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Port Townsend approves 2026 street maintenance contracts and emergency water connection agreements
Summary
Council authorized the city manager to execute 2026 street maintenance contracts, allocated $268,000 in real estate excise tax to the street maintenance budget, and approved agreements to connect and discharge to an Olympic Gravity Water System pond for hydrant and maintenance needs.
The Port Townsend City Council authorized staff to move forward on 2026 street maintenance work and approved related funding changes after receiving the Transportation Benefit District's update and a staff memo describing changed project scopes and grant/loan awards.
Staff described two larger adjustments to the previously presented program: a recommended full pulverize-and-chip-seal treatment for San Juan Street (rather than piecemeal patching) because soil conditions suggested longer-term value from the more intensive approach, and an additional grant/loan award that increased the near-term program costs. To retain a contingency through the planning horizon, staff proposed using approximately $368,000 in refunds; council approved motions authorizing the city manager to execute necessary contracts and to allocate $268,000 of real estate excise tax to the 2026 street maintenance budget.
During the discussion staff flagged complete-streets considerations and noted that bike-lane evaluations on San Juan and Sheridan may reduce parking on at least one side of those road segments; staff said outreach to the neighborhood would precede any final parking or striping decision. Council voted to allow the manager to execute contracts to accomplish the 2026 street maintenance work and approved the REET allocation.
Separately, the council approved an operational agreement framework to allow the city to enter fire-hydrant connection agreements with the Olympic Gravity Water System (OGWS) and participating property owners. The arrangement will let city crews discharge water to the OGWS stormwater pond in specific circumstances (maintenance, leak response, emergency fire flow) under a written connection agreement; the council noted the arrangement would be privately owned infrastructure and that the interparty agreement would define operation and ownership responsibilities.
Both the street funding motions and the hydrant-connection authorizations passed with unanimous council support.
