PORT ANGELES — Two Clallam County commissioners have formalized a previously approved land purchase to help resolve years of litigation and secure land for a waterfront park in Clallam Bay.
Commissioners Mark Ozias and Bill Peach voted Tuesday to approve a $307,432 settlement payment to David and Krisanne Cebelak for a one-third-acre lot at 120 Salt Air St. in Clallam Bay.
Commissioner Mike Chapman voted no, saying after the meeting he had unresolved concerns about a lack of public process and uncertainties about the total cost of settling a long-standing dispute with Scott and Elizabeth Lange.
First of 15 steps
The Cebelak land purchase, which Ozias and Peach voted to approve June 28, is the first of 15 steps in a proposed settlement that would resolve a 2014 Public Records Act lawsuit and other litigation filed by the Langes.
Under the terms of the mediated settlement agreement, the Cebelak land purchase had to be executed by Friday.
The next step for the county is to purchase two neighboring lots from the Langes for $210,000 cash.
Clallam County will then remove two buildings and a bulkhead from the Cebelak property. The three waterfront lots will eventually become part of the county parks system in Clallam Bay.
Ozias and Peach have said the settlement is the county’s best option because it protects the county from further liability and will likely result in additional public access to the marine shoreline, a top priority in the county parks master plan.
Commissioners did not discuss the payment to the Cebelaks on Tuesday. The broader settlement has been debated in a series of meetings in recent weeks.
Those discussions culminated July 5 with a 2-1 board vote — with Ozias and Peach voting yes and Chapman voting no — to approve a $518,000 debatable budget emergency to fund the Lange settlement.
The $518,000 budget emergency covers the land purchases but does not include the cost of removing the structures or permitting for the proposed park.
The terms of the settlement are available on the county’s website, www.clallam.net, under “Board of Commissioners.”
In other board action from Tuesday’s business meeting, commissioners opened four bids for construction of a 2.15-mile segment of the Olympic Discovery Trail on the county’s West End.
The segment will link a 6-mile completed trail section in the Sol Duc Valley to 8.5 miles of finished trail in the Lake Crescent-Fairholme Hill area.
Jordan Excavating of Port Angeles submitted a low bid of $757,233.
Other offers
Other offers were made by Bruch & Bruch Construction of Port Angeles ($933,520), Sealevel Bulkhead Builders of Kingston ($995,050) and Interwest Construction of Burlington ($1.32 million).
The estimate was $913,000, County Engineer Ross Tyler said.
Commissioners referred the bids to the county Road Department for a review and recommendation to the board.
The new trail section will be built later this year, county Transportation Program Manager Rich James said.
Eventually, the paved Olympic Discovery Trail is to connect Port Townsend to La Push.
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Reporter Rob Ollikainen can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 56450, or at rollikainen@peninsuladailynews.com.
