Port eyes upgrades to pump-out system

After receiving approval from port commissioners at their meeting last Thursday, Wahkiakum County Port 1 Manager Todd Souvenir will apply for grants to replace the aging pump out system at the marina, used to remove sewage waste from boats. Another grant could secure a secondary mobile pump out system to be used as back up or for vessels that could not access the primary station.

“It’s a 25 percent match,” Souvenir said, “but we can use employee time and any work we do towards that match, so it wouldn’t all be dollars. It’s approximately $30,000 for equipment alone. Some of the installation we could do on our own.”

“Our system is really old,” Souvenir added. “It’s definitely time to update it. It’s really about making the river clean and having an option for people to dump.”

“As a person who uses pump outs,” Commissioner Brett Deaton said, “I whole heartedly agree.”

Deaton, an avid fisherman and boat owner, said he believes the U.S. Coast Guard is cracking down on pumping out. The first thing they checked when they boarded his boat a couple years ago was the holding tank.

According to Souvenir, the port charges $0.25 for each use of the pump out station, bringing in about $75 a year for the service.

“My suggestion is that it is a free service for boaters in an effort to keep our waters clean,” Souvenir said.

Odds and Ends

In other news, commissioners authorized the manager to accept a bid of $6,509.80 from Garages R Us, a company in Naselle, to replace a shop door, and frames and mattresses used in the cabins will be going out to surplus soon. Information on the items will be posted on the port website.

Commissioners approved a resolution to adopt an employee handbook for their six employees as well as a resolution that delegates commission authority to the port manager in the operation and management of the district.

The board was reorganized, and as of January 1, Commissioner James Sorenson will step into the president position, with Anderson as vice president, and Deaton as secretary.