Port of Hoodsport in process of clearing hazard trees

Kirk Boxleitner | Mar 17, 20220

The Port of Hoodsport is still dealing with the fallout of its hazard trees and is considering upcoming waste disposal needs.

The port’s vouchers for February totaled $14,797.30, which port Operations Manager Kathleen Wyatt said is higher than the usual total of about $8,000.

Wyatt said the port’s vouchers included $7,000 for Hoodsport-based Northwest Land and Tree to have hazardous trees removed, plus $900 for the port’s annual IT, domain and web tech fees, and attorney fees of $225 from when Wyatt consulted with legal counsel about the Fjordin Crossin, and about rules and regulations regarding COVID-19.

Port Commissioner Terry Brazil said the person who maintains the Hoodsport Disc Golf Park’s now has a job at Shelton Floor Covering, but has remained active in “raking, shoveling and hauling back trees that had been laid down because of the snow.”

Brazil said “the other side of the gate” has been closed due to safety,” with branches and full trees compromising the safety of trails and bridges.

“It’s not severe, but it’s dangerous for kids,” Brazil said.

Although Wyatt noted that Northwest Land and Tree was due to remove an estimated 20 truckloads of hazard trees and tree debris that fell, the port is still waiting for the contractor to supply a timeline and schedule for those removals.

“Some of those trees, you can definitely tell are dying,” Brazil said.

Port Commissioner Cody Morris relayed feedback he’d received from downtown Hoodsport-area business owners, asking whether additional trash cans could be made available this summer. Owners expect this summer to be busy and they’d like to avoid the area being overwhelmed with coffee cups and ice cream containers.

Scott Lindgren, who’s in charge of maintenance for the port, agreed that the port’s public trash cans fill up quickly enough that he needs to

empty the one by the grocery store and old restrooms every day, and the two by the port’s park grounds every two or three days, “and this summer, it’s going to get worse, for sure.”

Wyatt said waste receptacles would have to be on port property, but expressed openness to adding to the port’s public trash cans, which Lindgren agreed could be put either on park grounds or closer to the heaviest concentration of businesses.

Brazil expressed concerns that a trash can near businesses might increase traffic across U.S. Highway 101, Morris deemed staircases “a logical place” for trash cans, and all three port commissioners voted unanimously to add a public trash can to the port’s area above the beach steps.