The Wahkiakum County Eagle - Established as The Skamokawa Eagle in 1891

Commissioners of Port District No. 2 will soon start gathering public input to use for updating their comprehensive plan.

Port commissioners recently contracted with Brian Perleberg of Northern Resources Consulting, Inc., for technical assistance in updating the plan.

Comissioners Kayrene Gilbertsen, Lori Scott and Brian O'Connor, chair, met Tuesday with Perleberg and talked over potential projects and ways to gather public input.

An initial step will be an online survey through the SurveyMonkey website. Perleberg will develop questions for the survey and, after review by port staff, will post them for the survey. They'll advertise the survey, and Manager Janet Bryan will contact Skamokawa Vista Park guests by mail or email to invite them to comment.

They plan to have the survey online around May 7.

Next, the commission will hold two public meetings to gather public input. Those meetings will be in early June, with one in the Westend and the other tentatively planned for Puget Island.

Commissioners, Perleberg and staff discussed a variety of new activites and uses for Vista Park that might be included in the plan. These included finding a means to dredge the mouths of Skamokawa Creek and other tributary and slough mouths in the county and adding permanent or semi-permanent camping spots to Vista Park.

Port District No. 2 encompasses Puget Island and central and western Wahkiakum county, including the Skamokawa, Grays River, and Deep River basins. Major facilities are Vista Park and Svenson Park on Puget Island.