Port Commission Minutes

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

February 9, 2022

Call to Order:   9:02am                                                   Adjourned:  9:45am

Meeting Held at:              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:                                                  Jan Morris – Fjordin Crossin Event

Approval of Agenda:       Commissioner Brazil motioned to approve the existing agenda dated February 9, 2022, as written; Commissioner Kincannon seconded; all in favor, unanimously approved.

Minutes: Commissioner Kincannon motioned to approve the regular port commission minutes for January 26, 2022, Commissioner Brazil seconded, all in favor, unanimously approved.

Vouchers:  Commissioner Kincannon motioned to approve the Voucher for January 31, 2022, in the amount of $9,320.09 Commissioner Morris seconded, all in favor, unanimously approved.

Public Communication:   The port director said she received an application from J Morris to hold the Fjordin Crossin event this year on May 15^th.  J Morris said she planned on having the Fjordin Crossin event this year and after looking at the farmers market, shrimping events, and the tide table she found a favorable day, May 15^th.  Commissioner Kincannon asked if there would be a Farmers market this year. J Morris said she assumed so and did not want to conflict with parking since there was little public parking in town.  Geri Purvis said the farmers market is on Saturdays in the parking lot where the bank is now closed. Maybe we can get together to talk about additional parking, we own the ProBuild building, and we can help you park everyone. Sunday is a good day.  Commissioner Brazil said, we have church on Sundays, it ends at 12:30. J Morris said she forgot about the church service but if we start at 1pm we could still use the parking lot.  The executive director asked if J Morris will require the port maintenance to reserve the end slip for their event.  Lee Geist, captain of the boat used to take the Aquavit across the fjord said that they would like to use the end slip that day. S Lindgren said he still has the reservation signs from the last Fjordin Crossin event and will reserve the outer edge and South side slip for the event.  J Morris said the chef will be serving food on the beach and asked if they could have a cooking fire pit on the beach?  It will be a short period of time since the tide comes in at 3pm.  Geri said if it is raining there is no fire danger. Commissioner Kincannon said if there is someone to watch and monitor the fire pit it should be alright.  S. Lindgren said they cannot be near the pilings, and they must use a grate to keep embers down.  J Morris said they use some sort of a grill at the Union market, there will be a Viking restaurant serving food too.  Commissioner Kincannon said in May we have additional portable restrooms as that is when tourism picks up.  She asked J Morris if she is committed to paying for rent on two additional portable restrooms for the event, she said yes, we can do that, we do not want them by the waterfront park because of the smell, we will put them across the street although through traffic on Hwy 101 stops to use them randomly. Commissioner Kincannon made a motion to approve the date of May 15^th for J Morris to hold the Fjordin Crossin event if she signed a facility use agreement and the event sponsor along with the vendors all have liability insurance with the port named as additionally insured.  Commissioner Brazil seconded the motion, all in favor, motion passed.  J Morris said she would like to attend all port meetings until the event.

Commissioner Reports     Commissioner Brazil spent time at the Disc Golf Park looking at the damage with Bill Grondin, warden of the disc golf park and none of the disc golf baskets were damaged when trees blew down. Bill was concerned about the plants that were crushed because of the snow.  Commissioner Brazil said there was a big mud hole at the center of the parking lot.  The executive director said the Shelton disc golf club had an agreement with the Port to maintain the disc golf course, the port funds construction and repair.

Port Maintenance Reports:  

Hoodsport Trail Park & Disc Golf Park:  S Lindgren said the trail park is still a mess, I pulled all the story book signs up to prepare for the removal of trees that were blown down. I cleared the disc golf parking area of debris; a guy lost his keys at the disc golf parking lot.

Hoodsport Marina, Dock & Waterfront Park:  The tree faller is lining up the equipment to remove the hazard trees from above the parking lot and building in town.

Public Restrooms: During a public hearing on April 14, 2021, the public restrooms were surplus’d to the Purvis’ whose plans are to repair and re-open them at their expense, they will replace the drain field and repair the septic system in accordance with the Mason County Environmental health specifications.   Until then, the Port of Hoodsport and the Purvis’ continue to provide portable restrooms with washing stations for the publics use. 

Port parking/Office building/Maintenance shed: S. Lindgren monitors live stream surveillance cameras overlooking the public restrooms, office building, port shed, parking lot, waterfront park and marina dock. It appears the same people continue to dump household garbage.    Commissioner Brazil asked if we have found a replacement to help with maintenance.  Commissioner Kincannon said she has someone who may be able to help as a backup in the summer months.  S. Lindgren said that’s good because I have a buddy who wants me to fly to Oahu and bring a boat back to Ketchikan in June for 3 weeks.

