An increasing number of Oak Harbor business owners and residents are exercising their right to public comment before the City Council.
The meeting item that normally draws few comments is now abuzz with chatter due to a group of downtown business owners who disapprove of the City Council’s Dec. 1 decision to transform Pioneer Way into a one-way street.
Oak Harbor Tavern manager Kelly Beedle’s deadpan “Merry Christmas” brought laughter, but she wasn’t smiling as she spoke during the public comment period.
“The street does need to be fixed. We all know that,” she said in a plea to the City Council, asking them to reconsider their one-way vote.
“It’s wrong and we got a whole bunch of people that think it’s wrong,” Beedle said.
Terry LeDesky, a local architect and Harbor Pride member, praised the council for taking initiative on a project downtown, although he disagrees with their decision.
“I pat you on the back for taking the leadership that they didn’t take 10 years ago,” he said of the former council. “Given another month or two and having a new council, it could have been 4-3 the other way. … I urge you to reconsider this for the well-being of our community.”
Not all the public comment laid blame on the City Council.
“I sometimes think that the downtown merchants are their own worst enemy,” said Paul Bovey of Oak Harbor.
Often times downtown merchants lack good customer service skills, which turned Bovey off to downtown shopping. A little help goes a long way, he said.
“At Ace you get service. You’re going to pay a little more for it, but that’s OK,” he said as an example.
In an interview Wednesday, Mayor Jim Slowik said it’s up to the council to decide whether to rescind its decision, but all the hubbub has already made an impact on the plan’s movement.
“I think we’re down to a vocal 15 people or so that are unhappy with the decision,” he said.
The noise convinced the engineering department to slow down on the one-way street design until Scott Dudley is seated in January, Slowik said. The new City Council could decide to rescind the old council’s decision. Dudley is on record as opposing the one-way street design.
“It doesn’t hurt to slow things down a bit,” Slowik said.
Whatever the new City Council decides to do in January, it’s important they proceed in an orderly and considerate manner, the mayor said.
The City Council will consider whether or not to bury power lines at their Jan. 19 meeting if everything stays on schedule, he said. Converting the power lines from above to below-ground will add an additional $2 million to the estimated $6.35 million downtown revitalization project.
The City Council has already approved $6.35 million in Real Estate Excise Tax funds and a previously awarded Island County economic development fund grant; however, the mayor and city staff members are still working with Puget Sound Energy and pursuing grant opportunities to fund the power line conversion if the council decides to include it in the downtown revitalization project.
