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By Kirk Boxleitner
kbox/eitner@masoncountycom g
The Port of Shelton received a brisk
summation from board chairman Dick
Taylor during his Sept. 17 “State of .
the Community” presentation, hosted
online by the Shelton-Mason County
and North Mason chambers of com-
merce. '
“Our mission statement is to pro-
vide economic benefits to our com-
munity,” Taylor said. “Our vision is to
promote possibilities for doing so by
efficiently utilizing all the available
resources to enhance commerce and
create jobs in our community.”
The Port of Shelton owns and man-
ages 1,400 acres of property at Sand-
erson Field and Johns Prairie, Taylor
said.
The Sanderson Field Airport con-
sists of a 5,000-plus-foot-long runway
and a crosswind runway donated by
the U.S. Navy after World War II,
with more than 1,000 acres of land,
most of which is undeveloped. Johns
Prairie covers more than 400 acres.
Overall, the port hosts 35 compa-
nies, in fields ranging from forest prod-
ucts and high-tech sports equipment
to radio-controlled model aircraft, and
accounts for nearly 1,000 jobs.
Taylor recounted how the port’s
$3.8-million runway overlay began
last year, but project delays caused
the work_to be split over 2019 and
Thursday, Sept. 24, 2020 Shelton-Mason County Journal Page A—15
STATE OF THE COMMUNITY
SandersonField could see Sea-Tac impact
The main runway at Shelton’s Sanderson Field was recently resurfaced.
Journal photo by Gordon Weeks
2020, with its electrical trenching and
upgrades occurring last fall and win-
ter, and the project wrapping up at the
start of this month.
The runway overlay project has
been 90% funded by the Federal Avia-
tion Administration, with another
$150,000 coming from the state’s De-
partment of Transportation’s Avia-
tion Division, and the Port of Shelton
chipping in the remaining 5% of funds,
which Taylor described as “minimal
for such a large project.”
Taylor reported that a Commer-
cial Aviation Coordinating Commis-
sion (CACC) was recently created by
the Legislature out of concerns that
Sea-Tac International Airport is near-
ing capacity, which concerns the Port
of Shelton in turn because Sander-
son Field could see the effects of the
CACC’s choices.
The first phase of the CACC’s obli-
gations is to develop a list of six air-
ports by Jan. 1 that could handle the
spillover from Sea-Tac. The second '
phase would require the CACC to nar-
row down the list to two airports by.
Sept. 1. K .
The third phase would require the
CACC to choose, by a 60% supermajor-
ity vote, a single preferred location by
Jan. 1, 2022, which would then need to
be completed and functional by 2040.
According to Taylor, Sanderson
Field has already been listed in the
initial top six, but not to take up
Sea-Tac’s slack in commercial avia-
tion. Rather, he said he expected an-
other airport would be chosen to help
Sea-Tao carry. the load of commercial
aviation and that Sanderson could be
called upon to accommodate the gen-
eral aviation capacity that other air-
ports could no longer handle. .
When asked what could give Sand-
erson Field a competitive advantage,
Taylor pointed out that it’s “already
the go-to airfield for Western Wash-
ington in case of tsunamis or earth-
quakes,” because it’s sited on bedrock
rather than landfill, and_it has the
capacity to extend its runway an ad-
ditional 6,000 feet. '
Taylor touted the port’s existing
partnerships with the community,
from the annual OysterFest to car
shows and motorcycle rallies, and
' answered another virtual attendee’s
question by saying hedidn’t anticipate
any changes in the port’s construction
plans due to environmental consider-
ations.
. said
Port of Allyn’s boundaries, goals are broad
By Kirk Boxleitner
kbox/e/tner@masoncounty.com
Port of Allyn Executive Di-
rector Lary Coppola was on a
mission to clear up any mis-
conceptions that virtual at-
tendees of his Sept. 17 “State
of the Community” presenta-
tion might have had about the
port.
Coppola began by establish-
ing the boundaries of the Port
of Allyn, which he suggested
might be a bit more expansive
than some realize:
I North to the Mason/Kitsap
County line.
I South to roughly 1 mile
north of Grapeview.
I East to the Mason/Pierce
County line.
I West about 8 miles down
both sides of Hood Canal,
where it meets the boundar-
ies of the Port of Shelton to the
south, and the Port of Dewatto
to the north.
The Port of Allyn’s facilities
include the port’s main office
building and meeting facility;
the 200-foot Allyn Pier, built
in 1920; and Allyn Waterfront
Park and Gazebo, which Cop-
‘pola identified as the most
widely used park and commu-
nity facility in Mason County.
The gazebo and park are
popular wedding venues that
are booked most weekends
The meeting room includes
a buffet counter, a sink, a mi-
crowave,‘ a refrigerator and
large restrooms.
The gazebo is home to sev~
eral community events, includ-
ing a Memorial Day ceremony.
The‘park also has a variety of
uses from hosting Allyn Days
to car shows, reunions and
family outings.
