The Port of Olympia’s executive director will recommend to the port commission that the port become a full member of the Thurston Regional Planning Council, a decision that has been on hold for about six years. The delay primarily was because of port concerns about membership costs.
Ed Galligan will make the recommendation at today’s commission meeting, and the commission could take action on the agenda advisory item, he said. If not, the commission is set to vote on the issue at its Feb. 27 meeting.
Galligan said his decision to make the recommendation evolved, that he realized that transportation to and from the port is so important.
“The roads are a key link to us,” he said.
The sticking point for the port had been the cost of membership – $33,000 a year – and that the port was part of a dues-paying category that also included the LOTT Clean Water Alliance and Intercity Transit, two organizations with much larger budgets, Galligan said. The port’s budget is about $8 million, while total revenue and loans at LOTT is $36.5 million and IT’s total budget for the new year is $58.7 million, website information shows.
Planning Council Executive Director Lon Wyrick said the port’s dues-paying classification is the same as LOTT’s and IT’s because all three are considered region-wide organizations.
One reason the port now is considering full membership is that revenues have climbed significantly, the result of increased ship traffic and log exports to Japan, China and South Korea.
The Planning Council has been around for nearly 50 years. It works with all the county’s jurisdictions and takes on projects that are regional in nature, such as transportation, Wyrick said. The council has a budget of $3.5 million, and its dues-paying members, such as the port, make up about 10 percent of the organization’s budget, he said.
The port has always been a member of a subsidiary Planning Council board known as the transportation policy board – for which membership is free – but hasn’t been a full member for about six years, Wyrick said. The port’s absence meant a reduction in the council’s budget, but the larger issue was that the port wasn’t part of the planning conversation.
“The biggest part was not having them at the table,” said Wyrick, who added that members would be thrilled to have the port back.
Jeff Davis, president of the port commission this year, also supports the port’s plans to become a full member of the Planning Council, particularly when the port is discussing sediment removal from East Bay and West Bay.
“We need them on board for those projects,” Davis said about the Planning Council, adding, “It should be a good marriage between us.”
Rolf Boone: 360-754-5403
rboone@theolympian.com
www.theolympian.com/bizblog
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