PORT TOWNSEND — The Port of Port Townsend will seek grant funding to restore the Point Hudson jetty and pave the runway at Jefferson County International Airport, commissioners decided.
Commissioners also answered questions on the Herb Beck Marina in Quilcene during a workshop Wednesday.
Port staff members have been authorized to submit an application to the Boat Infrastructure Grant (BIG) through the state Recreation and Conservation Office and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for funds to work on the Point Hudson jetty.
The port has applied for this grant for the Point Hudson project in 2014, 2015 and 2016. The 2017 application focuses specifically on funding to restore the north jetty protecting the Point Hudson Marina in Port Townsend.
The port is applying for the grant to cover 32 percent of the project’s cost, or $1,455,000.
The port would be responsible for matching funds, which would come out of the port’s operating reserve funds.
The final application will be submitted in mid-August. Awards will be announced in spring 2018.
Port of Port Townsend Executive Director Sam Gibboney has met with Port Townsend City Manager David Timmons and Northwest Maritime Center Executive Director Jake Beatty, Gibboney said.
“They have a stake in this,” Gibboney said.
Port staff will have to apply for grants through the state Department of Transportation’s Aviation Division for an airport aid grant.
The port has budgeted phase one of the runway paving project into its approved capital projects budget. Phase one, expected to cost $248,321, involves the pre-design of the new runway, an environmental review and an obstacle action plan.
Currently, the Federal Aviation Administration is expected to pay 90 percent of the project, leaving the port to fund $24,832. The grant would cover at least $12,416 or roughly 5 percent of the port’s costs.
The application for that grant will be submitted by May 12. Awards are expected to be announced by July 15.
The port also took questions on the current state of the Herb Beck Marina in Quilcene.
Greg Englin, director of port operations and business development, said the port is looking now at four candidates for the harbormaster position at Quilcene.
The job will no longer be year-round, but the harbormaster is expected to be present during business hours, roughly 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., he said.
Englin also said the port will do its best to fix the parking lot before the opening day of shrimp season May 6.
Heavy rains this year left the Herb Beck Marina parking lot full of potholes, and the shrimping opener is the first day of a usually busy summer season for Quilcene.
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Jefferson County Editor/Reporter Cydney McFarland can be reached at 360-385-2335, ext. 55052, or at cmcfarland@peninsuladailynews.com.
