PORT ANGELES — The director of engineering at the Port of Olympia will become the Port Angeles Harbor-Works Development Authority’s first permanent executive director.
The public development authority’s five board of directors lauded the qualifications of Jeff Lincoln — who has supervised the cleanup and redevelopment of four state environmental cleanup sites and two federal Environmental Protection Agency cleanup sites — after they unanimously approved an employment contract with him Monday for $115,000 a year.
“We are getting quite a bargain in our estimation of a fellow who is a top-notch candidate,” said board member Howie Ruddell.
The position was budgeted at $144,000 a year. Including his benefit package, his employment will cost about $130,000 a year, according to Lincoln.
Harbor-Works is funded by the city of Port Angeles and Port of Port Angeles, which created the public development authority last May to direct the environmental cleanup and redevelopment of the former Rayonier Inc. mill site, which has been a state Department of Ecology cleanup project since 2000.
Lincoln, 60, announced his resignation at the Port of Olympia Monday, and said from Olympia that he will stay at this current job until May 31 and take the lead of Harbor-Works on June 1.
“I’m deeply sorry to lose him,” said Port of Olympia Executive Director Ed Gallagin. “He’s probably one of the most talented people that I’ve ever worked with in my 35-year career.”
Lincoln has worked for the Port of Olympia for the last two years and has been facilities development director for the Port of Tacoma and public works director for Steilacoom and Poulsbo. He is a retired lieutenant colonel with the Army Corps of Engineers.
Gallagin said Lincoln has completed six major cleanup and redevelopment projects, totalling about 600 acres of land, for the Port of Olympia.
Lincoln’s annual salary at the Port of Olympia is about $102,000 a year, Gallagin said.
He is one of about 25 candidates who applied for the job.
Lincoln will take over from Former Port of Port Angeles Executive Director Clyde Boddy, who has been serving as Harbor-Works’ second interim executive director since Feb. 9.
Jim Haguewood, Clallam County Business Incubator executive director, was hired in July and left in January.
Lincoln said he is taking the job because of all of the challenges it presents when compared to the other cleanup projects he has overseen, and he is looking forward to the opportunity to lead a public development authority.
“This one is very complicated,” he said, referring to the various entities involved, including the city, port and Lower Elwha Klallam tribe.
“I don’t think I’ve ever seen a job with as many challenges in the area’s that I am interested in as this one.”
Lincoln added, “It’s the kind of stuff people like me look for.”
Lincoln said he has three goals to accomplish first after beginning the job.
They are to meet with the tribe, complete the budget and develop an outline of goals for the public development authority with the board.
“I need to listen to the tribe,” Lincoln said. “I need to hear and understand them very clearly.”
Previously, Orville Campbell, board chairman, said one of the executive director’s first jobs will be to negotiate a purchase and sale agreement with Rayonier for its 75-acre former mill site, which is the site of a former Lower Elwha Klallam village, on the east side of Port Angeles Harbor.
But Lincoln said he’s not going to jump to that right away.
“It won’t be within the first 30 days,” he said.
Lincoln said he needs to get caught up on the environmental cleanup of the Rayonier property.
“I have a lot of work to do . . . before I sit down and discuss with Rayonier,” he said.
City Manager Kent Myers, who met Lincoln on April 27, said the new executive director will be able to hit the ground running.
“He has the experience in all the different areas we were looking for,” he said. “We won’t need to do any on-the-job training.”
Lincoln said he doesn’t think that the city’s plan to use a large water tank on the Rayonier property to store untreated sewage during heavy rainfall will hinder Harbor-Works’ purpose of cleaning up and redeveloping the Rayonier property.
“I didn’t say it will be easy. I said it can be done,” he added.
Lincoln said he hasn’t worked with Rayonier on any of the cleanup projects he has directed.
He said he has a good track record with working with companies that have contaminated property and referred to recovering $18.2 million from Asarco LLC for environmental contamination while at the Port of Tacoma.
Reporter Tom Callis can be reached at 360-417-3532 or at tom.callis@peninsuladailynews.com.
