Volunteers Secure Fishing For All

STARBUCK -Thanks to more than a dozen vol- unteers who rolled up their sleeves at Lyons Ferry Ma- rina Thursday, the project that gives wheelchair users waterfront access is one step closer to completion.

"It will be good once it's all said and done," Lyons Ferry Marina manager Jim MacArthur said. "This will be a nice addition."

MacArthur said the facil- ity for persons with disabilities is still waiting for some additional funding to install a transition strip and safety barriers before it can be accessed by wheelchair users. Its dedication is tentatively scheduled for Aug. 17.

The project, first con- ceived in 2006, calls for a 352-foot walkway from the parking lot to a fishing and viewing platform on the edge of the Snake River.

The volunteers, whom MacArthur described as a mix of community activists and regular marina users, prepared a portion of the pathway that was tested by a disabled area fishing en- thusiast.

"They worked hard," said MacArthur, who provided them with lunch. "I appreciate their effort."

Thirteen volunteers do- nated more than 92 hours of work to create a packed gravel path from the rear of the marina's work area to the shoreline near the Lower Monumental Pool on the Snake River.

"The work party com- pleted the walkway con- struction in one day," said

David McNall, of Dayton, returns from a test run on the new path to the fishing and viewing pier at Lyons Ferry Marina. Lisa Naylor of the Blue Mountain Rural Conserva- tion 7 development Council, which secured the funding for the project. "Tempera- tures were in the mid-90s, and work concluded just after 7 p.m. The crew had been onsite since early that morning."

Dick Rubenser, Starbuck resident and Barker Enter- prises owner, donated the heavy equipment and opera- tors to complete the project, Naylor said. The Bobcat and Kubota tractors cut the sod, smoothed the walkway bed, ferried gravel to and from the walkway.

Cliff Tarvin and Ed Shaf- fer returned early the following morning to "clean- up" the site and finish prob- lem spots. Other volunteer workers on Thursday in- cluded Anne, Jim and Rob- ert Walsh; Dale Polla; Linda Vannoster; and Paul, Lisa and Alex Naylor.

Dave MacNall, a Dayton resident and avid fisherman known as Catfish Dave, was the first with physi- cal challenges to test the pathway and path, giving it a "thumbs up," MacArthur said.

Naylor said MacNall was born healthy in 1950 but stricken by polio as a tod- dler. He may have briefly walked, but the disease robbed him of his legs, con- fining him to a wheelchair. As a child, he fished with family despite his physical challenges.

"He fishes to this day," Naylor said. "He loves to fish."

MacNall arrived on his bicycle, specially designed to be powered by his arms. He easily maneuvered the walkway and made a clean 180 degree turn on the fishing pad without effort. "Dave can't wait to drop a line and haul in some fish," Naylor said.

The project was the brainchild of the late and former Port of Columbia Manager Gene Turner, who hatched the idea in early 2006 to address the desires of those physically chal- lenged, she said.

"We (the Port of Colum- bia), as lessees, of the Lyons Ferry Marina, feel for a more complete package of water-related recreational activities and an opportunity for the handicapped to enjoy fishing from a safe, properly designed dock who don't have a boat or not able to utilize one," according to the Blue Mountain RCDC grant application.

"The Corps of Engineers think it would be an excel- lent project and enhance- ment at the Marina which is Corps of Engineers property under the long-term lease held by the Port of Columbia," Turner wrote in the application.

Personnel changes and the passage of time at the Corps of Engineers office in Walla Walla and Port of Columbia brought forward requirements for the project, requiring additional time, coordination and cost, Naylor said.

Funding was secured from the State of Washing- ton ALEA, Aquatic Lands Enhancement Account, spe- cifically for projects like the walkway and fishing pad. It offered funds for construc- tion with a requirement for volunteer time, services and materials.

The total project cost was just over $74,000, Naylor said. The State of Wash- ington contributed $48,999 and the Blue Mountain RCDC and partners provided $25,001 in cash and in-kind donations.

The grant award included $30,000 for materials to design and construct the fishing pad. A lively bid opening awarded the con- tract to Pioneer Excavation of Pasco. An additional $12,000 was offered by the State to ensure performance of the contract. Don Jackson, Starbuck resident was responsible for the design and installation of the fish- ing pad.