Port Directors Report

The port director thanked the commission for their updated information and photo’s to be published in the upcoming Washington Public Port Directory.  The commission asked the port director if she could consult with the port attorney to find out if the hazard tree removal over the ports parking area and the building could be paid for by trail park funds.  The attorney said the deed from WA State to the Port of Hoodsport stipulated all funds from the trail park must go back into the trail park and it would be a violation of the terms of the Deed and in an audit, it could be determined there was a misappropriation of funds and the port could be fined.   Commissioner Kincannon said, there’s our answer.  The port received a letter from the WA State Liquor & Cannabis division stating all agencies would now be notified of all new liquor and cannabis license applications.

Budget:               January financial statements were reviewed

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

Next Meeting:    March 9, 2022

Adjourn:          Commissioner Brazil made a motion to adjourn the Regular Port Commission meeting, Commissioner Kincannon seconded, all in favor, unanimously approved, meeting adjourned at 9:45a.m.

2022 Regular Port Commission Meetings are scheduled as follows:

Wednesday’s at 9am   March 9, April 13, May 11          

Commissioner Kincannon         Commissioner Brazil         Commissioner Morris

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

January 26, 2022

Call to Order:   9:05am                                                   Adjourned:  10:00am

Meeting Held at:              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 Brazil motioned to approve the existing agenda dated January 26, 2022, as written; Commissioner Kincannon seconded; all in favor, unanimously approved.

Minutes: Commissioner Kincannon motioned to approve the regular port commission minutes for December 15, 2021, Commissioner Brazil seconded, all in favor, unanimously approved.

Vouchers:  Commissioner Kincannon motioned to approve the Voucher for December 30, 2021, in the amount of $6,537.02 and the 4^th Q Commission payroll in the amount of $1,649.63 Commissioner Brazil seconded, all in favor, unanimously approved.

Public Communication:   F McCullough along with S Lindgren assessed the 80-acre Hoodsport Trail Park for damage after the wind and snowstorm that knocked down hundreds of trees and branches in the trail park on both the 20-acre disc golf course and the 60-acre hiking side.  With all the timber that came down in the park, we will have to remove the fallen trees and hazard trees soon so the park will be ready in the spring to reopen to the public.  We will have to close off both sides of the Hoodsport Trail Park and are not sure exactly how many loads of timber will come out of the park. It will require usage of the state easement road to accommodate the machinery, the disc golf course parking area and adjacent flat area will be used to stack and stage logs for transport.  The tree removal falls within the Port’s 15-year forest plan with the state, as these trees are removed the volume of tree removal in the future will decrease leaving healthier trees in the park.  Commissioner Kincannon asked if he would contact the state to use the easement road, F McCullough said he would contact them.  This project may possibly be twenty loads of timber and pulp, we will need two loads of gravel to spread in the staging area.  Commissioner Kincannon asked if they will order the rock, clean up the area and spread the gravel around the parking lot, F McCullough said yes, it will be cleaned up and graded.  Commissioner Brazil asked what the timeline is? F McCullough said after everything is in place, it is estimated to take three to four weeks.  Commissioner Kincannon asked if anyone had additional comments or concerns. Karen Booth said she wanted F McCullough to be aware of the storybook trail.  He said he will remove all the story book signs before they start.  Commissioner Kincannon made a motion to move forward with NW Land & Tree obtaining permission from the state for access, have a purchase agreement signed by the lumber company to take the trees to market, prepare areas to stage stacked timber, remove and clean up downed and hazard trees from both sides of the Hoodsport Trail Park.  Commissioner Brazil seconded the motion, it was unanimous.  F McCullough said NW Land & Tree are members of the MRSC small works roster that the Port is a member of, he will write a proposal to be signed by the commission.  S Lindgren said the Port of Hoodsport owns property in town starting at the maintenance shed that goes up the hill past a neighbor and over to where the telephone pole is located in the parking lot.  He said a large tree from the port’s property came down in the snowstorm nearly missing the roof and propane tank of the neighbor.  He took F McCullough to the ports property to assess how many trees could be hazardous to the two adjacent neighbors and port parking area. F McCullough said in the last snowstorm maples, alders and madrona trees were the types of trees that snapped and came down, there is a maple cluster hanging over the neighbor’s house, during the snowstorm one of the treetops snapped and came down but the rest of it will need to be removed.  There are also Maples and Madrona trees leaning over the parking lot.  These will require an 80’ lift to get to the tops of the trees for removal, I estimate it will take three days with the lift rental and our labor, it will cost $5,000.  Commissioner Kincannon said can you handle the cleanup; we want the job complete.  F McCullough said yes, we can clean and remove it all, S Lindgren said he would help with the cleanup.  Commissioner Brazil said what if we allotted $2000. for the cleanup with a total of $7,000. F McCullough said this is a priority, once the lift is rented, we can do it over a weekend.  Commissioner Kincannon asked if anyone had questions or comments.  Commissioner Kincannon asked the Port director to contact the Port’s attorney to find out if money from the investment account slated for the trail park could be used for the hazard tree removal in town.  Commissioner Brazil made a motion to have NW Land and Tree write a proposal to be signed by the director for the immediate removal of the hazard trees in town.  Commissioner Kincannon seconded the motion, it was unanimously approved.

