PORT ANGELES — A 0.7 percent salary increase for all Port of Port Angeles employees in 2011 was approved by two of the three port commissioners Monday.
Port Commission President George Schoenfeldt and Commissioner Jim McEntire voted for the increase, which was previously flagged as part of the budget.
Commissioner John Calhoun was not at the meeting because he is vacationing in Belize.
The increase, which will cost $13,898, was already included in the budget approved at the commission’s Nov. 22 meeting.
“It has been the general policy in the past to give cost of living increases equal to the West Coast consumer price index increase,” said Holly Hairell, human resources manager for the port.
The increase affects both union and nonunion employees.
‘Housekeeping item’
“We adopted the budget at the last meeting, and this has been anticipated,” McEntire said. “This is basically a housekeeping item at this point.”
At the Oct. 11 meeting, the commissioners unanimously gave Executive Director Jeff Robb a 5 percent raise when they renewed his contract.
His contract was handled separately from the cost of living raise action.
Robb, the former airports/marinas manager who was elevated to the top staff position in August 2009, now makes $120,750.
Other business
In other business, the commissioners heard a report on negotiations with Clallam County Fire District No. 5 of Clallam Bay to rent empty hangar space at Sekiu Airport, which is owned by the port.
Only one airplane is housed in the three hangars, and boats fill some of the space, Doug Sandau, airports and marinas manager, told the commissioners.
If the fire district rents hangar space to keep a fire truck, there will still be room for about three more planes, he said.
“I’ve worked with the airports here for about 25 years, and occupancy has always been an issue there,” Robb said.
No decision was made at Monday’s commissioners meeting.
The lease will be for about $6,000 per year, and the hangar will house a fire engine, a wildfire engine and an ambulance, said Fire Chief Trish Hutson.
“We have four in the new station near [Clallam Bay] prison and three at the old station in front of the Clallam Bay clinic — those are the three we’ll move because the building was built in 1954 and is crumbling,” Hutson said.
“That building is also in a tsunami zone.”
She said she hoped to get the rigs moved by the beginning of January.
The lease will be month-to-month to allow flexibility for the fire district if a new station is found, Sandau said.
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Reporter Paige Dickerson can be reached at 360-417-3535 or at paige.dickerson@peninsuladailynews.com.