Watt, Bryan push for RR sale decision at Port meeting

DAYTON – The Port of Columbia Commissioners held their regular meeting at 5 p.m. on July 8, 2025, at the Port of Columbia office. Commissioners Seth Bryan, Johnny Watts, Mike Spring, and Executive Director Jennie Dickinson were present.

The meeting was well attended by the public, likely in anticipation that the commissioners would vote on the proposed sale of the railroad property during the meeting. They did not.

Dickinson said Jasper Mountain Venture has leased space at the Cameron Street Coworking property. The company provides services in the agricultural sector.

Dickinson said the port did not meet the criteria for a federal audit this year, and the expected audit was canceled.

At Lyon’s Ferry, it may be possible to move docks from the Columbia Park moorage in Richland to Lyon’s Ferry. They can be stored offshore while new pilings are installed. If the plan works out, it could save the port and the Lyon’s Ferry operators hundreds of thousands of dollars. Dickinson said it could take up to two years to get a permit from the Corps of Engineers to drive the pilings. 

At Blue Mountain Station, Mainstem Malt is at fifty percent design completion for its new facility, with a target for 100% completed by the end of the year.

In preparation for the public meeting and commissioners’ vote on the railroad property, Dickinson has been working on a list of questions, most directed to Columbia Rail and the firms that provided the assessed values of the property. She said the Columbia Rail owner, Paul Didelius, had answered the port’s questions. She thanked him and said she may have follow-up questions. Dickinson said she hoped to have all the questions answered by the August meeting.

Watts pushed Dickinson to move forward on the sale of the railroad property during the August meeting, saying, “We need to say, hey, where are we at with the information we have. What does that mean? And then start moving in a direction, and then we start from there. But I would like to, by next meeting, I would like to dive into what we have, what does it mean, and a direction to go.”

Bryan said, “I agree with Commissioner Watts. We’ve been working on this for over three years now, and it’s time to get this moving. This is a priority for the Commission, so this is where I would like a lot of our focus to be put in the next couple of months because we’ve been doing this for a long time, and we need to begin making some progress on this.” 

Dickinson said she was making progress and was on the same timeline presented to the board in April.

Dickinson said she will make a presentation to the Community Economic Revitalization Board (CERB) in Olympia on expanding broadband access to Starbuck. The Broadband Equity, Access, And Deployment (BEAD) funding program, which would have helped bring broadband internet to rural parts in Columbia County, has rescinded all applications and changed the requirements. Dickinson told the commissioners that it was a “massive step backward.”

On economic development, Dickinson said the Columbia County Hospital District was looking at ways to ameliorate the significant harm to the hospital from Medicaid cuts.

Shane Laib, Economic Development Coordinator, reminded everyone that Foodstock at Blue Mountain Station will be held on July 19, 2025, with music, food vendors, and family friendly activities.

The meeting adjourned, and the next meeting is August 13, 2025, at the Port office conference room and on Zoom.