MINUTES FROM THE REGULAR PORT COMMISSION MEETING FOR THE PORT OF HOODSPORT
November 15, 2023
Call to Order: 9:28am Adjourned: 10:36am
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/2nd Trustee
Commissioner Brazil – 2nd Chairman/Trustee
Commissioner Morris
Staff Present: K. Wyatt, Executive Director
S. Lindgren – Maintenance Supervisor
Public: Jan Morris – Fjordin Crossin
Jen Bly – Canal Side Gifts
Approval of Agenda: Commissioner Kincannon motioned to approve the November 15, 2023, 2024 budget hearing and regular port commission agenda as written, Commissioner Morris seconded; all in favor, unanimously approved.
Minutes: Commissioner Brazil motioned to approve the regular port commission meeting minutes for October 25, 2023, and Special Commission meeting minutes for October 27, 2023, Commissioner Kincannon seconded, all in favor, unanimously approved.
Vouchers: Commissioner Kincannon motioned to approve October 2023 Vouchers, 1of1 in the amount of $11,353.11 Commissioner Morris seconded, all in favor, unanimously approved.
Public Communication:
J Bly asked if the Port hired a lobbyist? Commissioner Morris said yes, I will be meeting with H Sanabria (lobbyist) and Dan Griffey (State Representative) also checking with EDC (Economic Development Committee) for money from rural funding for Ports. Commissioner Kincannon said the Port hired H Sanabria for 1 year term during a two-year budget cycle. J Morris said the friends of the library is having their first book sale since COVID on Saturday November 25th on our ‘Shop Small Businesses’ Saturday event from 10am-4:30pm. I would like to put up a flyer in the Ports window, we have a lot of great books in good condition, we can only sell them in great shape, we will accept books that day. On Saturday December 16th we will have Christmas Caroling, its really a lot of fun, we will start activities at noon because people don’t like to drive after dark although some of us like it. The brewery will have activities, ‘Santa Paws’ will be from noon to 5pm. Commissioner Morris said I will give out the rest of the Ports frisbee’s from the Hoodsport Trail Park grand opening. J Morris said, we will gather at YSS Dive shop going North on Hwy 101. Octopus Garden will have hot cider, Stotl wines will participate. The information center needs volunteers and are coming to the Distillery to recruit volunteers, we will have hot chocolate. Jen at Canal Side will be participating. The Hood Canal Kiwanis will have children’s activities and hot chocolate, The Oyster Bank and St. Germaine’s will have local artists set up as carolers come by. The Tides will have a tent at the Distillery and will have clam chowder, there will be lots of food. S Lindgren said he will put up the Christmas tree pole at the end of Thanksgiving. J Morris said there will be a legislative send off at the Shelton Chamber of Commerce on Friday December 8th at 7:30am at the Alderbrook Golf Club, we will be talking to Senator Drew McKewan about the Port of Hoodsport’s dock. Commissioner Kincannon said she and Commissioner Morris will attend but will not discuss port business with each other. J Morris said she wants Hoodsport to have an EV Charging station, it can be located at the South end of the Landing building, however, in order to start the grant process, the application has to be initiated by a local governmental entity. Commissioner Kincannon said I will go forward to support you to get it done. J Morris said thank you Commissioner Kincannon. J Morris said I have questions about whether the dock will be ready by the Fjordin Crossin event on June 22nd. Commissioner Morris said regarding the ambiguity of the timeline on the dock, I think you should look into an amphibious launch of the tradition of taking the barrels of aquavit across the canal or use and aluminum boat to put the barrels on. I understand highlighting the importance of dock, we should have more clarity time wise by the end of the year, think about what the Fjordin Crossin will like look without the dock. J Morris said can we set up the grotto under the pier, the Salish Sea Rotary are the sponsors of the Grotto: Commissioner Morris said probably yes, but it will depend on what’s going on with the repair. Commissioner Kincannon said we will confirm with the engineer to find out if you can set up the grotto as long as it will not interfere with construction. J Morris said the Lady Alderbrook is reserved for the event, we will have the paddle the canal challenge, vendors, and the barrels across the water, we will load it on the beach. Rob Barnes (executive assistant to Senator Drew MacEwan) said we will be involved with the dock. Commissioner Morris said we have an engineering report and a couple of different bid proposals from Integrated NW Construction since our last meeting. The pier is in good shape, outside of one piling the dock needs retrofitting, the floating part of the dock is in bad shape. The dock is closed to the public right now. INWC deemed it at a catastrophic safety level and said the dock should be closed. Received 2 bids, one to deconstruct mothball and rebuild the whole dock as there is a high probability that in high winds and waves the frame of the dock could rip apart. Second proposals a smaller footprint of the dock and limited repair for what can be done so people can use the dock on a limited use. The Port had an emergency meeting to approve the first bid of $44,K. The Port attorney sent them a contract to use, INWC then sent another bid of over $105.K more than the first bid. Public sphere/ private sphere cost differential. Now we have 2 bids from INWC how they came up with a floor to ceiling cost basis is beyond us. Now we need to put the project out to bid to find out what it will really costs. We will work with you Rob, H Sanabria and Dan Griffey to find out where we are. Commissioner Kincannon asked Commissioner Morris if he asked INWC why there is a difference of opinion on the bids of $44.k and $140.k. as according to the ports attorney prevailing wage should not cost $100.k more. The director said the port attorney said prevailing wage should cost maybe 10% more than the