Mr. Ekberg:

The commissioners of the Port of Orcas have read your thoughtful letter posted to the Islands’ Sounder in the August 10, 2011 issue, and wish to clarify impressions you might have drawn from the cartoon published the preceding week (later corrected in the print edition) or other information in the local press.

If you check the minutes of port meetings posted at www.portoforcas.com you will note that the item of discussion concerned an offer, made to San Juan County Public Works in June of this year, to take over the county dock in Eastsound. (The letter was copied to the two Orcas Island county council members as well as county administrator Pete Rose.) The port offered to be responsible for maintenance, winter storage and summer placement of the dock in its present location, for use by boaters.

An additional suggestion to add several mooring buoys in the bay to provide more spaces for boats to tie up, then use their skiffs to row to the dock. (Mooring buoys would prevent further damage from dragging anchor chains.) The concept is to increase access to ‘greater downtown Eastsound’ via watercraft so as to promote commerce—one of the major mandates of port districts. The port has made no other decision other than to pursue control of the county dock and potentially install buoys. To date, the port has received no reply from any of the recipients to whom the letter was addressed. This letter will be resent this week to the original recipients in hopes that some sort of response might be forthcoming.

A marina in Eastsound was put forth as an idea for discussion by this commissioner only while in our regular meeting, but has not been in any way formally adopted by the commission. It is not a new idea, but one that in my opinion should be discussed as a long term goal. The idea was one of several discussed in light of potential loss of Federal Aviation Administration Airport Improvement Program funding and the lackluster economic climate in Eastsound.

These ideas and others are in the purely contemplative stage of discussion, and are part of the port’s long-term visioning process. When and if this or any other idea progresses beyond the thinking stage toward adoption/implementation, the community at large will be at the top of the list to receive information, with questions, concerns, comments and suggestions solicited by the port commissioners before final decisions are made. Not to mention any funding for such a large project would require a bond measure requiring a vote by the public at large.

We will save your letter and its concerns so that all of the possible effects are given full consideration in the port’s undertakings. Thanks for sharing your thoughts with us. We welcome your presence at any of the port meetings; the next meeting is at noon on the 25th in the port conference room at the airport terminal.

Sincerely,

Bret Thurman

Chairman of the Port of Orcas Board of Commissioners