Port Commission Minutes

MINUTES FROM THE REGULAR PORT COMMISSION MEETING FOR THE PORT OF HOODSPORT

November 9, 2022

Call to Order:   9:19am                                                   Adjourned:  10:18 am

Hybrid Meeting Held at:   24113 North Highway 101, Suite A Hoodsport, WA 98548 / Virtual Zoom Conference Meeting Room ID#406-238-9936  

Roll Call:     Commissioner Kincannon – Chairwoman / 2^nd Trustee, Commissioner Brazil – 2^nd Chairman / Trustee   

Commissioner Morris  

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

Public:                                 Forest McCullough – NW Land & Tree

Approval of Agenda:       Commissioner Kincannon motioned to approve the entire agenda during the Budget Hearing meeting dated November 9, 2022 at 9:04am, as written; Commissioner Brazil seconded; all in favor, unanimously approved.

Minutes: Commissioner Kincannon motioned to approve the regular port commission minutes for October 12, 2022, Commissioner Brazil seconded, all in favor, unanimously approved.

Vouchers:  Commissioner Kincannon motioned to approve the Vouchers for October 2022, in the amount of $9,064.15, Commissioner Brazil seconded, all in favor, unanimously approved.

Public Communication:   

F McCullough provided an update on the removal of the dead, diseased and damaged trees in the Hoodsport Trail Park. We were held up with rain and are almost finished with the disc golf course side of the trail park, timing will depend on the weather.  We had a full week taking the hazard trees bordering the Lake Cushman homeowners and are getting ready to wrap up the South side.  The disc golf parking area is currently all mud, after we clean it up, we will order 2” rock and cap it with 3/4” minus then compact it so we can continue.  I walked through the disc golf course with the course warden Bill Grondin and suggested if they modify the course, that they save and re plant the existing small trees.  Commissioner Kincannon said she would like to have the Shelton Journal reporter, Kirk Boxleightner, publish an article to notify the public about the hazard tree removal project and to invite the public to a grand opening in late spring of 2023.  Commissioner Brazil said he took some photographs and will email them for the newspaper article.  He said he would like to get the disc golf ‘clubs’ involved and have their groups come out for the grand opening.  Commissioner Kincannon said, maybe the disc golf members will meet with F McCullough to get educated on the small trees growing in the forest and their need for sunlight and room to grow. Commissioner Morris asked if it would make sense to ask the public for volunteers to help rebuild trails in the Hoodsport Trail Park.  Commissioner Kincannon said, yes, we could put it in the news article and refer interested people to our port’s email address and phone number.  Commissioner Morris said the brewery is interested in sponsoring the event, maybe we can create a custom camouflage disc for the disc golf.  We could organize vendors to rent tables. Commissioner Kincannon said thank you Forest, we appreciate all your hard work and look forward to a new improved Hoodsport Trail Park.

Commissioner Reports    

Commissioner Morris said the summary of the experience at the Washington Public Ports Association WPPA Small Ports conference was informative and interesting.  One of the points was an idea how smaller ports could piggyback off larger ports to make purchases using purchase contracts already in place utilizing price breaks.  It was quite remarkable with a broad range of what Port’s do throughout the state providing water, electricity, and business development.  I had a great conversation with the Port of Shelton regarding surplus materials with their maintenance department head and how to help the Port of Hoodsport to save on repairs for the dock.  I will invite their chief engineer to go over inexpensive fixes to help the dock survive the winter weather before taking on substantial overdue repairs.  At some point we can discuss increasing moorage fees and what to charge for events at the waterfront park.  It is a delicate balance between overwhelming the community with tourists and a need to bring in tourists for commerce.  I am reaching out hoping to get a better understanding what other ports are charging, we are probably below market rate and have potential to bring in more revenue and have more stability.  Commissioner Brazil asked who the volunteers are that would resurrect the Hoodsport Event Committee.  Commissioner Kincannon said it seems there are many more people in town and new owners who may want to get involved, she asked Commissioner Morris if he could find out in the business community if there is an interest.  Commissioner Morris said Jennifer is the new owner of Laurie’s, Rachel has the Oyster Bank who is an event guru aficionado, they may have a hunger for it.  The port director said she was a part of the Hoodsport Events committee for many years.  At that time people who lived in the community attended the events committee meetings then would not show up to help with duties at the events, leaving four or five business owners to do all the work on event days while also running their business.  It will be refreshing to see new local business owners, community members, and the public working alongside each other sponsoring local events.  Commissioner Morris said he will talk to people about organizing and will reach out to the Salish Sea Rotary Club, Jen, Rachel, Molly, and Jessie at the grocery store, maybe they would like to pursue this idea.  Commissioner Kincannon said she would like to be involved and is currently involved in Brinnon events committee.  Commissioner Kincannon said the port director, web designer and I are working on the port’s website, enhancing it to look more modern and streamlined.  We have a Zoom meeting on Friday to continue with changes. 

