Chairperson Lorraine Kelly called the meeting to order at 7:0PM. Commissioner Robert (Doug) Stevens, Commissioner Jon Byerly and Port Manager Christine Phalen were in attendance.

Guest present: Ken Jarstad, Bonnie Jarstad, Sid Cackette, Mrs. Byerly, Mervyn Clements, Barbara Burgess and Marilyn Dove.

1. Motion to accept Minutes of December 3, 2002 as written. Motion Carried.
2. Motion was made to pay the monthly vouchers as prepared. Motion carried.

Port Manager, Chris Phalen, reported on a meeting scheduled with Mr. Beason on January 8 for a bid for the campground fire pits for the campsites. Mrs. Phalen is still trying to schedule a meeting with Mr. Halfner to receive another bid. Commissioner Kelly reported that we did have one bid in hand and with a more bids but would like the Port Manager to contact the other bidders for their bids. Commissioner Kelly stated that we should move forward on this project so that we could have them completed before the next camping season.

Land Proposal:

Commissioner asked to deviate from the agenda and asked Mr. Byerly to report on the progress being made on the proposal for the land from the Bay to the Campground.

Commissioner Byerly said there has not been any progress. He has been trying to get in touch with the Manke Company and set up a meeting in January. The holidays had precluded a meeting being scheduled. Commissioner Kelly said she would try to contact Mr. Ray Orr of Manke Company to help with locating a contact to help move this project forward.

Landscaping:

Commissioner Kelly reminded the Commission and audience of a Special Meeting scheduled for January 11, 2003 at 10:00AM. Mrs. Kelly stated that there would not be a discussion on the Landscaping Project until the Special Meeting had been held.

Mr. Clements asked if landscaper, Mr. Kirvan, should be at the meeting. Mr. Kirvan had been in a bad accident and had been injured. Commissioner Kelly said it was not necessary for him to attend for the Special Meeting but that he might want to attend the regular meeting scheduled for February 4^th.

Port Logo:

Ken Jarstad was asked to give a report on the progress on a Logo for the Port of Dewatto. Mr. Jarstad presented the Commission some ideas for Stationary that he designed. Mr. Jarstad explained where he had found the design. He explained that the picture on the stationary was the same design that he used on the Port of Dewatto Web Page he had designed.

Commissioner Kelly asked Marilyn dove what happened to the drawing she had prepared for the building sign. Mrs. Dove said she would bring the drawing to the Special Meeting scheduled for January 11^th.

Website:

Commissioner stated that the website was not on the Agenda as an item as she had overlooked it when she prepared the agenda. Mr. Jarstad had a report on what he has been working on for the website recently. Mr. Jarstad reported on the progress on the website. It was noted that the website is very well done. Commissioner Kelly reminded the Commission that Mr. Jarstad has been designing and maintaining the website on a volunteer basis. It will soon be necessary to establish a pay basis for the web master.

NEW BUSINESS:

Port Manager, Chris Phalen was asked to report on the meeting she had with Mr. Wolff of the Department of Natural Resources. Chris requested that Commissioner Byerly give the report as he had also attended the meeting.

Commissioner Byerly stated that the DNR was to hear that the Port of Dewatto was interested in talking to them about operating the campground. Commissioner Byerly explained that at the present the Department of Fish and Wildlife Recreation leases the site for fishing and they are having some funding problems. He also stated that some of the DNR sites have been closed. He stated that both agencies are very interested in providing access for public use.

Commissioner Byerly stated that these agencies had toured the area and inspected the Port of Dewatto Campground to see the campground operation. Mr. Wolff, Commissioner Byerly and Port Manager Chris Phalen spoke about what the possibilities are and what kind of agreement could be put together for this operation.

One item discussed was what revenue could be generated at Lake Aldrich Campground. DNR realizing that initially the first year or two of operation would not generate much revenue, therefore would consider not charging the Port any lease fee. They could do it under a Land Use License that would be at no charge. One issue raised was the liability. Since the Port has a comprehensive liability policy this did not appear to be an issue. A Multi Agency Agreement was also discussed.

At the present DNR is negotiating with The Department of Fish and Wildlife to continue the lease at Lake Aldrich, which is adjacent to Lake Aldrich.

If the Port was to manage the Campground, DNR was looking at a 3 way Partnership where the Port, Dept of Fish and Wildlife, and DNR would be providing that access with the Port benefiting from the revenue from the camping.

Question was raised as to the safety of the area. Comment was made that there had been lots of illegal activity in the area. Commissioner Byerly said he had worked in that area for 12 years with little problem. The area has been cleaned up with little problems in the past 2 years.

Commissioner Byerly said part of the discussion showed that the Department of Fish and Wildlife does not recognize Port boundaries. Part of Aldrich Lake and Robins Lake are in Port of Tahuya. They would like who ever operates Aldrich Lake open and close Robins Lake, which is a day use area. It was explained to the DNR representative that with Robins Lake being in Port of Tahuya, that Port of Dewatto could not handle this issue.

There are 10 sites at Aldrich Lake at the present time but Mr. Wolff stated that DNR might be open to expanding the number of campsites. Commissioner Kelly asked how many more site were possible. Commissioner Byerly stated he didn’t know until it was mapped but said there was a large area.

Commissioner Kelly raised several issues. The main issue being the revenue generated against the expense. Primarily the increase of salary for the Park Manager alone would very likely make it a non- profit venture. The Port should not be in the business of losing money to support this project.

Mr. Wolff of DNR is to attend the February 4^th Port meeting where the Commission can explore the many questions.

Commissioner Kelly said she had tried to reach a representative of Inland Telephone Company but was unable to make contact. She had hoped to get information on where to proceed to explore having a cell tower built on Port property. Commissioner Byerly also has been trying to get information. This item was tabled until the February Port meeting hopefully with more information.

Mervyn Clements opened with more discussion on the landscaping. He offered the information that there are a number of local residents who could possibly help with this project.

Discussion of ways to get more of the area residents to attend the Port meetings was explored. Commssioner Byerly said the Lake Erdman residents were very active in their community. He said the residents of Lake Erdman had a lot of interaction with DNR and other state agencies. He was willing to contact one of the residents he had met with an invitation to attend the Port meeting. Commissioner Stevens will attend the Haven Lake meeting with an invitation, Commissioner Byerly will contact the Lake Erdman group and Port Manager Chris Phalen was asked to attend the meeting at Collins Lake.

Mervyn Clements asked if the CRT was being charged for the use of the monthly meeting. Commissioner Kelly explained that they were being charged. She explained the resolution that had been past so that residents volunteering could offer there time volunteering to defray the cost to Mason County Fire District 2 for the use of the building for the CRT training. Mr. Clements questioned why the building didn’t get more use.

The Committee went into an Executive meeting at 8:30PM to discuss a personnel issue. Meeting concluded at 8:40PM.

The next meeting will be February 4, 2003 at 7:00PM at the Port of Dewatto Building.

Meeting was adjourned at 9:00 PM

______________________________        ___________________________________
Lorraine Kelly, Chairperson                 Robert (Doug) Stevens, Commissioner

______________________________         ___________________________________
Jon Byerly, Commissioner                    Christine F. Phalen, Port Manager