PORT ANGELES — Harbor-Works Public Development Authority board at its Monday meeting approved a 2009 and a 2010 budget, which will include asking the Port of Port Angeles and city of Port Angeles for $500,000 each in additional loans.
Executive Director Jeff Lincoln said he is also anticipating about $200,000 from a Department of Ecology grant.
“We have not heard back for sure, but we have had a very positive response to our submission,” he said.
Harbor-Works will approach the City Council at its meeting today at 6 p.m. and the port at its July 13 meeting at 9:30 a.m.
$150,000 loans
Each entity gave a $150,000 loan to Harbor-Works last year to help with startup costs.
Lincoln said the numbers could be fairly predictable up until August 2010, when he hopes to have an agreement to acquire the Rayonier property in place.
“That is where things get more difficult to predict,” he said.
This year, the budget is divided into four major categories: administration, legal, reserves and projects.
The total budget is estimated at $736,200 and includes $277,200 for administration, $174,000 for legal, $100,000 for reserves and $185,000 for projects.
Lincoln said one of his first actions was to reduce legal fees.
“The lawyers were researching every possible facet of what we might need,” Lincoln said after the meeting.
“I told them to stop, and if I needed it, I would ask for it.
“If I had an endless bank account, then that would be great, but that is not how we’re working.”
Robert N. Tulloch is the general counsel for the organization, Lincoln said.
“If I have a question about whether we can do something or not or if we get sued or there is a question about public process, he is the one that deals with that,” Lincoln said.
Gordon Thomas Honeywell LLP is contracted as a special issues law firm because it specializes in tribal issues.
“Some of the questions they have been dealing with include whether the Lower Elwha Klallam tribe could lay claim to the land, what is their jurisdiction, could they stop the project — but not just that, they are also working on how we should approach this and move forward and work in partnership with the tribe,” he said.
Lincoln said he would also negotiate the best possible rates with consultants, which are included in the “projects” category. Architectural, environmental, engineering and other consultants will be part of the “due diligence” on the Rayonier property that Harbor-Works hopes to begin within the next several months.
“I have a reputation for not spending a single dollar that doesn’t need spent,” he said.
“The consultants know me, so they know that this is something I’ll be looking after.”
The 2010 budget will be divided differently to better fit into the city of Port Angeles’ method of accounting, Lincoln said.
Because the entity is technically a sub-agency of the city, the accounting practices must work with the city’s, he said.
The 2010 budget totals $825,900 with $371,000 reserved for projects, $354,900 for administration and the $100,000 kept in reserves.
Legal expenses are not broken out separately in that budget but are included within various subcategories, Lincoln said.
The reserves will primarily be used to pay for parts of the project that may be reimbursed later, he said.
“Reserves are absolutely essential,” Lincoln said.
“There are many things that might be reimbursable by the Department of Ecology, but we’ll have to have the money to pay for those things and then be reimbursed later — sometimes up to 90 days later.”
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Reporter Paige Dickerson can be reached at 360-417-3535 or at paige.dickerson@peninsuladaily news.com.
