The Port Gamble S’Klallam Tribe opened a new Point Casino — and welcomes the Marshall Tucker Band June 28 — and is the top bidder for the Heronswood estate in Kingston. Funding has been obtained to close Port Gamble town’s wastewater treatment plant, which has contaminated a geoduck bed, and begin converting the town to septic systems. Fundraising continues in the effort to buy 7,000 acres of Pope Resources forest land and preserve it for open space and public use; money has been raised for at least some shoreline and acreage on Port Gamble Bay.

Now, on June 27, Olympic Property Group, Pope Resources’ real estate arm, will discuss with the public its plans for Port Gamble town. The meeting is June 27, 6 p.m., in the Kingston Middle School Commons.

Site plans will be on display. OPG staff members will be on hand to answer questions. At 6:30 p.m., OPG President Jon Rose will make a presentation, followed by 30-40 minute Q&A with the audience.

“We will keep the doors open as long as people want,” Rose said. He said OPG will submit a master plan application to the county by the end of the year.

The plans, though conceptual at this point, are ambitious. They include the selling of existing homes and development of 300 more homes, as well as a farmers market, a marine science center, a horticulture and landscape center, a working orchard and vineyard, restaurants, trails and nature viewing areas, and a waterfront boardwalk.

Among the plans for the mill site: Construction of a lodge or inn, facing north, next to a new dock; moorage for tall ships; and, on the east side of the mill site, warehouses and manufacturing.

As this meeting takes place, OPG and the Department of Natural Resources work on an agreement to share the burden of completing the environmental cleanup of the mill site. Creosote pilings will be removed and wood waste removed from the bay.

After a decade of restoration that now has Port Gamble buzzing with business activity, Pope Resources still subsidizes the town to the tune of about $250,000 a year. Port Gamble needs to pay its way, yet ensure that future development minimizes the environmental impacts of town activities. The Port Gamble S’Klallam Tribe is concerned that any new dock not become a marina, and cite Port Ludlow as an example. Port Ludlow’s shores are closed to shellfish harvesting because of marina-related activities. That closure prevents the S’Klallam people from exercising their treaty rights to harvest in Port Ludlow and prevents all people from being able to harvest.

The Port Gamble S’Klallam Tribe would like to acquire the mill site and return it to a natural state, with beaches and clam beds. Port Gamble S’Klallam Chairman Jeromy Sullivan envisions a park-like cultural and educational place that would complement the historic mill town. We hope OPG and Port Gamble S’Klallam can come to terms that would enable that to happen.

OPG is giving the public an opportunity to help chart the future of this town. We encourage North End residents to attend the meeting and provide input on OPG’s conceptual plans.