Port 1 discusses dredging, derelicts

Wahkiakum Port District No. 1 commissioners want to see if something can be done about the state of Cathlamet Channel.

Earlier this spring, the Coast Guard removed almost all the navigational buoys in the channel, saying the area is no longer safe to navigate due to severe shoaling between Nassa Point and Little Island.

At the port commissioners’ May 13 meeting, Port Manager Jackie Lea reported that she is scheduled to meet with Columbia River Yachting Association executive Andy Meyer and staff from Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler’s office on May 21 to discuss dredging. Lea said she had invited the county commissioners to attend and has asked if they will consider writing a letter or submitting comments as a show of support for dredging the channel.

“There’s no way (the Corps of Engineers) will dredge Cathlamet Channel,” said Commissioner Brett Deaton.

“If you get the right people asking, you never know. Maybe they could get a special appropriation,” responded Port Attorney Tim Hanigan.

The marina, the stretch of Elochoman Slough between the marina entrance and the river, and the portion of the channel near Nassa Point will be bathymetrically surveyed this week by the Department of Ecology, Lea added.

Lea also relayed a liability concern to the commissioners.

A few of the boats moored at the marina are in disrepair due to lack of maintenance, she explained. She suggested that the commissioners take a look at the boats in question and then discuss at a future meeting if action was warranted.

If a boat sank, it could pull down a finger of the dock or result in an oil spill.

“One of these days that’s going to end up being quite a liability for the port district,” said Commissioner Larry Bonds.

“The port’s well within its rights to do something if there’s a safety concern about sinking,” Deaton added.

Bonds asked if the commissioners would need to prepare a set of standards that boats would need to meet in order to moor at the marina.

“Not if they’re in such disrepair that it’s an emergency situation, and I think that’s where we’re getting close to on these boats. But there’s nothing preventing you from developing a comprehensive list of what is okay and what is not acceptable,” Hanigan explained.

“But if we just continued to do it only if the boat is close to sinking or causing a hazard then we don’t have to?” Bonds asked.

Hanigan concurred.

The commissioners heard an update on the two big projects that the port has in the works- the purchase of a property along Third Street and the construction of a building for lease to Drop Anchor Brewery, LLC.

Hanigan informed the commissioners that his office had received the signed purchase and sale agreement from the property sellers and would proceed with the necessary paperwork. He estimated that closing the sale by the end of May would be possible if the commissioners approved and signed a payment voucher on May 24.

Lea said the call for bids had gone out for the brewery building. Sealed bids need to be submitted by 1 p.m. on May 24, when the commissioners will reconvene to open the bids.

Bonds asked Lea if the port district had designed the building.

“No, (the brewery partners) designed it,” said Lea.

Bonds asked if the estimated cost was still the same as what was given to the commissioners back in the early stages of discussion between Drop Anchor and the port district.

No, said Hanigan. He noted that the size of the building has increased since then.

“I guess we’ll see when the bids come in,” Bonds concluded.