original bid and additional indemnification insurance could possibly cost $1000. Commissioner Morris said I did call Caralyn with INWC to attend today’s meeting, but they were celebrating Rich’s birthday. She said we could go over the bid with questions to ask. It is frustrating to figure out, the expenses with nothing broken down by line item everything is combined, I am used to the idea that when you get a bid by a contractor, you get line items broken down by materials, labor, and time; knowing all of them are prone to changes, with this there is no flexibility. R Barnes said from a legislative perspective we will meet with Representative Griffey and Holly the 1st 2 weeks of the new year. The capital budget request form to provide money can’t wait until session we will need breakdowns for the repair which is easier than replacing the infrastructure. Expansion requires DNR, Army Corp, Fish & Wildlife. Permitting is expensive. The Port of Allyn worked on emergency repair. We need information by January 9th prior to session. It will be a multi-year process to get the dock replacement. Commissioner Morris said the DNR lease is a 15-year timeline, we need to switch treading of the dock, the material is no longer environmentally compliant to get up to code but not too crazy. Don’t want to expand dock, the exact footprint needs to be fixed. Our dock structure is set up to be rigid, the winter storms will break the dock apart and it needs material to be made to withstand salt water, so it won’t corrode. A more granular bid is incredibly helpful at this point everything in the bid is lumped into to one price. R Barnes said Holly has resources for dock contractors, reach out to Hartstene Island for contractors, they replaced their dock. Commissioner Morris said I reached out to INWC and said their bid will not pass muster for funding. J Morris said is this project too small to have a bid bond? If you don’t take the lowest bid and take the next lowest bid the bond would pay for the difference. The director said she would contact the port attorney to ask about ‘bid bonds. R Barnes said to J Morris, talk to Representative Dan Griffey about community grants for EV car charging stations if you already have a location. Commissioner Morris asked R Barnes if he would talk to Senator Griffey to get in touch with Commissioner Kincannon and J Morris on the EV charging station grants. R Barnes said he would be happy to work with them.
Commissioner Discussions in other areas of the agenda and minutes
Port Maintenance Reports:
Hoodsport Trail Park & Disc Golf Park: S Lindgren said he is working on the 9-hole disc golf course. We are running on winter hours starting November. The trail looks good. Someone broke into the container shed, they took a metal bar and smashed the lock. Luckily, the UTV was out of the container the day before blade and scraper installation. The first time they broke in the container, they didn’t take anything, they must have been looking for the UTV, the second time they broke in they took the Ryobi powerhead, gas leaf blower, weed eaters with a replacement value of approximately $600. The container vendor took off the big metal bars and replaced them with a break in proof lock, I want to replace the bars as the lock obviously is not break in proof, there is a hole at the bottom of the container which can be fairly secure until we get the metal bars. Commissioner Kincannon said you should look at the game cameras, S Lindgren said they stole the game cameras too. They did not steal the Christmas tree pole. Commissioner Brazil said we should tell the community because they will probably be selling the items. The director said you should make a police report then I will call the ports insurance company. S Lingren said our second maintenance person did not show up for work last weekend. Commissioner Morris said I may have someone for the garbage 3 days a week.
Hoodsport Marina, Dock & Waterfront Park: S Lindgren said the water is off and the irrigation lines are drained. Gate to pier has been closed, locked with a ‘closed sign’ but someone is opening the gate and turning lights off at the end of the dock and doing something mischievous. Commissioner Morris said we can put up more surveillance signs.
Portable Restrooms: The Port of Hoodsport and Hood Canal Grocery share the cost to rent portable restrooms with hand washing stations for the public’s use. In the summer season, they are serviced 3 times per week. In winter, November through April there are 2 rentals, each serviced twice per week. The Port monitors them for trash and additional toilet paper as needed in between services.
Port parking/Office building/Maintenance shed:
Port Directors Report: The Director reminded the commission to sign all the paperwork on the conference table as soon as possible. The budget paperwork is required to be turned in to the County Commissioners, County Auditor and County Assessors by November 30th. We discussed the dock repair proposal. I sent an email outlining the dock situation from the beginning along with supporting documentation to H Sanabria, also sent names of people who could write support letters including the Alderbrook Resort as their Lady Alderbrook captains like to bring passengers to Hoodsport public dock to let them disembark for shopping and touring around town. Commissioners, you need to decide on monthly meeting dates in 2024. It was determined the following dates are tentatively good for everyone as follows: January 17th, February 14th, March 13th of 2024
Budget: October 2023 financial statements were reviewed.
Old Business: As discussed above New Business: As discussed above.
Next Meeting: December 13th
Adjourn: Commissioner Brazil made a motion to adjourn the Regular Port Commission meeting, Commissioner Kincannon seconded, all in favor, unanimously approved, meeting adjourned at am 10:36am
2023 Regular Port Commission Meetings are scheduled as follows:
Wednesday’s at 9am December 13th, January 17th, February 14th, March 13th
_______________________ _____________________ _________________________ Commissioner Kincannon Commissioner Brazil Commissioner Morris