Joint board to focus on economic priorities
Published 1:30 am Tuesday, April 28, 2026
PORT ANGELES — The boards of the Clallam County commissioners, the Public Utility District and the Port of Port Angeles met for the first of three joint commission meetings this year to share updates on projects, funding and priorities, and to discuss areas of potential alignment.
Across agencies, the same message surfaced on Monday: economic development hinges on basic infrastructure.
Officials pointed to electric capacity and reliability, water availability, sewer access and transportation as the foundational pieces needed to support growth. Without those in place, efforts to attract businesses will stall regardless of incentives.
As projects like the Amazon distribution facility on Edgewood Drive move forward, for example, truck traffic is expected to increase, but existing road networks are not equipped to handle it.
For example, while making a left turn onto U.S. Highway 101 from local roads is relatively easy, a left turn can be a problem. The county doesn’t have the funding to upgrade every road, underscoring the need to identify key freight routes and coordinate improvements to support future industrial use.
Commissioners agreed there is a need to better coordinate capital projects across agencies to avoid inefficiencies and added costs. That includes aligning schedules for roadwork, sewer extensions and utility upgrades so infrastructure is built once, rather than repeatedly disrupted.
“The last thing that we want to do is put down a whole new road only to have one of the utility providers come forward and dig it all up,” county administrator Todd Mielke said, noting that coordinated planning is critical as multiple projects move forward in the same corridors.
The discussion also highlighted the importance of presenting a unified regional strategy when seeking state funding. Commissioners said continuing to identify and advance shared priorities will be key as they prepare for the 2027 legislative session.
Emergency preparedness also was a focus, with agencies exploring a shared regional fuel reserve as existing storage systems age.
Officials discussed storing up to 200,000 gallons of fuel — including gasoline, diesel and aviation fuel — in a centralized location to support response during a major disaster, including a potential Cascadia subduction zone earthquake, ensuring law enforcement, fire, utilities and other essential services could continue operating if supply chains are disrupted.
“The original calculation would have bought us just a little over 30 days,” PUD General Manager Sean Worthington said, adding that more recent assumptions suggest the region may need to be self-sufficient for as long as 90 days.
Clallam County Commissioner Mark Ozias said the concept also could help address aging fuel infrastructure across agencies by coordinating storage, replacement and purchasing. Such a system could improve efficiency, ensure fuel is rotated and support both ground and air operations during an emergency.
Officials pointed to Clallam Bay as an example of where infrastructure improvements have been made but challenges to economic development remain. While water and utility systems have been upgraded, the area continues to face a declining population, limited housing availability and a significant number of homes owned by part-time residents, making it difficult to support a year-round workforce and attract new businesses.
Federal and state funding has been essential to advancing major infrastructure projects across the region. The PUD highlighted about $9.6 million in state grid resilience funding that supports multiple electric system upgrades, while the port reported roughly $41 million in secured funding across multiple projects.
Commissioners said continued access to outside funding — paired with coordinated proposals — will be key to moving additional projects forward, particularly as the state redirects funding. That uncertainty, they said, makes it even more important for local agencies to align projects and remain competitive for limited dollars.
Officials also discussed whether to more formally include cities in future joint meetings, since coordination with Forks, Port Angeles and Sequim is critical given their role in and economic development.
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Reporter Paula Hunt can be reached by email at paula.hunt@peninsuladailynews.com.
