PORT ANGELES — The City of Port Angeles and Clallam County have identified a property for consideration for the development of a new facility for the countywide Emergency Operations Center.
The Joint Public Safety Facility (JPSF) also would house the Peninsula Communications dispatch center and possibly a westside fire station.
The Port Angeles City Council on Tuesday night will consider entering into a professional services contract agreement and authorizing a series of technical surveys of the city-owned property at 18th and L streets to determine if it is suitable for the JPSF. The county would share costs of preparing the site, estimated to be no more than $90,000.
The joint search for a new location of the Emergency Operations Center (EOC) — now housed in the Clallam County Courthouse at 223 E. Fourth St. in Port Angeles — began in 2019.
“We’ve identified for a long time that being in the basement of a 40-year-old courthouse is probably not the best place to have your Emergency Operations Center in a Cascadia-prone location,” said Clallam County Undersheriff Ron Cameron.
“Not only that, but it is 40 years old, built at a time when fallout shelters were probably more useful than anything, and the space is not really comfortable,” he added. “There’s no flow there, and we just need to modernize all the way around.”
Experts have said it is not if, but when, a massive Cascadia Subduction Zone quake will hit the North Olympic Peninsula.
In November, the city property at 18th and L streets was identified as a potential site for the joint facility.
The space is large enough for the building, based on conceptual designs. It is adjacent to the Fairchild International Airport and already has the necessary infrastructure.
The catch, literally, is that it is near Volunteer Field, which often is used as a practice field for youth sports.
A mitigation could be creating another sports area. The city and county have a shared property that could serve as an alternative for the practice field.
The other option is to add lights to Volunteer Field, extending visibility for late afternoon and evening sports. The lights also could prove to be a benefit to the EOC in emergencies, officials said.
Clallam County officials have said they would be willing to assist with those costs.
Another potential challenge for the property is that a portion of it is included in the deed to city-owned Lincoln Park, which puts it under the auspices of the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and restricts its land to park purposes only.
“The city has to work with BLM to see if they can get a variance to build a public building on that property,” Cameron said.
“They believe that can happen.”
City officials could not be reached for comment on Friday.
Properties considered earlier in the search included the 1010 Building owned by the Port of Port Angeles, which was immediately ruled out for various reasons, including the cost to lease the property from the port, according to city staff in a November council meeting memo.
A parcel at the intersection of 19th and O streets was ruled out due to the property’s previous use as a gravel pit, which could impact development outcomes and cost.
“I know that I want this facility on good solid ground,” Cameron said.
Discussions of using the Lincoln Center at 905 W. Ninth St. ended with Port Angeles School District Superintendent Marty Brewer saying the district had other plans for the site.
Two other parcels were identified south of O Street near the Fairchild International Airport. A review of the properties found a number of concerns, primarily a lack of access to infrastructure.
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Reporter Ken Park can be reached at kpark@peninsuladailynews.com.
