Down at the Port: Getting things done
Published 11:04 am Monday, February 23, 2009
If you have walked through the port lately you have noticed a lot of activity going on along the sea wall. That project is the replacement of the storm water filtration system. The old system was in need of some maintenance and repair work and we found that newer technology would allow us to do away with the old bio-swales (ditches) along the edge of the parking lot and fill in the slopes to provide for an expanded lawn area. The project should be done in early February and the terrain will all be leveled out and turned into a very usable and accessible addition to our park area. The new grass should grow in nicely through the spring and we hope to see families out there enjoying picnics and other activities this summer.
The mail did come and as predicted last month, the permit for the long awaited Kayak Float was in it. Cacios Construction in Port Gamble has begun construction on the project and it sure will be an exciting facility to add to the marina. Giving people the opportunity to securely store their kayaks and other human-powered boats in the marina should render them more convenient to use. With the great summer weather we are all hoping for, it will be great to see folks out there on the bay enjoying some wonderful and healthy activities. It will still be a couple of months before the unit arrives. I will keep you posted.
Our next project will be the construction of that permanent performing arts stage. We are looking at a couple of designs and hopefully will come to a decision early in February and get that project under way. I would be great to have that facility ready for the 4th of July and all of those “Concerts on the Cove” in August.
Ferries have certainly been in the news lately. The local user group meetings that Washington State Ferries conducted in January were all lively to say the least. It was great to see so many of our citizens come to the Jan. 14 meeting at the Kingston Community Center and present their views to the WSF Director David Mosley. Where it will go from here is anyone’s guess. My advice is to aggressively address our issues to our legislative representatives. Due to space constraints, I will refer you to the state legislative Web site. www.leg.wa.gov. Here you can find the e-mail addresses for all of the state representatives and senators. If you want to saturate the Transportation Committees, searching on the Web site will get you everyone’s address. When they hear from lots of citizens, they pay attention. Believe me, if you are persistent it does work. And if you are dissatisfied with the future plans for our ferry service, they need to hear from you.
On the passenger ferry side of things, we are still searching for a couple of vessels to put into service on the Kingston to Seattle run. We have applied for several funding grants to help us get the system up and running and make it sustainable while ridership grows. We actually may be in pretty good shape to get things started during this calendar year.
Now, as we near the long awaited Community News nautical crossword puzzle of 2009, here is this months Nautical Term of the Month: Spurling Gate. When a ship’s anchor is raised from the bottom, there is a lot of chain between the ship and the anchor. We all know that that chain ends up in the chain locker. Well, the gateway that the chain passes through to get down into the chain locker is called the Spurling Gate. Who the heck Spurling was, I don’t have a clue. I am wondering if there may have been an old Tar named Spurling on some sailing ship and it may have been his job to stand in the chain locker to watch the chain pile up as it came onboard. The rest of the story may not be too pretty. So there you have it. Two more words and we should have that puzzle in the May or June edition.
I can’t sign off on this month’s issue without saying farewell to Rebecca Pirtle who has served us for the past four or five years as editor of the Kingston Community News. She has kept us all on track with the necessary deadlines and been a voice of encouragement to everyone who contributes. Rebecca is leaving the journalism field to help our county commissioner Steve Bauer stay ahead of all of the issues and events happening in the north end of the county. With her experience at the Kingston Community News, I can’t think of a better choice for Commissioner Bauer to make. We all wish her good luck and look forward to working with her in her new capacity.
Change is always and interesting phenomenon and I am looking forward to getting to know the new staff and editor of this publication. But right now it looks like I am getting close to the edge of the page again so until March, hang in there, spring is just around the corner. And as always thank you for reading this stuff, I hope I have been able to provide you with information you care about.
Pete DeBoer Commissioner Port of Kingston. pete@petedeboer.com
