PORT ANGELES — Will Rayonier Inc. give $500,000 to the Port Angeles Harbor-Works Development Authority?
That’s one of the issues that will be addressed in a meeting between Rayonier officials and Harbor-Works Executive Director Jeff Lincoln in Port Angeles on Monday.
Rayonier CEO Lee Thomas and about four other company officials will also meet with city of Port Angeles staff and the Lower Elwha Klallam Tribal Council on Monday.
Thomas will then meet with the with the Port Angeles Business Association on Tuesday.
At issue is the contaminated site of the former Rayonier pulp mill in northeast Port Angeles, the cleanup of which Harbor-Works is trying to hasten.
Heavy credentials
Thomas is a former president of Georgia-Pacific Corp., ex-administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and former executive deputy director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
He came out of retirement in spring 2008 to head Jacksonville, Fla.-based Rayonier Inc.
Charles Hood, Rayonier vice president of corporate affairs, said Monday’s meeting with Lincoln isn’t just about Harbor-Works’ funding request.
They will also discuss a proposed agreement outlining the company’s and public development authority’s roles and responsibilities in relation to the environmental cleanup and redevelopment of the 75-acre former mill site, he said.
Getting to know you
But Lincoln said no firm decisions will be made at the meeting.
“This is not a decision meeting. This is not a negotiation meeting.
“It’s an opportunity for us locally to meet with key people in this process,” he said.
Hood maintained during a phone interview that no decision has been made on whether the company will contribute funds to Harbor-Works.
“We’ve discussed it internally, but the decision is not, I don’t think, formally made,” he said.
“We’re still looking at the options.”
Ramifications
Hood said the company is concerned over how such a contribution will affect further agreements with Harbor-Works and the appearance of a conflict of interest if it sells or transfers ownership of the property to the public development authority.
“That’s a big issue that needs to be fleshed out and discussed,” he said.
He added, “I’m not sure what the advantage would be except to other than being part of the bigger funding apparatus to keep Harbor-Works moving — and, therefore, keep the project moving on schedule.”
Harbor-Works is seeking $1 million in public funds in the form of two $500,000 loans from the city of Port Angeles and Port of Port Angeles to cover its expenses through 2010.
Those funds are intended to cover due diligence in preparation of acquiring the Rayonier property and consultant fees, but no plans for redevelopment of the property or funds for its acquisition, Lincoln said.
The public development authority is currently operating on two $150,000 loans from the city and port that it received last fall. About $104,000 is left.
Off the agenda
The City Council was to consider approval of the second loan request this Tuesday night, but that item isn’t on the meeting agenda because the city wants to know first how much money Harbor-Works will get from Rayonier and the state Department of Ecology, City Manager Kent Myers said.
“We want to see where the other parties stand,” he said.
Harbor-Works has applied for a $200,000 integrated planning grant from the state Department of Ecology.
Myers said city staff will provide the Rayonier officials an update on the city’s plans to use a large tank on the former mill site owned by the company.
Since April, the city has had a license agreement with Rayonier that allows it access to the property to develop a plan to use the 5-million-gallon tank to store untreated sewage when it would otherwise overflow into the harbor and Strait of Juan de Fuca.
That agreement costs the city $5,000 a year, but does not give it use of the tank.
The city is under an Ecology mandate to nearly eliminate sewage overflow events by 2016 or face a fine of $10,000 a day.
Sewage mix
In the oldest parts of the city’s sewer system, sewage mixes with storm water.
When it rains hard enough, sewage overflows the sewer system’s containment barriers, and dumps it into the harbor.
Under the city’s plan, the tank would store the sewage until it can be treated by the wastewater treatment plant adjacent to the site.
While Harbor-Works is charged by the city to assist in the cleanup of the former mill site and direct the waterfront property’s redevelopment, the city also had the tank in mind when it created the public development authority in May 2008.
A goal was to get the tank at no cost in exchange for assistance in the cleanup, city staff have said.
Tribal meetings
Hood referred to the meeting with the tribe as an opportunity to develop their relationship.
“It’s an opportunity to get to know one another,” he said.
“We just haven’t had that opportunity to spend time when working with the tribe.”
Tribal Chairwoman Frances Charles and Hood said there isn’t an formal agenda for their meeting on Monday.
The tribe is a partner in the cleanup of the Rayonier site with Ecology, which has supervised the project since 2000.
The property is the former location of a Klallam village. A burial site is known to be located under a portion of the property.
The property is contaminated with PCBs, dioxins and other toxic chemicals emitted by a Rayonier pulp mill that operated for 68 years there before closing in 1997.
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Reporter Tom Callis can be reached at 360-417-3532 or at tom.callis@peninsuladailynews.com.
