Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Seawall Ownership topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Poulsbo, Port officials describe shared waterfront ownership and $249,211 joint fund for seawall work
Summary
City and port staff outlined a convoluted lease history for Anderson Parkway and Liberty Bay waterfronts, said seawall/retaining‑wall maintenance is negotiated under the lease, and confirmed a joint DNR‑derived escrow balance of roughly $249,211.59 available for bulkhead or seawall projects.
Poulsbo city and Port of Poulsbo commissioners opened a joint review of waterfront ownership and maintenance responsibilities, focusing on the shoreline structures along Anderson Parkway and Liberty Bay. City engineering staff summarized a series of historical transfers and grant‑funded projects dating from the 1950s through the 2010s that established mixed responsibilities for upland and in‑water facilities.
City engineering said the lease language governing the waterfront does not assign a single party absolute responsibility for the seawall or bulkheads. “It basically says that we’re going to share that and we’re going to jointly go after grants for any work,” a city engineer explained, describing an escrow account established to hold amounts that otherwise would have been paid to the Department of Natural Resources (DNR). Councilmembers pressed for clearer, black‑and‑white language; staff recommended involving city and port attorneys to resolve specific allocations.
Officials confirmed the joint account has accumulated from payments in lieu of DNR lease fees and related revenue. “The current balance is $249,211.59,” Port Commissioner Jamie Green said during the meeting when the fund balance was read into the record. Staff said the account’s principal and interest are intended for repair, maintenance and development of bulkheads and like projects, but expenditures require agreement between both the city and the port under existing lease terms.
Councilmembers requested the first next step be a formal condition assessment of the seawall before committing funds to construction work. City staff said no comprehensive structural analysis has yet been completed and that an engineering study would be the natural first step to identify repair scope and estimate costs. Officials also noted possible grant funding and the need to coordinate applications given the joint nature of the assets.
The joint bodies agreed to revisit the item when the port hires a port manager and when staff can present a seismic/structural study or a grant plan to define cost shares and potential timelines.
