Community Government
City council approves Sports Complex contracts
The Gig Harbor City Council approved three contracts for construction of Phase 1B of the Sports Complex during its meeting on Monday, April 8.
The Sports Complex has been in the works since 2011, when the city acquired the land on Harbor Hill Drive across the street from what is now Swift Water Elementary School.
Pease Construction was the lowest bidder for land clearing and construction work with a bid of $5.5 million. The contract includes building pickleball and bocce ball courts, playgrounds, two pavilions/shelters, a restroom and concessions building, an event stage and a natural turf open space event lawn. The contract calls for construction to begin next month and be completed in early 2025.
The council also approved contracts with BCRA Engineers for $150,000 and Terracon Construction Testing Laboratories for $35,560.05 for other sports complex work.
Councilman Roger Henderson asked staff to notify the public before the tree-cutting starts and assure people that new trees will be planted to replace those that are removed.
Creative Endeavor grants
The council approved $30,000 in Creative Endeavor grants for 2024. The grants support art projects, music performances and other creative and cultural activities.
Winning the grants were:
- Peninsula Hands On Art, for two Peninsula School District art projects, $2,800
- Narrows Music Society, for the Harbor Winds spring concert, $1,500
- Ebb Tide Gallery, for Art Walk publicity, $2,000
- Peninsula Youth Orchestra, for string camp, $3,000
- Peninsula Art League, for its open juried art show, $2,000
- Harbor History Museum, for a special exhibition, $3,000
- Gig Harbor Open Studio Tour, for marketing, $ 2,000
- Gig Harbor Peninsula Civic Orchestra, to stage concerts, $1,500
- Spectrum Choral Academy, for its Gig Harbor Sings camp, $2,700
- Local Makers, for its Spring Market, $2,500
- Tacoma Community College-Gig Harbor, for the Write in the Harbor Youth Summit, $2,500
- United by Music, for Make Music Day, $2,000
- Gig Harbor High School Band Boosters, to support festival season, $2,500
Other business
- The council approved a base rate of 25 cents per kilowatt hour for public use of electric vehicle charging stations. A surcharge of 40-cents per minute will be applied after charging is complete, with a 15-minute grace period.
- The council also unanimously adopted an ordinance codifying a Complete Streets program that ensures safe travel for pedestrians, bicyclists, motorists and public transportation users. Complete Streets include paths, sidewalks, bike lanes and roadways. The program also helps to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Approval of the program makes the city eligible for additional Transportation Improvement Board (TIB) grants.
- The council appointed Mark Metsker and Pam Peterson to write the “for” statement for Proposition 1 on the August primary election ballot to increase the city’s sales tax. There were no volunteers or appointments to write an “against” statement.