PORT TOWNSEND — Port of Port Townsend leaders on Wednesday committed to dredging Quilcene Marina and extended storage discounts to more boat owners at Boat Haven.
With Herb Beck, Port commissioner from Quilcene, pushing to improve boat access to the Quilcene Marina on Linger Longer Road, the commissioners unanimously approved a dredging project to eliminate a growing sand bar — causes by siltation and a wingwall of pilings — at the entrance to the marina.
They approved a call for bids on the project, estimated at about $170,000, to remove about 4,000 cubic yards of sediment from the marina’s entrance.
The commissioners also approved 2-1 extending economic incentives for boat storage to boat owners beyond those whose vessel had been hauled out for work since July 1.
Shipwright and Commissioner Dave Thompson recused himself to avoid the appearance of a conflict of interest.
Quilcene resident Connie Gallant, who along with her husband, JD Gallant, attended the meeting as boat owners leasing a slip at the marina, thanked Beck and the commissioners for moving expeditiously on the project.
The project will have to get under way before the salmon migration window closes Feb. 15.
“You have made the first two citizens of Quilcene [to learn about the action] very happy,” Gallant said.
“Quilcene is very big on the shellfish industry,” Gallant said, and the marina provides shelter for commercial and recreational vessels.
The Gallants own the largest boat in the marina, the 40-foot vessel, The Sea Turtle.
JD Gallant says he encounters the problem created by the silt in the entrance to the marina every day, and that it poses a danger to large boats.
His wife said that she wished the wingwall would be spared to give youths a place to dive into Quilcene Bay.
Port Commissioner Beck added that he had dived from the 30-foot-long, 20-foot-high wall as a youth.
Port Executive Director Larry Crockett explained that the wingwalls would have to be removed because it was determined that they are a contributing factor to the sediment building up at the marina entrance.
Regardless, the sediment may return in seven years, port officials said.
Beck, whom the marina and industrial park is named for, said he viewed the question as an economic issue, citing the importance of a working marina.
Incentive
Port Commissioner John Collins, hearing boat owners who were already in the yard before July 1 complain that they could not qualify for port discounts, asked the port commissioners Wednesday to extend the incentive.
“This would make any boat in the yard July 1 be treated the same as boats that came in after,” Collins said.
The new rates cut the cost of hoisting a boat from the water by 50 percent. The cost of using the 70-ton lift dropped to $90, and the cost of the 300-ton lift will drop to $325.
While he did not vote on the adjustment, Thompson worried that revenue would be lost.
Don Taylor, port finance director, acknowledged that the port could lose between $4,200 and $4,500 a month by granting the discounts to those boat owners who had hauled out their vessels before July 1.
Taylor said it would be about a 20 percent loss for July for the 45 boats in the yard before July 1.
Taylor and Crockett agreed it was too soon to see how the discount initiative — intended to draw new business and bring back business lost — will draw more customers to the yard.
They expect that will not be known until port and marine trades operators get the word out through yacht magazine advertising and general marketing efforts.
July was a record month, with 100 haul outs at the boat yard.
Beck countered Thompson’s position, saying even if the port loses money from the storage discount, there was still an economic ripple effect from boat owners who bought lodging, food and other goods, such as hardware for vessel repair.
Beck asked that those given the discount for storage also be in “good standing” with the port, meaning their bills were paid.
“We set up the program because we want people to work and that’s what’s happening,” Beck said
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Port Townsend-Jefferson County Editor Jeff Chew can be reached at 360-385-2335 or at jeff.chew@peninsuladailynews.com.
