PORT ANGELES — Clallam County has been asked to appoint a representative to the board of the newly formed Composite Recycling Technology Center.
County commissioners said they would think it over and bring the item back for a work session Monday.
“There’s a little flashing light here that’s telling me that this is something that we ought to be cautious about,” said board Chairman Jim McEntire, who questioned whether a county government should be involved with a private nonprofit.
“I’m not sure that I can define the role for county government in this particular case here.”
Clallam County this year awarded a $1 million Opportunity Fund grant to the Port of Port Angeles to build out a 25,000-square-foot building at 2220 W. 18th St. in west Port Angeles.
Port officials hope to use the building for the Composite Recycling Technology Center, where carbon-fiber composite material will be repurposed.
Grant for building
The county grant was to improve the building itself, not necessarily for the composite center.
The estimated $6.5 million facility, which broke ground ceremoniously Sept. 21, will house recycling equipment, labs and classrooms for Peninsula College’s Advanced Materials-Composites and startup space for businesses making new goods from the recycled material.
Port officials hope the center will create some 340 direct and indirect jobs.
Composite Recycling Technology Center board President Bob Larsen told county Administrator Jim Jones that the new board would like to increase its membership from three to five by the end of this year, with one new member representing the county and another representing the city of Port Angeles.
Board members cannot be public office holders, Jones told the commissioners. Having public office holders on the board would make its documents public and allow the dissemination of proprietary information.
“Their intention is to add one county and one city [representative] and then go get some at-large folks later to make a total of nine,” Jones said in the board work session last Monday.
Recruit a citizen
McEntire suggested that the county representative on the Economic Development Council, First Federal President and CEO Larry Hueth, could recruit a citizen to serve as the county representative on the Composite Recycling Technology Center board.
“Our participation is with the port for the facility, not for the business or businesses plural that operate on or within the facility,” said McEntire, who is running against Mark Ozias in Tuesday’s general election.
“There’s some instinct that I can’t really put into words that says to me that if we do anything with respect to this, it ought to be a recommendation from the EDC [Economic Development Council].”
McEntire said he appreciated the opportunity from the composite board and was in no way opposed to the composite center project.
“I wish them well and want them to be successful,” he said.
Commissioners decided to revisit the proposal next Monday.
“Let’s think about it some,” McEntire said.
“Let’s see if we’ve crystallized anything by next Monday’s work session.”
________
Reporter Rob Ollikainen can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5072, or at rollikainen@peninsuladailynews.com.
