PORT ANGELES — Port of Port Angeles commissioners approved a roof rehabilitation project that will cost less than anticipated and the savings will be used to repair an additional one.
Originally budgeted as a $450,000 roof overlay on the 1050 building at 2140 W. 18th St., the project was changed to a rubberized silicone coating to it and the adjacent 1010 building. The total cost, including 20 percent contingency and taxes, is now $393,834.
The changes were approved at the commissioners’ meeting on Tuesday.
Chris Hartman, the port’s director of engineering, said the work the port’s maintenance team accomplished had diminished the need to install a new layer of material over the existing roofs. The silicone coating will extend the life of the roofs another 20 years, he said.
A polyurea coating also was considered, but it was determined to not be ideal for local weather conditions. It also was more expensive.
The project is scheduled to begin in June and be completed by the end of August.
Meanwhile, McKinley Paper Company has completely moved out of a 9,600-square-foot warehouse at 1301 Marine Drive in Port Angeles. It leased from the port, said Caleb McMahon, the port’s director of economic development.
McMahon said he anticipated the space taking some time to fill because of the nature of the ingress and egress through the log yard.
“We need find to the right tenant who doesn’t need to access the property frequently or every day so it doesn’t hamper log yard operations,” he said.
The port previously charged 25 to 30 cents per square foot a month in rent, but it raised the rate to 50 to 60 cents per square foot.
Marine terminal manager Scott Hough said there has been a trend of fewer vessels coming into the port, but they have been staying longer, which was good because they are getting topside work done and buying supplies. Although the amount of chips coming through is increasing, they couldn’t compete with logs — nine chip barges equal about one log ship in terms of revenue, he said.
The first week of April was nonetheless exceptionally busy, Hough said, with visits from Cable Innovator, a tanker, a freighter and fuel barges.
“Today it looks good, and I’m hoping it continues to look good,” he said.
Log ships that were budgeted but didn’t come contributed to marine terminal revenue being down $278,000 — 34 percent — through the end of March, said Jennifer Baker, the port’s director of finance and administration. Log yard revenue was down as well. Although it is a slow start to the year, activity is expected to pick up and revenue will bounce back, she said.
Rental revenue at William R. Fairchild International Airport remains about 10 percent under budget because an agreement with Amazon last year to build a facility on the property did not go through after the Federal Aviation Administration demanded the company complete a National Environmental Protection Act review, a process that can take a year or more.
The anticipated revenue was factored into the port’s 2025 budget.
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Reporter Paula Hunt can be reached by email at paula.hunt@peninsula dailynews.com.
