BY PEPPER FISHER
Port Angeles – The City of Port Angeles has entered into a new deal with Army Corps of Engineers that will save the city a considerable amount of money on the upkeep of the outer line of Ediz Hook.
Historically, every 7 to 11 years, the Corps has come to town to add and replace riprap (boulders and rubble) to maintain the outer edge of Ediz Hook. Until now, the City has had to share in the cost of that work.
City Manager Nathan West says, thanks in part to former US Congressman Derek Kilmer, that’s changed.
“There used to be a cost-share portion that we had to pay every time they went out and worked on the riprap, and that requirement of the City of Port Angeles, and something that we also passed along to the tenants that we have out on the Hook, was eliminated. So, it is now the federal government paying entirely for the restoration necessary to maintain the outer Hook.”
The new deal that saves a lot of money is certainly good news, but it couldn’t be done without a resolution passed by the City Council. We asked why a resolution was necessary.
“The fact that we are no longer required to spend money, eliminating the project as a capital project of the City’s, which is great news for us. But as property owner, because we, through an act of Congress, have a 99-year lease on Ediz Hook that was just recently renewed, we have an obligation as property controller/owner to give permission to the Army Corps to come in and utilize that property for the repairs.”
West said the Corps will soon begin another restoration project on the Hook near the mill.
(Photo: Sunset at Ediz Hook, by Jay Cline)