By Pepper Fisher
PORT ANGELES – The joint project between the City of Port Angeles and Clallam County to build a new Joint Public Safety Facility has been in the works for about 3 years. It would house PenCom’s 911 Center, the County’s Emergency Operations Center and, ideally, a new west end City Fire Station.
It looked for a while like they had found their location near the airport on property owned by the Port of Port Angeles, but City Manager Nathan West says they’ve decided to explore other options before making a decision.
“Well, the Port was actually quite gracious with their negotiations and we feel like, ultimately, we would be locked in with a pretty firm lease that likely wouldn’t change for a very long period of time. However, the costs themselves end up being in the millions of dollars and, if we’re going to invest over 10 million dollars in a facility that is for the future of both the City and the County, we think it’s in our best interest to ultimately own that facility and the property it sits on.”
Now a new site is being looked at next to the Volunteer baseball field at the corner of 18th and L Streets, which is property owned by the City. At around 3.8 acres, there’s plenty of room to build the exact same facility designed by architects for the other location. Undersheriff Ron Cameron, one of the those spearheading the relocation of the County’s Emergency Operations Center, says he likes the proposed new location.
“I mean, it checks all the boxes for me about where it is and, you know, what I wanted to accomplish and where I wanted the EOC to be. You know, I mean, we’re right next to the juvenile center there, it’s very close to the airport. And you know, like I say, it checks all the boxes.”
The next step to be taken is to get geotechnical testing and an environmental assessment of the property. The PA City Council Tuesday night authorized West to split the $90,000 cost of the study with the county and get things going, and they expect the company OAC to be able start within a few weeks.
CAMERON “So, what’s under there? We’re really not sure. And so the Geotech will help us figure out what it’s made of and if it’s going to be resilient to an earthquake as much as any place else.”
WEST “And the Geotech work and environmental review is something we will do for any site before moving forward, that is just best practice. And we want to make sure we know all the details about the ground that we would be developing.”
As for the soccer practice field that would be lost if the project was to go forward, West had some important messaging for athletes and parents.
“I think it’s important the City of Port Angeles wants to do everything we can to respect and honor the immense amount of volunteer effort that went into the creation of Volunteer Field, as well as that practice field. And we’re going to work diligently with those recreational groups to make sure we’re respecting their future needs in every way that we can.”