PORT ANGELES — Port of Port Angeles Commission President John Calhoun wants to see a chunk of the 75-acre Rayonier property in port control, while Brad Collins urged the development of a community consensus on use of the land before a decision is reached.
The two, who will face each other in the Nov. 3 general election for Calhoun’s seat on the port commission, talked about issues involving the property owned by Rayonier Inc. at the foot of Ennis Street, overlap among agencies working on economic development and Kenmore during a debate Tuesday morning.
About 30 people attended the debate at the Port Angeles Business Association meeting.
Calhoun advocated a mixture of uses — while saying the port should have a large portion — of the Rayonier property, once it is cleaned up and developed.
The site — which is contaminated with pockets of PCBs, dioxin, arsenic and other toxins left by the pulp mill that Rayonier operated there for 68 years before closing in 1997 — has been a state Department of Ecology cleanup project since 2000, when the federal Environmental Protection Agency ranked the site 2 or 3 on a scale of 1 to 10, calling it “moderately contaminated.”
Harbor-Works Development Authority was created in May 2008 to direct the environmental cleanup and redevelopment of the Rayonier site.
Harbor-Works is working to determine what the property should be used for after cleanup, because different types of uses require different levels of cleanup.
Advocating a mixture of uses, Calhoun said: “In a community like this, you don’t have to have it all one way or another — in public or private ownership.
“The zoning on it is up to the city, but in the public portion, I’m in favor of the port taking control of major portions of that property.”
Collins urged that a community consensus be determined before moving forward with development.
“One man’s vision for the property just doesn’t mean all that much,” Collins said.
“We really need a community consensus, so that those who might still not like what happens will be in the minority.
“Most of the property will likely end up in private ownership, but it is really hard to say.”
Economic development
The two candidates were asked about the overlap of the multiple government agencies that work on economic development on the North Olympic Peninsula.
Said Calhoun: “We have had a history of not working together on those matters.
“As we transition into a modern economy, it demands that we work together.
“A great example of that is our proposal to [the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration] — although we were not successful in attracting them here, it is a good example of how the port can lead the partnership toward more success at community goals.”
NOAA, passing over bids from Port Angeles as well as Bellingham and Seattle, decided to move its research fleet from Lake Union in Seattle to Newport, Ore., in 2011.
Collins said his 15 years working for the city of Port Angeles as a planner taught him how to coordinate among jurisdictions.
“Planning across jurisdictions were well within my responsibilities,” he said. “Whether it was making historic changes on the inner harbor line, or working between the port and city to make things happen, I was one of the movers of those kinds of things.
“One important entity of partnership of the work that is often left out is the community,” he said.
“I think if you were to ask the community you’ll find that with the development of Rayonier, there is a lot of frustration that it has taken so long and nothing has happened.”
Kenmore Air
The two candidates were also quizzed on their opinions of how to keep Kenmore Air continuing to fly into the William R. Fair-child International Airport.
The city of Port Angeles recently gave the airline — which said it was not breaking even on flights to the Peninsula — a $10,000 grant to assist with marketing.
“I am in favor of doing whatever we can to keep them here,” Calhoun said. “But not at any price.
“We need to help promote them, and they are doing a good job of advertising and working out an interline agreement to get more people here. But in the end, it has to be a business decision.
“It has to make money, or they will abandon this route and that will not be good for the community.”
Collins said he believed the hiring of Jeff Robb — who has been serving as the port’s airports and marinas manager — as the new executive director will help.
“We have to keep people working in and around the airport, though,” Collins said.
“We have been slow to respond to Angeles Composites and perhaps there is a reason for that, I don’t know because I’m not privileged to that information.
“But I think if you grow the airport, you will grow Kenmore.”
__________
Reporter Paige Dickerson can be reached at 360-417-3535 or at paige.dickerson@peninsuladaily news.com.
