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San Juan County reduces Commerce emergency grant to $850,000 after usage review
Summary
County staff and council agreed to amend a Washington State Department of Commerce Emergency Rapid Response Fund grant from $1.5 million to $850,000 based on current projected use of inter-island and Anacortes services; council approved the amendment.
San Juan County Council authorized an amendment to its Washington State Department of Commerce Emergency Rapid Response Fund grant on May 13, reducing the county’s award from $1,500,000 to $850,000 and returning $650,000 to the state pool based on projected usage.
County staff said the grant supports three pilot projects: twice-daily passenger service to Anacortes, on-call inter-island emergency services when Washington State Ferries are disrupted, and barge service. County Manager Mark Hudson and county staff reported current usage indicates the county is unlikely to draw the full $1.5 million. They forecast utilization of roughly $850,000 to $1,150,000 at the high end for the twice-daily Anacortes run and assumed modest contingency use for inter-island and barge services (staff noted barge services had zero uses so far and inter-island use was limited).
Council member Justin Paulson noted the barge service had been made available on one day but was not needed by users; staff confirmed availability but no actual usage. After discussion, the council moved and approved the amendment to reduce the award to $850,000 and authorized the county manager and council signature routing.
What’s next: Staff will provide a one-month report on the Anacortes passenger-only service provider’s updated ridership and usage data; a press release and updated usage numbers are planned for the one-month mark of the service.
