QUILCENE — Residents of Quilcene are speaking out after Port of Port Townsend budget discussions at a recent public meeting sparked fears that the port might be looking to sell the Herb Beck Marina.
“[The marina] holds a very dear place in the heart of Quilcenians,” said Connie Gallant, a long time resident. “There’s several issues relating to the marina and all of those are important to this community.”
The Herb Beck Marina has 50 slips, a boat launch, laundry and shower facilities, day-use picnic areas, a roped-off swimming area and RV hook ups. It is the only public marina with access to Dabob Bay and Hood Canal.
Gallant said the marina is a summer staple for the small town.
In the summer, the higher-than-average water temperatures at the beach make it a popular destination for local kids and its access to popular fishing and shellfish-harvesting areas brings in hundreds of people.
Marina village
“That’s big for our little village,” said Gallant. “Even though they stay on their boats, they shop in Quilcene.”
Anne Ricker, another Quilcene resident, said the port has left most of those facilities in disrepair and the quiet marina that once made a good camping spot is rarely utilized due to the increased truck traffic and bright lights coming from the shellfish hatchery.
“On the back of all their cards it says this: ‘Our mission is to serve the citizens of Jefferson County by responsibly maintaining and developing property and facilities to promote sustainable economic growth, to provide community access to port facilities and services, and to protect and maintain our community resources and maritime heritage,’ ” Ricker said. “That’s the port mission and they’ve failed us.”
According to Port of Port Townsend Executive Director Sam Gibboney, the port has a caretaker in place in Quilcene who is responsible for cleanliness and basic maintenance.
Staff is added during the summer when the marina is busy, and the port’s maintenance crew repairs the docks and the water, sewer and fuel systems as needed.
However, all the marinas currently controlled by the port are in need of repair. The port is looking at a daunting $16 million in capitol projects that are needed across Jefferson County.
“They’re not in great shape by any stretch,” Gibboney said. “The difficulty with this marina is that it is small so it’s difficult to generate enough revenue to be self sustaining.”
Lease revenue from Coast Seafoods is projected to be $60,000 in 2017 while moorage — the next largest revenue channel for the Quilcene property— is projected at $33,000.
“Coast is an important tenant not only for the port, but they’re the largest employer in south county,” Gibboney said.
“They bring a lot of jobs to an area with not a lot of employment opportunities.” Employment figures for the company were not immediately available Monday.
Ricker said they aren’t trying to target Coast, but are hoping for more cooperation between the port, Coast and the community.
“We’re looking for solutions,” Ricker said. “The people who work for Coast are our neighbors, so we’re not trying to halt their operations.”
Gibboney said she had heard the community loud and clear and said Monday she hopes to have conversations with Coast to mitigate some of the light and noise pollution concerns.
Gibboney said the port is also looking at starting commercial use fees for Coast and other businesses that use the marina starting in 2017, something that is currently not in place.
Selling the Quilcene marina — or catering to an expansion by Coast Seafood — was discussed at a meeting Aug. 24.
During that meeting, Gibboney said the port wouldn’t be opposed to selling the land the port currently leases to Coast Seafoods.
This was something that was proposed nearly four years ago and met with public backlash, according to Chris Jones, the hatchery director for Pacific Seafoods, which owns Coast Seafoods.
“I listen to the meeting minutes and that’s all I’ve heard of it,” Jones has said.
“They have not approached us, and we’re not in the business of running marinas. We grow seafood, so the marina or the beach areas are nothing that we are interested in.”
According to Gibboney, Coast Seafoods isn’t looking to expand its operations but is committed to its location next to the Herb Beck Marina.
“They’re looking for long-term security at that location,” Gibboney said.
The port released a statement Sept. 23 explaining that the port was assessing all of its properties in Jefferson County in an effort to find ways to beef up its 2017 budget.
The Sept. 23 statement also said there have been no formal discussions and there are currently no plans to sell the Herb Beck Marina.
This didn’t sway Quilcene residents.
Gallant, along with four other Quilcene residents, attended a port meeting Sept. 27 to express their concerns.
“We’re more than happy to work with the port,” Gallant said. “We just don’t want to be screwed. This marina is important to the community so we don’t want them to get to the point of even considering selling it.”
The port will continue discussing its 2017 budget at a public workshop Wednesday at 9:30 a.m. at 333 Benedict St. in Port Townsend. There will also be a regular Port of Port Townsend meeting at 1 p.m. also on Wednesday and at the same location.
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Jefferson County Editor/Reporter Cydney McFarland can be reached at 360-385-2335, ext. 55052, or at cmcfarland@peninsuladailynews.com.