PORT ANGELES — Lower Elwha Klallam tribal and state Department of Transportation officials said Monday they probably will miss a March 1 target date for an agreement to restart work on the graving yard.
The agencies, encouraged last month by U.S. Rep. Norm Dicks, had been hoping to reach formal agreement by Monday.
“March 1 is still the target, but it looks like we will miss the target,” Lloyd D. Brown, Transportation’s communications manager for the Olympic region, said Monday.
“We are still striving toward a memorandum of agreement, and are still making good progress.”
Brown said the parties will meet March 5 to continue discussions.
“Hopefully after the March 5 meeting, we will know more about when the memorandum of agreement can be reached,” he said.
Chairman Dennis R. “Sully” Sullivan of the Lower Elwha Klallam tribe said the lengthy process to reach an agreement will continue.
But most of the tribal council is attending a national conference of American Indians in Washington, D.C., delaying more talks with the Department of Transportation.
“There is no agreement yet and we are still in the negotiation process,” Sullivan said.