Issues for proposed Department Budgets for 2009
OCEAN SHORES — Mayor Dean Bunkers will have to meet with city department heads to cut $825,000 to department budgets proposed for 2009.
A public hearing examining raising property taxes to generate revenue was held during the City Council meeting, but city officials said raising taxes wouldn’t be enough.
Budget talks continued when the council added a resolution to the agenda to give direction to Mayor Dean Bunkers to recommend action on the budget issue. Figures from the budget study sessions revealed the city would have to make a minimum of $825,000 in cuts to department budgets proposed for 2009.
Resident Edson Engall voiced his disappointment in the budget crunch. “We’re paying for it. It didn’t start out with the last council members. It began with (former city manager Dave) Weiser and it continued with (former city manager Rich) McEachin, and now it’s been dumped in Bunker’s lap and I feel sorry for him.” Engall suggested the city freeze wages for city employees and make some layoffs, such as combining the water and sewer management positions into one job.
The council unanimously passed the resolution and Bunkers said he would meet with city department heads to come up with $825,000 in suggested cuts and present them by the next council meeting.
In other action, the City Council:
Unanimously passed a resolution establishing a 5-ton maximum vehicle weight limit on the Mt. Olympus Avenue Bridge.
Public works director Ken Lanfear said he learned lessons from the Tonquin Bridge after it collapsed due to rotting wood. Lanfear said he plans to patrol the Mt. Olympus Ave. Bridge to enforce the weight limit and said signs have already been put up.
Unanimously passed a resolution declaring the existing fire station as “no longer necessary to city needs.” and place it on the market.
Bunkers said they won’t take any offers from interested buyers of the property until it’s officially vacated but “We know the new fire station is coming, and now would be the opportune time to put a for sale sign in front of it.”
NEWS FROM AROUND THE HARBOR
Testing and Training of Unmanned Underwater Vehicle
PACIFIC BEACH — The Navy is looking for a wider area on the Pacific Coast to conduct unmanned underwater vehicle research without damaging the environment or ruining the local economy.
Warfare Center officials recently completed a study about the proposed expansion of the Quinault Underwater Tracking Range, located in the Olympic Coast National Sanctuary. The Navy wants to expand the existing range to a total of 1,839 nautical miles, the range is currently 48 nautical miles. The expansion would include a one-mile stretch of shoreline in Pacific Beach.
Officials also are considering expanding testing and training in the Keyport area and Dabob Bay Range, near Hood Canal. The vehicles, which can be launched through submarine torpedo tubes, are becoming a popular way to detect mines as well as collect information for bottom mapping. Concerns over fishing areas and impact on marine life arose from public and the Warfare Center hopes to have a decision on how to proceed with the project by the fall of 2009.
A copy of the draft environmental impact statement can be found at www.keyport.kpt.nuwc.navy.mil. Written comments must be postmarked by Oct. 27 and can be addressed to Kimberly Kler, Environmental Planner, navy Facilities Engineering Command Northwest, 1101 Tautog Circle, Suite 203, Silverdale, WA 98315-1101.
State Ocean Caucus focus is on Ocean Issues
A work group comprised of various state agencies hosted a meeting in Ocean Shores to share information on ocean science and seek public comment and involvement to help shape the future of ocean and coastal resource management in Washington. In December 2006, a state work group released a report to Washington lawmakers outlining an array of recommendations intended to enhance how the state’s ocean and outer coasts are managed.
Presenters at the meeting included representatives from the governor’s office, state departments of Ecology and Fish & Wildlife, and Washington Sea Grant. The West Coast Governors’ Agreement on Ocean Health provides another opportunity for public comment and participation. Through this agreement, in July 2008, the governors of California, Oregon and Washington launched a comprehensive set of actions to improve ocean and coastal health along the West Coast.
The group of Washington agencies that are focused on issues on the state’s outer coast are called the State Ocean Caucus. The caucus includes representatives from the Governor’s office, the departments of Community, Trade and Economic Development, Ecology, Fish and Wildlife, Health and Natural Resources, Puget Sound Partnership, Washington Parks and Recreation Commission
Port of Grays Harbor’s Preliminary Budget for 2009
The Port of Grays Harbor commissioners were handed a nearly break-even $23 million preliminary budget for 2009 on Tuesday, which represents a $5.2 million decrease over this year. The last budget included several capital projects that have yet to come to financial fruition, and though many are still in the early stages, the projects aren’t expected to begin construction this coming year.
In other words, the overall decrease in the 2009 budget reflects “a shift in capital projects” said Mary Nelson, the Port’s financial director and architect of the budget.
The budget adheres to a statutory maximum 1 percent hike in property taxes, which will be used to pay for all capital projects. It also approaches the goal of maintaining $3 million in reserves.
Some of the projects in the last budget included construction of a research and development facility spearheaded by Imperium, Paneltech and Grays Harbor Paper LP, a haul-out facility at Westport and improvements for the Port Industrial Road. The previous budget also reflected a $4 million upgrade of Terminal 1, which is utilized by the Imperium Renewables biodiesel facility and will be the primary terminal for Westway Terminal Co., a liquid bulk distributor of a number of commodities.
The commissioners assigned HDR Engineering of Olympia to move forward with the design, which will include turn pockets on the busy thoroughfare between Hoquiam and Aberdeen. A combination of federal and state grants will pay for $476,000 and the Port will pay $76,280.
