Port of Allyn addresses damaged dock, Oyster House

Kirk Boxleitner | Jan 12, 20230

The Port of Allyn addressed the damage its dock sustained over the holidays and heard about the latest progress on the Sargent Oyster House at its Jan. 4 meeting.

The king tides between Christmas and New Year’s severely damaged the Hood Canal Marina dock. Port of Allyn Executive Director Lary Coppola said port insurer Enduris had hired a consultant and marine surveyor to assess the damage.

The consultant has already inspected the dock, and Coppola is waiting for a report to see how Enduris will respond.

Meanwhile, Coppola has asked Marine Floats, the company that rebuilt the port’s Allyn dock, for an assessment and an emergency repair bid as well.

They had also inspected the dock Friday, and told Coppola they would have a bid to the port within the week, to accompany the bid Coppola also expected from a party referred by the inspector.

Coppola reported the port has closed the dock with a locked gate and supplied keys to the three boat owners moored there.

“While the damage is severe, it isn’t as bad as we first anticipated,” Coppola said. “We are going to have to make some improvements, once the repairs are complete, including making the pilings taller so we would not have the same issue with a king tide floating the dock higher than the top of the pilings.”

According to Coppola, the steel pilings could suffice with extensions welded onto the existing tops of the pilings, while the wooden ones could be sleeved with either steel or fiberglass, and filled with composite material.

“While this will cost some money, it won’t be extraordinarily expensive,” Coppola said. “We have another king tide coming on Jan. 24, so depending on the cost, I’d like to try and get this done before then, if at all possible.”

The king tides caused one of the pilings at the pier in Allyn to break loose from the pier’s alcove and float away.

“The entire alcove section is sagging, so I had Don close that section of it off to the public until we can find a solution to getting another piling,” Coppola said.

In better news for the port, Coppola reported the pile-driving and construction of the Sargent Oyster House’s platform have been put out to bid.

“We directly invited 13 contractors to bid, as well as advertised it as required,” Coppola said. “We need Art Anderson to finalize the bid paperwork, as that is out of my wheelhouse, but we are getting interest, so I’ll keep you posted as things move forward. Hopefully, when the successful bidder mobilizes here, they can possibly fix the pier situation as well.”

The Port of Allyn also received a note from Mason County, stating the port’s shoreline permit had expired so it needed to reapply.

Coppola sent a response, explaining the work was delayed for two-plus years, due to the delay in obtaining the Army Corps of Engineers permit, which he attributed to their jurisdictional dispute with the National Marine Fisheries Service.

Coppola copied Mason County Commissioner Randy Neatherlin, state Reps. Dan Griffey and Travis Couture, and state Sen. Drew MacEwen in his response, asking for an extension. “Rep. Griffey made some phone calls, which prompted the county to ask for additional information on the original application dates, with an indication that, because of the Army Corps issue, the county has some flexibility in dealing with this,” Coppola said. “Given the information we provided, the county can accept the project without going through the shoreline permitting process again. We will just need to provide some documentation showing the permit application date, approval date and documentation of the administrative process prior to applying for the permit.”

Coppola handed this off to the grant-funded GeoEngineers, whom he credited with “straightening out” the Army Corps permit “mess.”

Coppola said the port’s goal is to get the pile-driving done as soon as possible, hopefully finishing it during this year’s fish window, which closes Feb. 15, “but I’m not holding my breath.”