PORT ANGELES — The Harbor-Works Development Authority will return at least $168,588 in public money once it is formally dissolved next month.
That’s what the five board members of the public development authority — which was created by the city of Port Angeles more than two years ago — decided Tuesday during what they expect to be their final meeting.
The money is the amount of money left from the $1.3 million in loans from the City of Port Angeles and the Port of Port Angeles.
A cashier’s check will be issued to the city if the City Council formally votes to dissolve the authority at its Oct. 19 meeting, City Manager Kent Myers said.
“I have a lot of emotions about this project,” Executive Director Jeff Lincoln said.
“When I came up here in April 2009, I was put in a room full of community leaders and I remember in that 45-minute interview becoming excited about this project because of the commitment in the community to get something done and not stop until something had been done,” he said.
Harbor-Works board members also approved $74,306.87 in severance pay for Lincoln, whose last day on the job will be Sept. 30.
That amounts to his salary and benefits for six months.
But he may have to pay some of it back.
One of the stipulations in the termination agreement is that if Lincoln finds a job within six months, he will be required to repay a prorated portion of his severance.
Rob Tulloch, the attorney for the public development authority, said everything except the repayment was a typical severance agreement.
“I’ve never seen a repayment requirement,” Lincoln said.
“It is a little strange because it is actually a disincentive for me to get a new job.”
Lincoln said that he intends to find a job as soon as possible and has already been “fielding phone calls.”
The Harbor-Works board also voted to place about $13,250 in a trust to pay for remaining legal fees, a state audit that has not yet been completed or paid for, and the insurance deductible.
The money will remain in trust for a year, after which any remaining funds would then be returned to the city, which would split it with the port.
On Sept. 7, the City Council conducted an unanimous “vote of concurrence” to dissolve the public development authority, opening a period of time for the Harbor-Works board to publicly comment on the dissolution.
The council took that action after the Harbor-Works board voted unanimously to recommend that the City Council disband the agency.
The Harbor-Works board took the action after Rayonier Inc., announced in July that it would not negotiate further with Harbor-Works on a purchase agreement for the company’s former pulp mill site on the Port Angeles waterfront.
Rayonier said that it had made the decision because the state Department of Ecology had said that there was no possibility of capping the company’s liability for the cleanup of the land.
The city created Harbor-Works, with support from the Port of Port Angeles, in May 2008 to acquire the Rayonier site, assist in environmental cleanup of the property, and oversee its redevelopment.
The Rayonier site on the eastern shore of Port Angeles Harbor has been an Ecology cleanup site since 2000.
It is contaminated by heavy metals, PCBs and dioxin left from 68 years of a pulp-mill operation that was closed in 1997.
The loans to Harbor-Works were intended to be repaid after the public development agency acquired the Rayonier property.
At Harbor-Works’ Tuesday meeting, the board approved $138,891 in vouchers.
The vote was unanimous by those present. Board member Kaj Ahlburg was out of the country and unavailable for the meeting.
The vouchers included a $42,484.58 check for Gordon Thomas Honeywell Law firm.
The firm had assisted Harbor-Works in attempting to develop a way to come up with contingency funds that would satisfy Rayonier, Lincoln said.
The vouchers also included Lincoln’s severance pay.
Repayment of a portion of the severance pay would not be an easy process because the formula to arrive at the $74,306.87 is complex, Lincoln said.
Portions he would have to repay would include daily pay and benefits.
Lincoln’s salary is approximately $10,833 per month. Severance pay is based on days, so a formula would be devised to determine how much he would repay if he finds new employment within six months.
He will pay federal income tax — which amounts to about $25,000 — out of the lump sum, but if he has to repay any of the amount, he will be required to return the funds to the city and then file for a reimbursement from the federal government for the taxes paid but not earned.
Tulloch was delegated responsibility to monitor Lincoln’s employment situation.
Each of the board members present praised Lincoln’s performance on the job.
“I’ve been involved in a lot of complicated projects and I’ve really come to appreciate the quality of work Jeff has brought to this project,” board member Jerry Hendricks said.
“We maybe don’t like the result, but he did a tremendous job in a complex job.”
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Reporter Paige Dickerson can be reached at 360-417-3535 or at paige.dickerson@peninsuladailynews.com.
