PORT ANGELES — The five-member Harbor-Works board voted unanimously today to recommend disbanding the public development authority.
The board took the action after Rayonier Inc., announced last month that it would not negotiate further with Harbor-Works on a purchase agreement for the company’s former pulp mill site on the Port Angeles waterfront.
Several board members reflected on the Harbor-Works Development Authority’s 2½-year existence and expressed confidence that their efforts to acquire and redevelop Rayonier Inc.’s former mill site weren’t in vain.
“There is no doubt that Harbor-Works, and the greater community at large, gave this our best effort,” Chairman Orville Campbell said.
He added, “In closing, I firmly believe this is not the end of the story about the Rayonier site, but merely the closing of one chapter . . . And I am confident that Harbor-Works has established a base of valuable information and facilitated a community consensus that can serve as the foundation for those who may wish to purse the community’s vision in the next chapter.”
The City Council, which created Harbor-Works, has the final say on dissolving the agency.
The seven-member council will consider a “vote of concurrence” at its Tuesday meeting.
That would begin a 30-day public comment period, after which the council will consider approval of dissolving the public development authority.
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Harbor-Works news release and statement: http://issuu.com/peninsuladailynews/docs/hw20100902-pressrelease-dissolution?viewMode=magazine&mode=embed
