PORT TOWNSEND — Leaders of the Port of Port Townsend and Port Townsend Paper Corp. will sign a cover letter this morning, capping their proposal to bring the multimillion-dollar Hood Canal Bridge graving yard to Port Townsend.
The Port’s proposal to the state Department of Transportation could be one of as many as 12, said Port Executive Director Larry Crockett.
“Competition will be stiff,” he said.
Port Commissioners President Herb Beck will join Bruce McComas, Port Townsend Paper vice president and general manager, at 9 a.m. today to sign the document at the Port offices, 333 Benedict St.
The public is invited to attend the brief signing ceremony that will send Crockett off to Olympia, where he will hand-deliver the “Hood Canal Bridge Reconstruction Yard” proposal to Transportation officials.
The cover letter will introduce the Port and mill’s graving yard proposal to Transportation officials who have called for new location proposals in the aftermath of shutting down the Port Angeles graving yard project.
The project, costing more than $58 million, was abandoned after archaeological digs uncovered thousands of Klallam ancestral remains and artifacts over 18 months.
Long hours
Crockett estimated that Port officials have put in at least 200 hours of work into the proposal in the past 10 days, interrupted only by holidays.
If it is located in Port Townsend, the graving yard site, or sites, is where replacement components for the Hood Canal Bridge’s crumbling eastern half will be constructed.
“I think we probably got just about all the letters of support we will need,” Crockett said of the Port’s proposal, which will included detailed data on affected Port and mill waterfront properties.
