Port 2 commission outlines future projects

Commissioners of Port District No. 2 returned to work on updating their six-year comprehensive plan and acted on other business at their monthly meeting Tuesday in Skamokawa.

The commission hopes to gather input from citizens around the district about what projects and services the port district should include in the updated plan. Planning consultant Brian Perleberg presented an updated list of questions to go to the public. He had prepared another late list last spring, and Port Manager Janet Bryan used that earlier list to collect data from patrons of Skamokawa Vista Park over the summer. She presented him a stack of questionnaires to analyze.

Pereleberg will prepare the updated questionnaire for action this fall. Commissioners plan to present it to the public in two public meetings and have the questionnaire available on the port's website.

Commissioners listed projects they plan to address now and in the future.

One of the first will be the taking over of County Line Park from Cowlitz County. Cowlitz is trying to divest itself of small parks, including County Line, which lies inside Wahkiakum County on land owned by the state Department of Natural Resources. The park lies in the boundaries of Port District 1, and Port 2 will lease the park for $500 per year. Commissioners plan to refurbish restrooms, expand campsites, and increase RV parking fees to make the park profitable.

Other projects commissioners identified, not necessarily in order of priority, include:

--Finishing the upgrading of the electrical service at Vista Park;

--Upgrading doors at the equipment storage shed at the park entrance;

--Adding a restroom at Svensen Boat Ramp, Puget Island;

--Increasing the water supply at Vista Park;

--Creating a covered display area for an historic gillnet boat now stored on the county fairgrounds;

--Adding kitchen facilities to the covered pavilion in the yurt area of Vista Park;

--Using a grant to create a fish cleaning station at Vista Park;

--Planning for an office building that would include laundry facilities, and

--Completing the trail that follows the river downstream from Vista Park.

Commissioners will continue working on the update at their October 15 meeting. That meeting will also include consideration of a preliminary budget for 2014.