Coupeville boardwalk work paused briefly after discovery of small undisturbed midden; engineers reroute drain

Town staff told the Coupeville Town Council on June 24 that construction on the Broadway boardwalk project was briefly adjusted after workers discovered a small area of undisturbed midden.

Mayor Hughes described the discovery: "You all know that 2 or 3 weeks ago, midden was disturbed, and so that has to be mitigated... but of course, last week we found a tiny, tiny patch, like I'm talking about 1 square foot, of undisturbed midden, which has to be dealt with completely differently." The mayor said staff and the contractor, Valdez, evaluated options and chose to work around the patch rather than pursue a new permit that would authorize disturbance and off-site screening.

Town staff said engineers re-routed a planned stormwater drain to avoid the one-square-foot area. "We moved the stormwater drain around it, and everything was observed by our archaeologists and archaeology monitors and tribal members," the mayor said. Construction work in the immediate area was completed and staff reported that digging on the project was finished on a Monday following the discovery; stormwater and plumbing work also was reported complete the same week.

Why it matters: The site has cultural and archaeological sensitivity, and the town observed procedures to avoid disturbance when possible. Tribal monitors and archaeology professionals observed the work, and staff said the project team prioritized protecting the identified deposit while maintaining project momentum.

Next steps: With the mitigation and re-routing complete, contractors planned to move to the next phases, including building forms and pouring the boardwalk foundation and reopening parking and streets impacted by the project. Mayor Hughes said the project’s slowdown was minor and staff did not expect long-term impacts to the boardwalk schedule.

No vote was taken on the item; the mayor’s report was delivered as part of the meeting’s routine updates.