PORT TOWNSEND — Three public agencies have unanimously approved the Sims Gateway and Boatyard Expansion Project.
Port Townsend City Council members and commissioners with the Port of Port Townsend and Jefferson County Public Utility District met Monday night to vote on the collaborative plan to address safety, public access and economic concerns associated with the Sims Way/state Highway 20 corridor into downtown Port Townsend.
Before the vote, Matt Klontz, the port’s director of capital projects and chief engineer, and Steve King, city public works director, made an extensive presentation of the background, decision-making process, agencies’ roles, objectives, funding and various alternatives involved in the project.
The approved project includes the removal of Lombardy poplars that line Sims Way.
The project on which the agencies voted had been recommended by members of the Port Townsend Parks, Recreation, Trees and Trails Advisory Board, which had selected it from three alternatives submitted by a group of nine community stakeholders.
The plan to cut down the poplars generated a great deal of public debate after it was announced last fall. However, their removal was of less concern to the council and commissioners than the safety risks involved in their remaining.
Last summer, the PUD shut off the overhead power lines on the south side of Sims Way because of safety issues such as arcing related to interference with the poplars. That left the city with just one power line from the substation in Irondale and no backup should it fail.
“First of all, there’s the public safety factor and risk associated with the trees,” PUD commissioner Jeff Randall said. “Secondly, there’s the reliability of the system. We have to keep the power infrastructure working to ensure critical needs like the hospital and fire stations.”
Mayor David Faber, who grew up in Port Townsend, said that although he would be among those who would miss the distinctive row of poplars, there were pressing reasons to remove them.
“Driving down Sims Way just yesterday, the thought of the loss of those trees was sad,” Faber said. “That said, the historical association of the trees and this town is distinct from recognizing the fiduciary responsibility that we have as collective bodies to public safety and infrastructure resiliency.
“The plan alternative takes into account reliable energy, as functional a working waterfront and transportation as possible and hopefully also a beautiful streetscape,” he said.
The $2 million project is primarily being funded through Public Infrastructure Fund (PIF) support from Jefferson County. The grant was awarded jointly to the city, the port and the PUD, but it is tied to the proposed economic benefit and jobs creation that would follow from expanding the boat yard.
City council member Owen Rowe said continuing to engage the public would be important as the project moves forward.
“Most people do understand now that the poplars aren’t the important part of the equation, but the real focus is safety and resiliency in power and expansion of the boat yard,” Rowe said.
The Sims Gateway and Boatyard Expansion Project includes the following.
On the south side of Sims Way:
• Removing poplar trees and replacing them with alternative trees and shrubs;
• Placing overhead powerlines underground;
• Expanding the boatyard to the north property line;
• Upgrading electrical capacity in the boatyard;
• Installing a pedestrian path.
North side of Sims Way next to Kah Tai Nature Park:
• Thinning and replacing poplars with alternative trees and shrubs.
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Reporter Paula Hunt can be reached at paula.hunt@soundpublishing.com.
