PORT ANGELES — Sure, Forks and other West End communities took a big economic hit in the 1980s when logging practices were curtailed.
But things have changed for the better, members of the Port Angeles Chamber of Commerce were told Monday.
Three West End community leaders, speaking to the chamber membership, touted an array of economic and cultural development projects that attest to the progress and innovation happening west of Port Angeles.
Addressing the Port Angeles Chamber of Commerce at the Port Angeles CrabHouse Restaurant, Forks City Attorney/Planner Rod Fleck updated plans for a potential 5 megawatt bioenergy plant that would burn nearby organic forest waste products.
“With this kind of energy plant,” Fleck told the audience, “you can produce enough energy to power the entire West End.”
Feasibility study
In June, Fleck and a coalition including John Calhoun of the Port of Port Angeles and Mike Doherty, Clallam County commissioner, received a $50,000 matching grant from the state to pay for a bioenergy plant feasibility study.
The proposal to request that study should be ready in about 10 days, Fleck said, while a consultant to do the actual work should be hired by about Oct. 15.
A final preliminary design for a Forks bioenergy plant could be out as early as May.
If it happens, this type of project might be a boon to the West End in more than ways than one, he added.
“I’ve been telling the logging industry that sawdust [and other forest waste products] are their weakest link,” Fleck said.
With a bioenergy plant nearby, log companies wouldn’t have to take on additional costs to dispose of that waste, but could funnel it to the plant.
Civic expansion
But West End leaders are working on more than just a bioenergy plant.
Diane Schostak, executive director of the Forks Chamber of Commerce, was also on hand to speak Monday.
She cited projects such as the recently completed Quillayute Valley Recreation Center’s swimming pool, expansion of the Forks Thriftway store, and expansion of Forks Community Hospital as important projects that help to make Forks a more attractive venue for people and businesses.