PORT ANGELES — A recently awarded federal grant will enable the Port of Port Angeles to upgrade security, but it may not cover everything on the port’s wish list.
The port was seeking money to improve surveillance cameras, lighting, access control and cybersecurity at its marine terminals.
The $701,063 grant is lower than the $768,399 the port requested, so some measures may be delayed, port Director of Engineering Chris Hartman said Friday.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency will make the decision by the end of September, said Karen Goschen, the port’s deputy executive director-finance director.
“They will let us know which parts of the grant they funded and which tasks they decided not to fund,” she said Friday.
Port commissioners will discuss the grant at 9 a.m. Tuesday at the port administrative building, 338 W. First St., Port Angeles.
The port had applied for a $768,399 grant, or 75 percent of the total estimated project cost of $1.02 million.
The port planned to cover the other 25 percent, or $256,133.
The new project cost is $934,751.
The port will cover 25 percent, or $233,688.
Funding for the project is expected to be authorized later this year as part of the port’s 2015 capital budget.
Under the grant proposal, a backup system would be created in case the port’s computer system is hacked so the entire system is not disabled.
“I don’t know if it will be a cloud-based system or what,” Hartman said. “It will be part of the assessment on what’s best for the port.”
A cloud computing system uses a network of remote servers to store data rather than a local server or personal computer.
Under the proposal, lighting also would be replaced at Terminals 1 and 3. In addition, surveillance cameras would be replaced and more added, Hartman said.
That’s the largest single portion of the grant request, he added.
The grant also was to fund a training exercise for port, stakeholders and local responders, and upgrade the terminal-access control system.
Those improvements would include acquisition of card readers to allow port security to check the identity credentials of transportation workers.
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Senior Staff Writer Paul Gottlieb can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5060, or at pgottlieb@peninsuladailynews.com.
