DUNGENESS — Clallam County plans to buy two more homes for its dike setback project along the Dungeness River.
The three commissioners today are expected to sign a $676,550 contract with the state Recreation and Conservation Office for the second phase of the habit-restoration project north of Sequim.
Eighty-five percent of the money is coming from the state through the Salmon Recovery Funding Board. The county’s $105,550 share will come from labor and a federal grant.
The property acquisitions are part of a decades-old effort to restore wildlife habitat and mitigate flood risks in the lower Dungeness River flood plain by moving back a dike on the east side of the river that was built in 1963 by the Army Corps of Engineers.
The Department of Community Development project is intended to protect habitat for salmon — including the threatened Puget Sound chinook — and other wildlife in the narrow, dike-constricted lower river.
Sediment confined in the channel has caused the river bed to rise. It is now perched above its surrounding flood plain, and the dikes are at risk of failure in a future flood.
The two properties the county is buying are located at 2753 Towne Road and 2755 Towne Road near the Old Dungeness Schoolhouse and the Anderson Road bridge.
The property owners have signed letters that authorize the county to have appraisals made on their properties, County Planner and Project Manager Hannah Merrill told the commissioners during their work session on Monday.
The 2.8 acres of property will reclaim 1.8 miles of flood plain for the Dungeness.
Last March, the county purchased two other homes on Towne Road in phase one of the project. One of the homes belonged to Commissioner Steve Tharinger, who recused himself from voting on issues affecting his property.
The homes, located at 2133 Towne Road and 2747 Towne Road, were sold for about $500,000 each.
Two nearby properties were purchased by the state department of Fish and Wildlife in anticipation of the dike setback.
The state Department of Transportation has targeted two parcels east of Towne Road.
The dike setback project is the No. 1 priority in the North Olympic Lead Entity for Salmon’s three-year work plan.
The project will be finished in 2013.
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Reporter Rob Ollikainen can be reached at 360-417-3537 or at rob.ollikainen@peninsuladailynews.com.
