PORT ANGELES — The seven-member City Council unanimously reaffirmed its support of the Harbor-Works Public Development Authority on Tuesday.
The resolution was approved more than one month after the Port Angeles City Council held a meeting in December to have city staff answer questions from council members about the reasons for the formation of Harbor-Works and its intended goals.
This occurred amid criticism from some Port Angeles residents that the same City Council members and Port of Port Angeles commissioners approved the formation of Harbor-Works without proper public involvement on May 20.
“As one of the council members distraught after creating Harbor-Works in May, I want to be the first one . . . to say I am ready to vote in favor of this resolution,” said Deputy Mayor Betsy Wharton.
Three of the other City Council members — Don Perry, Mayor Gary Braun and Cheri Kidd — voiced their support of Harbor-Works moving forward in its mission.
“We’ve unfortunately had some bumps along the way,” Perry said. “I believe over time that it has corrected itself.”
Said Kidd: “We’ve never withdrawn our support.”
Harbor-Works purpose
Harbor-Works is chartered with assisting in the slow-moving environmental cleanup of the 75-acre Rayonier Inc. property on the Port Angeles Harbor at the end of Ennis Street, directing its redevelopment and facilitating shoreline and harbor planning.
The Rayonier property is a state Department of Ecology cleanup site, due to contamination from the company’s pulp mill that operated for 68 years before closing in 1997.
In 2000, the U.S Environmental Portection Agency called the Rayonier site “moderately contaminated,” perhaps 2 or 3 on a scale of 10.
The city and port have each allocated $150,000 in loans to Harbor-Works from their economic development funds.
In December 2005, the city approached Rayonier about the city assisting in the cleanup in exchange for acquiring a water tank on the property for no cost.
One of the reasons for creating Harbor-Works was to accomplish this, city Attorney Bill Bloor said last month.
A lease agreement with Rayonier for the tank is expected to be developed and presented to the City Council for approval in February, after a city contingent negotiated with Rayonier officials in Florida earlier this month.
The lease would allow the city to proceed with its engineering designs for using the tank — which it ultimately wants to own — in order to nearly eliminate sewage from overflowing and entering marine waters during heavy rainfall.
The city is under a state Department of Ecology order that it must reduce sewage overflow events to no more than four a year by the end of 2015.
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Reporter Tom Callis can be reached at 360-417-3532 or at tom.callis@peninsuladailynews.com.
