The Times - Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley

DAYTON – The Columbia Port Commissioners held their regular meeting at 5 p.m. on December 13, 2023. Commissioners Seth Bryan, Johnny Watts, and Executive Director Jennie Dickinson attended at the port office and Genie Crowe via Zoom.

Dickinson updated the commissioners on five leases. The Desperado Cowboy Bullets and Blue Mountain Co-op renewed their leases for two years. Rae’s Studio in the Cameron Street CoWorking building extended its lease for another year. The Columbia County Conservation District signed a new lease for the garden space at Blue Mountain Station. The conservation district will grow and store native plants used along the rivers at the property.

Finally, the port signed a three-year lease with Ace Automotive for the property held by Jay’s Garage. Jay Ball, the owner of Jay’s, will retire at the end of 2023 and has sold the business to an employee, Andres Lara.

Dickinson said the Lyons Ferry Marina concessionaires believed their most important project is the construction of pull-through sites. Next, they hope to address repairs to moorage to allow work on the marina’s boat launch and fuel dock. The sea wall was last on the concessionaire’s list. Dickinson spoke broadly about potential funding sources for those projects.

Dickinson then said the Conservation District, the new lease for the BMS garden, is considering building a larger greenhouse and moving their offices to the property. If implemented, this move could generate five or six jobs.

Chris Herman from the Washington Public Ports Association (WPPA) spoke about the railroad as a guest speaker. He focused on issues for the port should it decide to sell the railroad and right of way.

Herman spoke in depth on the matter and said the port should ensure a buyer has a business plan that coincides with the port’s vision. For example, a common revenue generator for rail operators is to rent inactive lines to other companies for storage of their unused rail cars. Herman said he doubted Columbia County would like to see the rail line alongside Highway 12 full of unused, stored rail cars.

The work on the railroad property’s appraisal has begun; however, the assessment may not be completed for several months.

The Dayton Community Broadband project is complete; 574 households have subscribed through one of the three ISPs. Dickenson said that many of the utility trucks seen around town were not connected to the port’s broadband project but instead have been contracted by Charter Communications to remove the old TVTV cable.

Dickinson announced the voting results from the Community Economic Development Symposium (CEDS). Housing was selected as an issue the attendees thought to be the top priority for Columbia County’s economic development.

The meeting went into an executive session for about ten minutes.

Following the close of the executive session, Genie Crowe gave a farewell message, thanking those who helped her in her duties as port commissioner. Mike Spring was elected to fill Crowe’s seat on the board beginning in January.

The next meeting of the Port Commissioners is scheduled for 5 p.m., January 10, 2024.