PORT ANGELES — Representatives of the city of Port Angeles and Harbor-Works Public Development Authority will travel to Florida next week to negotiate with Rayonier Inc. executives to acquire a large water tank on the company’s 75-acre property at the end of Ennis Street.
The meeting will take place on Jan. 15 at Rayonier’s corporate headquarters in Jacksonville, Fla.
Those attending will be Nathan West, Economic and Community Development director; Deputy Mayor Betsy Wharton; City Council member Dan Di Guilio; Orville Campbell, Harbor-Works Public Development Authority board chairman; Glenn Cutler; Port Angeles public works director; and Bill Bloor, city attorney.
Kent Myers, who will begin serving as the new city manager on Monday, a few days before the meeting, won’t be going to Florida, Cutler said after the Tuesday City Council meeting.
Cutler said the group would return on Jan. 16, and the trip will cost between $750 and $1,000 a person.
Cleanup
Although no agreements have been made, the city’s discussions with Rayonier refer to Harbor-Works assuming liability for the environmental cleanup of the company’s property on the Port Angeles waterfront and the company transferring the tank, located on that property, to the city at no cost, according to city documents.
The documents also refer to Rayonier paying Harbor-Works the estimated cost of cleanup, which will likely be in the tens of millions of dollars, according to Ecology.
Cutler said on Tuesday that the city still intends to acquire the tank at no cost.
“Will that happen, I don’t know,” he said.
On Wednesday, he said that the city is not going to Florida to resolve cleanup liability with the Rayonier property.
The city’s attempt to get the tank at no cost will include offering a “commitment to continue working with Rayonier on other things associated with the property in the future,” such as environmental cleanup, he said, declining to comment more on the city’s negotiation strategy.
Charles Hood, Rayonier vice president of corporate affairs, left a voice message on Wednesday saying he could not comment on the city’s proposal because he does not know what it will include.
“We are looking forward to the visit,” he said.
Eliminate spills
The city wants the 5-million-gallon tank to nearly eliminate sewage from entering Port Angeles Harbor and the Strait of Juan de Fuca during periods of heavy rainfall in order to comply with a state Department of Ecology mandate.
This occurs when too much storm water enters the city’s sewer system and overflows its containment barriers.
Steve Sperr, city engineer, said that overflows can mean that from 10 million to 12 million gallons of water and untreated sewer enter the harbor.
The City Council unanimously approved having city staff continue their efforts in acquiring the tank on Tuesday, and two council members will three join city staff members at the meeting.
The five-member Harbor-Works board of directors voted 4-1 on Wednesday, with Karen McCormick absent, to approve sending Campbell to the meeting.
Acquisition of the tank was one of the main reasons for the formation of Harbor-Works last May, Bloor has said.
Harbor-Works is chartered with acquiring or getting control of the Rayonier property through an agreement and directing its environmental cleanup and future redevelopment.
The site is contaminated with toxins created during years of pulp-mill operation.
Ecology has overseen the cleanup of the Rayonier site since 2000.
The Port of Port Angeles and the city jointly created Harbor-Works in May.
Both public entities have given it $150,000.
Mentioned in 2005
The city initially spoke to Rayonier about the tank in December 2005 in exchange for assistance in the environmental cleanup.
Cutler told the City Council on Tuesday that the city needs to obtain the tank by April 1 to meet a deadline set by Ecology.
Ecology has mandated that the city reduce the amount of overflow incidents from 30 to 100 a year to no more than four by the end of 2015.
Obtaining the tank will accomplish that goal, he said.
If the city meets its goal of attaining the tank by April, Cutler said, the project, estimated to cost between $32 and $42 million, can be completed by the end of 2015.
“If we don’t restart the process by April 1, we run the likelihood of slipping another full year,” he said.
Cutler said that if the city can’t get the tank, it will have to settle for another option that will cost more and take longer to complete.
Sperr said on Tuesday that if the city misses the 2015 deadline, it can be fined $10,000 a day.
“I’m supportive, even if it means not going to other meetings,” said City Council member Larry Williams on Tuesday.
“A couple of plane tickets and a night in Florida against that kind of risk certainly meets the cost benefit analyst for me.”
Cutler said the trip is necessary because the city can’t meet the guidelines of its agreed order with Ecology on overflows unless it can get the tank by April.
Two Harbor-Works board members, Bart Irwin, who voted against sending Campbell to the meeting, and Howie Ruddell, voiced concern that traveling to Florida sends the wrong message to Rayonier.
“This is where it should be negotiated,” Irwin said.
“Going down there shows it [the tank] is very, very valuable.”
Ruddell, who was participating via speakerphone, agreed.
“If we go. . . . it sets a real unfortunate precedent with negotiations with them,” he said.
West defended the city’s decision by referring to a strict time commitment placed on them by Ecology.
“We feel we are at the point where we really don’t have another choice,” he said.
Bob McChesney, Port of Port Angeles executive director, gave his support at the Wednesday meeting for city and Harbor-Works representatives traveling to Florida to meet with Rayonier executives.
“It’s the port’s point of view that we have no objection to that,” he said.
So far, the city has received $10 million in loans from Ecology for its overflow reduction project and is repaying it through $2-a-month increases in utility rates every year.
Cutler said the increases are approximately in their fourth year and will continue for another 12 to 15 years.
Cutler said that additional funding will also likely come through loans and not grants.
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Reporter Tom Callis can be reached at 360-417-3532 or at tom.callis@peninsuladailynews.com.