Port Maintenance Reports:  

Hoodsport Trail Park & Disc Golf Park:  Currently closed for tree removal and clean up. 

Hoodsport Marina, Dock & Waterfront Park:  S Lindgren said there has been lots of fishing going on. A tender spent the night and paid moorage.  Irrigation has been turned off and flowers have been removed for winter.  The Kiwanis may put up the Christmas tree frame if they are still around.  The aluminum cans bins are and have been full.  Commissioner Brazil said he will talk to the Kiwanis & Lions Club regarding the Candy canes on the port power poles along the highway.

Portable Restrooms:  During the summer season, the Port and Hood Canal Grocery store rent 3 each of the portable restrooms with hand washing stations for the publics use, they are serviced 3 times per week.  In winter, rentals are decreased to 2 each and serviced twice per week.  The Port checks them for trash and additional toilet paper in between services

Port parking/Office building/Maintenance shed:  We need a cigarette butt collector, Commissioner Kincannon said she would check with Tacoma to find an industrial cigarette butt collector.  The port director said we need a second person to help Scott with the maintenance.  Commissioner Brazil said the labor pool is very small.  Commissioner Kincannon said the labor pool is very small everywhere, staff is short even in large hotel housekeeping, they cannot service rooms during stays, restaurants are short staffed with limited menu’s, it’s everywhere even in the cities.  I will re write the employment verbiage on the port’s website as there is probably a ton of people who are retired and may want to work for some additional money.  We need to get the message to the right people.  S Lindgren said they require a business license and truck.  The port will help them get started and reimburse mileage expenses.

Port Directors Report:

The Port director emailed a grammatically correct revision of the Port’s mission statement to the commission.  Commissioner Kincannon asked if the commission agreed to the revision and made a motion to change the Mission statement to the updated grammatically correct version, Commissioner Brazil seconded, all in favor, unanimously approved.  The port director reminded the commission that the upcoming WPPA annual conference will be held in Tacoma on December 9^th.  At this meeting there will be topics on the agenda that will be discussed to make changes within the WPPA’s policies, it is important that the Trustee or second Trustee be in attendance to vote on the Port’s behalf.  Commissioner Brazil is the Trustee, Commissioner Kincannon is the second Trustee.  Commissioner Morris asked if registration is still open for the WPPA Annual meeting.  The port director said yes, you can register on the WPPA website.  The port director said we should schedule the upcoming port meetings for 2023 at least through April, the commission agreed.  The following dates were tentatively approved for 2023 regular port commission meetings.  January 18^th, February 8^th, March 8^th and April 12^th.  The port director said at the next regular port commission meeting, we will appoint the 2023 Chairperson, committee and organization heads to have structure for upcoming business and organizational meetings with the public.

Budget:               October financial statements were reviewed

Old Business:  As discussed above        New Business:    As discussed above

Next Meeting:    December 14, 2022

Adjourn:          Commissioner Kincannon made a motion to adjourn the Regular Port Commission meeting, Commissioner Morris seconded, all in favor, unanimously approved, meeting adjourned at 10:18 a.m.

2022 Regular Port Commission Meetings are scheduled as follows:

Wednesday’s at 9am  December 14^th

2023 Regular Port Commission Meetings are scheduled as follows:

               Wednesday’s at 9am January 18^th, February 8^th, March 8^th, April 12^th

_______________________  _____________________  _________________________                  

Commissioner Kincannon         Commissioner Brazil         Commissioner Morris