Port discusses Comp plan at workshop

DAYTON – The Port of Columbia Commissioners held their regular meeting on March 8, 2023, at the port’s conference room and on Zoom. Commissioners Genie Crowe and Seth Bryan were present, and Johnny Watts attended using Zoom. Executive Director Jennie Dickinson was in attendance, and members of the public joined remotely and in person.

The commissioners approved the last meeting’s minutes, monthly budget report, and vouchers without debate.

Dickinson gave an update on port assets, including the seasonal opening of the store and restaurant at Lyon’s Ferry Marina. She expressed confidence that the port had won funding from the Community Economic Revitalization Board (CERB) for the feasibility study to construct a malting facility at Blue Mountain Station (BMS).

The Director also said she had met with one of the potential buyers for the Columbia Pulp facility. The company did not share any details and is expected to decide whether to move forward later this year.

After an update on the Dayton Community Broadband project, the commissioners approved a bid for the colocation electrical bid.

The commissioners approved Anderson Perry’s bid of $1500 for an archaeological survey for the Touchet Valley Broadband Project, one of the first required steps toward beginning that project. The commissioners also accepted Zero DB’s bid of $68,960 for design services for that project. Zero DB previously designed the Dayton Community Broadband Project.

After the regular meeting adjourned, the commissioners convened the third workshop on the comprehensive plan update. Consultants Abby Foster and Seth Otto from Maul, Foster, and Alongi attended the workshop.

The consultants presented recommendations on the priorities set by the commissioners in prior workshops. These topics included the Columbia Walla Walla Railroad (CWW), the BMS, workforce issues, and purchasing a building downtown.

Discussing the railway, the consultants recommended future benefits to the public should be considered when deciding on the disposition of the rail line. The port commissioners are responsible for assessing public ownership versus private regarding the public good.

Otto said to sell the line, the port would have to surplus it and demostrate the asset is no longer needed or that it is not being used as intended.

As a public asset, the port could leverage “public need” when applying for grants and other funding. There is significant funding available to the port that is not available to the private sector.

Foster suggested an appraisal to understand the asset’s value to move forward with adding it to the comp plan.

Bryan said he intends to talk to other ports with short lines. He said he doesn’t intend tor the line to go away if it is sold to the current operator. He thought the private owner could do more with it, and the port should focus on other projects.

His reasons for selling included liking the operator’s plans and believing it would be better in the private sector. He felt port ownership was a bigger risk of the rail going away than with a private owner.

The consultants pointed out that the port would no longer be able to guarantee community benefits or offer the line’s capacity to prospective businesses should the port sell the line.

Bryan brought up the rails-to-trail projects as a threat to the system. The Touchet Valley Trail project was a trail-and-rail design and did not impact the railway. He said he heard past commissioners talking about ripping out the rail. Dickenson disagreed, saying that in her fifteen years with the Port, there had never been any serious discussions about taking out the rail.

Bryan said he wasn’t talking from the actual minutes of past meetings but from his memory.

Dickenson said the rail operator had asked to buy the rail line previously, and prior commissioners voted to keep it under port ownership.

She asked Bryan if he would keep an open mind on the subject. He said he hadn’t decided one way or another but was leaning toward selling it. He would talk to other ports, which Dickenson encouraged.

BMS was the next topic discussed at the meeting, including its capability to facilitate value-added agriculture. The consulting firm said that BMS is held out as an example to other port districts in Washington, and they recommended continuing in the current direction. Bryan wanted to keep building out BMS but objected to it being called an “artisan food center.” He said people he spoke to were turned off by the description and said it sounded new age, urban, and not country. He said they would like an old-fashioned farmers market.

Dickenson said they had tried farmers markets for years but couldn’t make it happen as people couldn’t make money sitting there. The coop was seen as the solution. She also reminded the commissioners that the coop is a private business, not run by the port.

Workforce development was next discussed in the meeting with the focus on answering the question, “Where does the Port want to be in twenty years? Where does the community want to be in twenty years? How do we work together to get there?” Dickinson said that for return on investment, retaining current businesses is far more cost-effective than trying to recruit new businesses. One problem discussed was the difficulty in providing a labor force when there is no place to live. Of course, the lack of child-care options also inhibits growth.

Finally, the meeting shifted the topic to the possibility of a downtown building purchase as a business accelerator and for small business manufacturing. The possible benefits and drawbacks of such a scheme were discussed. The commissioners were cautioned to “proceed carefully.”

At the close, Bryan expressed a distaste for pursuing too many grants for business development because they take too much staff time. He wants to balance “planning and doing.”

The workshop adjourned at 7:24 p.m.

More information on the Comprehensive Plan update may be found on the Port of Columbia website.

The full zoom video recordings of Port of Columbia Board meetings are available on the website.