PORT ANGELES — The Port Angeles City Council approved its legislative priorities for 2026.
Before doing so, the council attempted to elect a new mayor but came across an issue. Current Mayor Kate Dexter was nominated to continue in the role, but current Deputy Mayor Navarra Carr also was nominated.
When voting on the matter, the council tied 3-3. New member Mark Hodgson was not able to attend the meeting.
Unable to break the tie, the matter was tabled until the council’s next meeting Jan. 20. The council also postponed electing a new deputy mayor to that meeting.
Until then, Dexter will continue to serve as mayor and Carr will continue in the deputy mayor role.
For the legislative priorities discussion, City Manager Nathan West went over a few changes made to the priorities document included in the council’s packet.
“I think one principle that we shared in the memorandum relative to legislative priorities is that this is a short legislative session and there’s not a lot of opportunity for new legislative asks from a monetary perspective, so we really want to keep those to a minimum,” West said. “We made some enhancements to the document that really eliminate and reduce the number of monetary asks or at least the appearance of monetary asks in the document itself.”
One such change was in regard to the state Trust Land Transfers. Rather than focus on the amount the Legislature has approved for those transfers, the city is focusing on protecting the legislation that was passed last year, West said.
“It is less important to know exactly what that dollar amount is,” he said. “It is not a new ask to the Legislature, it is simply to ask the Legislature to retain the decision making that was done for both the trust land transfer program as well as the Elwha watershed protection that was requested in that legislation.”
The legislative priorities document also emphasizes the importance of the Ennis Creek restoration and the fact the city of Port Angeles has a funding gap for construction, West said.
“We’ve had an amazing partnership thanks to the Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe that moves forward the success of the restoration of Ennis Creek, which is absolutely the most valuable creek when it comes to salmon restoration in our community,” he said. “And we have long had and seen this community have a collective and cohesive vision as to what the restoration of that creek looks like.”
The city is asking for $1.3 million for the Ennis Creek Fish Barrier Removal Project, according to the legislative priorities document.
“This project will resolve the more complicated of two remaining fish barriers owned by the city, restoring habitat and supporting recovery of salmonid populations to historic levels of abundance,” the document states. “Approximately $1.7 million in grant funding has been secured for construction; however, design complexities have increased needed costs.”
The estimated total construction cost is $3 million. The goal for construction completion is 2027.
Another focus for the city is to secure a solid waste compactor.
“Instead of asking for a specific dollar amount, we’re simply asking for some help and guidance to help move us in the direction of seeing a solution for that compactor bailer that helps us ultimately reduce rates throughout Clallam County by not having to do so many trips with solid waste,” West said.
The city’s priorities also include the Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe’s sewer project, for which the city is requesting $3.25 million.
The city also kept some of the top priorities it has focused on in recent years. West said he hopes to see adequate progress on a non-regressive tax system statewide.
Other priorities include the city’s investment in street medicine programs such as the paramedicine program and the ReDiscovery program through Olympic Peninsula Community Clinic.
The priorities document also lists the importance of continued development and finalization of the Marine Discovery Center next to Field Arts & Events Hall in downtown Port Angeles.
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Reporter Emily Hanson can be reached at emily.hanson@peninsuladailynews.com.
