2021 September 15th Regular Port Commission Virtual Meeting Minutes

Date Published: November 8, 2021

MINUTES FROM THE REMOTE VIRTUAL REGULAR PORT COMMISSION MEETING OF THE PORT OF HOODSPORT COMMISSION

September 15, 2021 Call to Order:   9:03am                                                   Adjourned:  10:02am

Meeting Held at:              Virtual Zoom Conference Meeting Room ID#406-238-9936  

Roll Call: Commissioner Booth – Chairwoman, Commissioner Kincannon – 2nd Chairwoman, Terry Brazil – Trustee                                                                                                               

Staff Present:                    K. Wyatt, Executive Director, S. Lindgren – Supervisor of Maintenance

Public:                            Cody Morris – Potlatch Brewing Company, Kirk Boxleitner – Shelton-Mason County Journal

Approval of Agenda:  Commissioner Booth made a motion to amend the agenda to remove Samantha Stanford (Corp of Engineers) and George Blevins (Olympic Septic Company from the Open Public comment area as no shows and to approve the remainder of the agenda dated September 15, 2021 as written; Commissioner Brazil seconded; it was unanimously approved.

Minutes: Commissioner Brazil made a motion to approve the regular port commission minutes for August 11, 2021, Commissioner Kincannon seconded the motion, unanimously approved.

VouchersCommissioner Kincannon made a motion to approve the Voucher for August 31, 2021, in the amount of $9,750.28; Commissioner Brazil seconded, unanimously approved.

Public Communication:   The port director talked to the commission and public about the upcoming election in November 2021. Commissioner Booth’s position is up for election, she chose not to file in May as the incumbent for her current position and chose to remain in her Commission position until the election in November.  No one filed for this open position in the May election filing period so there was a special filing period in August in which Cody Morris filed to run for Commissioner Booth’s position. And, because it is an odd year, the position in which Commissioner Kincannon was appointed to is also up for election in November.  No one filed to run for her position in the May or August filing period so Commissioner Kincannon will retain her commission position.  The port director invited and introduced Cody Morris as next to be elected  in November as the newest Port of Hoodsport Commissioner to fill Commissioner Booth’s position, Cody Morris introduced himself as the owner of the Potlatch Brewing Company in Hoodsport. C Morris said he grew up is Seattle and spent time on the Hood Canal at his parent’s cabin since the 1990’s.  He attended Evergreen State College then moved back to Seattle, and pursued the beer and wine industry in the Sodo neighborhood.  His beer pub became the best new restaurant in Seattle.  He was approached to form a partnership with Holland partners in South Lake Union.  He and his wife decided to open a brewery in Hoodsport in 2020 which should be completed with inside service in October 2021.  He is interested in the Port commission position because he is fascinated with local government, he wants to learn about the mechanics and to make changes that could make life more pleasant in Hoodsport. Commissioner Booth welcomed C Morris and said we are excited to have you become a Port commissioner; we are sure you will be an asset to the town.  K Boxleitner said he was looking for a local artist to do a business profile on and now he can add the nuances of becoming a new port commissioner.  C Morris said he was curious about the rules around being a Port commissioner and owning a business in town.  He would like to set up a day a month to offer a place for the community to voice concerns and make suggestions, He was curious if he could use the port office or pub to have public meetings.  The port director said the port office space is very small to even host a regular port commission meeting and that all large public meetings have been held at the library meeting room. The port commission made a motion to continue with remote virtual meetings and noticed there is more participation with a virtual meeting.  Commissioner Booth said anytime two or more commissioners gather and talk about business, it must be advertised as a public meeting and minutes need to be taken. Commissioner Brazil said the public is usually involved only when there is an issue of concern, he added that the commissioners are paid $128. per diem in which they can only claim one meeting per day.  The port director said the WPPA (Washington Public Ports Association) has not yet scheduled the next New Commissioner Training session and she will notify Commissioners Kincannon and Morris (when he is sworn in) as to when it is scheduled.  There is also a Small Ports meeting each year in October that is beneficial for the Commissioners to attend for interactive small port discussion and to get to know other Commissioners of small ports in the state of WA. C Morris said he would love to attend the Port’s regular port commission meeting in October.

Commissioner Reports     Commissioner Kincannon said she will be connecting with the Port’s IT technician as soon as she has an updated map of the Hoodsport Trail Park so they can create a QR code for people to scan with their phone to download a copy of the trail map.  The QR code can be laminated and posted in the parking lots to each entrance of the trail park for hikers to access.  Commissioner Brazil asked what it would look like, Commissioner Kincannon said a picture will pop up on your phone that says welcome to the Hoodsport Trail Park, there will be a photo of the Hoodsport Trail map.  S Lindgren said he would leave a copy of the current trail map at the office for Commissioner Kincannon to pick up.  She said she has a graphic designer who can enhance the trail map.  Commissioner Brazil said it is called the Hoodsport Hills Disc Golf Course and the 9-hole course is officially called the ‘Cushman Crawl’.  Commissioner Kincannon said if enough people go to Google maps while at the Hoodsport Trail Park and drop a pin on the disc golf course, Google will start to recognize it and it will show up on a Google map.  Commissioner Booth said she has multiple calls into WSDOT regarding the striping in the crosswalks throughout Hoodsport. The project engineer said the crosswalks, ADAs parking and no parking around the fire hydrants should be painted in the next week, Commissioner Booth told WSDOT she was concerned about visitor safety.  Commissioner Booth asked S Lindgren if they could put the crosswalk flags back up on the poles.  He said he would gather the flags and make more if needed.

Port Maintenance Reports:  

Hoodsport Trail Park & Disc Golf Park:  S Lindgren said the parking signs are up at all three parking areas at the trail park and disc golf park. He researched how to keep the hikers on the trail and determined yellow markers will indicate the lower loop and red markers will indicate the upper loop trail.  He and the other maintenance crew moved the trail around a big tree as a safety precaution, so hikers avoid an area of natural erosion occurring next to the trail on the lower loop. 

Hoodsport Marina, Dock & Waterfront Park:  S Lindgren refreshed the painted areas in the port’s parking lot.  Commissioner Kincannon said she went through all the grants available at this time for the break water project and an EV Charging station, there are currently no grants available for ports, the grants were all to create jobs and for lost revenue due to COVID relief.  Commissioner Booth asked the port director to check with the County Treasurer to find out if there are an alternative way people can pay for moorage with a credit card online or with a phone App.

Public Restrooms: The Public restrooms were surplused to the Purvis’ on April 14, 2021, after a public hearing was held.  The Purvis’ will be replacing the drain field and repair the septic system in accordance with the Mason County Environmental health specifications to re-open the restrooms as soon as possible.   Until then, the Port of Hoodsport and the Purvis’ continue to provide Sani cans with washing stations for the publics use.

Port parking/Office building/Maintenance shed: S. Lindgren through a Security App monitors live stream surveillance cameras overlooking the public restrooms, office building, ports shed, parking lot, waterfront park and marina dock. It appears the same people continue to dump household garbage.

Port Directors Report

All items on the port director’s agenda were covered in the regular port commission meeting.

Budget:               August financial statements were reviewed

Old Business:  As discussed above        New Business:    As discussed above Next Meeting:    October 13th

Adjourn:          Commissioner Kincannon made a motion to adjourn the Regular Port Commission meeting, Commissioner Brazil seconded, it was unanimously approved, meeting adjourned at 10:02 a.m.

2021 Regular Port Commission Meetings are scheduled as follows:

Wednesday’s at 9am   October 13th, November 10th, December 15th             

Commissioner Brazil                Commissioner Booth          Commissioner Kincannon