Port District 2 discusses new office

Commissioners of Port District No. 2 of Wahkiakum County covered a variety of business at their monthly meeting on Tuesday at Skamokawa Vista Park.

Commissioners Brian O'Connor, Kayrene Gilbertsen and Lori Scott went over a proposed layout for a new port office and agreed to ask an architect to work up construction documents.

The district office is technically owned by the defunct Skamokawa Park and Recreation District and is in poor condition.

Commissioners indicated they would like to build a new office inside the park boundaries. It could house laundry facilities, they said, and they would work with the Wahkiakum County Fair Board to display an old double-ended gillnet boat which the fair board owns but which has been in storage for over a decade.

Port commissioners said they would try to implement a request from Puget Island farmer Philip Vik to administer funds to be dedicated to restoration of a dredge spoil site on the island.

As part of the US Army Corps of Engineers channel deepening project, the Corps and a coalition of upriver ports who maintain the shipping channel have been negotiating with Vik for the lease of his farm as a spoils disposal site. The agencies would contribute to a fund to restore the site, port commissioners said, and Vik has suggested the port could administer that fund. Port commissioners said they would pursue the proposal.

Commissioners said they need to choose a consultant to continue with their update of the port's comprehensive plan. Commissioners held public meetings earlier this year to gather public comment about port district goals and activities, and the district needs a consultant to put that input into the updated plan.

Commissioners said they would confer with potential consultants and follow up at a later meeting.

Commissioners also agreed to erect donation boxes at Vista Park. The park would remain free for day use, but donations for maintenance would be welcomed, they said.