Commissioner Reports     Commissioner Brazil said he took a walk through the Hoodsport Trail Park, it looked like a war zone with all the trees down and large branches everywhere.  Widow maker branches were over the trail and the disc golf course parking area is blocked with a snow berm.  So many trees came down over State Route 119 during the snow and windstorm, there was only one lane, it was covered with packed snow, large branches, and trees.  Commissioner Morris asked as a matter of protocol, when could he speak or add something to the agenda.  Commissioner Kincannon said he could have something added to the agenda before the meeting by contacting the port director or could ask to add a topic during the approval of the agenda.  You can speak during the Commissioner reports and add comments at any time during the meeting.  Commissioner Brazil said since we have a three-person commission, you cannot speak to either of us commissioners about port business unless we are in a public meeting, you can contact the port director to have her pass on information that you want to discuss.  The port director said Commissioner Kincannon just attended a new commissioner seminar at the end of November, there will be another new commissioner seminar, we will sign you up for.  Commissioner Kincannon said the WPPA is creating a Port policy binder that has many answers to common questions about port etiquette and meetings, in the meantime you can read the Roberts rules online to help know how to make and approve motions during meetings.  Commissioner Kincannon said she would be happy write up a recap of her notes from her new commissioner session for Commissioner Morris.  She added that the new brochure for the Hoodsport Trail Park is at the graphic designer. 

Port Maintenance Reports:  

Hoodsport Trail Park & Disc Golf Park:  S Lindgren said the trail park is a mess, I cleared the parking area but can’t do much until the trees and branches are removed after the snow is all melted.  The gate to the trail park took a pounding and the park is closed.

Hoodsport Marina, Dock & Waterfront Park:  The dock made it through the storm with no maintenance required. There is not a lot to do at the waterfront park and marina right now except for emptying garbage and monitoring everything.   I think I finally found someone to help with maintenance, he is getting his business license then we will talk more.  In the fall someone left fuel gas tanks, 2 wheels and tires by the shed.  Someone stole all of them in the last month.

Public Restrooms: During a public hearing on April 14, 2021, the public restrooms were surplus’d to the Purvis’ whose plans are to repair and re-open them at their expense, they will replace the drain field and repair the septic system in accordance with the Mason County Environmental health specifications.   Until then, the Port of Hoodsport and the Purvis’ continue to provide portable restrooms with washing stations for the publics use. 

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

Port Directors Report

The port director welcomed Commissioner Morris to his first regular port commission meeting.  Cody was elected as Port Commissioner Position 3 replacing Commissioner Booth and is serving a six-year term to November 2027.  Commissioner Morris received a packet from the County elections department and was officially sworn in before a notary on January 12, 2022.  The port director asked Commissioner Morris if we could ceremonially swear him in today, he was happy to oblige.  Commissioner Morris read the ‘Oath of Office’, everyone clapped and welcomed him to as the newest Port commissioner.  The Port director said the total registered voters in the Port of Hoodsport’s district is 1851, the total votes cast during the November 2021 election for the commissioner position was 793.  The port director reiterated that the elections department sent a letter in 2021 stating all agencies would now be participating in all election’s costs for general and annual elections throughout the County.  The Port of Hoodsport received its invoice from the County elections department, the funds will be automatically swept from the Port’s general account in January.  The fees are $940.80 for the November 2021 general election and $543.12 for the 2021 annual election cost.  Commissioner Kincannon suggested we budget for the election fees in next year’s budget.  The port director received an email from Jan Morris regarding the Fjordin Crossin event, Jan said she spoke to the Salmon Enhancement center and a few other vendors, they would like to entertain May 15^th as a possible Fjordin Crossin event date.  An application was sent to Jan for usage of the waterfront park.  Commissioner Kincannon said we should table any discussion until we have received the application from J Morris.  The port director forwarded an email from the Washington Public Ports Association who is updating the WPPA port directory for 2022 and encouraged everyone to send an update photo. The directory will show Commissioner Morris as the new Commission in Position 3, we will submit his headshot photo, phone number and email address. We will update the facilities section by removing the public restrooms and 18-hole golf course.

Budget:               December financial statements were reviewed

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

Next Meeting:    February 9, 2022

Adjourn:          Commissioner Brazil made a motion to adjourn the Regular Port Commission meeting, Commissioner Kincannon seconded, all in favor, unanimously approved, meeting adjourned at 10:00a.m.

2022 Regular Port Commission Meetings are scheduled as follows:

Wednesday’s at 9am   February 9, March 9, April 13, May 11            

Commissioner Kincannon         Commissioner Brazil         Commissioner Morris