PORT ANGELES — The three Port of Port Angeles commissioners voted unanimously today to submit a final bid to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to draw the government agency’s Pacific Ocean research fleet to Port Angeles.
Commission President John Calhoun declined to release any details of the bid, including the set up of the buildings or how much the bid for the lease was for.
“We can’t reveal any of the specifics of the bid because we have until June 4 to submit, and we don’t want to give our competitors a heads-up,” Calhoun said.
“What I can say is that we have put in an extremely competitive bid. We are sparing no effort to draw them here.”
NOAA’s Lake Union lease is up in 2011, and the agency is considering moving to a new location in 2012.
The Port of Bellingham, Port of Seattle and the Port of Newport, Ore., also have shown interest.
Relocating the NOAA vessels — which conduct research on climate change, ecosystems, the health of fisheries and hydrographic surveying — would bring about 180 jobs to Port Angeles.
“We are all in and we’re going to get NOAA,” Calhoun said just after the vote.
“This will be a great thing for Port Angeles and for the port.”
After the meeting he said he was glad that the commissioners agreed to move forward.
“I knew we couldn’t do it at any cost, but we didn’t want to stop just short of the goal,” he said.
