PORT ANGELES — Clallam County is expected to purchase 11 acres of land and easement to extend the Olympic Discovery Trail west of Port Angeles.
Commissioners on Monday discussed the proposed $109,674 purchase from the estate of Alvin F. Oien. No objections were raised in the work session.
The three-member board will consider buying the land and easement next Tuesday.
The Olympic Discovery Trail will be built on an old railroad grade that follows Onella Road north of state Highway 112 between Freshwater Bay and Camp Hayden roads west of Joyce.
“This piece is the last remaining piece up at the Onella Road section that kind of completes a logical section from one county road to another county road,” Assistant County Engineer Joe Donisi said in the work session.
“It’s a large piece, all in one ownership, that is absolutely critical for the trail.”
The Olympic Discovery Trail will eventually connect Port Townsend to La Push.
The paved trail has been built from east of Blyn to the west side of the Elwha River.
Clallam County is working with the National Park Service to improve the Spruce Railroad Trail at Lake Crescent.
The 3.5-mile Spruce Railroad Trail and two historic tunnels will become part of the Olympic Discovery Trail once completed in 2019.
A section from Lake Crescent to an area of the Sol Duc River is also complete.
Meanwhile, Clallam County continues to purchase right-of-way and easement for the missing link in the trail between the Elwha River and Lake Crescent.
Because of its size, the cost of the proposed agreement with the Oien estate is considerably higher than other ODT purchases in the Elwha-to-Joyce corridor, officials said.
“The bulk of the acreage that we’re getting here resides north of where the actual trail will be constructed,” Clallam County Lead Right-of-Way Agent Joe Swordmaker said in the work session.
The seven acres north of the trail route is considered an “uneconomic remnant” because it is being separated from the rest of the parcel, Swordmaker said.
Once the trail is in place, the county could surplus the seven acres north of the ODT and sell it.
Another option would be to use the land for a park.
“The county may want to consider some type of bicycle camping thing sometime into the future, and having property like this is useful for that consideration,” County Engineer Ross Tyler told commissioners.
“Nobody’s made plans like that at this point, but if we buy it and it’s ours, we can do what we want with it.”
Oien purchased an 80-acre tract in the 1970s and divided the land into roughly 5 acre lots, Swordmaker said.
The county had been negotiating with Oien before his passing.
“He had passed away prior to us ratifying the agreement with him, and the estate finally got to the point to where they could make a conveyance to the county,” Swordmaker said.
“So that’s where we’re at right now.”
Said Commissioner Bill Peach: “I especially appreciate the willing buyer, willing seller approach.”
Other business
In other news from the work session, Commissioner Randy Johnson and Peach approved — with Commissioner Mark Ozias absent — a request from the Road Department to hire a second engineer now rather than to wait until the second half of 2018.
By eliminating the need for consultants to perform construction inspections, the position will add no new cost to the Road Department, Tyler said.
Clallam County has not hired a new engineer in 17 years.
“It makes all logical sense, and from a financial standpoint it doesn’t seem to affect us at all,” Johnson said.
________
Reporter Rob Ollikainen can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 56450, or at rollikainen@peninsuladailynews.com.
