Potpourri: City Seeks Grant for Affordable Housing Project; Pop-Up Poetry; Manhattan Short Film Fest and Book Festival This Weekend
The Bainbridge Island City Council voted 4-3 to authorize City Manager John Mauro to prepare and execute a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Low Income Housing Institute (LIHI) and apply for a $2 million Connecting Housing to Infrastructure Program (CHIP) grant for the proposed 625 Winslow Way affordable housing project – to be located the site on the corner of Winslow Way and Highway 305 where the former Police Station was once located.
Councilmembers Mike Nelson, Lara Lant and Deputy Mayor Kirsten Hytopoulos voted against the motion, according to The Bainbridge Review.
The CHIP grant, administered by the Washington State Department of Commerce, would provide approximately $2 million for development charges and utility improvements associated with new affordable housing projects. The application opened July 20 and the deadline is Sept. 30.
ADVERTISEMENTS:
Chris Miller – Windermere Real Estate Bainbridge
The grant, if awarded in January, will cover up to $2 million in water meter, irrigation meter and sewer connection fees as well as eligible utility construction costs to the City of Bainbridge Island. It could also cover construction costs for installing the water, sewer, fire and stormwater infrastructure needed to connect the building to city mains.
Mauro said that he has directed city staff to seek outside legal counsel to better understand the agreements associated with the project.
“It’s kinda like walking and chewing gum at the same time,” said Mauro. “I’d like to believe you can both scrutinize and learn more about an agreement and all the steps to come as well as apply for funding to make sure that project is successful.”
Several councilmembers who opposed the motion said they wanted the city to complete its legal and financial review before moving forward with the grant application. For more on this story visit: BI to apply for $2 million CHIP grant for proposed LIHI development | Bainbridge Island Review
Need a Poem, Anyone? Check out the Pop-Up Table at Rowing Center on Saturday. No Experience Required
Need a poem in a hurry? The Bainbridge Island Poetry laureate Program’s “Pop-Up” poetry table, a popular addition to the Bainbridge Island Farmers Market this summer, will be “popping up” in the book marketplace outside the Stan Pocock Legacy Rowing Center during the Saturday. Book Fest. Just tell one of the friendly local poets at the table what you need – a birthday poem for a friend, an ode to your pet, a recaptured memory – and they’ll crank it out while you wait on an old-fashioned typewriter. Free!
The Manhattan Short Film Festival is back for another year of fun-filled film watching and scoring. Come and view 10 engrossing short films from around the world at the Film Festival – now in its 25th year – Friday, Saturday and Sunday, September 25th, 26th, and 27th at the Bainbridge Island Museum of Art. Showtimes are 3 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. Friday, Saturday and Sunday.Tickets and details are available here: https://www.biartmuseum.org/event/manhattan-short-film-festival-2026/
Descriptions of the 10 selected films are available here: https://www.manhattanshort.
Meanwhile, the Bainbridge Island Book Festival is set to host 24 authors at its third annual celebration of literature, ideas, and community, including keynote Edwidge Danticat. Danticat is a New York Times bestseller, Oprah Book Club author, MacArthur Fellow and winner of multiple prestigious literary awards.
On Friday evening, September 25th – beginning at 7 p.m. at the Stan Pocock Legacy Rowing Center – Danticat will be in conversation with The Seattle Times arts critic Moira Macdonald, about her newest release, Dèy, a novel. “What, in effect, separates the violence in Haiti from that in America?”
Tickets for the Friday’s keynote gala are available now at bainbridgeislandbookfestival.org. Individual tickets are $60. Saturday’s full-day festival is free and open to all — no registration is required. Writers and poets in any number of genres will be presenting on Saturday at three different venues in Downtown Winslow: The Stan Pocock Legacy Rowing Center, the Bainbridge Island Community Senior Center, and Eagle Harbor Congregational Church.
If you’d like to read more articles from The Island Wanderer Blog website, click here, to subscribe to The Island Wanderer Blog, click here.
ADVERTISE WITH US! We offer exceptional rates and packages for advertisers, to learn more, contact us at Contact Us | THE ISLAND WANDERER
Leave a Reply