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

Town councilman Dick Swart was in attendance at last Thursday’s Wahkiakum Port District 1 meeting to talk about a proposed interlocal agreement between the Town of Cathlamet and the port to place dredge spoils in the sewage lagoons.

An agreement had been drafted and given to the port to peruse, according to Swart. Commissioner Bob Kizziar acknowledged that they had seen the document and said that it had been returned to the Town of Cathlamet.

“I did not feel that it was an unreasonable document and I was going to put it on the agenda for Tuesday night’s council meeting and recommend it for approval,” Swart said.

The JARPA or Joint Aquatic Resource Permit Application has been held up while the port waits for permission for a disposal site, according to port Manager Jackie Lea. If the town does not agree to allow the port to place their spoils at the sewage lagoons, the port must find another site.

The port plans to begin dredging in November 2016, according to Kizziar. In order to do so, they need to submit their JARPA next month.

There was some speculation about whether the dredge spoils should fill the front or back lagoon first, but Commissioner Scott Anderson suggested that they leave that matter to the experts.

“We’ll leave it to our consultants; they have more knowledge of that than we do,” Anderson said. “The proposal that Maul, Foster and Alongi made about the whole project seems like a slam dunk for the city. We should be able to move forward at a pace that will get us our permits in time.”

Swart shared that a consultant would be attending the next Town of Cathlamet meeting to share his ideas about waterfront development.

“I think this guy is a real find,” Swart said. “Everyone talked at the last planning meeting and he took copious notes. He is going to come back and share what he thinks our unrealized opportunities are. I’m really anxious to hear what he has to say.”

Anderson, Commissioner Brett Deaton and port Attorney Tim Hanigan attended the Town of Cathlamet meeting on Tuesday. The council discussed the matter and authorized the mayor to sign the agreement, subject to approval by town Attorney Heidi Heywood.

Port commissioners approved the only bid they received to do electrical work on the new D dock and awarded a contract to survey the lagoons. They also authorized Lea to hire someone to take down some trees on port property.

Finally, the board was reorganized with Kizziar as president, Anderson as vice-president and Deaton as secretary.