PORT TOWNSEND — The Port of Port Townsend and its project consultant, Maul Foster & Alogi, are extending the deadline for an online open house to collect more public opinion on plans for Point Hudson after a lower initial turnout than expected.
The online open house, which can be accessed via the port website at www.portofpt.com, was scheduled to close Friday, but will now be open until Nov. 30.
“Since MFA is actually administering the online open house, I’m not sure of the exact number of responses to date,” said Kimberly Matej, communications manager for the port, in a statement Friday.
“However, I do know that it has been a fairly low turnout from what we were hoping.”
The survey was put online after an in-person open house in late October drew hundreds of community members.
“We’ve decided to extend the online open house in order to give community members throughout the county an opportunity to participate and take a closer look at the questions that are being asked during this process in order to get their input,” Matej said.
The survey starts with an overview of the information presented both at a port meeting in September and at the open house in October.
It outlines the port’s goals for Point Hudson, which were incorporated into the City of Port Townsend shoreline master plan, saying that Point Hudson should be financially stable, stay a small marina, be easily accessible to the public, preserve its historic character, encourage marine trade and water use, and maintain public ownership of the property.
The website has the port’s current project plans for Point Hudson, which include the $6.2 million replacement of both the north and south jetties that protect the marina and $2.3 million in basic repairs to port-owned buildings and marina infrastructure.
The open house provides details on potential pathways forward, which include various scales of development in both maritime industry and hospitality services. It also outlines a variety of funding plans, including public/private partnerships.
The only partnership discussed so far by port staff, and brought up multiple times in port meetings, is a potential partnership between the port, city and Northwest Maritime Center.
At the end of each development plan are boxes to fill out about the positives and negatives of each plan.
The survey is fairly extensive, with a lot of information packed in.
Matej said port officials hope keeping the survey available over the Thanksgiving holiday will lead to more responses.
“Extending the open house takes the Thanksgiving holiday into consideration, giving the community more time during this busy season to interact with the online open house.”
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Jefferson County Editor/Reporter Cydney McFarland can be reached at 360-385-2335, ext. 55052, or at cmcfarland@peninsuladailynews.com.
The Port of Port Townsend is extending its online open house until Nov. 30 in order to gather more public comment to create a plan for development in Point Hudson. (Cydney McFarland/Peninsula Daily News)
