Svensen Park on track, but faces delays

Commissioners of Port District No. 2 of Wahkiakum County are waiting but optimistic.

Manager Steve McClain reported delays in getting a final Department of the Army (DA) permit, engineering plans and construction specifications ready for a call for construction of Svensen Park on Puget Island this summer, but the project is still on track for completion this year, he said Tuesday.

The commission itself continues to have a vacancy on the three person board, but a Skamokawa man attended the board's monthly meeting to consider whether or not he would become a candidate to fill the vacancy.

Kyle Gribskov didn't seek reelection last fall, so Commissioners Kayrene Gilbertsen and Carlton Appelo are looking for a Skamokawa area resident to fill the position. Interested persons should contact them or McClain.

McClain said he is having frequent telephone consultation with the engineering firm preparing the construction documents, and he's been told the work is about a week behind. However, the engineer said, the project should still go to bid next month so that upland construction could take place in the summer and everything would be ready for the opening of the in-water work window on November 1. With that schedule, construction of the boat ramp, dock, parking area and restrooms could be completed this year.

However, there is still no word from the US Army Corps of Engineers on the DA permit, McClain said. The application was submitted several months ago; its delay could delay the project still further.

Many boaters and salmon anglers who normally used a private boat ramp on Deep River at Oneida are shifting to Skamokawa Vista Park, McClain said. The park has had many inquiries about its ramp and also reservations for the two-week spring chinook season on the lower Columbia starting March 24.

The Oneida ramp has been closed by the family which operated it. McClain said there has been interest from private citizens and the state Department of Fish and Wildlife to have a ramp in that area, possibly including a site on the east side of Deep River.