Port Angeles council adopts 2026 legislative priorities, elevates Ennis Creek restoration

City Manager staff walked council through an amended 2026 legislative briefing paper on Jan. 6 that reduces explicit dollar requests, adds Ennis Creek restoration to the city’s top three priorities and retains items such as the Rainier Mill cleanup and trust land transfer protections.

Staff said the Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe has secured approximately $1.6 million in funding for Ennis Creek work and that roughly $1.4 million of that amount would pass through to the city toward construction; staff noted there remains a funding gap the city must address to complete the project. The memorandum and discussion emphasized limiting new monetary asks in the short legislative session and instead seeking protection for prior legislative decisions and guidance on non-monetary support.

Council members debated whether to include support for the Association of Washington Cities (AWC) and the Low Income Housing Alliance priorities in the packet. Several members said listing those organizations’ agendas gives the city flexibility to testify on broader regional priorities while retaining the ability to disagree on specific items. The council amended the motion to explicitly allow staff to make minor modifications for formatting or typographical corrections before the document goes to the legislature.

After discussion, the council voted to adopt the amended 2026 legislative priorities and to authorize staff to make minor edits as needed. The transcript records unanimous passage.

Council and staff said they plan to use the document in upcoming meetings with the city’s state legislative delegation and that advancing Ennis Creek construction is a near-term objective with a goal of project completion in 2027.