Port discusses trail meeting, Columbia Pulp, broadband

DAYTON—The Port of Columbia Executive Director Jennie Dickinson reminded those in attendance at the Port Commissioners meeting last week about the Touchet Valley Bike Trail informational meeting, which will take place on Monday, April 26, at 5:30 p.m. on Zoom.

Dickinson said most of the marketing for the meeting is in place. Ads have been placed in all the local newspapers and a digital ad campaign in the Union-Bulletin. Information about the meeting is posted on the Port’s Facebook page, as well.

The 30-percent design drawings, 30-percent landscape plans, a research document regarding concerns from the public, a preliminary draft maintenance plan, and an executive summary are also on the Port’s website.

The Palouse Regional Transportation Planning Organization will furnish an economic impact forecast.

Using addresses from the county GIS map, the Port sent flyers to landowners adjacent to the proposed trail, informing them of the April 26 meeting.

“If people don’t get a flyer, it is because they are not listed properly,” said Dickinson. “We have done the best we can with that list.”

Columbia Pulp

Dickinson said Columbia Pulp has managed to retain 80 employees. Almost all of them have been called back to work, after they were laid off during the COVID-19 shutdown.

Improvements made to materials handling and processing are almost finished, and the plant will soon begin processing 200 tons per day of pulp. Dickinson said additional funding was needed to make the necessary improvements and the bondholders are on board with that.

She told the commissioners that Washington State Representative Skyler Rude sponsored a bill allowing straw pulp, as a renewable material, to be used as part of the 40% recyclable content required in single-use carryout paper bags.

“Even though the straw pulp market was already hot, that has just added a whole other element to the potential customers that Columbia Pulp has,” according to Dickinson.

She said there have been supply chain issues during the COVID-19 slow down and doesn’t know if those have been resolved, but 110 employees will be on board at the plant in a couple of months.

Broadband

The Port commissioners will need to make a decision in the next couple of months about whether to apply to the Washington State Community Economic Revitalization Board (CERB) or wait for the federal government to make details known for a national rural broadband access plan.

Dickinson said CERB funding is a mix of grants and loans, but the federal government’s funding is 100-percent grant driven, except for the 20-percent match requirement.

The estimated cost for the Port’s proposed broadband project is $2.6 million, and a 20-percent match requirement would be $520,000.

Sherwood Trust has awarded the Port with a $20,000 grant for the project. Most of that will be used by the Port to pay Northwest Open Access Network (NoaNet) for cost engineering on the project. Dickinson is currently reaching out to the community to identify other matching funds.

The state is looking for projects that are “ready to go” and checking into how state funds can be used to match federal dollars.

“For the sake of the community, the sooner, the better,” Dickinson said. “We are in an excellent position. We have a project. We have drawings. We are ready to go.”

Dickinson said she needs more information before the commissioners can make a decision. She wants to know if federal government funding would require broadband to be open access, so private companies can lease fiber capacity from the Port to serve their customers. She also wants to know if the private sector will benefit from federal funding.