Contractor to dismantle barges at marina

By Diana Zimmerman

The Wahkiakum County Port 1 Board of Commissioners discussed a variety of issues at their meeting last Thursday.

According to Port Manager Jackie Lea, a potential customer had approached the port about dismantling two barges for scrap at the marina in October.

“He has the permits,” Lea said. “He can’t bring them into Ilwaco, because the lift isn’t set up to do that.”

After discussion about a myriad of issues, including how to charge the potential customer, and how much, the commissioners authorized Lea to handle negotiations.

“He can’t do it anywhere else,” Commissioner Scott Anderson said. “It’s worth a lot.”

After a Facebook post alerted Lea that a local business planned to buy fish from commercial fishermen in October, Lea suggested that they set the rate for fish buying at $0.12 per pound, and the commissioners agreed.

The port has been awarded $16,000 from the Marine Resources Committee for a 20’ x 40’ viewing deck at the marina.

“It will be a great thing for the community,” Anderson said.

Because the commissioners had expressed interest in expanding the size of the viewing deck, at cost to the port, Lea asked for some clarity about how much bigger they would like the deck to be.

Commissioner Brett Deaton requested a visual, so port staff will stake out the 20’ x 40’ footprint, along with the additional footage that was suggested.

A storage unit will be available soon, and Lea suggested that they take advantage of the opening to see if someone had any interest in using the space for a business.

“You’ve talked about putting businesses in there, we could start with one and see how it goes,” Deaton said.

As a final note, a commissioner had some good words for the port staff.

“I’m really happy with how the staff has been working the dollars we have, pinching pennies a little bit,” Anderson said. “Since we don’t have spring season it’s been really nice to see the financial reports. I thank you for that.”