PORT OF ILWACO -During the Port of Ilwaco Commission meeting Monday, Port Manager Jim Neva reported that he, Port of Peninsula Manager Mary DeLong, and Pacific County Economic Development Council Director Cathy Russ traveled to a Community Economic Revitalization Board (CERB) meeting in Seatac recently, where they acquired a $345,000, 1 percent interest loan and a $220,000 grant from the governor’s strategic reserve account to purchase a dredge for the Port of Willapa Harbor.

Port Manager Rebecca Chaffee, who was out of town and couldn’t attend the CERB meeting, said she was thrilled about the funds and said the port is “plowing forward. We opened bids last week and two dredges are within our budget.”

A bid should be accepted at the next Port of Willapa Harbor Commission meeting June 8. The 10- or 12-inch hydraulic suction dredge will include at least 4,000 feet of pipe and dredging will begin at the Tokeland Marina (which is owned by the port), which Chaffee said is in the worst shape. In fact, she said, as far as she knows, it’s never been dredged. She said part of the bid proposal includes training and set-up. That’s where the big expense is incurred if a dredge is rented or leased.

“The mobilization cost is a killer,” she said. “Just getting a small dredge costs $60,000 to $100,000 just to move it before it’s even turned on. This is much, much more cost-effective.”

Since the dredging window is from Oct. 1 to March 1, Chaffee’s hoping for delivery before Oct. 1.

The really big news, Chaffee said, is that after two and a half years of work with several agencies on permitting for dredge material disposal, the port has received a permit for flowline disposal, a first for Willapa Bay, which means the material will be returned to the current in the bay where it originated.

“We won’t have to provide a disposal site,” she said. Since Tokeland has no land available for a site, it would have meant loading the material on a barge and taking it elsewhere which “multiplies the cost by 10,” she said. “The bay is a dynamic system. What is put in will disappear almost immediately.” It’s a one-time permit, though, she said, and the port will need to re-apply the next time dredging occurs.

The hope is that the dredge, once acquired, will be shared with other nearby ports in Pacific and Wahkiakum counties. In fact, DeLong said she’s looking forward to using the dredge.

“We’re hoping they can just scoot across the bay and dredge here, too,” she said. As for receiving the funds from CERB, DeLong said, “It was great going up there as a team to help. We’re happy to get to this point.” The dredge also will be used by the ports of Cathlamet and Skamokawa.

In other business at the meeting:

Commissioners approved reducing the port’s office staff by one employee. The reason for the reduction, according to the port’s Financial Officer Tracy Shawa, was that income is down by $15,000 through April and expenses remain the same.

“We really don’t need a third person in the office,” Shawa said. She and Harbormaster Melissa Herrold will be alternating working on Saturdays. Commissioner David Nichols said the reduction was “a good idea. We’ve had two people in the office in the past.”

Port Manager Jim Neva told commissioners that Normandie Hand, who manages the Saturday Market, resigned her post because of an illness in her family. Her contract will be taken over by Bruce Peterson, a port merchant who is a member of the market advisory board and the Ilwaco Merchants Association.

“Normandie did a real good job this winter with ads and lining up vendors,” Neva said.

Commissioners also approved extending Dockside Cannery’s lease for a year and approved a sub-lease at the Loading Dock for Brenda Haskett, a massage therapist.