And after two months of sometimes tense negotiation, they now know what that cooperation will look like.

The Port Commission approved four key agreements Tuesday, and officials from the port, the tribe and SSA signed them immediately after the lunchtime meeting.

“Let’s get this started, let’s get this done and let’s keep that trust level real high,” said port Commissioner Connie Bacon.

The Port of Tacoma announced last summer its plans to build a $300 million shipping terminal for NYK Line on the Blair-Hylebos Peninsula.

The Puyallup Tribe and SSA Containers – a subsidiary of SSA Marine – have partnered to build another container terminal on the same waterway.

Under the agreements, the port, the tribe and SSA will transfer and lease property, cooperate on needed roads and rail projects, and widen the waterway.

The details include:

 • The port plans to sell three pieces of property to the Puyallup Tribe. The tribe will buy two pieces for a total of $7.8 million to square up the boundaries of its own new container terminal.

The tribe will buy a third property – Ole and Charlie’s Marina – from the port for $4 million.

The port purchased the marina property in 2005 for almost $8 million to preserve it as an industrial space.

Port deputy director John Wolfe said the previous owners were considering selling the land to a developer and that the port paid a premium to keep the property from becoming homes or condos.

As part of the marina’s sale to the tribe, the port restricted its use to industrial – thus the lower price, Wolfe said.

Chad Wright, CEO of Marine View Ventures – the tribe’s economic development company, said the tribe already owns other property near the marina and plans to keep the marina in operation.

 • The port will lease property to SSA. The port already has started building a ship berth at the site of the former Weyerhaeuser chip facility.

That property is adjacent to the tribal terminal and will give the Tribe/SSA project four ship berths.

The port plans to invest $52 million in developing the property and then earn revenue from its lease to SSA Marine.

 • The port will work with SSA and the tribe to widen the waterway. The port wants the waterway to be 850 feet wide at all points. Much of the waterway already has been widened. The remaining piece belongs to the tribe.

SSA Marine will manage the waterway widening project, and the port will reimburse the company for some of the cost.

 • All of the parties will cooperate on road and rail infrastructure and permitting, and will share technical and project management information.

All parties noted that the agreements were a milestone in development of the Blair Waterway and fulfilled the dream of creating a tribal terminal that many have harbored since the 1988 Puyallup Indian Land Claims Settlement.

“This has been a long time in the making,” said Herman Dillon, the Puyallup Tribal Council chairman.

The negotiations weren’t easy.

At times SSA and tribe representatives were ready to walk out, they said.

But the common goal of developing the waterway for shipping kept everyone coming back to the table.

“This is a deal that benefits everyone,” he said. “There is no loser in this transaction.”

Kelly Kearsley: 253-597-8573

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