.m. Dec. 12 at Chapel Hill Church, 7700 Skansie Ave. A reception will follow at noon at the Boys and Girls Club, 8502 Skansie Ave.

Transportation grant

The City of Gig Harbor has been awarded an $8 million grant to improve traffic, the largest grant the city has procured to date.

This grant will fund most of the $11.5 million project to connect Harbor Hill Drive from the YMCA to Borgen Boulevard, running past the Gig Harbor Sportsman’s Club, and is designed to ease congestion by the roundabouts near state Route 16, according to the city.

Council member Steve Ekberg was enthusiastic about the project.

“This link makes Gig Harbor North traffic work,” he said. “This was always planned.”

Safeway’s return

In a continued show of support for the return of the Safeway grocery store to Gig Harbor, Guernsey noted that she had been contacted and asked to draft a letter encouraging Safeway to hire back its original employees. This letter was written and mailed out Monday, Guernsey said.

Council member Casey Arbenz agreed with this action and said that the city should encourage large businesses to support local workers.

Growth and development for city departments

In a work session that followed the council meeting, the council heard updates from three city departments: finance, information services and tourism and communication.

Finance director Dave Rodenbach presented an overview of his department and its projected growth for the coming years. He said that the biggest problem is staff coverage and would like to leave open the possibility to hire a new position if needed in the future.

For the information technology department, systems manager Kay Johnson presented a brief history of her department and the direction the department is heading in the future. Johnson said the department’s focus is shifting from managing technology to managing technology providers, and it is looking to a communications model that sends information to citizens, rather than waiting for citizens to find the information.

Karen Scott, the city’s tourism director, presented a history and future projection of her department. According to Scott, all city events saw a drastically higher attendance this past year, and overall, attendance has doubled in the last 10 years.

“We have seen a tremendous increase in the events in Gig Harbor,” she said.

The ongoing challenge for her department, according to Scott, is communicating with tourists and Gig Harbor residents.

These presentations are part of a series of ongoing work sessions exploring the growth of Gig Harbor.

Gypsy moths found in city

City Administrator Ron Williams told the council that the Washington State Department of Agriculture has recently found 42 Gypsy moths throughout the state, including one in Gig Harbor’s Crescent Creek Park.

A specialist is scheduled to present to the council at a future meeting to discuss the impact of the moths and the eradication plan set for next spring. According to Williams, an insecticide that is safe for people, pets and bees will be used to clear out the moths. This drastic approach is important because of how destructive these moths are to the deforestation of local trees, including evergreens.

“They’re very, very dangerous,” Williams said.

Update on Skansie welcome plaza and lift station

The plans for the updated welcome plaza and lift station for Skansie Brothers Park were presented by designers and are 60 percent complete.

These designs were presented in detail to the council for comment. This design includes a lift station that will replace the existing station in Skansie park and a welcome plaza with increased seating and bathrooms for park visitors. Guernsey praised the design for combining both utility and beauty to create a park that would be accessible to the public.

“I think this is a phenomenal design,” she said.

Council member Michael Perrow raised concerns about the landscaping in the design and said he was worried the chosen foliage would become trampled by park guests or be poorly maintained. He asked the designers to consider native plants that would require less maintenance and be sturdier.

The design will return for review in February when it is 90 percent completed.

This story was originally published November 25, 2015 at 9:30 AM with the headline "Council roundup: Memories of Wilbert, transportation grant and moths."