PORT ANGELES — Clallam County will be reimbursed for half the cost of a 7.5-acre waterfront parcel near Sekiu that it acquired earlier this year.
Commissioners voted 3-0 on Tuesday to approve an agreement with the state Recreation and Conservation Office that splits the cost of the $100,000 property off state Highway 112 west of Clallam Bay Spit County Park.
The land will become a new park with 700 feet of beach access. It is adjacent to a one-acre parcel that the county already owns.
Getting to the beach on Clallam Bay hasn’t always been easy.
A storm wiped out a bridge landing at Clallam Bay Spit park in 2001.
Beach access was blocked again in 2009 when another storm damaged a temporary gangway.
To complicate matters, the mouth of the Clallam Bay river has shifted from one place to another, Clallam County Parks, Fair and Facilities Manager Joel Winborn has said.
Hoped for grants
Clallam County budgeted for the land through real estate excise tax revenue but hoped to pay for it with grants.
The county won a grant from the Washington Wildlife and Recreation Program, but those funds were taken off the table amid the state’s budget crisis.
County officials were unsure earlier whether they would be splitting the cost with the state.
“We didn’t know if we were going to receive the funding or not there for a while, but in the end, the state approved it,” Winborn told commissioners Monday.
“We’re very excited to have this and seek your approval on it.”
The property was purchased by the county in March.
County road
According to the agreement, the county will build a road and parking area to provide “passive waterfront beach access.”
The second phase of park development includes a vault toilet, wheelchair access, picnic tables and barbecue grills.
Also Tuesday, commissioners called for bids on a project to prevent backflow at the Clallam County Fairgrounds in Port Angeles.
Bids for the one-month project are due by Oct. 11.
“It’s just a safety precaution,” Winborn told commissioners in their work session Monday.
“We have two fairly sizable water lines coming from the fairgrounds.”
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Reporter Rob Ollikainen can be reached at 360-417-3537 or at rob.ollikainen@peninsuladailynews.com.
