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Thursday, July 20, 2023 - Shelton-Mason County Journal Page 35
Serving the communities of Belfair, Allyn, Grapeview, Tahuya, Mason Lake,
South Shore and Victor
Port of Allyn weighs options to defend against sea lions » "‘
By Kirk Boxleitner
kbox/e/tner@masoncounty. com
Port of Allyn officials have
reached a consensus on dealing with
sea lions.
During a special meeting of the
port commissioners July 10, Port
Executive Director Lary Coppola re—
viewed how the port had been invad-
ed by sea lions on its dock.
Coppola met with representa—
tives from port insurer Enduris,
which sent a team out to inspect the
damage.
““We are getting bids on the repair
work now, and hopefully work will
get underway shortly,” Coppola said
July 10. “We’ve been told there may
be a supply chain issue where the
pedestals are concerned, but have
not been given any timeline for de»
livery as of yet.”
To prevent further sea lion en—
croachment, Coppola contacted a
metal fabricating contractor about
constructing a fence on the dock,
with gatesfor boaters, for which they
submitted a bid of about $60,000.
“The truth is, we can’t afford what
they’ve proposed,” Coppola said.
“What they proposed is fabulous,
and they do great work, but it’s just
out of our budget. I told them that
you all were going to discuss it, and I
expected you would turn it down due
to budget constraints.”
When the port commissioners
did discuss the proposal from Rogue
Fabricators for a permanent fence
on. the Allyn dock, Commissioner
John Sheridan made a formal mo-
tion to reject the proposal due to its
cost. Fellow port commissioners Ted
Jackson seconded and Judy Scott
made unanimous.
“But I love that they’re wanting to
do it correctly and right,” Sheridan
said July 10, before seeking c0nfir~
mation from Coppola that “they’re
still on board for communicating,
and trying to help solve the problem.”
Prior to their meeting, Coppola
and Jackson met with Barry Bet—
singer and Alan Findley, who had
conducted additional research and
determined that a lightweight,
removable fence could be a workable
alternative to a permanent one.
“They had some suggestions that
could work, so I’m going to take
those back to the fabricators, and see
if they can come up with something,”
Coppola said.
Jackson expressed support for
portable, temporary fencing, stating,
“That’s the option we need to look at,
so we don’t have a permanent struc-
ture up there.”
Jackson noted that the sea lion
presence at the port coincides with
one of the ports periods of decreased
boat traffic, and while he acknowl-
edged “It’s not going to be cheap,” he
also emphasized the need for “some—
thing strong enough” to withstand
the body blows of “800—pound marine
animals.” ‘
Sheridan agreed with the remov-
able fencing suggestion, since “it’s
not like we have this problem ev—
ery year, or very often,” with which
Coppola and Scott concurred, while
Jackson noted that he’d made con-
tact with “one person in the commu~
nity who does fabrications (and) has
a shop down here, and he was inter-
ested in just looking at it.”
Because the port will have to re-
place its power and water pedestals,
Coppola is looking into the possibil—
ity of retrofitting the port’s dock with
pedestals that also include Level
chargers for electrically powered
boats.
“The main question is, do we need
an additional power supply and elec-
trical panel to supply just the char—
gers on the pedestals, or will the
chargers also power the electrical
outlets on the boats?” Coppola said.
“If not, and we do need an addition-
al power supply and panels, we will
need to find grant money for that.”
Sea lions hang out on the Allyn
dock in April. Hera/d file photo by
Gordon Weeks
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