PORT TOWNSEND – Two North Olympic Peninsula lawmakers are expected to attend a meeting on Thursday to discuss what to do next after the discovery of human remains at Beckett Point.
On Monday, Kathy Duncan, cultural specialist with the Jamestown S’Klallam tribe of Blyn, said that Beckett Point was a former village site.
Thursday’s meeting has been rescheduled for 3 p.m. to accommodate Reps. Lynn Kessler, D-Hoquiam, and Kevin Van De Wege, D-Sequim.
Both represent the 24th District, which includes Clallam and Jefferson counties.
The meeting also will include Jefferson County Public Utility District officials, regional tribe representatives and Beckett Point residents.
It will be in the county commissioners chambers on the ground floor of the courthouse, 1820 Jefferson St.
Allyson Brooks, historic preservation officer with the state Department of Archaeological and Historic Preservation, is also expected to attend the Beckett Point meeting.
Human remains, believed to be Native American, were found on May 27 during construction of a $2.8 million septic system and community drain field project.
Jefferson County PUD officials shut down the project, abiding by federal law that requires the immediate cessation of construction.
PUD officials are threatening to permanently shut down for lack of funding to carry out the project and pay for archaeological study of the site.
“Unless we get immediate grant money, there’s no alternative,” said Wayne King, PUD commissioners and longtime resident of Gardiner on Discovery Bay.
Already, the state Public Works Board approved a $100,000 no-interest loan to PUD for an archaeological study, now under way.
“Something, I think, good will come out of this,” Kings said of Thursday’s meeting.
“It’s not only Discovery Bay, it’s not only Beckett Point.
“Anywhere in Puget Sound where there is a nice shore, that will probably be the site of a Native American village,” he said.
“If you thinks it’s nice today, what do you think it was 200 to 300 years ago?”
