PORT ANGELES — It’s official: Clallam County has forgiven the Quillayute Valley Park and Recreation District of $205,710 in remaining debt to the Opportunity Fund.
County commissioners voted 3-0 to release the debt without discussion Tuesday.
For all intents and purposes, the decision was made Jan. 20 when the board agreed to forgive the remainder of a $225,000 no-interest loan to protect the taxpayers of the entire county.
“The direction that was given to staff was to have legal counsel for both parties bring back the proper documentation,” County Administrator Jim Jones said Tuesday.
“This [agreement] came from the result of that collaboration.”
The Quillayute Valley Park and Recreation District received in 2004 a $160,000 grant and a $225,000 loan from the county’s Opportunity Fund to buy land, rental homes and equipment to support the community pool and recreation center.
The district runs the Forks Athletic and Aquatic Club at 91 Maple Ave.
The Opportunity Fund is a portion of sales tax that supports public infrastructure projects and personnel in economic development offices.
Forks-area voters approved a $2.9 million bond issue to build the pool in 2005, but a levy to fund its operations failed the following year.
District Chairwoman Nedra Reed, a former Forks mayor, asked commissioners in a Jan. 11 letter to forgive the balance of the loan, citing tough economic conditions.
The state attorney general issued an opinion in November 2013 saying the district could not use timber tax revenue to pay back the loan.
The district had made three annual payments of $6,430 toward the loan.
Commissioner Mike Chapman in January said the pool would become a county facility should the district walk away from the debt.
He said it would be “extremely onerous” for the county parks department to take on the burden of the facility.
Commissioner Bill Peach, a former Quillayute Valley Park and Recreation District board member, resigned after he was elected as a county commissioner last November.
Peach and Commissioner Jim McEntire said in January that the money given to the district should not have been a loan in the first place.
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Reporter Rob Ollikainen can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5072, or at rollikainen@peninsuladailynews.com.