HomeMy WebLinkAbout020425 email - MOU and Unhoused Campus IdeasALERT: BE CAUTIOUS This email originated outside the organization. Do not open attachments or click on links if you are not expecting them.
Dear Commissioners Eisenhour, Brotherton, and Dudley-Nollette,
One of the topics In my previous email was to hopefully start a discussion regarding the repurposing of the Mountain View Campus and in particular the Mountain View Pool. As related
to the plans and discussions pertaining to the potential development of a mid-county pool option at the Chimacum Creek Elementary School site, I feel it is equally important to have
and solidify a plan and direction for the Mountain View Pool facility and the Mountain View Campus as a whole. It is actually a bit surprising to me that this issue has not come up
in any meaningful way and has not been addressed as any part of the review processes thus far. I strongly suggested that, as a gesture of good faith and as an indication of intergovernmental
cooperation, a MOU should be developed between Jefferson County, the City of Port Townsend, and the Port Townsend School District #50 that clearly states that if and when a new mid-county
pool is approved by the voters and authorized for construction, that the Mountain View Pool will cease its operations, be decommissioned, be repurposed, and potentially be demolished
in order to make way for other potentially beneficial community-based-asset capital improvement projects.
The MOU as suggested would certify that the continued use of the Mountain View Poll as a publicly or privately run aquatic facility could not ever happen again, as the continued use
of that facility for aquatic activities would undermine the operational and fiscal stability and viablity of the proposed new mid-county aquatic facility. One of the supposed major
points for needing to rebuild or renovate or close the Mountain View Pool was that from functional, maintenance, and operational standpoints, the Mountain View Pool facility was unsustainable
for our community. Now that we are possibly on the threshold of potentially developing a new aquatic facility with a more centrally located mid-county option, there needs to be a statement
of definitive closure for the Mountain View Pool. The public needs to know, without any question, that the efforts to build a new mid-county aquatic facility will not be clouded in
any way by the albatross that the Mountain View Poll has become. If this is not clearly addressed and defined through an MOU, I guarantee that the voters will reject any new aquatic
facility proposal/ initiative, period. This issue could have possibly been worded and addressed as an element of the new and ongoing survey being circulated by the JAC, and could have
been helpful in clarifying the informative data that we are all hoping to see as a result of this most recent survey.
In my last email I also made a suggestion as to how the Mountain View Pool site and Mountain View Campus as a whole could be developed as a community supported and funded campus for
the unhoused. The Mountain View site suits itself remarkably well for accommodating this vital community asset. The site is centrally located to many amenities that would be needed
by those who struggle with housing and transportation, and who are also marginalized in other ways. The site itself has existing amenities and operations that would be supportive of
this campus such as a cafeteria, gymnasium, classrooms, showers, food bank operations, law enforcement from an outreach and security standpoint, developable land, and plenty of reliable
infrastructure. The campus style housing development could be developed very economically and in an aesthetically pleasing way utilizing modular building systems. Here are a couple
of links to examples of modular housing systems that would work, again, not only from an economic standpoint, but from a code compliance and constructability standpoint as well:
https://bosscubez.com/
https://www.boxabl.com/
I suggested in my last email that the new cynergy being developed for the concept of the mid-county pool facility development could be tied together with this idea for the development
of the Mountain View Campus as a campus for sheltering the unhoused of our community. I do not think that it is a reach to consider that as a possibility, especially if a very pragmatic
and practical, and yet still very functional design concept is considered for the proposed new mid-county aquatic facility. I actually believe that considering this option could end
up fostering more voter support, as addressing and resolving the needs of the community by providing both assets would be civically popular, and a wonderful statement that we truly
care for our community and all of its citizens, especially the most vulnerable. For me, the community priority list, especially as related to the new pool discussions, has always positioned
the new pool further down on the list from the assistance, security, shelter, and housing for our community's unhoused. This idea could very well put the new mid-county pool concept
and a real way of addressing the needs of the unhoused of our community on the same line/ level of the list.
As our county elected officials and in cooperation with all of our community leaders I strongly believe you have an opportunity to be visionary with this two pronged idea I am proposing.
Yes, it is thinking outside the box, and it is that kind of thinking that true leaders should be able to demonstrate for our community. I would greatly appreciate any thoughts that
you may have on the issues/ concepts I have addressed here.
Keep up the good work and look forward to your response.
Mark L Grant
President
Grant Steel Buildings and Concrete Systems, Inc.
75 Haada Laas Road
Port Townsend, WA 98368
Office - 360-379-3236 <tel:360-379-3236>
Mobile - 360-301-4340 <tel:360-301-4340>
E-mail - grantsteelbuildings@gmail.com <mailto:grantsteelbuildings@gmail.com>
Web Address - grantsteelbuildingsystems.com <http://grantsteelbuildingsystems.com/>
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