Winter 2025 Newsletter - Port Update

WATERFRONT:

Aerial view of kiteboarders on a river, a town with greenery, and a snow-capped mountain in the background.
Photo Credit: Richard Hallman

The Port reviewed and implemented several improvements to the waterfront parking area: installing paid parking signage, adding directional traffic arrows, and repainting parking stalls, curbs and reserved spaces.

Port Commissioners tackled two large parking issues in 2025 – constructing two new parking lots and approving the switch from Flowbird parking software to Passport/ParkMobile. Both actions will ease parking frustrations for visitors to the waterfront.

AIRPORT:

The image features a small aircraft on a grassy area, with other planes parked in the background and mountains in the distance.

The Port is pursuing a utility improvement project to connect the Yellow Hangar to the Windmaster Sewer System. This will allow the Port to decommission the existing septic system and drainfield and free up buildable airfield land. This will create new ground leasing opportunities which support the Port’s goal of an Airfield budget that is self-sufficient.

The Port continues to plan a 6,300-square-foot Terminal Building, designed to support aviation activity, small business growth, and regional emergency preparedness.

INDUSTRIAL:

Person shaping clay on a potter's wheel in a studio, surrounded by tools and materials.

The Port is in the process of selling the Lower Hanel Mill site to Amazon for $3.1 million dollars, a move that bolsters the local economy with an estimated 110 jobs needed for the delivery station. Money from the sale will be designated to upcoming Port projects; $500,000 earmarked for the Terminal Project at the Ken Jernstedt Airfield and the remainder to the construction related costs for Waterfront Transportation Improvements, including the Phase 1 roundabout project.

Port Staff are conducting a real estate inventory of each building to understand the required upgrades and maintenance in the next 10 years. In doing this study, the Port will be able to budget accordingly in preparation for needed projects.

BRIDGE:

Green truss bridge over a river, surrounded by forested hills and houses.
Photo Credit: Petar Marshal

The Port is planning a steel and painting project in line with the Port’s 12-year Capital Improvement Plan. The Port is working with HDR to prepare a scope of work and bid package to go out the first quarter of 2026.

Port staff are continuing to find a reasonable new office site, as the current Port offices will be demolished when the bridge replacement project begins. Currently looking to relocate to Wasco Street, the Port is also looking for property for their facilities crew, in hopes of relocating before the bridge project necessitates it.

 

 

Para español, haga clic aquí. Si ya está en nuestro sitio, seleccione el idioma español.

Join our mailing list