Westport Shipyard is a major player in the haul-out facility at the Westport Marina, but the parties are still negotiating an expansion project for the shipyard.
While some projects are still in the early stages, one area that is moving the budget forward is the Ag Processing Inc.’s bulk grain-loading facility at Terminal 2. “AGP is on pace for a record year,” the Port officials said. The grain-loader’s top distribution mark was 2005 when it processed 550,000 metric tons of grain. Including vessel calls in November and December, the company is expected to hit 562,000 metric tons. AGP is also looking at expanding its storage at the Port and has recently upgraded its rail fleet to 800 cars, all designed specially to process grain at Grays Harbor.
New Distribution Hub headed to Port
Port of Grays Harbor commissioners approved a 20-year lease Tuesday for a New Orleans-based liquid bulk shipping and storage company to locate at Terminal 1 in Hoquiam.
Westway Terminals hopes to construct a new distribution hub near Terminal 1 early next year to move huge quantities of liquids from methanol to molasses. Port commissioners approved the lease with the company during their monthly meeting despite longshore union concerns.
“This Westway Terminals definitely meets the goals of the Port and the goals of the commissioners,” Port Commissioner Chuck Caldwell said. “ Scott MacKenzie, vice president of the company’s business development, said Westway Terminals hopes to build a $15 million to $20 million facility capable of holding 320,000 barrels of everything from methanol to molasses. With a company motto of “Every drop counts,” Westway Terminals stores and distributes large amounts of liquids for other companies throughout the world, he said. It controls dozens of similar facilities on the East Coast, in Europe and other locations internationally, but is seeking a Northwest presence.
The company is pursuing permits to build on 15 acres near Terminal 1, MacKenzie said. Construction would begin early next year in hopes of beginning operations in November of 2009. MacKenzie said the facility would create just eight to 12 jobs, but could significantly increase vessel traffic into the Port. He estimated about 15 shipments a year with hopes of increasing to almost twice that once established.
Billy Swor, secretary for the International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 24, opposed the immediate approval of the lease on the grounds that the union had not been involved in the discussion. He thought Westway Terminals seemed like a good business and a boost to the area, but he still wanted to have discussion before any final decisions were made.
The Port announced the company would pay more than $13,000 a month in rent as well as taxes. Port officials said they hope to complete the permit process as soon as possible so the company can start construction. “They’re a big, big customer,” commissioner Jack Thompson said. “We’re looking forward to some big things from them.”
Port of Grays Harbor to get Perimeter Fence
The Port of Grays Harbor soon will be nearly fully enclosed at its perimeters by an 8-foot chain-link fence, topped by three strands of barbed-wire. The fencing is prompted by the Homeland Security Act, with initial funding coming from a 2007 grant. Fence Specialists, a Tacoma company, will do the work in two phases. The grant amounts to $313,342. The Port must pay $114,548, which will come from this year’s capital expenditures budget.
“Homeland Security requires an entire 8-foot perimeter fence,” said Mike Thompson, the Port’s contracts administrator. “But we talked to them and we can apply for a grant ($86,815) in 2009 to finish the job.” The only area not enclosed with the 8-foot fence is a 2,500-foot strip from Terminal 2 west to Terminal 4, which does have 6-foot fencing.
New Hoquiam Rite Aid store was built below Flood Plain
The new $1 million Rite Aid store in Hoquiam will not open as expected because of a recently discovered design mistake that caused the store to be constructed below the flood plain. Project manager David Pruin, with Gramor Development, said an elevation measurement conversion was not made in the building blueprints and that threw off surveys and construction. The mistake was uncovered last month.
Additional flood protections can be installed to bring the building into compliance, Pruin said, but he did not know how long that might take. “It’s a problem that can be solved,” he said. The building was designed according to one set of vertical standards, he said. Those measurements put the building more than a foot above the flood plain, but the numbers were not converted into the standards used to set the flood plain.
Pruin said all construction, multiple surveys and inspections were performed according to the wrong measurements, which put the building just more than three feet below the mandatory flood plain. Roy Pedro, with the RHL Design Group Inc. architecture firm now a part of Stantec, said designers are still exploring how, or if, an elevation discrepancy occurred. Pedro said designers, surveyors and construction staff are working with the city to again measure the elevation and install extra flood protections if necessary. Flood-proofing the building would involve barriers around doorways and raising electrical boxes and equipment to higher areas.
Chinese Company sells Evergreen Pulp
The Chinese parent company of Evergreen Pulp sold its U.S. assets this week and court orders were issued in California protecting companies owed money by Evergreen. What that means for the company’s deal with the Grays Harbor PUD to purchase the Cosmopolis Pulp Mill from the Weyerhaeuser Co. is unknown.
“The Transaction provides a good opportunity to enable (Lee & Man) to dispose of its interests in (its U.S. assets) for cash so as to allow (Lee & Man) to pursue its principal business in China with better return,” the filing states. “The sale proceeds to be received create additional financial resources for (Lee & Man) and will be used as working capital to support further development of (the company’s) principal businesses in China.”
Lee & Man sold the subsidiary companies to Worthy Pick Group Limited, based in the British Virgin Islands, according to the filing. The filing did not indicate if Worthy Pick is a separate entity or somehow affiliated with Lee & Man. Although Lee & Man is headquartered in Hong Kong, it is incorporated in the Cayman Islands, according to the filing.
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