PORT ANGELES — Funding of Harbor-Works Development Authority, created by the city and port to spur redevelopment of the site of a former pulp mill, should be halted or put to a public vote for its continuance, the Clallam County Democratic Party decided unanimously in convention over the weekend.
Delegates adopted a resolution Saturday in the convention at Jefferson School, said John Marrs, county party chairman.
The Harbor-Works resolution urges the city and its Harbor-Works partner, the Port of Port Angeles, to “suspend payments from public funds on behalf of” the authority, or else hold a public “advisory vote” to see if the citizens support the authority and its effort to acquire the former Rayonier mill site at Ennis Creek in Port Angeles, Marrs said.
A related resolution was adopted urging U.S. Rep. Norm Dicks, D-Belfair, to assist Clallam County in acquiring funds to restore Ennis Creek on the Rayonier site for the benefit of salmon habitat, jobs and tribal culture, among other possible benefits.
Dicks’ 6th Congressional District includes Clallam and Jefferson counties. Two of the three county commissioners are Democrats.
The resolutions had been recommended to the convention by the Clallam County Democratic Central Committee, Marrs said.
Harbor-Works was created by votes of the City Council and port commissioners in May 2008. The city and port have loaned Harbor-Works a total of $1.3 million for operations and possible site acquisition.
The state Auditor’s Office has twice cleared the city and port of breaking any laws when they formed Harbor-Works.
The state Department of Ecology announced in late March that it has signed a new cleanup agreement with Rayonier Properties LLC, Rayonier Inc.’s property management division.
The agreement, known as an agreed order, outlines a three-year time line for a plan for cleaning up its 75-acre former mill site and 1,325 acres of harbor sediment.
The time line is considered too lengthy by the city of Port Angeles and Port Angeles Harbor-Works Development Authority. Both requested that it be shortened.
Ecology has overseen cleanup of the site in northeast Port Angeles since 2000.
