Port of Coupeville wharf proposal questioned

By Justin Burnett
for The Whidbey Examiner

The Whidbey Examiner/STPNS

March 24, 2008

COUPEVILLE, Washington (STPNS) -- At the same time the Port of Coupeville has reached a financial crisis and is planning to ask for a levy increase, it's stepping up plans to turn the Coupeville Wharf into a marine education center.

Several port officials gave a presentation to the Coupeville Town Council, talking about ideas such as installing underwater video cameras, educational displays and possibly even hosting educational events and conferences on the wharf.

The plan to use at least part of the wharf as a marine education center is one of the initiatives outlined in the port's 20-year comprehensive plan. Benye Weber, president of the port's Board of Commissioners, attended the town meeting to show her support.

"We're doing everything we can now to facilitate a marine science center development," Port of Coupeville Executive Director Jim Patton said in an educational video played for the council.

Patton said creating a marine science center on the wharf would boost the local economy by drawing tourists. The center also would provide children with a fun and safe place to learn about Whidbey Island's marine environment.

The presentation was designed to inform the town council members, but also to glean ideas from individual members. Each was asked for their suggestions and whether they knew of anything that might prevent the project from moving forward.

Councilmember Bob Clay said that while he supports the idea of a marine education center, he doesn't believe it fits the port district's mission of economic development.

"The purpose of a port district is to provide economic energy for the community," Clay said. "I don't know if education is the purpose of a port district, and I think the port should be prepared to have an answer for that."

Clay said the public would probably voice similar concerns, and that the port should be ready to defend its position. Clay and fellow Councilmember Molly Hughes expressed concern about whether current wharf tenants would be asked to leave to make room for the center.

"I don't like to see businesses displaced because we're going to put a strictly educational item there," Clay said.

Graham Johnson, a member of the Washington State University-Island County Beach Watchers, was main presenter at the meeting and is heading up the project for the port. He said the marine education center would likely grow and evolve over time. As leases expire or businesses move on, the center would move in, he said.

"It's not like we're going to throw the baby out with the bathwater," Johnson said. "We're not going to do something overnight."

Other questions remain unanswered, such as how much of the wharf would be used for the center or how it would be funded. Patton reported last week that the port district is facing a financial shortfall. The port's board of commissioners agreed to seek voter approval for a six-cent increase to the port district's operations levy. The current rate is set at 15 cents per $1,000. The proposal would go to voters in November.

Patton said the primary reason for the budget shortfall is the cost of operating Greenbank Farm.

"The port may have bitten off more than it could chew when it bought the Greenbank farm," Patton said.

As of March 5, the port had just $1,900 in the bank. Patton emphasized that the financial troubles are not the fault of the Greenbank Farm Management Group.

The port's current levy, which generates about $300,000, is not enough to cover the $150,000 it costs each year to maintain the farm. Those costs include a $100,000 annual bond payment and the farm's annual $50,000 management group fee.

That does not include additional expenses for repair and maintenance, which vary from year to year. For example, in 2007 the port paid $27,000 to paint the farm's buildings.

Combined with the expenses of maintaining its other more than 100-year-old asset, the Coupeville Wharf, the port can no longer keep going without the proposed levy increase, Patton said.

But when asked if the town council new about the port's financial situation before they were asked to give input on the marine education center, Clay said, "Hell no, we didn't know. If we had I'll bet people would have had a lot more to say."

According to Washington Public Ports Association Deputy Director Eric Johnson, large port districts such as the Port of Seattle have it easy when it come to knowing what direction they should take to foster the local economy. Seattle has a deep-water harbor and an international shipping port that is an obvious fit.

But many small port districts struggle to find economic drivers that are appropriate for their particular community. So a port such as Coupeville faces the challenge of coming up with out-of-the-box ideas. A good example, Johnson said, is the purchase of the Greenbank Farm, which he called an "atypical" port project.

Patton said that