PORT ANGELES — Negotiations continue as to whether Masco Maritime PA LLC will take over management of the Port Angeles Boat Haven and Boat Yard from Port Angeles Marine.
Chuck Faires, who owns Port Angeles Marine — the company that manages operations at the Boat Haven as part of a contract agreement with the port — is retiring and is in the process of selling his company to Masco Maritime, a subsidiary of Masco Petroleum.
If terms are agreed upon, Masco — which is based in Aberdeen and has an office here — “would basically take over Chuck’s contract as is and finish out the rest of the year,” John Nutter, the port’s interim director of finance, said Thursday.
“That is assuming those two sides can come to an agreement.”
The port has “nothing to do with that negotiation,” he said.
“That is strictly between Chuck and the people at Masco, and the last I heard, they did not have a signed purchase and sale agreement yet.”
Faires said Thursday negotiations are ongoing.
As part of managing the marina, Port Angeles Marine leases a room within the harbormaster office, the fuel dock, the land containing underground fuel tanks and a retail space within the Boat Yard building.
On Jan. 4, Faires notified port officials via letter of his intention to retire, effective May 15.
Faires has been the port’s agent at the Boat Haven for the past four decades and at the Boat Yard for the past 29 years.
As part of his retirement notice, Faires requested permission to transfer ownership of his agent agreement and lease to Masco for the rest of his current contract, which expires Dec. 31.
“Chuck is still under current contract with us, but there is a provision in his contract that says if you wish to transfer this agreement, you need to get written permission from the port,” Nutter said.
During their meeting Tuesday, the three port commissioners voted unanimously to allow such a transfer should Port Angeles Marine be sold to Masco.
“We have basically done our due diligence, looked into the situation and said yes, we are OK with that transfer,” Nutter said.
“Now, that doesn’t mean that transfer is going to happen.”
Aging fuel tanks
Should Masco purchase Port Angeles Marine and assume the port contract, Masco would become liable for the removal of aging underground fuel storage tanks at the Boat Haven, Nutter said.
The five steel, single-walled underground storage tanks feed the adjacent fuel dock float, which provides gasoline, diesel and motor oil products to boats.
The fuel dock float and associated fuel storage tanks are located on the west end of the breakwater, directly adjacent to the harbormaster office. Both were installed in 1973.
“Chuck is the owner of the old fuel tanks, and at the end of his contract — or whoever has that contract if he transfers it to someone else — they are legally obligated to remove those tanks,” Nutter said.
“The port is not willing to, nor would our insurance company let us, assume liability of taking on 43-year-old single-wall steel tanks that have been buried under the ground for 43 years.”
Port officials are not “aware of any pollution” at the site, Nutter said.
However, “there is some significant environmental liability issues out there, and is Masco’s insurance company willing to take those on? I don’t know,” Nutter said.
The removal of the tanks is the first step in a process by the port to replace the floating fuel dock and underground tanks with modern infrastructure, Nutter said.
The port intends to replace and own the fuel tanks by Jan. 1, 2017, Nutter said, and the fuel dock later in 2017.
The delay between projects is because the port will seek a boating infrastructure grant through the state Recreation Conservation Office, Jesse Waknitz, the port’s environmental engineer, said during Tuesday’s meeting.
The boating infrastructure grant program provides funding to develop and renovate boating facilities targeting guest recreational boats 26 feet and larger.
Applications for the grant are due in May, with implementation currently scheduled for the winter of 2017.
A 25 percent match is required for all projects.
Waknitz said Thursday the amount of grant money requested by the port won’t be tabulated until after preliminary design work for the project is completed.
The preliminary design is being done by Moffatt & Nichol Engineers of Seattle, which will paid $72,657 to complete the work.
The total cost to implement both projects won’t be determined until the engineering firm completes its design, Waknitz added.
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Reporter Chris McDaniel can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5074, or cmcdaniel@peninsuladailynews.com.