Ferry out of service Friday morning; repair ahead for courthouse

Wahkiakum County commissioners on Tuesday accepted a company's proposal to replace the heating and air conditioning system in the courthouse.

Also Tuesday, Public Works Director Chuck Beyer announced that the ferry Oscar B. would be out of service Friday morning, 8:30 a.m. to 12 noon, for a variety of repairs. A crew will replace the ferry's inoperable air conditioning system (HVAC). Other projects include replacing an injector line on an engine and repair of buffers.

Commissioners agreed to use the services of Wildan Performance Engineering, Inc., to handle the courthouse heating/air condition system at a maximum potential cost of $977,652.

The present HVAC system dates from the remodeling of the courthouse in the 1990's. A Wildan study found that its computer controls are outdated technology, that the system doesn't meet current mechanical and fire codes, that is doesn't meet air quality guidelines and that the refrigerent it uses is no longer permitted.

Work will take place in the courthouse attic and basement for the most part and be completed around March, 2021.

Commissioners also approved an expenditure of $18,500 to pay the US Army Corps of Engineers for a survey of the Pancake Point beach nourishment zone. The survey will determine how much dredged sand the East Sunny Sands beach could hold.

The Corps will survey the river in that area to see how much sand needs to be dredged in the area.

In response to a question from a Puget Island resident, Commissioner Dan Cothren said there would be no beach nourishment in the area around the ferry landing.

The Corps maintains a channel for the ferry, and Cothren said the agency refuses to place sand in that area because it likely would erode into the ferry channel.

Cothren said riverfront property in that area would need to be armored to stop erosion.