SEQUIM — This city, and anyone who wants some open space, received help this week from Ducks Unlimited.
That organization, dedicated to preserving waterfowl habitat, administers grants across the country in concert with the North American Wetlands Conservation Act.
Monday night, the Sequim City Council voted unanimously to accept a $200,000 Ducks Unlimited grant, and planned to put it toward a parcel of parkland on the eastern flank of the city.
Back in 2008, around the time Sequim was purchasing 45 acres of open land from the Keeler family, then-Mayor Laura Dubois heard about the Ducks grants during a Dungeness River Management Team meeting.
Sequim could use some money in making payments on what’s to become Keeler Memorial Park, Dubois thought.
The parcel, which the city bought from the Keeler family two years ago, came with the Keelers’ requirement that it remain forever natural: an elk and bird refuge rather than a housing tract or outlet mall.
Sequim paid $806,610 for the land, which stretches along the south side of U.S. Highway 101 near Happy Valley Road.
Plans included building walking trails, a parking lot and a kiosk or two to tell visitors about local wildlife.
Then the economic meltdown hit town.
After an initial payment of $175,000, the city refinanced, paid off the Keelers and faced a debt of $675,050.
With interest accruing, that meant annual payments of $81,575 through December 2019, Sequim Finance Director Karen Goschen said Monday night.
Sequim can use the Ducks money toward the principal, keep its annual payments the same and finish off the debt sooner — in June 2017, Goschen added.
The financial part comes as an obvious benefit now, but the open space will be something to appreciate later, City Manager Steve Burkett said Tuesday morning.
No development
“The key thing is that we now own it. It won’t be developed,” he said of Keeler Memorial Park.
Burkett added that the full value of the land may not be clear to the people of Sequim until 30 years from now, after the city has grown up.
In keeping with the Keeler family’s stipulation, no ball fields nor manicured lawns will replace the meadow and woodland visible from Highway 101.
And the construction of any walking paths or parking spaces is not on the near horizon, Burkett added.
Sequim’s new Public Works director, Paul Haines, will start work Monday — and Burkett said he has many other pressing jobs to do, from street projects to the ongoing upgrade of the city’s water reclamation facility.
Police station remodel
In other action Monday night, the City Council voted unanimously to authorize $248,469 for remodeling of the Sequim Police Department.
After receiving four bids on the project — two from Port Angeles firms, one from Poulsbo and one from Silverdale — interim Public Works Director Jim Pemberton recommended L.P. Hanna Construction of Port Angeles.
The council agreed, giving Pemberton the green light to hire Hanna for a twofold task.
The contractor will upgrade the existing police station, housed in suite 17 of the J.C. Penney-Frick Drug shopping center at 609 W. Washington St.
Hanna also will convert suite 16, the former Danny’s Restaurant, into additional space for the police detectives, officers and Clallam County sheriff’s deputies who have, according to Sequim Police Chief Robert Spinks, been squeezing into a too-cramped space for too long.
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Sequim-Dungeness Valley Reporter Diane Urbani de la Paz can be reached at 360-681-2391 or at diane.urbani@peninsuladaily news.com.