FORKS — The Clallam County Sheriff’s Office is moving its Forks detachment headquarters from the south side of the city to the north end.
The three county commissioners are expected to sign a five-year lease with the Quileute tribe today to use a portion of a former National Park Service building at 196283 Highway 101, at Gaydeski Road, for the West End detachment.
The location is about halfway between the Highway 101 junctions with state Highway 113 to Clallam Bay and state Highway 110 to LaPush,
Rent would cost $1,000 per month, including water, electricity, garbage, sewer and cleaning services.
The building is about 15 miles from the current detachment office in an A-frame residential building.
“It is not commercial duty,” Clallam County Sheriff Bill Benedict said of the current structure.
Benedict, who negotiated the lease with the tribe, said the new location will give West End deputies more office space and better access to the outlying communities they serve.
“Great location as far as access to Forks, LaPush and Neah Bay, as well as Clallam Bay-Sekiu,” Benedict told the commissioners in their Monday work session.
“It’s much closer.”
The building also has a fenced compound that could be used for short-term storage.
Brian King, a Clallam County sheriff’s deputy who patrols the West End, said the existing office space doesn’t compare to the new facility.
“It’s a professional building,” King said of the new headquarters.
‘”It’s been completely remodeled.”
If the lease is approved, the Sheriff’s Office will begin move in next week.
Rent in the proposed office is about $200 more than paid for the current detachment for rent, electricity and sewer. The difference could be more than covered by subleasing the existing detachment to the State Patrol, state Department of Fish and Wildlife or the state Department of Natural Resources.
Likewise, Benedict said the West End deputies have a good working relationship with Forks police.
Deputies shared offices with the Forks Police Department under a 25-year lease that ended in 2003, at which point former Mayor Nedra Reed requested that the deputies be relocated.
________
Reporter Rob Ollikainen can be reached at 360-417-3537 or at rob.ollikainen@peninsuladailynews.com.
