Port of Allyn amends meeting time schedule

Port of Allyn commissioners will now meet on the second Monday of each month at 4 p.m. after voting to move back the current 6 p.m. time at the May 12 regular meeting.

Executive Director Travis Merrill said there were several reasons for the time change, including staff having to work a long day when meetings start at 6 p.m. and some Allyn Community Association members who’d like to attend but can’t because their organization also meets at the same time.

The time change will begin with the regular meeting in June.

Port will reimburse IDD funds

The port will start repaying industrial development district funds that were used between 2012 and 2013 and for three transfers between 2019 and 2020, according to commissioners.

“It was traditionally how the Port of Allyn used its IDD funds, a cash reserve to repay once granted or planned general funds became available to repay those expenses,” according to Merrill’s report to commissioners.

The purpose is to get the funds moved back into an invested balance so they can be used for capital facilities improvements, Merrill said.

From 2012 – 2013, $89,161.99 was paid out of IDD funds and not repaid, according to the report.

Between August 2019 and October 2019, $132,000.00 was transferred from the IDD fund to the general fund. During that same time only $82,000 was repaid, leaving $50,000 not repaid to the IDD fund, the report states.

In December 2019, $90,000 was transferred for a contribution towards the Ogden property purchase and in March 2020, the IDD made an $11,250 “interfund loan” to the general fund, according to the report.

The port will plan on repaying the IDD transfers of $240,411.99.

“We’re in a good spot to do that over five or six years,” the port’s accountant Erin Civilla said, regarding the IDD funds.

“It depends on how aggressive you want to be,” she added.

Merrill said all of the IDD transfers were legitimate expenses.

“It’s not that it has to be repaid, but it was something that traditionally happened under previous administrations. The money would be used and the money would be put back,” Merrill explained.

“It would be nice to work towards that goal because that’s what a fiscal responsible port would do. So that we have money for those types of projects in the future,” he said.

Commissioner Judy Scott previously stated the IDD funds used were accountable.

“There wasn’t embezzlement or misappropriations, but still bottom line is that IDD fund does need to be paid back and I think that’s the failure upon us that we didn’t get it paid back,” Scott said at a February workshop.