“states a s rs assist part, not
an industrial one, so sport‘s
t fists
as s
ssrsiss sat driver for us.”
Lary Coppola
Port of Allyn Executive Director
“Plus, our resident tight-
rope walker who practices here
during the summer,” Coppola
said.
The dock at Allyn, alter be-
ing blown down, was upgraded
to a transient moorage facil-
ity late last year, thanks to
$376,000 secured in part by
state Rep. Dan Griffey, R-Al-
lyn, Coppola said. The moor-
age accommodates vessels up
to 50 feet and offers 30- and
507amp electrical connections,
plus water and full pump-out
facilities.
Among the port’s other fa-
cilities, Coppola noted the Al-
lyn Kayak Park, in addition to
being a kayak-launching facil-
ity, doubles as a smaller, low-
er—cost wedding venue, while
the Hood Canal North Shore
Marina and Boat Launch can
accomodate. 12 vehicles up to
45 feet.
The Port of Allyn’s Water
Company has a broad reach —
it is the primary water provid-
er for the Allyn Urban Growth
Area and is licensed by the
state for 132 connections.
The port’s community wa-
ter system has a 245-foot-deep
well and a 144,000-gallon
storage tank, with another
deep well scheduled to come
online by March 2023, and is
designed to eventually serve
1,000 connections.
Coppola reiterated the Port
of Allyn’s three ongoing proj-
ects: '
' I The Sargent Oyster House
restoration project, in part—
nership with the North Bay
Historical Society, which will
transform the last standing
oyster—processing facility on
Puget Sound into a museum
documenting the history of the
shellfish industry on the North
Bay of Case Inlet.
I The two-lane staging area
for the Allyn boat ramp to al-
leviate the frequent summer-
time backup of tow vehicles
and trailers on state Route 3.
I The Americans with Disabil-
ities Act-accessible environ-
mental showcase Sweetwater
Park, being developed in part-
nership with the Pacific N orth-
west Salmon Center.
Coppola said he is anticipat-
ing the Port of Allyn being able
to provide an indoor shooting
range, a high-tech business
park and a regional destina-
tion multisports complex.
“In a county with a little
more than 65,000 residents,
there are more than 10,000
people with concealed-carry
permits and nowhere they can
legally shoot,” Coppola said.
“That’s about 20% of county
residents, and it doesn’t in-
clude gun owners without per—
mits.” '
Coppola told virtual attend-
ees they could look forward
to a state-of-the-art shooting
range, supported by local law
enforcement, to become an
alternative for those who ille-
gally shoot in forests and other
outdoor locations, in addition
to providing firearms safety
education to the community.
Coppola also described the
planned business park as a
state-of-the-art venue for local
firms, where none currently
exists in North Mason County.
“The anti-business climate
and high taXes in Seattle and
King County are driving. both
established and startup high-
tech firms to look into alternai
tive locations such as Kitsap
County, which has an active
recruitment program targeting
them,” Coppola said. “That’s
forcing many Kitsap firms to
seek refuge from the increas-
ing costs of doing business in
Kitsap. North Mason County
offers a lower-cost, business-
' friendly alternative. All it
needs is the facility.”
According to Coppola, the
port’s sports complex would
be based on the Luke Jensen
Sports Complex in Vancouver.
“We’re a recreational port,
not an industrial one, so sports
tourism would be. an eco-
nomic development driver for
us,” Coppola said, estimating
that each tournament day for
baseball, softball, soccer, la—
crosse. and other sports brings
$75,000 per day into its host
community. ' .
Two other potential port
projects that Coppola identi-
fied would be a co-working
facility to further contribute
to the port’s primary mission
of economic development, and
an upgrade to the Lynch Cove
swimming pool, for which the
port qualifies for state Recre-
ation and Conservation Office
grant funding, even though the
Lynch Cove Homeowners As-
sociation, which owns the pool,
does not.
Coppola sees a co-working
facility as furnishing a drop-
in, membership-driven, shared
workspace to “solopreneurs”
and those in need of a part-
time place toconduct business,
with a shared conference room,
a copier, meeting rooms and a
kitchen. The port may qualify
for grant funding for this proj-
ect.’
“Co-working ‘ facilities are
one of the fastest-growing
business opportunities, and
several have opened in the
Puget Sound region over the
past 18 months, including
one in Poulst and another in
Bremerton,” said Coppola, who
teased the possibility of grant
funding for this project as well.
“Mason County offers nothing
like this for small businesses.”
Coppola recalled how, dur-
ing the 2018 public process
for the port’s comprehensive
scheme of harbor improve—
ments, the idea of building a
public pool was strongly sup-
ported by the public.
“So as you can see, there is
much more to the Port of Allyn
than you may‘have thought,”
Coppola said.
During the post-presenta-
tion questions, Coppola said
some of the port’s business has
tightened with the rise, of sea
levels, and Confirmed that. the
port would like to start work
on its business park as soon as
it picks a site, between Belfair
and the Kitsap County border,
even before any businesses
have signed up.
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