Port of Grapeview establishes free Wi-Fi hot spot

Kirk Boxleitner | Sep 01, 20220

Port of Grapeview commissioners made Mason County’s latest free Wi-Fi hot spot official before following up on diver-safety matters during their Aug. 16 meeting.

Art Whitson, District 1 commissioner, said this summer’s Grapeview Water Festival and Art Show saw its vendors exceed online capacity, leading to “a lot of internet drop-outs and frustrated folks,” before they were shifted over to Wi-Fi access on port property.

“We already had everything ready to go,” said Jean Farmer, District 3 commissioner.

After the event, Whitson said building the newest port ramp had included the installation of Wi-Fi capability, so he scheduled a meeting with technicians from Mason County Public Utility District 3.

“They dropped by a week ago yesterday,” Whitson said Aug. 16. “They wanted to know where we wanted to stick the hot spot. We wanted to provide the best access to the surrounding area, including down on the dock to help the marina out.”

Farmer noted the port had the foresight to pay for conduits to be laid well ahead of these events. Whitson recently received further good news when Mason PUD 3 told him the Wi-Fi wouldn’t cost the port anything, “because everything was already in place, and the port will be providing a community service.”

Whitson and Mike Blaisdell, District 2 commissioner, voted to approve Blaisdell’s motion to proceed with the hot-spot installation on the port’s “home property” on Grapeview Loop Road. Farmer cited a conflict of interest and didn’t vote.

Bob Pastore, a port Strategic Planning Advisory Committee member, said attendees at the Grapeview Water Festival and Art Show were “saturating” the existing wireless signal bandwidth in the event’s area to the point it affected people paying electronically to launch boats.

Pastore credited Port of Grapeview Managing Official Amanda Montgomery with resurrecting the Ventek machines. Montgomery told Pastore that Ventek told her that the port’s kiosk is on the list for a fall upgrade to 5G.

“What we use now is not going to work next year,” Montgomery said.

The port responded to a letter from Brad White, reacting to a Belfair Herald article titled, “Grapeview to safeguard divers from speeding boats.”

Pastore recounted how fellow advisory committee member and ex-Port of Grapeview Commissioner Glenn Carlson had corresponded with Taylor Shellfish, which had agreed to not fly “diver down” flags unless their divers were indeed down. White’s letter said Taylor Shellfish’s boats were flying such flags when the boats were under power, which Pastore said was “not right.”

According to Pastore, subsequent discussions with Taylor Shellfish secured promises that their boats will only fly the flags when they have divers down.

Taylor Shellfish also told the port they would begin displaying 4-foot-by-4-foot signs to further alert boaters when divers are down.

“It’s dangerous to have a diver in the water,” Pastore said. “The boat can’t move because the diver is tethered to the boat.”