SEQUIM — This city got a shower of praise this week for doing its part for small fish – in an area slated for a major development.
“Thanks to your help, young salmon can now move freely between the freshwater and saltwater at Pitship Pocket Estuary,” reads the plaque Cheryl Baumann presented to Sequim Mayor Ken Hays.
Representing the North Olympic Lead Entity for Salmon, Baumann came from her office at the Clallam County Courthouse on Monday to hail completion of the Pitship Pocket Estuary bridge, a 28-foot span on West Sequim Bay Road that eases travel for summer chum salmon in the middle of what may become Sequim’s largest resort.
The bridge took years to fund and finish, in part because the city of Sequim underwent many a management change since September 2007.
That’s when then-Public Works Director James Bay agreed to provide $50,000 worth of engineering services to the North Olympic Salmon Coalition, which would oversee the building of a bridge to replace an undersized culvert into the Pitship Pocket Estuary just south of John Wayne Marina.
The culvert was far too small for juvenile salmon to come through, so the coalition was seeking support for a bridge that would open up the entrance.
In late 2007, the coalition won some $380,000 in state salmon recovery funding.
Hesitated to allocate
But after Bay retired in April 2008, the City Council hesitated to allocate the $50,000, and City Hall was fraught with personnel changes: Police Chief Robert Spinks became interim city manager; then Linda Herzog took over; City Engineer Bill Bullock was interim public works boss for a while; then came Ben Rankin, who helmed public works for just a few months last year.
He was followed by interim Director Jim Pemberton; a permanent public works chief, Paul Haines, was hired this past March.
Helping to navigate the changing currents were city Utilities Manager Pete Tjemsland and inspector Frank Madison — “they were my rocks,” North Olympic Salmon Coalition director Rebecca Benjamin said.
Finally, Pitship Pocket Estuary bridge construction began last November, amid “horrendous weather,” she recalled.
Wilson Construction of Port Angeles coped with hard rain, wind and high tides, completing construction at a final cost of $328,890.
The bridge opened in February, and with the narrow culvert gone, “we immediately saw benefits . . . we saw juvenile summer chum migrating,” into the estuary, Benjamin said.
“That’s the first place where they can engage in the all-you-can-eat buffet . . . they’re staying in that ponded area, and they’re feeding, which was the whole point.”
The Wayne family, which owns the land beside John Wayne Marina where a resort will eventually take shape, also was a key partner in the bridge building, Baumann added.
While the city of Sequim owns West Sequim Bay Road, Wayne Enterprises owns the property surrounding the Pitship Pocket Estuary bridge.
Baumann said she’ll present a plaque to the Wayne family in thanks for its cooperation.
Wayne Enterprises
Wayne Enterprises has mapped out a potentially giant development — cabins, condominiums, shopping, restaurants, maybe even a zipline — on Sequim Bay.
In a recent interview, the family’s local representative, Louie Torres, said plans “continue onward and upward . . . we’re working out individual issues” such as utility service and traffic, with city staff.
There’s no timeline yet for construction of the Wayne resort, Torres said.
“The economic situation is not really pushing us to rush. We want to get the permits in hand” so that when things look up, building can begin.
Baumann, then, expressed relief that the newly completed bridge protects some salmon habitat.
“These pocket estuaries,” she said, “are disappearing at an alarming rate” elsewhere in the Northwest.
John Cambalik of the Puget Sound Partnership also addressed the City Council, reminding the members that the partnership was created in 2007 “to help communities implement the salmon recovery plan,” across the region.
The Puget Sound Partnership looks forward to working with the city of Sequim again, Cambalik told the council, on future salmon-protection projects.
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Sequim-Dungeness Valley Reporter Diane Urbani de la Paz can be reached at 360-681-2391 or at diane.urbani@peninsuladailynews.com.