PORT ANGELES — Trust won out over caution Thursday during a rare joint meeting between the Lower Elwha Tribal and City councils.
On a 4-2 vote, the Port Angeles City Council approved the sale of prime surplus downtown property to the tribe for a hotel that, according to the purchase and sale agreement, the tribe intends to build within five years.
The tribe is buying the parcel for $950,000 in a transaction that must close within 30 days, according to the agreement.
The price consists of $300,000 cash and a $650,000 “credit,” according to the pact, against the overall purchase price.
The credit will cover the tribe’s cleanup costs on the oil-polluted property — the one-time site of a working garage — before construction.
The construction timeline for the 86-room, four-story, $20 million-$25 million hotel between Front Street and Railroad Avenue is two years longer than the tribe proposed in March 2017.
That’s when the City Council, which declared property surplus, approved the tribe’s proposal to purchase the site on the premise the hotel would be built.
An art gallery and car-rental business at the site has moved, while a doughnut shop has gone out of business.
Tribal Enterprise CEO Michael Peters, who will be the project manager, said in a later interview that a shoreline permit already submitted to the city for the project will be re-activated within the next two weeks.
He said the tribe wants to begin environmental cleanup of the site by December. The cleanup will require removal of 2,000 tons of contaminated soil.
Tentative plans are for construction to begin in April and the project to be completed by the end of next summer.
More information on a timeline for cleanup and demolition will be presented to the City Council in October, Peters said. Construction will include pile-driving.
The tribe is “110 percent sure we’re going to build a hotel,” tribal Chairwoman Frances Charles said after the meeting.
She, Tribal Council vice chair Russell Hepfer and council colleague Steven Joaquin Robideau sat at the council dais but did not speak during the City Council deliberations, including the debate among the City Council members.
Hepfer and Charles did speak after the vote.
“This is a long duration and a long challenge we’ve had,” Charles said before the meeting ended.
“I’m sorry to hear that there have been misinformed communications that some here, some on the City Council have had.
“I understand the concerns of the trust, because that is with us as well.
“But we are able to bring down the barriers and the walls to build these relationships.
“Look at where we are all sitting, look at who we are with, today clearly says that, with the trust and responsibilities with ourselves.
“We have a lot of work to do, but we are asking that you be partners in that.”
Frances said after the meeting that the tribe has financing for the project.
Council member Jim Moran had said the tribe does not have financing “in place” to go forward.
Moran joined former Mayor Cherie Kidd in voting against the agreement.
Moran’s initial motion to table the proposal, which he said was “not in the best interest of the city,” was voted down, with Kidd voting to table and Mayor Sissi Bruch and council members Kate Dexter, Mike French and Lindsey Schromen-Wawrin voting against the delay. Council member Michael Merideth was absent.
The city issued public notice for the Thursday morning meeting in a 5:25 p.m. email to Peninsula Daily News that contained the proposed purchase-and-sale agreement.
Moran based his motion in part, he said, on a nine-page letter of objection to the pact emailed to city officials Wednesday by Erik Marks, the new owner of The Landing mall, who said he has a combined 40 years of experience as a commercial real estate lawyer and licensed commercial broker.
Marks said the city was giving away $650,000, not guarding public funds and approving an agreement that was not enforceable. He suggested the tribe could build a casino on the parcel.
“Let’s not add more addictive behavior to this community,” he said.
Hepfer said just because the tribe is buying the property does not mean a casino will be built.
Peters said in the interview that an off-reservation casino would have to be approved by the federal government and the governor, who typically would not sign off on such a project without agreement of the tribe and local governments, adding the process takes about 10 years.
The tribe will pay property taxes unless it applies for trust status, which would required 120 days notice to the city and trigger a negotiation with the city about “how to keep [the city] whole,” Peters said.
That usually involves an agreement by a tribe to pay fees in lieu of taxes, Peters said.
Kidd repeatedly praised the tribe for making the proposal to build a hotel but said “this agreement doesn’t actually get us there.”
But the risk with the tribe “is reasonable,” French said.
“I want us to walk down that road together.”
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Senior Staff Writer Paul Gottlieb can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 55650, or at pgottlieb@peninsuladailynews.com.
